Airport 2

[benmac]

Apple® today announced the second generation of its award-winning AirPort® wireless network solution for home, school and office. The 802.11b based solution features a new AirPort Base Station offering the first-ever support for America Online (AOL) users, a built-in firewall for greater protection, 128-bit encryption for added wireless security, and up to 50 users sharing one base station.

“Apple has consistently led the industry in 802.11 wireless networking,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Now we’re adding another industry first with support for American Online, and great new security features like a built-in firewall and 128-bit encryption.”

Based on the industry standard IEEE 802.11b, the AirPort wireless networking solution consists of the AirPort Base Station, AirPort Card and AirPort software. The new AirPort 2.0 software, available as an online download from Apple’s web site (www.apple.com) in both native Mac® OS X and Mac OS 9 versions, provides compatibility with AOL, the most popular Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the U.S. The new software can also be used to add AOL support to existing AirPort Base Stations, as well as 128-bit encryption to existing AirPort Cards.

AirPort’s new connectivity and security features include:

* compatibility with AOL, the most popular Internet Service Provider in the U.S.;
* two Ethernet ports, one 10BASE-T for wide area connections such as DSL or cable modem, and a new 10/100BASE-T port for local area networking;
* firewall protection providing added security from unauthorized access via the Internet;
* support for up to 128-bit password and data encryption;
* RADIUS support enabling schools and businesses to centrally manage user access control; and
* AirPort Card compatibility with Cisco’s LEAP security method, popular in many higher-education institutions.




AirPort offers a data rate of up to 11 megabits per second, enabling simultaneous sharing of a single Internet connection by up to 50 users and has a typical range of 150-foot radius from the base station. All Apple notebooks and desktops are AirPort-ready with integrated antennas and card slot, some with the AirPort card preinstalled.

 

[Purdue CS]

wheres our 54mbps 802.11a ?
extended range ?
cheaper price ?

hmm.... gues i just have to wait till 3.0 then

---ja

 

[benmac]

That's exacly what I was thinking!

 

[Ensign Paris]

maybe...

Maybe its a decoy!

Guy

 

[Purdue CS]

tell you what steve (if you are listening),

Ensign and I would like the following for christmas.

54mbps 802.11a
500 feet range
funky new design iPod-esque
gigabit ethernet ports.
$179

card - $69



ooh... sorry - was i day dreaming ?

..........

 

[akuma]

Has anyone used the airport? I am considering getting a base station to network my macs together.

But...
Will it support a B&W G3?
Will it support a Performa 6360?
Is it stand-alone or does it have to be run through a computer?

Would it work as a router, for say, a cable connection?

 

[britboy]

no 802.11a

my guess would be that apple haven't gone to 802.11a due to the technical problems that it still has, the limited range, and the inability to go through walls. For the time being, 802.11b is still the more practical option.

 

[oldMac]

802.11a problems...

Yup. The range issues with 802.11a are making it about as successful as USB2 and BlueTooth.

 

[MattB]

Originally posted by akuma
Has anyone used the airport? I am considering getting a base station to network my macs together.

But...
Will it support a B&W G3?
Will it support a Performa 6360?
Is it stand-alone or does it have to be run through a computer?

Would it work as a router, for say, a cable connection?

In order to use AirPort you must either have an AirPort card or some other type of wireless interface. I don't think B&W G3's had AirPort cards, but I assume you could add some sort of PCI wireless card. Same thing for the Performa, but I'm not sure if they supported PCI.

AirPort must be set up with a Mac, but stands alone connected only to the power and your Cable/DSL modem. It can only be hardwired to one computer or to a router becuase it only has one LAN port.

 

[Screamingbeaver]

I love Airport...

Hey akuma,
I've used Airport for about 9months now and it is awesome! I have the same setup at my home as one of the offices I work at. I acutally don't use Apple's Base station, I purchased a 2Wire Homeportal 100W Wireless Access point/Router. ($299) I works so great! I just plug my DSL modem into this and then I plug the Homeportal into my existing switch for wired network, but then it also is a wireless base station for my iMac, which is on a different level, and my Powerbook. The Homportal serves as a firewall and there is a bunch of software I don't even know how to use. You can set up an FTP server, a webserver, a mailserver or play networked games. It's really cool. It also has 10mbps Phone Line Networking too!

When I go from my home to the other office I just select the Airport network in the control strip and I'm in. It is so easy.

I think this is one of the smartest things Apple has done. The same card can go in every machine they make and they're about a $100. It's cheap networking. I never really appreciated it until I got it and now I can't live without it.

 

[mikedman]

once more with feeling

ok, here again is the reason apple won't be using 802.11a.

The frequency used by 802.11b is 2.4ghz

802.11a operates on 5ghz

if Apple switched to the .11a standard they would be incompatable with all the other airport equipment out there. Not only that but all the little built in antennas they have been installing for the last 2 years would be practically worthless because they are the wrong length for 5ghz.

when (if) 802.11g is ready for prime time you will see faster airport. It supports the same speeds as 802.11a but at the 2.4ghz frequency

 

[jefhatfield]

apple really is ahead of the wireless game

i have seen the airport early last year, and for the first time, i finally saw a wireless pc setup...the first ever in person and i am a pc network person in a field where those stupid cables will be years from now while macs will be enjoying wireless like many have already been doing since the inception of airport

at circuit city, the only wireless they have sold on the pc side was this one unit, a salesman told me, last month but the airport was selling for a while so mac users are really early adopters of new technology

i know one day the wireless thing will really cut down on network jobs but i don't fret over it since the field is moving forward in an exciting way

wireless networks will be super user friendly in the near future

 

[sparkleytone]

802.11a can be compatible with 11b and others if im not mistaken. I do believe SMC offers a router that is 802.11a and has support for 802.11b AND Bluetooth straight out of the box.

 

[jefhatfield]

maybe so, but could it be made to be that way in a way that the home user could understand it easily

wireless will be to the home user like the cat 5 cable was to big business and wireless might be the next revolution in home computing...changing a huge company to wireless would be a giant commitment with logistical problems

i did see a jiffy lube with a pc wireless setup and two computers the other day and i was impressed...their airport hub costs 800 and its a compaq (but price has come down in last few months)

 

[akuma]

Re: I love Airport...

Originally posted by Screamingbeaver
Hey akuma,
I've used Airport for about 9months now and it is awesome! I have the same ......

Thanks for the info. I'll have to check it out.

 

[mikedman]

not quite

Originally posted by sparkleytone
802.11a can be compatible with 11b and others if im not mistaken. I do believe SMC offers a router that is 802.11a and has support for 802.11b AND Bluetooth straight out of the box.

these routers are basicaly like having 2 wireless networks in one box. this works for base stations which are big and have room for multiple antennas but it would be really expensive to cram 2 radios and 2 antennas into a powerbook. You could install an 802.11a card into a pci slot and have support for both protocols but on card will never be "compatable" with another.

i'm telling you 802.11g is the one to wait for. It is the standard apple will most likely use for a faster airport.

 

[sparkleytone]

well...really im just saying that if you have this router, then you can still be connected through the 802.11b and not have to upgrade those machines, yet you would still be able to connect any newer machines with the updated technology in them...basically so you can be backwards connected thru existing technologies...so my iBook isnt all that obsolete