Apple just updated the AirPort Express to use next-generation 802.11n wireless technology, promising to to deliver up to five times the performance and twice the range of the previous model.
It's about time.
But since Apple still has three products restricted to 802.11g networks, your ability to actually see those performance enhancements remains problematic.
Continue reading "AirPort Express Goes N: One Down, Three To Go" »
On January 9th of 2007 Apple introduced the latest AirPort Extreme, a new wireless networking device that was said to deliver up to five times the performance and twice the range of the previous model.
But since that time, Apple's rollout of products capable of talking at these "extreme" speeds has been spotty at best. Some have been upgraded while others have simply languished. Worse, several new products have backpeddled speed-wise, only supporting the slower 802.11g protocol.
It's well known that achieving the fastest data rates requires that all of the computers or devices on a network to be 802.11n-enabled. But can you actually do so in practice?
Or are we simply chasing Apple's high-speed chimera?
As you probably know, Apple quietly dropped support for doing Time Machine backups to USB-based hard drives connected to an AirPort Extreme.
What you may not know is why, and why more than Time Machine may be at risk.
While browsing around at my local Apple store I happened to see one of Apple's new AirPort Extremes sitting on a shelf. Needless to say, I whipped out my credit card and snapped it up.
Why? Mostly for the USB disk drive sharing. I use a 17" Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro as my primary computer, and I'm forever dragging a hard drive out of the closet and plugging it in my computer to do backups, then unplugging it and putting it away again. As such, being able to schedule automated wireless backups--and at 802.11n speeds--sounded like just the ticket.
Unfortunately, there's an issue.
Continue reading "Why Apple's AirPort Extreme is No Substitute for the AirPort Express..." »
