AirPort
Encyclopedia
AirPort and AirPort Extreme are local area wireless networking
products from Apple Inc. based on the IEEE 802.11 standard (also known as Wi-Fi
).
AirPort and AirPort Extreme in common usage can refer to the protocol (802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n), the expansion card or the router.
In Japan
, the line of products is marketed under the brand AirMac due to previous registration by I-O Data
http://www.iodata.jp/prod/network/wnlan/2004/wn-apga/index.htm.
with Steve Jobs
picking up an iBook
supposedly to give the cameraman a better shot as he surfed the Web. The initial offering consisted of an optional expansion card for Apple's new line of iBook
notebooks and an AirPort Base Station. The AirPort card (a repackaged Lucent ORiNOCO
Gold Card PC Card
adapter) was later added as an option for almost all of Apple's product line, including PowerBook
s, eMac
s, iMacs, and Power Macs. Only Xserve
s do not have it as a standard or optional feature. The original AirPort system allowed transfer rates up to 11 Mbit/s and was commonly used to share Internet access and files between multiple computers.
On January 7, 2003, Apple introduced AirPort Extreme, based on the 802.11g specification. AirPort Extreme allows theoretical peak data transfer rates of up to 54 Mbit/s, and is fully backward-compatible with existing 802.11b wireless network cards and base stations
. Several of Apple's desktop computers and portable computers, including the MacBook Pro
, MacBook
, Mac mini
, and iMac
shipped with an AirPort Extreme (802.11g) card as standard. All other modern Macs
have an expansion slot for the card. AirPort and AirPort Extreme cards are not physically compatible: AirPort Extreme cards cannot be installed in older Macs, and AirPort cards cannot be installed in newer Macs. The original AirPort card was discontinued in June 2004.
On June 7, 2004, Apple released the AirPort Express base station as a "Swiss Army knife" product. It can be used as a portable travel router, using the same AC connectors as on Apple's AC adapters; as an audio streaming device, with both line-level and optical audio outputs; and as a USB printer sharing device, through its USB host port.
On January 9, 2007, Apple unveiled a new AirPort Extreme (802.11 Draft-N) Base Station, which introduced 802.11 Draft-N to the Apple AirPort product line. This implementation of 802.11 Draft-N can operate in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz ISM bands, and has modes that make it compatible with 802.11b/g and 802.11a. The number of Ethernet ports was increased to four—one nominally for WAN, three for LAN, but all can be used in bridged mode. A USB port was included for printers and other USB devices. The Ethernet ports were later updated to Gigabit Ethernet on all ports. The styling is similar to that of the Mac mini
and Apple TV.
On January 15, 2008, Apple introduced Time Capsule
, an AirPort Extreme (802.11 Draft-N) with an internal hard drive. The device includes software to allow any computer running a reasonably recent version of Mac OS or Windows to access the disk as a shared volume. Macs running Mac OS X 10.5 and later, which includes the Time Machine feature, can use the Time Capsule as a wireless backup device, allowing automatic, untethered backups of the client computer. As an access point, the unit is otherwise equivalent to an AirPort Extreme (802.11 Draft-N), with four Gigabit Ethernet ports and a USB port for printer and disk sharing.
On March 17, 2008, Apple released an updated AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11 Draft-N 2x2 radio. All other features (analog and digital optical audio out, single Ethernet port, USB port for printer sharing) remained the same. At the time, it was the least expensive ($99) device to handle both frequency bands (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) in 2x2 802.11 Draft-N.
On March 3, 2009, Apple unveiled AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule products with simultaneous dual-band 802.11 Draft-N radios. This allows full 802.11 Draft-N 2x2 communication in both 802.11 Draft-N bands at the same time.
On October 20, 2009, Apple unveiled the updated AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule products with antenna improvements (the 5.8 GHz model).
On June 21, 2011, Apple unveiled an updated AirPort Extreme base station, referred to as AirPort Extreme 802.11n (5th Generation). Current AirPort base stations and cards work with third-party base stations
and wireless cards that conform to the 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11 Draft-N and 802.11 Final-N networking standards. It is not uncommon to see wireless networks composed of several types of AirPort base station serving old and new Macintosh, Microsoft Windows
and Linux
systems. Apple's software drivers for AirPort Extreme also support some Broadcom and Atheros-based PCI Wireless adapters when fitted to Power Mac computers. Due to the nature of Draft-N hardware, there is no assurance that the new model will work with 802.11 Draft-N routers and access devices from other manufacturers.
, and/or other devices.
and an Ethernet
port. It employs a Lucent WaveLAN Silver PC Card as the Radio, and uses an embedded AMD Elan processor. It was released July 21, 1999. The Graphite AirPort Base Station is functionally identical to the Lucent RG-1000 wireless base station and can run the same firmware. Due to the original firmware-locked limitations of the Silver card, the unit can only accept 40-bit WEP encryption. Later aftermarket tweaks can enable 128-bit WEP on the Silver card. Aftermarket Linux firmware has been developed for these units to extend their useful service life.
A second generation model (known as Dual Ethernet or Snow) was introduced on November 13, 2001. It features a second Ethernet port when compared to the Graphite design, allowing for a shared Internet connection with both wired and wireless clients. Also new was the ability to connect to America Online's dial-up service—a feature unique to Apple
base stations. This model is based on Motorola
's PowerPC
855 processor and contained a fully functional original AirPort Card, which can be removed and used in any compatible Macintosh computer.
port. The antenna port allows the addition of a signal-boosting antenna, and the USB port allows the sharing of a USB printer. A connected printer is made available via Bonjour's "zero configuration
" technology and IPP
to all wired and wireless clients on the network. A second model (M8930LL/A) lacking the modem and external antenna port was briefly made available, but then discontinued after the launch of AirPort Express (see below). On April 19, 2004, a third version, marketed as the AirPort Extreme Base Station (with Power over Ethernet and UL 2043), was introduced that supports Power over Ethernet
and complies to the UL
2043 specifications for safe usage in air handling spaces, such as above suspended ceilings. All three models support the Wireless Distribution System
(WDS) standard. The model introduced in January 2007 does not have a corresponding PoE, UL-compliant variant.
An AirPort Extreme base station can serve a maximum of 50 wireless clients simultaneously.
protocol. This revision also adds two LAN ports for a total of three. It now more closely resembles the square-shaped 1st generation Apple TV and Mac mini
, and is about the same size as the Mini.
The new AirPort Disk feature allows users to plug a USB hard drive into the AirPort Extreme for use as a network-attached storage
(NAS) device for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows clients. Users may also connect a USB hub and printer. The performance of USB hard drives attached to an AirPort Extreme is slower than if the drive were connected directly to a computer. This is due to the processor speed on the AirPort extreme. Depending on the setup and types of reads and writes, performance ranges from 0.5 to 17.5 MB/s for writing and 1.9 to 25.6 MB/s for reading . Performance for the same disk connected directly to a computer would be 6.6 to 31.6 MB/s for writing and 7.1 to 37.2 MB/s for reading.
The AirPort Extreme has no port for an external antenna.
On August 7, 2007, the AirPort Extreme began shipping with Gigabit Ethernet
, matching most other Apple products.
On March 19, 2008, Apple released a firmware update for both models of the AirPort Extreme to allow AirPort Disks to be used in conjunction with Time Machine
, similar to the functionality provided by Time Capsule
. However, this feature was later discontinued.
On March 3, 2009, Apple unveiled a new AirPort Extreme with simultaneous dual-band 802.11 Draft-N radios. This allows full 802.11 Draft-N 2x2 communication in both 802.11 Draft-N bands at the same time.
On October 20, 2009, Apple unveiled an updated AirPort Extreme base station with antenna improvements.
On June 21, 2011, Apple unveiled an updated AirPort Extreme base station, referred to as AirPort Extreme 802.11n (5th Generation).
). The original version (M9470LL/A, model A1084) was introduced by Apple on June 7, 2004, and includes an analog–optical audio mini-jack output, a USB
port for remote printing or charging the iPod (iPod Shuffle only), and a single Ethernet
port.
The Airport Express functions as a wireless access point
when connected to an Ethernet network. It can be used as an Ethernet-to-wireless bridge under certain wireless configurations.
It can be used to extend the range of a network, or as a printer and audio server.
On March 3, 2009, the Time Capsule was updated with simultaneous dual-band 802.11 Draft-N capability, remote AirPort Disk accessibility through Back to My Mac
, and the ability to broadcast a guest network at the same time as an existing network.
On October 20, 2009, Apple unveiled the updated Time Capsule with antenna improvements resulting in wireless performance gains of both speed and range. Also stated is a resulting performance improvement/time reduction on Time Capsule backups of up to 60%.
During June, 2011, Apple unveiled the updated Time Capsule with a higher capacity 2 TB and 3 TB.
s.
Variants of the user installable AirPort Extreme card are marked A-1010 (early North American spec), A-1026 (current North American spec), A-1027 (Europe/Asia spec (additional channels)) and A-1095 (unknown).
A different 802.11g card was included in the last iteration of the PowerPC-based PowerBooks and iBooks. A major distinction for this card was that it was the first "combo" card that included both 802.11g as well as Bluetooth
. It was also the first card that was not user-installable. It was again a custom form factor, but was still electrically a Mini PCI interface for the Broadcom WLAN chip. A separate USB connection was used for the on-board Bluetooth chip.
The AirPort Extreme (802.11g) card was discontinued in January 2009.
With the introduction of the Intel-based MacBook Pro in January 2006, Apple began to use a standard PCI Express mini card. The particular brand and model of card has changed over the years; in early models, it was Atheros
brand, while since late 2008 they have been Broadcom
cards. This distinction is mostly of concern to those who run other operating systems such as Linux
on MacBooks, as different cards require different device drivers.
MacBook Air Mid 2011 13" and MacBook Air Late 2010 (11", A1370 and 13", Model A1369 ) both use Broadcom BCM943224PCIEBT2 Wi-Fi card (main chip BCM43224: 2 × 2 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz).
In early 2007, Apple announced that most Intel Core 2 Duo-based Macs, which had been shipping since November 2006, already included AirPort Extreme cards compatible with the draft-802.11 Draft-N specification. Apple also offered an application to enable 802.11 Draft-N functionality on these Macs for a fee of $1.99, or free with the purchase of an AirPort Extreme base station.
This card was also a PCI Express mini design, but used three antenna connectors in the notebooks and iMacs, in order to use a 2 × 3 MIMO antenna configuration. The cards in the Mac Pro and Apple TV have 2 antenna connectors and support a 2 × 2 configuration.
The Network Utility application located in Applications → Utilities can be used to identify the model and supported protocols of an installed AirPort card.
and unauthorized network access, including several forms of cryptography
.
The original graphite AirPort base station used 40-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy
(WEP). The second generation model (known as Dual Ethernet or Snow) AirPort base station, like most other Wi-Fi
products, used 40-bit or 128-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy
(WEP). AirPort Extreme and Express base stations retain this option, but also allow and encourage the use of Wi-Fi Protected Access
(WPA) and, as of July 14, 2005, WPA2.
AirPort Extreme cards, using the Broadcom
chipset, have the Media Access Control
layer
in software. The driver is closed source.
It should be noted that although Windows does not support the HFS+ (Mac OS Extended) file system when directly connected to an HFS+ volume (unless a third-party filesystem driver or program is used), a HFS+ volume on an AirPort Disk can be easily accessed from Windows. This is because the AirPort Extreme uses the SMB/CIFS protocol to allow access to the disk, and hence access from Windows is filesystem-independent. Therefore HFS+ is a viable option for Windows as well as OS X users, and more flexible than FAT32 as the latter has a 4 GiB file size limit.
Recent firmware versions cause the internal disk and any external USB drives to sleep after periods of time as short as 2 minutes.
Wireless LAN
A wireless local area network links two or more devices using some wireless distribution method , and usually providing a connection through an access point to the wider internet. This gives users the mobility to move around within a local coverage area and still be connected to the network...
products from Apple Inc. based on the IEEE 802.11 standard (also known as Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
).
AirPort and AirPort Extreme in common usage can refer to the protocol (802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n), the expansion card or the router.
In Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the line of products is marketed under the brand AirMac due to previous registration by I-O Data
I-O Data
is a Japanese computer peripheral manufacturer. They manufacture hard disk drives, Ethernet hubs, USB cables, etc. It gained fame for its durable external hard disk which survived the 122 cm drop test, which is used in some military equipment tests. Other than its headquarters in Tokyo, I-O...
http://www.iodata.jp/prod/network/wnlan/2004/wn-apga/index.htm.
Overview
AirPort debuted on July 21, 1999 at the Macworld Expo in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
picking up an iBook
IBook
The iBook was a line of laptop computers sold by Apple Computer from 1999 to 2006. The line targeted the consumer and education markets, with lower specifications and prices than the PowerBook, Apple's higher-end line of laptop computers....
supposedly to give the cameraman a better shot as he surfed the Web. The initial offering consisted of an optional expansion card for Apple's new line of iBook
IBook
The iBook was a line of laptop computers sold by Apple Computer from 1999 to 2006. The line targeted the consumer and education markets, with lower specifications and prices than the PowerBook, Apple's higher-end line of laptop computers....
notebooks and an AirPort Base Station. The AirPort card (a repackaged Lucent ORiNOCO
ORiNOCO
ORiNOCO is the brand name that was used for a family of wireless networking solutions by Proxim Wireless . These chipsets provide wireless connectivity for 802.11-compliant Wireless LANs.- Variants :...
Gold Card PC Card
PC Card
In computing, PC Card is the form factor of a peripheral interface designed for laptop computers. The PC Card standard was defined and developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association which itself was created by a number of computer industry companies in the United States...
adapter) was later added as an option for almost all of Apple's product line, including PowerBook
PowerBook
The PowerBook was a line of Macintosh laptop computers that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and redesigns, often being the first to incorporate features that would later become...
s, eMac
EMac
The eMac, short for education Mac, was a Macintosh desktop computer made by Apple Inc. It was originally aimed at the education market, but was later made available as a cheaper mass market alternative to Apple's second-generation LCD display iMac....
s, iMacs, and Power Macs. Only Xserve
Xserve
Xserve was a line of rack unit computers designed by Apple Inc. for use as servers. When the Xserve was introduced in 2002, it was Apple's first designated server hardware design since the Apple Network Server in 1996...
s do not have it as a standard or optional feature. The original AirPort system allowed transfer rates up to 11 Mbit/s and was commonly used to share Internet access and files between multiple computers.
On January 7, 2003, Apple introduced AirPort Extreme, based on the 802.11g specification. AirPort Extreme allows theoretical peak data transfer rates of up to 54 Mbit/s, and is fully backward-compatible with existing 802.11b wireless network cards and base stations
Wireless access point
In computer networking, a wireless access point is a device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or related standards...
. Several of Apple's desktop computers and portable computers, including the MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro is a line of Macintosh portable computers introduced in January 2006 by Apple. It replaced the PowerBook G4 and was the second model, after the iMac, to be announced in the Apple–Intel transition...
, MacBook
MacBook
The MacBook was a brand of Macintosh notebook computers built by Apple Inc. First introduced in May 2006, it replaced the iBook and 12-inch PowerBook series of notebooks as a part of the Apple–Intel transition. Positioned as the low end of the MacBook family, the Apple MacBook was aimed at the...
, Mac mini
Mac Mini
The Mac Mini is a small form factor desktop computer manufactured by Apple Inc. Like earlier mini-ITX PC designs, it is uncommonly small for a desktop computer: 7.7 inches square and 1.4 inches tall. It weighs 2.7 pounds...
, and iMac
IMac
The iMac is a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers built by Apple. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998, and has evolved through five distinct forms....
shipped with an AirPort Extreme (802.11g) card as standard. All other modern Macs
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
have an expansion slot for the card. AirPort and AirPort Extreme cards are not physically compatible: AirPort Extreme cards cannot be installed in older Macs, and AirPort cards cannot be installed in newer Macs. The original AirPort card was discontinued in June 2004.
On June 7, 2004, Apple released the AirPort Express base station as a "Swiss Army knife" product. It can be used as a portable travel router, using the same AC connectors as on Apple's AC adapters; as an audio streaming device, with both line-level and optical audio outputs; and as a USB printer sharing device, through its USB host port.
On January 9, 2007, Apple unveiled a new AirPort Extreme (802.11 Draft-N) Base Station, which introduced 802.11 Draft-N to the Apple AirPort product line. This implementation of 802.11 Draft-N can operate in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz ISM bands, and has modes that make it compatible with 802.11b/g and 802.11a. The number of Ethernet ports was increased to four—one nominally for WAN, three for LAN, but all can be used in bridged mode. A USB port was included for printers and other USB devices. The Ethernet ports were later updated to Gigabit Ethernet on all ports. The styling is similar to that of the Mac mini
Mac Mini
The Mac Mini is a small form factor desktop computer manufactured by Apple Inc. Like earlier mini-ITX PC designs, it is uncommonly small for a desktop computer: 7.7 inches square and 1.4 inches tall. It weighs 2.7 pounds...
and Apple TV.
On January 15, 2008, Apple introduced Time Capsule
Time Capsule (Apple)
The Time Capsule is a wireless network-attached storage device combined with a wireless residential gateway router made by Apple Inc. It is described as a "Backup Appliance", designed to work in tandem with the Time Machine backup utility, introduced in Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard".The device includes a...
, an AirPort Extreme (802.11 Draft-N) with an internal hard drive. The device includes software to allow any computer running a reasonably recent version of Mac OS or Windows to access the disk as a shared volume. Macs running Mac OS X 10.5 and later, which includes the Time Machine feature, can use the Time Capsule as a wireless backup device, allowing automatic, untethered backups of the client computer. As an access point, the unit is otherwise equivalent to an AirPort Extreme (802.11 Draft-N), with four Gigabit Ethernet ports and a USB port for printer and disk sharing.
On March 17, 2008, Apple released an updated AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11 Draft-N 2x2 radio. All other features (analog and digital optical audio out, single Ethernet port, USB port for printer sharing) remained the same. At the time, it was the least expensive ($99) device to handle both frequency bands (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) in 2x2 802.11 Draft-N.
On March 3, 2009, Apple unveiled AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule products with simultaneous dual-band 802.11 Draft-N radios. This allows full 802.11 Draft-N 2x2 communication in both 802.11 Draft-N bands at the same time.
On October 20, 2009, Apple unveiled the updated AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule products with antenna improvements (the 5.8 GHz model).
On June 21, 2011, Apple unveiled an updated AirPort Extreme base station, referred to as AirPort Extreme 802.11n (5th Generation). Current AirPort base stations and cards work with third-party base stations
Wireless access point
In computer networking, a wireless access point is a device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or related standards...
and wireless cards that conform to the 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11 Draft-N and 802.11 Final-N networking standards. It is not uncommon to see wireless networks composed of several types of AirPort base station serving old and new Macintosh, Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
systems. Apple's software drivers for AirPort Extreme also support some Broadcom and Atheros-based PCI Wireless adapters when fitted to Power Mac computers. Due to the nature of Draft-N hardware, there is no assurance that the new model will work with 802.11 Draft-N routers and access devices from other manufacturers.
AirPort routers
An AirPort router is used to connect AirPort-enabled computers to the Internet, each other, a wired LANLocal area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
, and/or other devices.
AirPort Base Station
The original AirPort (known as Graphite) features a modemModem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
and an Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
port. It employs a Lucent WaveLAN Silver PC Card as the Radio, and uses an embedded AMD Elan processor. It was released July 21, 1999. The Graphite AirPort Base Station is functionally identical to the Lucent RG-1000 wireless base station and can run the same firmware. Due to the original firmware-locked limitations of the Silver card, the unit can only accept 40-bit WEP encryption. Later aftermarket tweaks can enable 128-bit WEP on the Silver card. Aftermarket Linux firmware has been developed for these units to extend their useful service life.
A second generation model (known as Dual Ethernet or Snow) was introduced on November 13, 2001. It features a second Ethernet port when compared to the Graphite design, allowing for a shared Internet connection with both wired and wireless clients. Also new was the ability to connect to America Online's dial-up service—a feature unique to Apple
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
base stations. This model is based on Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
's PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
855 processor and contained a fully functional original AirPort Card, which can be removed and used in any compatible Macintosh computer.
AirPort Extreme Base Station
The AirPort Base Station was discontinued after the updated AirPort Extreme was announced on January 7, 2003. In addition to providing wireless connection speeds of up to a maximum of 54 Mbit/s, it adds an external antenna port and a USBUniversal Serial Bus
USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....
port. The antenna port allows the addition of a signal-boosting antenna, and the USB port allows the sharing of a USB printer. A connected printer is made available via Bonjour's "zero configuration
Zeroconf
Zero configuration networking , is a set of techniques that automatically creates a usable Internet Protocol network without manual operator intervention or special configuration servers....
" technology and IPP
Internet Printing Protocol
In computing, the Internet Printing Protocol provides a standard network protocol for remote printing as well as for managing print jobs, media size, resolution, and so forth....
to all wired and wireless clients on the network. A second model (M8930LL/A) lacking the modem and external antenna port was briefly made available, but then discontinued after the launch of AirPort Express (see below). On April 19, 2004, a third version, marketed as the AirPort Extreme Base Station (with Power over Ethernet and UL 2043), was introduced that supports Power over Ethernet
Power over Ethernet
Power over Ethernet or PoE technology describes a system to pass electrical power safely, along with data, on Ethernet cabling. The IEEE standard for PoE requires category 5 cable or higher for high power levels, but can operate with category 3 cable for low power levels...
and complies to the UL
Underwriters Laboratories
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. is an independent product safety certification organization. Established in 1894, the company has its headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois. UL develops standards and test procedures for products, materials, components, assemblies, tools and equipment, chiefly dealing...
2043 specifications for safe usage in air handling spaces, such as above suspended ceilings. All three models support the Wireless Distribution System
Wireless Distribution System
A wireless distribution system is a system enabling the wireless interconnection of access points in an IEEE 802.11 network. It allows a wireless network to be expanded using multiple access points without the traditional requirement for a wired backbone to link them...
(WDS) standard. The model introduced in January 2007 does not have a corresponding PoE, UL-compliant variant.
An AirPort Extreme base station can serve a maximum of 50 wireless clients simultaneously.
AirPort Extreme 802.11n
The AirPort Extreme was updated on January 9, 2007, to support the 802.11nIEEE 802.11
IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for implementing wireless local area network computer communication in the 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz frequency bands. They are created and maintained by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee . The base version of the standard IEEE 802.11-2007 has had subsequent...
protocol. This revision also adds two LAN ports for a total of three. It now more closely resembles the square-shaped 1st generation Apple TV and Mac mini
Mac Mini
The Mac Mini is a small form factor desktop computer manufactured by Apple Inc. Like earlier mini-ITX PC designs, it is uncommonly small for a desktop computer: 7.7 inches square and 1.4 inches tall. It weighs 2.7 pounds...
, and is about the same size as the Mini.
The new AirPort Disk feature allows users to plug a USB hard drive into the AirPort Extreme for use as a network-attached storage
Network-attached storage
Network-attached storage is file-level computer data storage connected to a computer network providing data access to heterogeneous clients. NAS not only operates as a file server, but is specialized for this task either by its hardware, software, or configuration of those elements...
(NAS) device for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows clients. Users may also connect a USB hub and printer. The performance of USB hard drives attached to an AirPort Extreme is slower than if the drive were connected directly to a computer. This is due to the processor speed on the AirPort extreme. Depending on the setup and types of reads and writes, performance ranges from 0.5 to 17.5 MB/s for writing and 1.9 to 25.6 MB/s for reading . Performance for the same disk connected directly to a computer would be 6.6 to 31.6 MB/s for writing and 7.1 to 37.2 MB/s for reading.
The AirPort Extreme has no port for an external antenna.
On August 7, 2007, the AirPort Extreme began shipping with Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet is a term describing various technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second , as defined by the IEEE 802.3-2008 standard. It came into use beginning in 1999, gradually supplanting Fast Ethernet in wired local networks where it performed...
, matching most other Apple products.
On March 19, 2008, Apple released a firmware update for both models of the AirPort Extreme to allow AirPort Disks to be used in conjunction with Time Machine
Time Machine (Apple software)
Time Machine is a backup utility developed by Apple. It is included with Mac OS X and was introduced with the 10.5 "Leopard" release of Mac OS X. The software is designed to work with the Time Capsule as well as other internal or external drives.-Overview:...
, similar to the functionality provided by Time Capsule
Time Capsule (Apple)
The Time Capsule is a wireless network-attached storage device combined with a wireless residential gateway router made by Apple Inc. It is described as a "Backup Appliance", designed to work in tandem with the Time Machine backup utility, introduced in Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard".The device includes a...
. However, this feature was later discontinued.
On March 3, 2009, Apple unveiled a new AirPort Extreme with simultaneous dual-band 802.11 Draft-N radios. This allows full 802.11 Draft-N 2x2 communication in both 802.11 Draft-N bands at the same time.
On October 20, 2009, Apple unveiled an updated AirPort Extreme base station with antenna improvements.
On June 21, 2011, Apple unveiled an updated AirPort Extreme base station, referred to as AirPort Extreme 802.11n (5th Generation).
AirPort Express
The AirPort Express is a simplified and compact AirPort Extreme base station. It allows up to 10 networked users, and includes a feature called AirTunes (predecessor to AirPlayAirPlay
AirPlay is a proprietary protocol stack/suite developed by Apple Inc. that allows wireless streaming of audio, video, and photos, together with related metadata between devices...
). The original version (M9470LL/A, model A1084) was introduced by Apple on June 7, 2004, and includes an analog–optical audio mini-jack output, a USB
Universal Serial Bus
USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....
port for remote printing or charging the iPod (iPod Shuffle only), and a single Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
port.
The Airport Express functions as a wireless access point
Wireless access point
In computer networking, a wireless access point is a device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or related standards...
when connected to an Ethernet network. It can be used as an Ethernet-to-wireless bridge under certain wireless configurations.
It can be used to extend the range of a network, or as a printer and audio server.
Time Capsule
Time Capsule is a version of AirPort Extreme with a built-in hard-drive currently coming in either 2 TB or 3 TB sizes, with a previous version having 1 TB or 500 GB. It features a built-in design that, when used with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard, automatically makes incremental data backups. Acting as a wireless file server, Time Capsule can serve to back up multiple Macs. It also includes all AirPort Extreme (802.11 Draft-N) functionality.On March 3, 2009, the Time Capsule was updated with simultaneous dual-band 802.11 Draft-N capability, remote AirPort Disk accessibility through Back to My Mac
Back to My Mac
Back to My Mac is a feature introduced with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard that uses Wide-Area Bonjour to securely discover services across the Internet and automatically configure ad hoc, on-demand, point-to-point encrypted connections between computers using IPSec...
, and the ability to broadcast a guest network at the same time as an existing network.
On October 20, 2009, Apple unveiled the updated Time Capsule with antenna improvements resulting in wireless performance gains of both speed and range. Also stated is a resulting performance improvement/time reduction on Time Capsule backups of up to 60%.
During June, 2011, Apple unveiled the updated Time Capsule with a higher capacity 2 TB and 3 TB.
AirPort cards
An AirPort card is an Apple-branded wireless card used to connect to wireless networks such as those provided by an AirPort Base Station.AirPort 802.11b card
The original model, known as simply AirPort card, was a re-branded Lucent WaveLAN/Orinoco Gold PC card, in a modified housing that lacked the integrated antenna. It was designed to be capable of being user-installable. It was also modified in such a way that it could not be used in a regular PCMCIA slot (at the time it was significantly cheaper than the official WaveLAN/Orinoco Gold card). An AirPort card adapter is required to use this card in the slot loading iMacIMac
The iMac is a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers built by Apple. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998, and has evolved through five distinct forms....
s.
AirPort Extreme 802.11g cards
Corresponding with the release of the AirPort Extreme Base Station, the AirPort Extreme card became available as an option on the current models. It is based on a Broadcom 802.11g chipset and is housed in a custom enclosure that is mechanically proprietary, but is electrically compatible with the Mini PCI standard. It was also capable of being user-installed.Variants of the user installable AirPort Extreme card are marked A-1010 (early North American spec), A-1026 (current North American spec), A-1027 (Europe/Asia spec (additional channels)) and A-1095 (unknown).
A different 802.11g card was included in the last iteration of the PowerPC-based PowerBooks and iBooks. A major distinction for this card was that it was the first "combo" card that included both 802.11g as well as Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
. It was also the first card that was not user-installable. It was again a custom form factor, but was still electrically a Mini PCI interface for the Broadcom WLAN chip. A separate USB connection was used for the on-board Bluetooth chip.
The AirPort Extreme (802.11g) card was discontinued in January 2009.
Integrated AirPort Extreme 802.11a/b/g and /n cards
As 802.11g began to come standard on all notebook models, Apple phased out the user-installable designs in their notebooks, iMacs and Mac minis by mid 2005, moving to an integrated design. AirPort continued to be an option, either installed at purchase or later, on the Power Mac G5 and the Mac Pro.With the introduction of the Intel-based MacBook Pro in January 2006, Apple began to use a standard PCI Express mini card. The particular brand and model of card has changed over the years; in early models, it was Atheros
Atheros
Qualcomm Atheros is a developer of semiconductors for network communications, particularly wireless chipsets. Founded under the name Atheros in 1998 by experts in signal processing from Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley and the private industry, it became a public company...
brand, while since late 2008 they have been Broadcom
Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company in the wireless and broadband communication business. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. Broadcom was founded by a professor-student pair Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III from the University of California, Los...
cards. This distinction is mostly of concern to those who run other operating systems such as Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
on MacBooks, as different cards require different device drivers.
MacBook Air Mid 2011 13" and MacBook Air Late 2010 (11", A1370 and 13", Model A1369 ) both use Broadcom BCM943224PCIEBT2 Wi-Fi card (main chip BCM43224: 2 × 2 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz).
In early 2007, Apple announced that most Intel Core 2 Duo-based Macs, which had been shipping since November 2006, already included AirPort Extreme cards compatible with the draft-802.11 Draft-N specification. Apple also offered an application to enable 802.11 Draft-N functionality on these Macs for a fee of $1.99, or free with the purchase of an AirPort Extreme base station.
This card was also a PCI Express mini design, but used three antenna connectors in the notebooks and iMacs, in order to use a 2 × 3 MIMO antenna configuration. The cards in the Mac Pro and Apple TV have 2 antenna connectors and support a 2 × 2 configuration.
The Network Utility application located in Applications → Utilities can be used to identify the model and supported protocols of an installed AirPort card.
Security
AirPort and AirPort Extreme support a variety of security technologies to prevent eavesdroppingEavesdropping
Eavesdropping is the act of secretly listening to the private conversation of others without their consent, as defined by Black's Law Dictionary...
and unauthorized network access, including several forms of cryptography
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
.
The original graphite AirPort base station used 40-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy
Wired Equivalent Privacy
Wired Equivalent Privacy is a weak security algorithm for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. Introduced as part of the original 802.11 standard ratified in September 1999, its intention was to provide data confidentiality comparable to that of a traditional wired network...
(WEP). The second generation model (known as Dual Ethernet or Snow) AirPort base station, like most other Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
products, used 40-bit or 128-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy
Wired Equivalent Privacy
Wired Equivalent Privacy is a weak security algorithm for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. Introduced as part of the original 802.11 standard ratified in September 1999, its intention was to provide data confidentiality comparable to that of a traditional wired network...
(WEP). AirPort Extreme and Express base stations retain this option, but also allow and encourage the use of Wi-Fi Protected Access
Wi-Fi Protected Access
Wi-Fi Protected Access and Wi-Fi Protected Access II are two security protocols and security certification programs developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to secure wireless computer networks...
(WPA) and, as of July 14, 2005, WPA2.
AirPort Extreme cards, using the Broadcom
Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company in the wireless and broadband communication business. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. Broadcom was founded by a professor-student pair Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III from the University of California, Los...
chipset, have the Media Access Control
Media Access Control
The media access control data communication protocol sub-layer, also known as the medium access control, is a sublayer of the data link layer specified in the seven-layer OSI model , and in the four-layer TCP/IP model...
layer
OSI model
The Open Systems Interconnection model is a product of the Open Systems Interconnection effort at the International Organization for Standardization. It is a prescription of characterizing and standardizing the functions of a communications system in terms of abstraction layers. Similar...
in software. The driver is closed source.
AirPort Disk
An AirPort Disk is essentially a hard disk connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station or Time Capsule (though AirPort Express does not support it). AirPort Disks can be accessed from Windows and Linux as well as Mac OS X. The AirPort Extreme uses the SMB/CIFS protocol for FAT volumes, and both SMB/CIFS and AFP for HFS+ partitions. AirPort Extreme Base Stations do not support NTFS or exFAT volumes.It should be noted that although Windows does not support the HFS+ (Mac OS Extended) file system when directly connected to an HFS+ volume (unless a third-party filesystem driver or program is used), a HFS+ volume on an AirPort Disk can be easily accessed from Windows. This is because the AirPort Extreme uses the SMB/CIFS protocol to allow access to the disk, and hence access from Windows is filesystem-independent. Therefore HFS+ is a viable option for Windows as well as OS X users, and more flexible than FAT32 as the latter has a 4 GiB file size limit.
Recent firmware versions cause the internal disk and any external USB drives to sleep after periods of time as short as 2 minutes.
See also
- AirPlayAirPlayAirPlay is a proprietary protocol stack/suite developed by Apple Inc. that allows wireless streaming of audio, video, and photos, together with related metadata between devices...
- Apple TV
- iTunesITunesiTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
- Sleep Proxy ServiceSleep Proxy ServiceApple's Bonjour Sleep Proxy service is an open sourcecomponent of zero configuration networking, designed to assist in reducing power consumption of networked electronic devices. A device acting as a sleep proxy server will respond to Multicast DNS queries for another, compatible device which has...
- Time CapsuleTime Capsule (Apple)The Time Capsule is a wireless network-attached storage device combined with a wireless residential gateway router made by Apple Inc. It is described as a "Backup Appliance", designed to work in tandem with the Time Machine backup utility, introduced in Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard".The device includes a...
- Timeline of Apple productsTimeline of Apple productsThis timeline of Apple products is a list of all stand-alone Apple II, Macintosh, and other computers, as well as computer peripherals, expansion cards, software, ancillary products, and consumer electronics sold by Apple Inc...
- Wi-FiWi-FiWi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
- Wireless access pointWireless access pointIn computer networking, a wireless access point is a device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or related standards...
- Wireless LANWireless LANA wireless local area network links two or more devices using some wireless distribution method , and usually providing a connection through an access point to the wider internet. This gives users the mobility to move around within a local coverage area and still be connected to the network...
- IEEE 802.11IEEE 802.11IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for implementing wireless local area network computer communication in the 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz frequency bands. They are created and maintained by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee . The base version of the standard IEEE 802.11-2007 has had subsequent...