Airport Base Station Refresh Soon? [Updated]

While Apple's original Airport base station was "pre-802.11b" compliant and a firmware upgrade made the station compatible with the finalized spec, the current situation is different and the changing nature will likely render any "pre-802.11n" devices not compatible with the final specification (making an adoption by Apple unlikely at this time).

Source? :confused:

From what I've read the Wi-Fi Alliance, which Apple is a member of, is basically going to sidestep the IEEE and 'certify' the draft as the "standard" until '08. Even then they expect interoperability between draft and final spec.

Link.

well i hope that they update the airport base stations.....they haven't been updated in awhile

Me too, 54mbps is too slow when you think that the rest of the world are hitting speeds of 108mbps and more.

Are the cards shipping in Macs today compatible with 802.11n?

How about a price drop? Anything over $100 for Airport is no deal for the consumer.

Mmmm...

When Steve announced the iTV, I was surprised by the "Spring 2007" availability date, as it looks as if faster WiFi (811.n) won't be available until later 2007 or 2008.

Another interesting "feature" of iTV is the built-in power supply (no power brick) for such a small device.

I wonder if Steve has an alternate means of streaming between a computer in the den and an iTV in the living room.

One possibility is Power Line Networking (PLN) and Broadband over Power Line (BPL). It is currently possible to transmit data over the power lines within the house at 200 Mbps (the same max speed as the coming 811.n Wi-Fi).

Some manufacturers are building PLN into the latest TVs, speakers, etc. There are also external PLN interfaces for our current TVs and speakers.

Including the power supply within the iTV could mean that the iTV includes PLN (in addition to a provision for 811.n WiFi whenever a standard becomes available).

well i hope that they update the airport base stations.....they haven't been updated in awhile

Since what, Jan 2003?

Yeah, and the prices haven't changed. Few new features either.

Apple still need a decent G base station for commercial wireless for the next 3-5 years, until N takes over. Maybe a 2-3 models with different features.

So I expect to see an update, maybe a A/B/G model (like the pros are getting) with MIMO for better reception/bandwidth. Theres a lot of wireless clutter out there now so I hope the form factir change (if any) doesn'tlimit the power/range.

I expect to see a signficant price drop unless they really bundle in some good new stuff (see below). Good wireless router/base stations can be had for 25%-50% less.

I would also like to see the modem usable as a fax and voice line, not just for internet. That would really push up sales now no one has inbuilt modems; and people are getting second virtual phone lines with their fast broadband which would be nice for a fax line.

I would be very keen to see dual cards in one model, so it can run two networks on different channels, allowing for increased bandwidth, voip/video dedicated channels etc Maybe the whole A/B/G thing is about doing just that, with twin comms across A and B/G. 108MBs all up. Maybe quicker with their own compression etc like D-Link have been doing for a few years now...so 216MBs under ideal conditions ;0

Maybe a 4 port router rather than the 2 existing ports. Maybe gigabit? (Or perhaps that should wait for N)

I would also be really happy if Apple diversified a bit and added more options to their USB port on the AEXP and AEXT units. Really great if they allowed you to connect a HDD directly to that and make it accessable to the whole network. -> Think Leopard, Time Machine and a dedicated 802.11A channel for remote wireless relatime backups ;)

An iPod updating remotely with the USB might be pretty cool as well for some of us with airport expresses spread around.

And what about the audio/optical out. Why not allow more than Airtunes? What about allowing a tick list of other sounds/apps for when your away from your machines listening to Airtunes etc; like iChat alerts, Email pings, computer audio comments, etc etc

eh i wouldnt believe this till i see it. its like apple neglected this product. this disappoints me cause when i first got the AEBS it was good and all but now it just plain sucks. I would chose to get the Airport Express but I now have this feeling it will just be as bad as the Extreme.

A price drop to $99 would be appreciated, although even then I will still have a hard time choosing it over the WRT54GL ;)

I'm shopping for an express on eBay... so expensive, but then most routers don't let you stream music. The Extremes are just plain overpriced. Then again, I paid $100 for the card in my G5...

(By the way, at least the price of the cards has gone down, even if the routers are still as overpriced as ever.)