In Apple’s quietest product release to date (since the return of Steve Jobs), a new Airport Extreme and Time Capsule were unveiled upon the masses. There’s nothing radically different about either, but there have been some neat extra features added which might make a few people, myself included, consider upgrading.
Dual-Band Networking
This is the one I’m most interested in since I have a mixture of wireless devices in my household that don’t all support the latest in cutting edge WiFi technologies. In previously versions of the Airport Extreme or Time Capsule, you were forced to choose between two frequencies depending on device support. You could choose 802.11n running at 2.4Ghz and see a slight speed bump in your wireless connection and maximum compatibility OR you could opt for 802.11n running at 5Ghz for huge speed gains but sacrifice compatibility with the older (and possibly still more widely used) 802.11b/g.
These latest updates to both the Extreme and Time Capsule allow you to run two distinct wireless networks simultaneously at both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequency. This allows all of your devices to connect to your network at the appropriate, and coincidentally, optimum level. For my house, that means that my Macbook-using sister will be able to connect to the network using 802.11n at 5Ghz for top speed while my PS3 and iPhone can connect to the network at their maximum supported level of 802.11g at 2.4Ghz.
Before this came along I had to enable Internet Sharing from within System Preferences. Basically my iMac would take the connection coming in via ethernet and broadcast a wireless signal through its internal Airport card, thus creating a new, more compatible network. The problems with this method are that your network name, at the very least. Further, for the network to be available, the broadcasting computer (in this case, my iMac) has to be powered on. Add to the fact that sharing the connection with this method doesn’t support the latest wireless security protocols and you can see how messy it gets. An Airport Extreme with a Dual-Band network removes the need for any of these workarounds.
Guest Networking
A pretty small but neat feature that seems appropriate for business settings is the new Guest Networking, which allows you to create a separate network to allow users access to the internet, but not other devices on the network. Practical application here would work best in a setting like a coffee shop offers you free WiFi with access to the internet, but also uses the same network to handle all internal network related tasks.
Worth It?
Well, that really depends on the individual. I prefer to keep my router and backup solution separate, so for me the Time Capsule at its $300 and $500 price points just doesn’t seem feasible. However, being an early adopter of the Airport Extreme I see a lot of promise with these revisions as opposed to previous ones (namely the small addition of Gigabit Ethernet). This seems like it adds some truly useful features that would make managing my wireless network and devices much easier. Anything that makes my digital life just a tad easier is a good thing in my book.
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