“I tested one of the latest and best 802.11n access points, Apple Computer’s [sic] updated AirPort Extreme Base Station,” Julio Ojeda-Zapata reports for The St. Paul Pioneer Press.
“The white, elegantly understated transceiver is Windows- and Macintosh-compatible, with one important caveat — any laptop connecting to that device must be 802.11n-equipped for the superspeedy networking to work. Some portables now on the market still use 802.11g, meaning they will connect to the AirPort at slower speeds,” Ojeda-Zapata reports.
“I set up a wireless network using the base station and a trio of 802.11n-compatible Macs, including two laptops and a desktop iMac,” Ojeda-Zapata reports. “Wireless networking is a notoriously flaky technology, so I wasn’t surprised to encounter glitches. This occurred most often on the Windows side. While some of my PC portables connected readily to the network, others would not. The AirPort itself sometimes acted up, so I had to reset it and start from scratch.”
“But once I had several machines connected to the AirPort, I could do fun things, such as high-def-video streaming,” Ojeda-Zapata reports. “You can do this on a slower network, but you’re likelier to see stuttering; I saw none of that in my 802.11n testing.”
Ojeda-Zapata reports, “The AirPort has special features aimed to lure buyers away from other brands. It lets users plug in devices like printers and hard drives, for instance. I was able to plug in a Universal Serial Bus hub and then connect a hard drive and two printers to the hub. All those devices were then available to computers (minus the Vista PCs, for some reason) on the network.”
Full article here.
Glitches occurred most often on the Windows side. Big surprise.
Related articles:
Apple’s new AirPort Extreme offers increased speed and range – February 18, 2007
High-quality Apple AirPort Extreme 802.11n unboxing photos – February 04, 2007
Apple ships new Airport Extreme Base Stations two weeks early – February 01, 2007
Apple AirPort Utility 1.0 screenshots, 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station manuals – January 26, 2007
Apple releases AirPort Extreme Update 2007-001 – January 26, 2007
Apple’s new AirPort Extreme ‘AirPort Disk’ feature: cheap, simple network storage for home networks – January 15, 2007
Apple’s new AirPort Extreme supports 802.11n, enables wireless streaming of HD media – January 10, 2007
Apple introduces new AirPort Extreme with 802.11n – January 09, 2007
Do you have an Apple packaging fetish, too? – September 15, 2005
