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Asante ships its $99 PC Card for PowerBooks with PC Card slots running Mac OS X 10.2.6 and AirPort 3.1 software, released last week. Of course, this means Asante is leveraging the Broadcom software release incorporated by Apple.
SmallNetBuilder reveals that Apple won't offer support for the new security standard WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) til the end of this year when Panther appears.
WPA fixes the broken encryption system in today's Wi-Fi and 802.11g, while adding better support for corporate-style network authentication and security.
As a reader posted in comments in the previous news item, the new Apple AirPort 3.1 release adds a third bridging mode when you use the WDS (Wireless Distribution System). The WDS originally let you connect up to four base stations, called remotes, directly to a unit that was hooked up to the Internet, or a master. The new software introduces a relay to which up to four remotes can connect, and which itself connects to the master, according to Dave Russell at Apple, the director of portables and wireless marketing. You can only have one relay per networks, he said.
Apple also released the AirPort Extreme Admin Utility for Windows in beta/preview form. It will work with Windows XP and 2000 equipped with any 802.11b or 802.11g wireless card -- they hope. There are a lot of cards, and they did a lot of testing. They're looking for feedback before they finalize this version because of the variables.
Finally, Apple's adding a packet burst mode for 802.11g-to-g communication that should increase the throughput by a reasonable amount, or actual data transferred after network overhead is subtracted. Their chip supplier was saying 25 percent improvements when all devices use this new packet bursting technology.
You can now download AirPort 3.1, the 802.11g final ratified version compatible AirPort Extreme software. Apple may have updates in the future, but they'll be tweaks compared to this.
MacWireless has a few new offerings.
First, their Extreme Power over Ethernet (PoE) kit, which, for $90, lets you locate a base station far away from electrical power by running low voltage over the Ethernet cable. (Warning, by the way: it's illegal in many states for installers without electrical contractor certification to install PoE style equipment, or even Ethernet! Individuals and business owners can do what they want, of course.)
Second, the $100 Outdoor Box for AirPort Base Station for locating a Base Station on the roof or wherever.
Third, the Outdoor Complete, a full bridging wireless product that includes a Linksys WET11 which can bridge to a remote access point. The system includes an antenna and PoE for $380.
I would definitely add lightning protection to any outdoor system.
Belkin, which originally promised Mac drivers for its 802.11g hardware back in March and then promised them on a delayed schedule just told me via email there will be no Mac drivers for their PC card, at least. No word on the PCI card, even though there are potentially millions of Power Macs that can only use AirPort, not AirPort Extreme; but wireless is a much rarer option for desktop/tower units.
Apple just briefed me on the formal ratification of the IEEE 802.11g specification this morning on which their AirPort Extreme system is based. As they expected, there were no substantial changes between January and the present, although some minor fixes are needed for full compliance. Apple said they will have an AirPort software update out before the end of the month that brings Extreme into full compatibility.
My colleague Paul Boutin writes some practical and extravagant praise of the AirPort Extreme Base Station's (AxBS) ability to bridge across multiple units to form a larger network without wires linking base stations.
That is, you can plug one AxBS into a wired Internet connection and then deploy up to four satellite base stations that all communicate wirelessly back to the mother ship. This allows you to build out a larger network with running Ethernet cables to join it up, defeating some of the joy of wireless in the first place.
Of course, because these satellite are all using the same channel as the mother ship, you're effectively dramatically decreasing available bandwidth. But, flip side again, because Extreme operates up to 54 Mbps (raw speed), you have some bandwidth to burn compared to most broadband connections.
Macworld magazine doesn't post its features online typically, but here's a licensee of the content of my cover-story article about AirPort Extreme.
Adam's tips in the latest TidBITS offer a host of suggestions for coping with various AirPort and Apple wireless issues.
This AppleScript uses an online hot-spot locator to find Wi-Fi locations in a city that you enter when prompted.
The new eMacs announced a few weeks ago by Apple offer AirPort Extreme Card support. These models and the 17-inch iMac are the only consumer desktops that have gone with the 802.11g standard so far. (The 15-inch iMac, the iBooks, and the 15-inch PowerBook don't yet have Ax support, either.)
Connectix recommends this update for people using the AirPort Extreme Card that are having problems (which ones?) with Virtual PC 6.