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The AirPort 3.2 software update not only adds WPA, but it allows French users to choose from among the full range of legal frequencies. Before version 3.2, French users of the AirPort Extreme Base Station were limited to what was previously allowed under French law, channels 10 to 13. Now, they can choose from 1 to 13, which allows much denser overlapping deployments without channel interference. The law changed in July. [via Anthony]
It's been a long-awaited moment, but Apple has finally shipped the AirPort 3.2 upgrade which includes Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) support to the AirPort Extreme Base Station and AirPort Extreme Card. That's right folks, if you've got plain old AirPort cards and AirPort Base Stations, you're out of luck. I'll try to get more information out of Apple about their plans for older devices.
According to the WPA standard, older devices should be able to connect to a WPA-enabled network using a WEP key derived in some fashion from the WPA key. In this release, at least, Apple states categorically that devices without WPA support cannot connect. We'll see how this evolves over time as it's in opposition to the principles of WPA and 802.11i, the larger standard that's a sort of superset of WPA and is due to be finalized next year.
For those of you lucky enough to have purchased new Power Mac G5 desktops, you can now purchase higher-gain external antennas that plug into the G5's adapter. Because the G5 is such an incredible metal masterpiece, signals can't get out, so Apple ships the unit with an external add-on antenna -- ditto for Bluetooth.
QuickerTek is offering two options that plug into the G5's jack. One is just a longer antenna cable -- expensive, as antenna cables are -- to move the "T" antenna that comes with the G5 to a better position. The other is an omnidirectional antenna. They run about $55 and $130.
MacWireless.com has introduced its PC and PCI-based 802.11g cards. These card required Mac OS X 10.2.4, and are almost certainly generic versions of the Broadcom firmware and hardware that drives Apple's own Extreme cards. However, these cards will work (as will those from Linksys and Buffalo) in any machine that supports Mac OS X 10.2.4 and has the appropriate slot.