Cheap New AirPort, AirPort Extreme Cards
Here's a great deal found at MacMegaSite: $73 AirPort Extreme Card and $75 AirPort Card. Follow this link for the coupon details.
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Here's a great deal found at MacMegaSite: $73 AirPort Extreme Card and $75 AirPort Card. Follow this link for the coupon details.
The AirPort 3.3 software includes the latest Wi-Fi security update--for AirPort Cards: Apple has finally added Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) support to the original AirPort Card. AirPort Extreme users have been able to use WPA for a couple of months.
This upgrade is available only to Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) users, and Apple has historically not released AirPort software for versions of the OS older than about 6 to 9 months, so a 10.2 or 9.2 update seem unlikely.
WPA fixes the weaknesses found in the original Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) system that was the only method of encrypting the wireless link between a card and a base station until WPA was released. WPA provides robust security that's more than enough for any small office or home.
You can only use WPA with base stations or wireless gateways that support it, of course. According to information provided to me a few months ago, it's clear that the original AirPort Base Station does not have the capability to be upgraded to WPA compliance.
AirPort Extreme Base Stations support WPA, as do devices from Buffalo, Linksys, and others.
For more on WPA, you can read about it in the book that Adam Engst and I co-wrote on Wi-Fi and wireless, The Wireless Networking Starter Kit, 2nd edition, which was published Nov. 2003, and includes details on WPA. An update on using Apple's WPA tools is on the Web site, too.
OrangeWare is offering a trial version of its driver that supports Atheros's 802.11a and 802.11g chipsets used in equipment from D-Link, NetGear, and others. The driver works for 10 minutes and then requires a purchase; it's $15.
This is the first time I know of that you can use 802.11a on a Mac. 802.11a runs at 54 Mbps, but uses the 5 gigahertz (GHz) band; both 802.11b (AirPort) and 802.11g (AirPort Extreme) use the 2.4 GHz range of spectrum.
The opening paragraph on OrangeWare's site has several factual errors. They write, For several years now, Apple® users have chaffed at the issue that most wireless cards (CardBus and PCI) don’t work with Apple’s Airport® access points. Why is that? It’s because the Apple® client driver only works with the Broadcom chipset.
The Broadcom chipset has only been used since January 2003 with AirPort Extreme. From 1999 to 2003, Apple's AirPort used a Lucent (later Agere) chipset for which a few generic drivers were offered. The statement about wireless cards not working with Apple's access points is incorrect: they meant to say that you couldn't use non-Broadcom cards (a minority of the market) with a Mac.
QuickerTek is offering a $50 adapter that lets you use other antennas with an AirPort Extreme Base Station. The company's press release states This wireless adapter enables the Airport Extreme Base Station to recognize non-Apple external antennas that heretofore have not been compatible with Apple's design. The company hasn't yet updated their site to show this item.