Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Peripherals, Airport, Apple
Airport Extreme not using Gigabit speeds?
Along with all the other updates in the Apple Store on Tuesday, Airport Extreme got a nice one-- according to the specs on the page, they're now offering Gigabit ethernet speeds. Or are they? ComputerWiz went out and grabbed two of them right away, but no matter what he tried to do, he couldn't get the base station to move past 100Mb speeds.There could be a number of things happening here-- I don't have the knowhow to judge whether they did everything they could or not, but the attempt seems reasonable to me, and if you have to mess with settings that much on an Apple product, something is wrong. They also say that Apple had to go into the back room to get the Airport Extreme, so it's conceivable that they grabbed the wrong one-- except that CW claims the box itself said Gigabit.
So something is screwy here-- is it possible that Apple shipped Gigabit Airport Extremes that weren't actually Gigabit?
Update: Looks like it was just a faulty unit, as CW updated, and apparently the second unit worked fine. Anyone else having problems with theirs?
Thanks, David!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
djSyndrome said 2:08PM on 8-09-2007
Perhaps it's looking for Cat6 cable?
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Mo said 2:16PM on 8-09-2007
I'd be double-checking that.
The “Link speed” shown is the one on the WAN port, so it needs to be connecting to a gigabit-capable device.
To check the LAN-side port speed, check the device plugged into it.
In other words, plug the MBP into the AirPort and check what the *MBP* says, not the AirPort.
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conigs said 2:20PM on 8-09-2007
I'd doubt it's looking for Cat6. I have a Mac Pro hooked up to a gig switch via Cat5e and it's recognizing the 1000 Mb link. I find it odd that they were able to get gig working on the WAN but not the LAN.
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Mo said 2:27PM on 8-09-2007
Oh, I'm an idiot; I only skim-read the story :|
By the looks of it, it's just a faulty unit.
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Eric M said 2:33PM on 8-09-2007
Something is screwy. He says the second one worked, but all the screen shots show the same MAC address. So either he is lying, or just just forced 100Mb on the working one, to make screen shots.
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Eric M said 2:33PM on 8-09-2007
Woops. Ignore me, I'm an idiot...
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D said 2:40PM on 8-09-2007
Mine works fine...
BTW, the "old" 100Mbit AirPort Extremes now ring up as $159, so you can save yourself $20 if you don't need gigabit.
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Spencer said 2:46PM on 8-09-2007
My guess is that you need to spend $1.99 on the gigE enabler software from Apple.
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David P. said 3:04PM on 8-09-2007
We just posted the box shot from the airport extreme. We have tested both pretty extensively and one shows the gigabit and the other won't. You can see the box shot at the bottom of the article.
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freq said 3:35PM on 8-09-2007
While gigabit is nice, no doubt it was a missing piece, the big question for me is whether or not they have spec'd the router to 2.0 of the draft-11N certification for optimum 802.11n throughput and performance.
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Daniel said 3:40PM on 8-09-2007
i was just curious to how you even check the router speed? becuse i purchse the gigabit airport extreme yesterday with my new iMac do i need the enabler? or is it included in these new computers?
right now im in netwok utility and i think the link speed says its at 130mb is that right? shouldnt it be at 1000
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vasu said 4:00PM on 8-09-2007
Daniel, the gigabit (1000) link speed is for wired computers using ethernet, not for wireless connections. 130megabit is what should be reported if you're using the 802.11n wireless.
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Tyler G said 4:56PM on 8-09-2007
I wouldn't be surprised if Apple did accidentally ship an incorrect unit... I ordered iLife '08 Family Pack, and received iWork instead..
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why not the LS2LS7? said 7:08PM on 8-10-2007
Note that most of his problems were from ignoring the sticker on the software disc that said "install software before connecting base station".
I installed mine last night and it offered 1000MBit/full duplex in the pop up, so no problems. But I never checked to see if it was connected at GigE speeds. I'll do that tonight.
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joseph folkmann said 7:59PM on 8-10-2007
Can anybody tell me how reliable the signal is at around 100 feet away from the base station. I was thinking of purchasing one to take advantage of the increased N range with my new macbook but was wondering if it would be worth it because I would be 100 feet away from it 95% of the time.
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