Airport Extreme Base Station, Time Capsule boast a bigger antenna

OK, so it's not nearly as exciting as a shiny new iMac or a Mac mini server, but the Airport Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule also received a mild update today. Both are now certified to the 802.11n specification (not draft-n), and along with this certification come improvements in antenna design, which promises 50% better Wi-Fi performance and 25% better range.

So, not earth-shattering, but for those of us who rely on complex Wi-Fi setups, having the extra range and more optimized antenna design may make or break the setup. And with many more non-geek homes adding devices that stream media in places where they never thought they'd ever need a wired network connection, better throughput can make all the difference.

Price is still $179 for the AEBS, $299 for the 1TB Time Capsule, $499 for the 2TB Time Capsule.

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Hardware Peripherals Wireless Airport

OK, so it's not nearly as exciting as a shiny new iMac or a Mac mini server, but the Airport Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule also...

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tim

I was really hoping they'd be doing something positive to address the obvious problems with the time capsule - ie, the fact that they die from heatstroke after 18 months, making them worse than useless as a backup device.

The TC is a great idea and product in principle - until all these failure reports started coming through I was all set to get one - but it's obvious there's a problem with the design. Either the case needs a redesign to provide for better cooling, or - preferably - the PSU needs to be external to keep most of that heat out of the device. Otherwise it's just going to fail, most likely on or before the day you actually need it.

October 21 2009 at 6:10 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

artifex

Anyone know for sure if the drivers for our Macbook Airport Extreme cards (Atheros chipsets) are also certified? Don't recall them being more than draft spec.

October 21 2009 at 3:38 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

robzr

I wonder if the file server performance (ie: cpu / usb interface) has been improved at all... (crosses finger for review with thorough testing soon)

October 20 2009 at 8:11 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Tom L

Don't suppose they did anything about the TC's inadequate cooling? I'd certainly not consider buying another one until that's fixed.

October 20 2009 at 6:37 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jay Mueller

Is this a 4x4 antenna (good for 600mbps) or still just a 3x3?

October 20 2009 at 3:55 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Jay Mueller's comment

Kevin

It should be 3x3, rated at 450mbps. The old ones were actually rated at 300mbps. Do keep in mind tho that none of their current computer lineup has 450mbps AirPort chips so the new router's higher speeds are useless until they decide to upgrade their computer lineup's wifi cards.

October 22 2009 at 1:10 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Twist

I wish the AEBS had an audio out like the Airport Express does. Would love to use AirTunes to play audio from my MacBook through the speakers that are just a few feet from my current router (WRT54G) but the Airport Express doesn't have enough wired ports and I am not in the mood to buy both the AEBS and AE especially considering how they would basically be right next to each other.

October 20 2009 at 3:36 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

I'd say that's a big deal. In my apartment I don't need a lot of range, but whenever I've used my other Airport for work, I always run into problems of it cutting out just a few feet short of where I need it. It would be great if they could put those improvements into the Airport Express as well. I have the very first one, and have been thinking about an upgrade for a while.

October 20 2009 at 2:57 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Andre

Shouldn't my existing AEBS be software upgradable to the non-draft version then?

October 20 2009 at 2:04 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Andre's comment

Chris G.

Should be able to be upgraded via software, unless there are no changes needed to how the AEBS already does Wireless-N. Probably will roll out the next time there is an Airport Extreme Base Station firmware update.

Obviously the antenna improvements can't be done to old AEBS'.

October 20 2009 at 2:27 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply