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.

Author and blogger Glenn Fleishman over at TidBITS has some great insights into iFixit's discovery that the 3rd generation iPod touch has an 802.11n-capable wireless chip. We mentioned this in our initial analysis of iFixit's teardown, but we still had a few comments asking what it could really do and some who claimed it could do nothing. With the help of Glenn's article, I'll put a few of those thoughts to rest and probably fuel more conspiracies with these highlights:

• Until recently, 802.11n-capable devices required two antennas. That has changed with the introduction of Single-Stream 802.11n, thus making it possible for manufacturers to put wireless-n into handheld devices.
• Part of the Single-Stream endeavor was a desire for better battery life. If Apple enables wireless-n in the future, it's very likely that you'll see the battery life improve when doing anything on WiFi because these chips should consume less power than wireless-g.
• Wireless-n could allow the iPod touch to send 50 percent more data across the network. That would give it a theoretical throughput of 30Mbps or more instead of its current 20Mbps.
• It's also possible that Single-Stream wireless-n technology will be more efficient on wireless networks. In order for that to happen, Apple will have to update their wireless routers to contain space-time block coding (STBC), but that could be as simple as a firmware update.

If Apple enabled 802.11n in the iPod touch, we could see a lot of new uses come to the device, including video streaming, wireless sync/home sharing, on-device video rental, and many other possibilities. I have always wanted to be able to start a movie in the living room and continue watching it live while doing other tasks around the house. With this new technology, that dream could someday become reality.

[via TidBITS]

Last night Apple released a firmware update for Time Capsule, AirPort Extreme, and AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n. Here are the fixes:

• Fixes some problems with extending and maintaining connectivity with extended networks
• Fixes an issue with clients that enable 802.11 "Power Save"
• Fixes connectivity issues with some third-party devices
• Fixes an issue when the base station is configured for PPPoE
• Fixes some Back To My Mac issues with connectivity and support for third-party routers

All of those sound like issues that could affect quite a few people -- especially those with (gasp!) "third-party" devices. I've certainly had issues with Back To My Mac using a Netgear router, so we'll see if this helps. In any event, firmware updates are recommended especially if you've had any of the above symptoms.

Some people may not believe that a leak on the Swiss Apple Store is an indication of actual product coming down the mountain. "The Swiss don't make mistakes like that," they say. Well, fair enough, but we now have the real deal: the Airport Express with 802.11n is on sale in the US Apple Store.

Our retail channel sources told us that the AE would be available by 3/23 or sooner, so looks like "sooner" wins. $99, supports up to 10 connected machines, AirTunes and printer sharing: works for me.

Thanks Mr. X & everyone who sent this in

It's easy to envy the Swiss, what with the fine chocolate and the neutrality and such. Now, another reason to long for the refined air of the Alps: the Swiss version of the Apple Store website is indicating availability on the supercharged 802.11n version of the Airport Express, as yet unnannounced in the US of A (translation here). With the domestic Apple Store showing 1-2 week ship times for the AE, we might well expect to see the new device next week, possibly on, I dunno, Tuesday.

An Apple-branded 802.11n router that supports AirTunes and printer sharing, all for $99? Sounds good to me. Hopefully, not too good to be true.

(Just noticing that Apple's press photo of the AE, reproduced here, shows it plugged into the top outlet -- blocking the lower socket completely. Aesthetics over functionality, anyone?)

Update 11:30 pm ET: Looks like someone got threatened with a Swiss Army knife, as the Swiss store has been normalized back to the current model of the Airport Express. You can see the translated page screenshot, as it was a few hours ago, after the break.

Thanks Thomas and James!

[via MacGeneration / Macrumors]

As the wanton, reckless eager early adopters of Mac OS X 10.5.2 begin to explore the update's new features and fixes, a few folks are running into a WiFi buzzsaw. Some D-Link and Westell router users have noted on Apple's support boards that their 802.11n connections are failing to authenticate post-10.5.2. Dropping the router back to 802.11g seems to straighten things out. Macfixit concurs, with user reports of ongoing wireless problems.

Considering that Apple's own Airport Extreme has come in for some criticism over the past months for dropping connections (in some cases prompting radical solutions), and that 10.5.2 has wireless fixes listed among the changes, it's both unsurprising and disappointing that the upgrade hasn't gone more smoothly for WiFi users. If you're running 10.5.2 and seeing problems with wireless, let us know below.

Thanks Scott & Greg.

Apple has released Time Capsule, a NAS (network-attached storage, I'll admit I'm so far from an IT guy that I had to look it up) unit that will wirelessly sync with multiple instances of Time Machine, all the while also working as an 802.11n base station (there are three included ethernet ports as well). Time Capsule has wireless backup, wireless networking, and even a USB port for networked printing, a networked hard drive, or both with a USB hub.

And perhaps most amazing is the sheer size available-- it's $399 for a 500gb hard drive, and $499 for a 1 TB hard drive. Sure, that's a little pricey if you've got only one or two computers at home, but $500 for a complete (and completely wireless) backup solution for a house full of computers is a pretty nice setup. This definitely won't cause as much of a stir as the iPhone updates or the MacBook Air today, but for someone who's been seeking a backup solution for a whole house of computers, Time Capsule has to be pretty good news.

It's available for preorder right now, and will release in February.

In today's New York Times, friend to Mac users and finder of lost loves, David Pogue does a nice user-focused job of reviewing four 802.11n wireless routers (story, video), evaluating performance and ease of setup for the Apple, Belkin, Netgear & Linksys offerings. His conclusion: the Airport Extreme, while slightly more expensive than the other units and lacking Gigabit support on the Ethernet side, is far and away the best performer (up to 90mbit transfer speeds, almost double the best results with the other three routers, testing details in his video) and certainly the easiest to configure and control. He also points out that current Macs are firmware-updatable to 802.11n, while most other PC manufacturers will make you buy a new card to get your speedy on.

For the real entertainment, however, check out Pogue's behind-the-story blog post. His experience with the Netgear software installation for a USB 802.11n adapter -- a madness-inducing swirl of EULAs, unsigned drivers, UI design from Graphix-R-Us, and plain ol' Windows user-hostile behavior -- is both familiar and chuckle-worthy.

Update: Clarified the 2nd paragraph to note that Pogue's issues with the Netgear installation were specific to the adapter, not the router itself.

Apple has just released a new update for AirPort Extreme base stations. The update includes general fixes, security improvements and addresses compatibility for the 802.11n base station. To install this update, you'll need AirPort Utility 5.1 for Mac or Windows.

The first security concerns seem to be the AirPort's ability to allow incoming IPv6 connections, which it does by default. The new update changes those default settings to limit inbound IPv6 connections to the local network only. You can check your settings after installing the update by opening AirPort Utility, selecting an 802.11 Extreme base station, clicking Advanced -> IPv6, and making sure that Block incoming IPv6 connections is checked.

A second security issue allows file names from a password-protected AirPort Disk to be viewed by users on the local network without a password. This is patched to require validation before file names (not file contents) can be seen.

Not only did today bring us colorful shuffles, it also marks the availability of the Airport Extreme 802.11n Enabler for Mac. You'll recall that the following Macs have 802.11n built in, but it is disabled:

• MacBook Pro with Core 2 Duo
• MacBook with Core 2 Duo
• Mac Pro
• iMac with Core 2 Duo (not the 17-inch 1.83GHz model though)

Before you plunk down your $2 for this enabler make sure that your Mac doesn't already have 802.11n enabled (very recent Macs ship with 802.11n enabled). The product page for the Enabler has directions to find this out.

Airport Extreme 802.11n Enabler for Mac is available now for $1.99, and since it is a download you can get it within moments of paying for it.

Update: As has been pointed out (and which I took for granted), if you are planning on buying one of the new Airport Extreme base stations you need not buy this separately. It'll come with the base station.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Dan Frakes at Macworld has published an in-depth article that delves into just what the new AirPort Extreme is all about. Pointing out some of the details we covered in our original post, Dan goes the full mile and then some with a history of the device and explanations of some interesting new features. Most notably, he unfolds fancy new technology like the multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) feature of 802.11n, as well as a new time-based access control system which lets you specify times that each device can access the internet. Are your kids (or your roommate?) spending too much time on MySpace when they should be doing homework on their MacBook? No sweat - just use Apple's easy-breezy AirPort Utility to cut 'em off until... well, whenever you feel like it.

Dan also covers what's missing - things like Gigabit ethernet (which, given the fact that it's been in Macs for years, still blows my mind) and the once-standard antenna port. He even pulls an industry price check to make sure Apple isn't taking us for too much of a ride with the new station's $179 price. All in all it's a good state-of-the-AirPort-Extreme for anyone interested in this recent sleeper release from Apple.

MacFixit reports that Apple plans to offer its 802.11n enabler for a $5 fee. It will enable 802.11n on Intel Core 2 Duo iMacs (except 17-inch, 1.83GHz iMac), Intel Core 2 Duo MacBooks, Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros, and Mac Pros with the AirPort Extreme card option. They will also bundle the enabler with the new Airport Extreme Base stations. This is not a huge amount of money, but one wonders why the enabler wouldn't just be a free download. I'm not sure the "Sarbanes-Oxley Act" explanation offered by one of the comments holds much water. On the other hand, it's not going to be a huge profit item for Apple either.

Also hidden away in the Airport Extreme revision are software enablers, included with the base station, to field-upgrade the wireless cards in some currently-shipping Macs to support 802.11n, no hardware changes necessary -- we suspected that something like this was in the works. Per Apple's 802.11 page:

These Mac computers support 802.11n in the new AirPort Extreme Base Station using the included enabler software:

• iMac with Intel Core 2 Duo (except 17-inch, 1.83GHz iMac)
• MacBook with Intel Core 2 Duo
• MacBook Pro with Intel Core 2 Duo
• Mac Pro with AirPort Extreme card option

Mini users, Core Duo laptops and iMacs continue to chug along with 802.11g. No word yet on whether/if those enablers will be downloadable.

Thanks Jeff L. and everyone who sent this in.

The Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros are hitting the streets and MacRumors is reporting that the wireless card is identified as a D-Link RangeBooster N 650 which is described as "Up to 650% Faster & 5X Farther than 802.11g".

Since another "draft 802.11n" card was found in the Core 2 Duo iMacs , there is added speculation on the rumor sites that the upcoming iTV product will also support the unfinished 802.11n protocol, granting us faster speeds and greater range than the current 802.11g standard. Let's hope!

if you haven't gotten your paws on one yet, here are some unboxing pics to salivate over and some initial hands-on reports in the MacRumors forums.

Thanks, Trevor!

Upon installing and booting into Windows Vista on his new 20-inch Core 2 Duo iMac, a forum poster known as Peace at Mac Rumors noticed that Vista identified the wireless card in the iMac as a Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter. Check out the Wikipedia's entry on 802.11n for some details, but it is essentially the next generation in wireless standards, offering increased range (reportedly up to 1/4 mile) and a much faster data thoroughput, up to 50x greater than 802.11b and 10x faster than 802.11a/g.

If this is true, and Windows isn't simply mistaking the hardware it's reporting (like that's never happened before), this is quite an intriguing move for Apple, as the actual 802.11n protocol has quite a ways to go on its journey to becoming ratified as an industry standard. Further, this is dumping fuel on the rumor fire that Apple will be using 802.11n in the iTV to achieve HD streaming. After all, the upcoming device has all the fixins for handling HDTV, and Mac Rumors is also observant in pointing out that Mr. J said the device uses "802.11" on stage, without specifying which version.

That's about all we have for now. We'll keep our eyes out for iMac and Mac Pro dissections to see if anyone can find cold hard evidence.

[via digg]