Apple Updates AirPort: New Base Station, Support For AOL & 128-Bit Encryption, New Software

by , 10:00 AM EST, November 13th, 2001

Apple has released a new model of its AirPort base station and new AirPort 2.0 software. AirPort is Apple's brand name for its outstanding 802.11b wireless networking products. The new base station includes support for up to 50 simultaneous users, a second Ethernet port for an Ethernet based LAN, 128-bit password and data encryption, and support for AOL 5.0 for Mac and AOL for MAC OS X. The software called AirPort 2.0 includes support for all this, and can also add support for AOL to the previous base station models, and 128-bit encryption to previous AirPort cards. From Apple:

Apple® today announced the second generation of its award-winning AirPort® wireless network solution for home, school and office. The 802.11b based solution features a new AirPort Base Station offering the first-ever support for America Online (AOL) users, a built-in firewall for greater protection, 128-bit encryption for added wireless security, and up to 50 users sharing one base station.

"Apple has consistently led the industry in 802.11 wireless networking," said Philip Schiller, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Now we're adding another industry first with support for American Online, and great new security features like a built-in firewall and 128-bit encryption."

Based on the industry standard IEEE 802.11b, the AirPort wireless networking solution consists of the AirPort Base Station, AirPort Card and AirPort software. The new AirPort 2.0 software, available as an online download from Apple's web site in both native Mac® OS X and Mac OS 9 versions, provides compatibility with AOL, the most popular Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the U.S. The new software can also be used to add AOL support to existing AirPort Base Stations, as well as 128-bit encryption to existing AirPort Cards.

AirPort's new connectivity and security features include:

compatibility with AOL, the most popular Internet Service Provider in the U.S.;
two Ethernet ports, one 10BASE-T for wide area connections such as DSL or cable modem, and a new 10/100BASE-T port for local area networking;
firewall protection providing added security from unauthorized access via the Internet;
support for up to 128-bit password and data encryption;
RADIUS support enabling schools and businesses to centrally manage user access control; and
AirPort Card compatibility with Cisco's LEAP security method, popular in many higher-education institutions.

AirPort offers a data rate of up to 11 megabits per second, enabling simultaneous sharing of a single Internet connection by up to 50 users and has a typical range of 150-foot radius from the base station. All Apple notebooks and desktops are AirPort-ready with integrated antennas and card slot, some with the AirPort card preinstalled.

The price for the new AirPort products is the same as the old, US$99 for AirPort cards, and US$299 for AirPort base stations. AirPort 2.0 software is a free download. You can find more information on AirPort at Apple's Web site.

The Mac Observer Spin:

It's interesting that Apple is sticking with 802.11b at a time when many other companies are releasing new products based on the 802.11a standard. 802.11a offers up to 54 Mbits/second of bandwidth, as opposed to 802.11b's (AirPort's) 11 Mbits/second. From a ZDNet article concerning new 802.11a products being released at Comdex this week:

The standards are not compatible, but technology company executives believe they can coexist. The 802.11b standard has gained an early foothold in businesses, airports, hotels and homes, but executives say they expect to create technology in the future that will allow computer users to toggle back and forth between wireless standards.

Analyst firm IDC believes 802.11b will remain the more popular standard until 802.11a takes over the market share lead in 2005.

The difference between the two wireless standards is that 802.11b works in the crowded 2.4GHz frequency, the same portion of the airwaves where microwave ovens and some cordless phones operate. The 802.11a standard operates in the uncrowded 5GHz frequency, where interference is less of a problem.

There's apparently plenty of time for Apple to move to 802.11a, or some other related technology, in the future, but it's interesting to see the dichotomy developing.

In the meanwhile, the new base station models are just what the doctor ordered. The 2nd Ethernet port, the support for 5 times as many connections, and the support for AOL are all big items, though the latter feature is certainly aimed at a different market than are the first two. The support for RADIUS, added to the expanded connection abilities, will be key for corporate and educational markets as well. This is definitely an impressive update.

Lastly, it's very cool and very smart of Apple to include the ability to update previous AirPort base stations with support for AOL.

Apple