Apple Updates AirPort Extreme Firmware, Improved Throughput, Stability

by , 2:00 PM EST, February 26th, 2003

Apple has released a firmware update for AirPort Extreme that brings a number of improvements to the product. AirPort Extreme is Apple's implementation of the 802.11g wireless networking protocol, and is a successor to Apple's AirPort (802.11b) technology. The improvements in Firmware Update 5.0.3 include such things as reducing interference from other 2.4 GHz radio interference, as well as some stability improvements.

More importantly, and unstated in Apple's documentation, initial testing by TMO shows that throughput on an AirPort Extreme network is increased up to the 30 foot range. From Apple's documentation:

AirPort Extreme Base Station Firmware 5.0.3
AirPort Extreme Base Station Firmware 5.0.3 is an upgrade for the AirPort Extreme Base Station. This firmware revision is not for use with the original (Graphite) or the dual-Ethernet (Snow) base stations.

Fixes in this Update:
This firmware update fixes an issue where an AirPort Extreme network appears to be unavailable as displayed by the AirPort Menu Extra or the Internet Connection application. This behavior may result from excessive 2.4 GHz radio interference which causes the wireless network to disappear. The update allows the base station to more gracefully recover when exposed to sources of interference. For additional information on reducing the effects of interference, see the Apple Knowledge Base document "AirPort: Potential Sources of Interference. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58543

The AirPort Extreme Base Station will no longer spontaneously restart itself.

There is now no known limit to the number of FTP connections that can be initiated through the base station.

System Requirements:

AirPort Extreme Base Station

AirPort Software 3.0 or greater

Mac OS X 10.2 or 10.1.5 (with the Networking Update)

You can find more information and download links at Apple's Web site.

The Mac Observer Spin:

With the 802.11g protocol still officially in a state of flux, there are likely to be many more improvements to AirPort Extreme sooner, rather than later. This particular update, however, definitely improves throughput in a usable range, and that's a good step forward.

AirPort Extreme Base Station Firmware Update 5.0.3