Apple updates Airport AC/N firmware

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The guys over in Cupertino have pushed out an update for the 11n/11ac Airports

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1708

"About AirPort Base Station Firmware Update 7.7.7 Information
Firmware update 7.7.7 is recommended for all AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations with 802.11ac. This update improves the stability and performance of your base station.
This update:

• Fixes issue which may prevent communication between clients on the same network

• Improves performance with an extended guest network

• Addresses potential naming conflicts with Bonjour Sleep Proxy
  For detailed information on AirPort base station firmware updates, including instructions how to install the update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1218"

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1880

"About AirPort Base Station Firmware Update 7.6.7
Firmware update 7.6.7 is recommended for all Apple 802.11n Wi-Fi base stations including AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule. This update improves the stability and performance of your base station.
This update:

• Fixes issue which may prevent communication between clients on the same network

• Improves performance with an extended guest network

• Addresses potential naming conflicts with Bonjour Sleep Proxy
  For detailed information on AirPort base station firmware updates, including instructions how to install the update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1218"

 

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Just as a reminder - the mDNSResponder fix is a critical path issue for all 802.11n/802.11ac Airports (Extreme and Express) - this mDNS fix was rolled out in recent OSX/IOS/tvOS builds as well.

The update also includes a IPV6 fix that has been a long standing concern with the big CableCo's deployment, so if you haven't updated yet, please do so.

Couple of other notes.

AirportUtility 5.6.1 has been deprecated on all platforms, which is sad as Windows, 5.6.1 was the last release for the pre-2012 devices - should be using 6.x for these 2012 and later models (Extreme AC/Express N concurrent dual-band).

Using 5.6.1 on 2012 and later models may result in unexpected/unusual behavior, as some values have moved, and the older Airport Utility isn't aware of those values - it can still be used with the pre-2012 devices with no issues.

Guest Network Fix - VLAN1003 (yes, Airports support guest wifi even when bridges, on both 2.4G and 5 bands - it's vlan'ed out and one can setup the router (or managed switch) to accommodate this.

7.7.7/7.6.7 also fixes a guest network issue when Airports are used in AP Mode (what Apple refers to as Bridged Mode) behind a Router - guest networks are tagged with VLAN 1003 to break out guest traffic from the non-tagged traffic.

This was a bit buggy in the earlier builds - this has been fixed (and I've tested this myself) in the most current release.