Re-test Apple Airport Extreme

[l:x]

Seems that the Apple Airport Extreme supports simultaneous usage of the dual band (http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/features/frequency.html)

Any idea if you guys are gonna update the test of the Apple Airport Extreme? (http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30188/96/)

 

[thiggins]

I have repeatedly asked Apple to submit the product for review and they have not.

 

[hmurchison]

Evidently

If you're not a Walt Mossberg or David Pogue you get to wait in the soup line like everyone else.

 

[thiggins]

I don't think it's that. Apple has provided product relatively quickly in the past.

I think it's more that they don't need/want the product subjected to the level of testing that we give it.

 

[l:x]

Too bad

Still... I've read/heard that the router is only configurable using an installable app. That kinda s*cks.

I'll probably go with the DIR-825 or DIR-855 (if I can convince myself of the extra 100 € worth).

Cheers,
Niels R.

 

[zjohnr]

I have repeatedly asked Apple to submit the product for review and they have not.

I echo the "too bad" sentiments expressed earlier. I was going to submit a post asking about the possibility of a review myself until I saw this thread had already been started.

Aside from the basic "how well does it work?" questions, I saw something else in the product announcement articles that seemed very interesting.

"Inside Apple’s AirPort Extreme, Time Capsule updates" by Glenn Fleishman, Macworld.com

Normally, Wi-Fi devices choose somewhat arbitrarily which base station they connect to when multiple base stations share the same network name for roaming purposes. Wi-Fi adapters typically try to get the best connection, such as that with the best signal strength, but standard Wi-Fi doesn’t offer better choices.

Apple senior product manager Jai Chulani, who focuses on the company’s Wi-Fi line, said that Apple had modified that for its hardware. He explained that an algorithm looks at the signal strength and also the available network speed to determine which band’s network to join.​

I use a D-Link DIR-655 (Rev A4) and have absolutely no experience with a simultaneous dual band router. More than that though, I'm more than a little "hazy" on exactly what advantages simultaneous 2.4 & 5GHz is supposed to provide.

I believe one (the only??) advantage is that if you have a mixed protocol environment you could split things and run the 802.11n devices by themselves in the 5GHz band. But again, exactly how one does that escapes me. I have assumed you'd assign different SSIDs to the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands and separate the traffic by selecting the 5GHz SSID for the "n" clients and the 2.4GHz SSID for the others.

It sounds like Apple is claiming that with their latest Airport Extreme you wouldn't have to bother with such details. You could have just one SSID for both bands and the Airport would automagically and dynamically select the "best" band for each client.

If that is what Apple is implying, it would be nice to have someone with an inquiring mind run some pertinent tests to see how well it actually works. Heck, I'd be happy even with some impertinent testing ...

Oh, well. Maybe you could keep asking them for a review copy, say once a month or so?

-irrational john

 

[zjohnr]

Still... I've read/heard that the router is only configurable using an installable app. That kinda s*cks.

My goodness! You obviously must be an evil Microsoft provocateur who has been induced by offers of cash and women of loose morals to trash talk Apple.

Or not.

More seriously, I think this is just the way Apple does things. Connecting via a web interface seems to make a lot more sense to me. But Apple is used to working in a world where they have much tighter control over both the software and the hardware. I think it has to influence their implementation choices.

I'll probably go with the DIR-825 or DIR-855 (if I can convince myself of the extra 100 € worth).

In their defense, Apple's router also promises to function as a print server and/or a NAS if attache an external USB drive. This being Apple, my naive expectation is that these functions would also work relatively well. So you may actually be getting more for the extra money.

But I never did read far enough into Tim's October 2007 Airport Extreme review to see what luck he had with these functions. Guess I should do that ...

-irrational john

 

[zjohnr]

Please keep trying ...

I have repeatedly asked Apple to submit the product for review and they have not.

Just popping up again to encourage you to continue to (re)submit requests to test Apple's early 2009 Airport Extreme dual radio 802.11n router.

The quote below is from your December 17, 2004 review of the Apple AirPort Express.

Needless to say, I won't be making any further assumptions about Apple's willingness to supply products for review and want to thank the folks at Apple for being so responsive!​

-irrational john

 

[thiggins]

Things change, John. Apple is no longer responsive to review requests.