AirPort Extreme now dual-band
Among the many Apple announcements this morning came news of a new AirPort Extreme. The big change with the new model is dual-band support – the device has two antennas, providing both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands. You can now segregate your faster 802.11n devices to the 5Ghz band, which will mean faster performance as the slower 802.11b/g devices will ride the 2.4Ghz frequencies.
An interesting feature is the ability to name the networks the same or to name than discretely. Apple 802.11n-enabled gear will switch between the networks intelligently based on performance in the former setup. You can force 802.11n gear to ride only the 5Ghz in the latter case.
The AEBS offers the ability to create a virtual guest network with a separate SSID as well. This guest network restricts access to only the Internet, preventing users from surfing your internal network. Pretty slick.
There is also an option to allow access to hard drives or Time Capsule drives over MobileMe. I’m not overly impressed with this service offering, but I won’t weigh judgement until I test it.
My network at home is currently split between a DLink 802.11g device and a Time Capsule offering 802.11n. The former requires a reboot daily which tells me it is dying. I plan on picking up the AEBS soon.
Side note – the AEBS is cheaper than the DLink and Linksys dual-band routers for sale at Best Buy.
