Airport Extreme g/n mixed question

[pulsewidth947]

Sorry for the cryptic title - I have a question about the Airport Extreme. I have a MBP and a Mac Mini. The MBP can use 802.1n, but my mini uses 802.1g. Does that mean the AEBS has to use 802.1g? Secondly, I presume you just plug in a USB harddrive and then you can see it in the side bar in finder?

 

[Shredster00]

The AEBS won't switch to just 802.11g, it will use a mixed g/n signal. You will notice a speed and range drop compared to using just 802.11n but not all the way down to g speeds/range.

Edit: About the USB harddrive.
Quote from Apple's website "Just connect the drive to the USB port on the back of your AirPort Extreme and — voila — all the documents, videos, photos, and other files on the drive instantly become available to anyone on the secure network, Mac and PC alike." So I assume it would appear automatically.

 

[Killerbob]

I was under the impression that the AE can use both protocols at the same time? Meaning, it would use 802.11g with your Mini, and 802.11n with your MBP. Also, if you have a PC connected wirelessly, even if it was an old one, using 802.11a/b, that would not affect the other two connections.

Can someone please confirm?

If it was using the slowest of all connections, then I would switch to a Netgear modem/router for instance, which can handle all protocols concurrently.

KB

 

[ajx22]

This might be a good read.

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/802-11n-router-roundup.ars/7

HTH,

 

[Killerbob]

Very good read indeed. It confirm that switching from "802.11n only (2.4GHz)" to "802.11n (802.11b/g compatible)" did NOT slow it down.

However, both of these protocols are slower than "802.11n only (5GHz)" - except over long distances (35 feet +)^.

This indicates that the protocol is not negatively affected by compatibility, but rather the frequency (of course).

 

[pulsewidth947]

I see. That makes sense. I think I'll keep the mini plugged in with ethernet, and just use n - that way it shouldnt interfere with my microwave One more question about storage - say I have a folder that I'd like to be protected, can you just password protect it?

Thanks for the replies!