Apple Quietly Releases 802.11n Enabler

[Peace]

Actually I wasn't expecting it to be a firmware update since Windows ID's the card as being N under bootcamp. I realized that last week when I connected to a friends N router under Windows. So much for it being a firmware thing.

You are right and I stand corrected.At the time I discovered the .n I had no access to a .n router so I presumed it just needed a firmware update.

So much for theories!

 

[finedesign]

my results with D-link DIR-635

Hi folks-

I just downloaded the wireless N updater and have mixed reactions. See below.

grace and peace-
paul

SPECS:
------------------------------
Computer: MBP C2D
Wireless Router: D-Link DIR-635

GOOD RESULTS
------------------------------
The speed is very very fast on page loads. I did a speed test about a month ago , then again just now with the following results:

https://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

OLD STATS: (B4 Wireless N)
5004 dn / 478.7 up

NEW STATS:
9315 dn / 20 up

NEW STATS (second attempt):
10285 dn / 282 up


BAD RESULTS
------------------------------
I mainly wanted the N ability for the range. Unfortunately I can barely get the signal outside my home.
When I enable some of my wireless signal apps (AP Grapher, CoconutWiFi, some widgets) I lose the signal altogether. AirStatz seems to be the only app that works. And sometimes it just seems to drop in speed intermittently.

 

[Peace]

Hi folks-

I just downloaded the wireless N updater and have mixed reactions. See below.

grace and peace-
paul

SPECS:
------------------------------
Computer: MBP C2D
Wireless Router: D-Link DIR-635

GOOD RESULTS
------------------------------
The speed is very very fast on page loads. I did a speed test about a month ago , then again just now with the following results:

https://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

OLD STATS: (B4 Wireless N)
5004 dn / 478.7 up

NEW STATS:
9315 dn / 20 up

NEW STATS (second attempt):
10285 dn / 282 up


BAD RESULTS
------------------------------
I mainly wanted the N ability for the range. Unfortunately I can barely get the signal outside my home.
When I enable some of my wireless signal apps (AP Grapher, CoconutWiFi, some widgets) I lose the signal altogether. AirStatz seems to be the only app that works. And sometimes it just seems to drop in speed intermittently.

You do realize the .n update has no effect on internet traffic right?
It's merely for LAN not WAN.

re: bittorrent

Man this 206 KB file is gonna slow down all those bittorrent sites!!

 

[mousemd]

Newgroups are so 1999. Its all about the bittorrent!

dunno about that one...newsgroups are probably safer than bittorrent

 

[Peligro]

Checking speed?

How can I check the speed of my connection? I would like to see exactly how many Mbps faster this will be.

 

[bimmerkid]

This is great!

I have a C2D MacBook Pro.... look what happens when attempting to install the enabaler:

 

[Peace]

I have a C2D MacBook Pro.... look what happens when attempting to install the enabaler:

Have you installed the Airport update yet?

 

[gogoman]

Getting some good rates with new enabled N card and D-Link extreme N router with gigabit. Steady around 6400Kbps.

Another speed test for the "new" N card:

 

[WildPalms]

No, this is greed!!! Why always try to charge for anything? Their products are not the cheapest on the market, maybe to little influence as they are the only on the market with this kind of products. Other manufacturers like Sony have released firmware for their cd recorders to make them work faster but without charging for the update.

It is not greed drcosmos. Why dont you start with a little bit of research. Here's a sign post: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes-Oxley_Act

 

[pwfletcher]

I run my entire home automation/security system over wifi including streaming movies to different MacMini C2Ds (custom made) thoughout the house. The Minis are connected via ethernet, but since the bullk of the system is wifi, the 802.11N will be a welcome improvement. I just upgraded my MacBook Pro without issue, but now really need the new AE to bring it all together ...

 

[sblasl]

This may help for those with Draft N routers

I spoke with a Tech at Buffalo today and she informed of a few things:

If your cable/DSL connection has any type of degradation, you will have very unstable if even usable connection at all. So it is best to check your cables, connectors, and even signal leakage, if so, get it remedied.

Don't use any of the AirStatz, iStumblers, and all of the other Airport "stuff" until you really get your network up & running and even then think twice about using them.

I always would manually set my channel to 6, she had me let the router set the channel automatically, then everything fell into place and away we went!! Something to do with channel "bonding". Basically let the router do all of the configurations automatically when it comes to the "n" stuff.

For security I am using WPA2 with no problems. We have a MacBook C2D and a MacBook Pro C2D with a Buffalo WZR-G300N router.

Good luck!

 

[izzyd3434]

I think so

I think that you are right (last poster)about it having nothing to do with your G speeds....so I don't know who would upgrade....unless you were simply waiting for this because you were about to purchase a N router....and I didn't see a response as to if the pre-N routers will be compatible?

-----------
John
http://www.monomachines.com

 

[EagerDragon]

Can you connect to TV via a wired connection? I personally don't really trust the security of wireless networks.

But then again, that might be just because my house was robbed one time and I got about $3K of fraud on my credit card another time...

Update: Go my answer there:

Where you using WPA2 and a strong password?
If you were running an open wireless I understand. But if you were running WPA2 and a strong password I dought that was the problem, it would take them thousands of years to decode the stuff.

 

[EagerDragon]

Correction: Pre-N routers are out. The question is how compatible is one vendor's Pre-N router with another vendor's Pre-N card. That has always been one of the negatives of a 'draft' spec. Quite often, if you want the full speeds available, you need to get all your networking cards, access points, and routers from the same vendor.

The real question is how well will Apple's n-enabled cards work with someone else's pre-n access points or routers.

Buy hardware witn the same pre-N chip as Apple. However I would suggest sticking with a single brand, in this case Apple.

 

[Peace]

I run my entire home automation/security system over wifi including streaming movies to different MacMini C2Ds (custom made) thoughout the house. The Minis are connected via ethernet, but since the bullk of the system is wifi, the 802.11N will be a welcome improvement. I just upgraded my MacBook Pro without issue, but now really need the new AE to bring it all together ...

What program is that ?

 

[sblasl]

What do you mean by "MacMini C2Ds (custom made)"?

"

I run my entire home automation/security system over wifi including streaming movies to different MacMini C2Ds (custom made) thoughout the house.

 

[AidenShaw]

What program is that ?

http://www.perceptiveautomation.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=9652

 

[Reverend Wally]

My results since the N activation

 

[abadr]

Why? What responsibility does Apple have for Netgear products? What responsibility does Netgear have for Apple firmware? Catch-22 for you, but them's the breaks with non-standard products.

Apple is only guaranteeing that pre-N speeds will work with its own router AFAIK. But thanks for Beta-testing for the rest of us

I could be wrong, but I thought that both were meant to be backward compatiable with the 802.11g standard, which again, correct me if I'm wrong, is faster than 400kb/s

AFAIK it isn't a firmware update either, but a software patch

The Airport Extreme shipped with Mac Pros and C2D iMacs are supposed to be 802.11g compatible. They are advertised as such and 802.11g is a recognised standard. Netgear, Belkin and other all comply to that standard. Apple should too.

It is reasonable to expect 802.11g speeds. Which are typically 2-6 megabytes per second.

A througput rate which maxes out at 400 K bytes per second, (which is what I am getting too) reveals that these parts fail to comply to that standard.

I now have an n-enabled Mac pro - which gets less throughput than a 802.11b equipped Powerbook from the same base station. Way to go Apple.


C.

Thanks for backing me up! Just re-reading the discussion, so sorry for multiple posts, but I felt strongly about the slightly ignorant post above.

 

[ClimbingTheLog]

Nobody bought their C2D mac because it was, or might be, N compatible

Speak for yourself. Some of us do product research before buying. This site is really good for that.

They even find it necessary to charge new customers...I guess the whole thing has to do with some f'd up structures within Apple (e.g. the guys who wrote the driver somehow have to generate revenue in order to justify their project/time without official R&D blessing or something like that).

Good point! Again, we shouldn't have to know or care how Apple works - this is the philosophy they espouse in their products. This pretty much blows a hole in the Sarbox argument. And adds credence for "if we can get $2 per driver, times half a million users, several times a year" argument.

I'm glad to see they're at least honestly calling it an Enabler. That is, the hardware was initially DIS-abled.

 

[wakerider017]

Guys,

Unless you have some wicked fast internet you should not see an increase in connection speed with 802.11n.

You will see a big difference while transferring files from local computers and such

 

[SeaFox]

it's. two. freaking. dollars.

get over it. people will spend money on a pack of cigs but complain for stuff like this. this is not a conspiracy, this is not about principle, this is not the start of future things to come, this is not the beginning of apple starting a new business model of charging money for seemingly petty upgrades. this is none of that. what this is, is two. freaking. dollars.

Yes. THANK YOU. I cannot believe how many people have rated this negative.

My results since the N activation

Activating 802.11n capability on your computer isn't going to effect your Internet access at all.

Your g wireless was already faster than your broadband connection.

 

[SeaFox]

Speak for yourself. Some of us do product research before buying. This site is really good for that.

You must be joking because...

1. This site is about rumors and therefore publishes things that don't pan out to be true all the time.
2. Macrumors never stated that the 802.11n capability would be active on the new laptops or that a software enabler would be free of charge.

So you still and always were buying an 802.11g card in the laptop despite what you may have thought.

 

[jimbo0270]

I can't believe all the negatives. Apple never advertised the N hardware. Nobody bought their C2D mac because it was, or might be, N compatible. So if you're happy with 802.11g, then use that. If you want the new standard, pay the TINY fee and be happy that you have the option. Stop whinning!!

No Apple did not advertise but when it showed up as N in Winblows I knew it was only a matter of time before they enabled N on the Mac side, so I did buy a C2D iMac because it "might" be N compatible. If not, I would have waited... in need the bandwidth and WIFI or it would be of little benefit to me. Now I purchased the enabler and it says it's N but I see no speed increase with my Linksys WRT300N. Network Utility still shows the link speed as 54mb even though I forced the router to 130mb on N.

 

[jcshas]

Older Airport card user upgrade?

So I cracked open the case of my MacBook Pro Core Duo 1.83GHz machine tonight to install a 120 GB hard drive, and happend to notice how simple it would be to install one of the new 802.11n Airport Cards. The card itself is seated on the left side of the keyboard. From as near as I could tell, it's similar to how the Airport Cards are installed in the iBook G4's. Slide it into the slot, connect the cables and you're on your way. I wonder how long it will be before you can pick one up and install it yourself? Or does it also require the newer Intel chipset?