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Apple Releases Firmware Update 7.7.9 and 7.6.9 for AirPort Base Stations [Updated]

Who uses these anymore? They are very, very outdated. The standards haven't changed much but the antenna technology in new routers is so much more advanced. I replaced my Airport and using the same standard 802.11ac I've seen a 50% increase in speed with nothing more than the new router.
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zorinlynx said:
There haven't been any major advances in WiFi performance since then, though. There is literally no reason to release a new router right now.

If a new WiFi standard comes along and Apple doesn't release a new router afterwards, THEN we can be sure that development is dead. But for now the current routers are still state of the art.

This firmware update shows that Apple is still supporting the products, and they are still for sale without stock problems.
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Accept the big change on the newest routers is the antenna tech. Everything being the same the newest routers are much faster in the real world due to this.
 
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69Mustang said:
Personally I think they've stopped. Look at their recent style of announcing everything in advance. They pre-announced the iMac Pro, the HomePod, and the future Modular Mac Pro with new monitors no less. Wouldn't it seem really odd that the "one more thing" secret is... routers? iPad Socks would probably generate more excitement.:D
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Agree. Finally switched about month ago. Also about $100 too much for their 3 year old router
 
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AppleMad98004 said:
Who uses these anymore? They are very, very outdated. The standards haven't changed much but the antenna technology in new routers is so much more advanced. I replaced my Airport and using the same standard 802.11ac I've seen a 50% increase in speed with nothing more than the new router.
[doublepost=1513115576][/doublepost]

Accept the big change on the newest routers is the antenna tech. Everything being the same the newest routers are much faster in the real world due to this.
Click to expand...

Newest doesn't always mean better. In my experience apple extreme router is by far the best in terms of stability and transfer rate. I never experienced disconnects or slowdowns and with D-Link,Microtik and Asus extreme super sonic ultra fast wifi gaming router i had just problems.
 
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zorinlynx said:
There haven't been any major advances in WiFi performance since then, though. There is literally no reason to release a new router right now.

If a new WiFi standard comes along and Apple doesn't release a new router afterwards, THEN we can be sure that development is dead. But for now the current routers are still state of the art.

This firmware update shows that Apple is still supporting the products, and they are still for sale without stock problems.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure the AirPort routers are all 802.11ac "Wave 1". There are legitimate improvements in "Wave 2" like MU-MIMO. That essentially allows a router to carve up its transceiver chains to talk to multiple stations at the same time. This dramatically improves performance if you have more than a handful of devices.

It also adds improved phased array antenna capabilities ("beamforming"), which improve the range and selectivity in noisy environments like apartments. My access points right now can see around 130 other access points from my neighbors. No fun.
 
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For those that are not fans of Apple routers, what would you recommend?

Something simple just for home use, fast and easy set up?

My 2nd time capsule is already almost 3 years old.
 
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AppleMad98004 said:
Who uses these anymore? They are very, very outdated. The standards haven't changed much but the antenna technology in new routers is so much more advanced. I replaced my Airport and using the same standard 802.11ac I've seen a 50% increase in speed with nothing more than the new router.
[doublepost=1513115576][/doublepost]

Accept the big change on the newest routers is the antenna tech. Everything being the same the newest routers are much faster in the real world due to this.
Click to expand...
More to router speed than “antenna tech”.
 
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Bokito said:
Yeah, I 100% agree to that. I’m living in an apartment block with more than 30 different networks available to pick from. My Time Capsule just works, but my ISP’s router is merely a backup.

I wish they’d bring back the old Mac software too. It’s way better than the iOSified version.

Airports are not the cheapest routers around, but I think it’s one of the best products Apple ever made.
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Yeah, I ended up setting up multiple Ubiquiti AC Lite access points because I live in a very congested WiFi environment, but I still use the Time Capsule just as a router (wireless turned off). I couldn't go back to using Linksys and Netgear routers that would inexplicably require a DHCP renewal or a reboot every few weeks to get the broadband connection working again.
 
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Sedulous said:
More to router speed than “antenna tech”.
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Certainly is but the newest antenna tech means big advances in Multiple MIMO as well as device selectivity and various other improvements which are not in the Airports and make for far better speeds for multiple devices or places where there are multiple networks (Condo/apts) etc.

Nothing funnier than seeing someone with the latest MacBooks/iPhones etc and seeing that white dinosaur of a router. ;)
 
jonnysods said:
Man, remember when Apple made cool stuff like routers? Still loving my Time Capsule.
[doublepost=1513117341][/doublepost]Irony: Airport Utility app not updated for iPhone X
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That was a time Apple made computers .... good times . Now it's about emoji and the hardware they get used on
 
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Two questions

1) I thought airports weren't susceptible to KRACK?

2) if it's my airport for my network, does KRACK apply to WAN?

Thought it was just a LAN thing for
Hotspots?

I'm apparently all types of misinformed
 
MH01 said:
That was a time Apple made computers .... good times . Now it's about emoji and the hardware they get used on
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It's so different. I keep recalling to mind that video of Steve Jobs talking about marketing guys and board members and pure business guys running your company and not the designers and actual tech guys. Spooky video.
 
By buying used Extremes off eBay for around $60 a pop, I built a nice 4 station network connected with powerline adapters to span 4,100 sqft of space. Added a couple of Expresses to wirelessly serve music to different parts of the house. Very fast, easy to manage, and not particularly expensive.
 
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DogHouseDub said:
By buying used Extremes off eBay for around $60 a pop, I built a nice 4 station network connected with powerline adapters to span 4,100 sqft of space. Added a couple of Expresses to wirelessly serve music to different parts of the house. Very fast, easy to manage, and not particularly expensive.
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Have a thumbs up from me! I'm on Craigslist as we speak.

A quick note: Apple just provided an update to a product released in 2008 (Airport Express N - nearly 10 years old).

Thats why I continue to buy Apple.
 
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mariusignorello said:
AirPort for the most part is mesh networking.
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Maybe mesh networking with technology that existed 3 or 4 years ago. While, in practice, the two "tower" AirPort Extremes I had been using prior to switching to eero last year worked a lot like the eeros do in terms of handing off wireless clients seamlessly between the access points, the wireless bridge performance of the AirPort Extremes was far, far inferior to the performance of the eeros.

As an example, if my iPhone 7 was connected to my wirelessly bridged AirPort Extreme, about the fastest I'd see was 35-45 Mbps up and down. With the eeros wirelessly bridged, I typically see anywhere from 90-300 Mbps up and down depending on where I am in my home. I have a gigabit fiber connection and routinely get 850-900 Mbps up and down on my equipment that is hard wired directly to the main access point. I don't have ethernet running throughout my home, though, so my best option right now is to do a wireless bridge setup between the access points. While the wireless bridge setup is certainly not yet ideal in terms of getting the best possible throughput if you have a gigabit fiber connection, the mesh solutions that are available today absolutely smoke the AirPort Extreme in terms of wireless bridge performance, in my experience.
 
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