Does the Airport Extreme unit allow you to turn the wi-fi on and off once configured?

[Whackintosh]

I'd prefer not to be blasting signals 24/7 and would ideally like the option of switching my wi-fi transmitter on when needed, then off again when not. Does the AEBS allow this through its software?

BTW, was just about to order a Time Capsule when I read two reviews that mentioned it runs extremely hot. Heat's no friend to a HDD, so this combined with the price and the fact that really, we have no idea what brand of HDD Apple is even including in the TC, has made me opt for an AEBS with an external drive.

 

[waw74]

yes you can turn it off, but it would be a multi-step process.

You would have to launch airport utility, select the device, open it, then change the settings (either manually turning on/off the wireless or have 2 profiles), save the change, then the device would reboot.

Would probably take a couple minutes to turn on or off the wireless from the time you started, to the time the device was back online.

 

[Consultant]

You don't need to turn off wifi if you use WPA2 encryption and a strong password.

 

[Whackintosh]

You don't need to turn off wifi if you use WPA2 encryption and a strong password.

It's not a question of security. I don't want to waste energy having the unit transmitting signals around the clock if I'll only be using wireless in my home several times a week.

Sad that Apple make it so difficult to do this kind of thing. I had an old Belkin one that let me do this on the fly in two seconds flat.

 

[MTI]

Isn't there an option just to turn SSID broadcast off?

 

[minik]

The easiest way is to unplug it before going to bed.

 

[ChrisA]

It's not a question of security. I don't want to waste energy having the unit transmitting signals around the clock if I'll only be using wireless in my home several times a week.

Sad that Apple make it so difficult to do this kind of thing. I had an old Belkin one that let me do this on the fly in two seconds flat.

Waste energy? You are talking reducing power consumption by micro-watts on a device that uses tens of watts The power saved is literally at the level of a tiny faction of a percent. You save a LOT more power by simply buying a light timer and having the entire unit switched off at night for a few hours.

When the system is not moving data the transmitter is actually off and not radiating power. Yes it does "wake up" now and then but for a thousandth of a second or so.

 

[Whackintosh]

The easiest way is to unplug it before going to bed.

But that would still leave the thing gulping power to broadcast signals anytime I'm just using my desktop without the need for wi-fi access in other places. That seems necessary, especially with Apple trying to make energy efficient machines across their lineup.

 

[Whackintosh]

Isn't there an option just to turn SSID broadcast off?

That's what I was hoping for.

 

[Whackintosh]

When the system is not moving data the transmitter is actually off and not radiating power. Yes it does "wake up" now and then but for a thousandth of a second or so.

Really? If that's the case, it's not nearly as bad then.

 

[MTI]

I'd still want to turn off SSID just for a bit more security.

 

[rhyx]

I'd still want to turn off SSID just for a bit more security.

Security through obscurity. Figuring out the SSID is a very trivial task.

 

[sycho]

Isn't there an option just to turn SSID broadcast off?

That's what I was hoping for.

Turning off SSID broadcast just makes the accesspoint not advertise itself to WiFi devices. If that is what you did with your old router you did nothing other then waste time, since it is still transmitting. I am going to have to agree with everyone else saying that turning off the radio will not be worth the pennies saved a month.

 

[elie]

Being able to turn off wireless...

It's not a question of security. I don't want to waste energy having the unit transmitting signals around the clock if I'll only be using wireless in my home several times a week.

Sad that Apple make it so difficult to do this kind of thing. I had an old Belkin one that let me do this on the fly in two seconds flat.

Hello,
I have the same challenge, we have been told by a few friends that reducing the wireless at least night reduces the risk of creating problematic cell division.
I will ask my friends in Belgium again, but i bottles down to when you have a baby or a young child, while growing there is a lot of cell division going on. The wireless signal supposedly interferes with this process. Also when you are pregnant, one is advised to not sleep close to any devices that emit certain frequenties.

So for us the option like a timer within the airport settings would be great. The BT homehub has this feature, but i do not want to use the homehub. It's been having trouble since day one.