New Airport Base Station - Questions...

[sonictonic]

Hi People

I just got a new Airport Base Station 802.11n router, and had a couple questions:

Is there a way to find out about any 802.11g devices connected to the network, slowing down the connection? I have it on 802.11n right now with b and g compatibility, but wondered if there's an easy way to make sure I' using n capabilities and nothing is slowing me down. I have numerous wireless devices that don't support n, like my Nintendo DS and Wii, and the iPhone. The iPhone and DS are easy as I can turn em off (the wifi I mean) but the Wii has a constant internet connection so does that mean I won't ever get n capability unless I fully disconnect the Wii? Anyhow, I think it'd be nice to see a list of some sort, of all devices connected, and what they use (n, g, or b). Any freeware out there do that?

Secondly, I plugged in my USB hub to the Airport... and though it's not the most expensive hub it wasn't the cheapest either and it is powered. I've got 2 Western Digital Hard Drives, my printer, camera dock, ipod dock, and my iPhone dock plugged into it... but my Airport is only recognizing my printer and ONE of the hard drives. Am I correct in saying that I can't use my "dock stuff" with this? Woulda been nice but I guess I see how that can't work. Or can it? As for the hard drives, does it matter how they are formatted? The one it mounts without problem is an HFS+ drive, the smaller drive is FAT32, is that why its listed in the Airport utility but will not mount?

Help please!

Thank you!

 

[ravenvii]

I don't have the answer to the first question.

But to the second, like Apple says, the USB port can only support printers and hard drives. That's it. You can't use iPods, cameras, et al with it. Period.

And yes, the hard drive has to be formatted in HFS+ for best results with AirDisk (much faster file transfers, etc), but you CAN use FAT32, apparently. The AirPort cannot recnogize more than one hard drive.

 

[sonictonic]

Thanks for the help. I actually looked through the manual to get info on what you can add to the USB port, and it mentioned hard drives printers and hubs, so I just hoped I can use all USB stuff that's in my hub. In heinsight I guess that was silly to assume. Alas, maybe I'll pick up a second usb hub just for the hard drive and printer I wanna access wirelessly. I found one that matches the AirPort and can stack on top of it, and it's about $30.

I decided to leave my Netgear router hooked up and have it set as a separate deal, for the Wii, DS, and iPhone. It doesn't look bad on my desk; at least it's white, so it matches nicely. This way I get full 5ghz 802.11n throughput for my MacBook Pro and Apple TV and the other slower devices won't slow me down. Do you guys think this is a good way to do it? I'm kind of new to this.