But it became less and less reliable over time, even as data rates went up by leaps and bounds. If you still need a router-attached hard drive, most AirPort competitors offer USB-shared drives via SMB.īase station to base station networking. I used to tout this feature as a great way to work around obstructions like walls and ceilings, and while the WDS that Apple used to make it work was an industry standard, only Apple seemed to have mastered it. And streaming and on-demand services have replaced some of the purpose for fileservers that mostly held video. Cloud-based storage and sync services reduce the need for network servers. Standalone NAS drives have significantly better features and performance, and are available at all sorts of prices, not just for caviar budgets. Apple shifted to SMB for network filesharing, which makes it easier to work with Windows-compatible servers.
#Apple router airport mac os x
Apple’s attached drive support used to be a big deal when OS X was oriented around AFP, and it was difficult to create networked fileservers except Mac OS X Server or personal filesharing in regular OS X. And most Wi-Fi routers include USB-based printer support that’s compatible with macOS (although not always with iOS). Even quite inexpensive printers now include Wi-Fi networking, allowing a completely cable-free connection. The AirPort Extreme has an audio jack for sending music from a Mac or iOS device to a set of speakers using the AirPlay protocol. Guest networking (access to an isolated and protected network for guests)Įach of Apple’s advantages has slipped away over the years:.Separate network names for 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks.DHCP assignment or “reservation,” offering a permanent local network address to a device on the network.Other features found in Apple’s base stations are easy to find in other routers:
Automated notification of firmware updates.A network punch-through protocol called NAT-PMP for enabling remote access for applications, like games and servers.Internet access to base station configuration and NAS drives via Back to My Mac.Base station to base station networking (via Wireless Distribution System or WDS).Network-attached storage (NAS) with AFP (Apple Filing Protocol) and SMB support.AirPlay audio passthrough (AirPort Express only).
#Apple router airport for mac
However, for Mac users in particular, the gateways had Apple-specific features you couldn’t get elsewhere. What about Apple’s proprietary base station features?įrom Apple’s introduction of the original AirPort until just a few years ago, its base stations were often the best on the market, even if sometimes the most expensive’.
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