Thread
Old Airport Base Station Versus New
I need to get wireless internet set up here, and I'm on a tight budget. I can buy the old base station on ebay for around $100. Is there any huge difference between the old and new that I should know about?
Yep, quite a few.
The old 'graphite' model only has one ethernet socket, so you need an additional hub or broadband router if you want to share with any non-airport machines.
The new 'snow' model supports apple's rendevous automatic setup (so I hear, I have the graphite model).
The old ones only support 40-bit encryption, the new ones 128 bit. You can screen connections to the hard-wired mac addresses in your airport cards, which is good enough for me.
I've found my graphite one a little inconsistent to say the least. Unless you get a really good deal, get the new model or one of the many non-apple ones.
The recepttion on my DVI powerbook isn't great. Non-apple ones are said to be better.
I don't think I'd pay the full price for a new one given that all it does is eliminate one cable & create loads of problems, but now I have it I wouldn't like to go back!
-mrwalker
The old 'graphite' model only has one ethernet socket, so you need an additional hub or broadband router if you want to share with any non-airport machines.
The new 'snow' model supports apple's rendevous automatic setup (so I hear, I have the graphite model).
The old ones only support 40-bit encryption, the new ones 128 bit. You can screen connections to the hard-wired mac addresses in your airport cards, which is good enough for me.
I've found my graphite one a little inconsistent to say the least. Unless you get a really good deal, get the new model or one of the many non-apple ones.
The recepttion on my DVI powerbook isn't great. Non-apple ones are said to be better.
I don't think I'd pay the full price for a new one given that all it does is eliminate one cable & create loads of problems, but now I have it I wouldn't like to go back!
-mrwalker
Another good poing is that you don't need a crossover cable to configure it; any ethernet cable will do (crossover included). This is a great time saver when you're forced to reconfigure it by ethernet and have to pull a crossover cable out of your a*#.
Also of note some of the graphite models tended to overheat dramatically, burning out resisters and power supplies iirc. The snow models feature a completely new interior and are (supposed to be) more reliable. Of course m snow one died the other day and is being replaced but hey, it happens from time to time
Right, and the lights are white, not multi-colored.
My advise - buy a new one.
Also of note some of the graphite models tended to overheat dramatically, burning out resisters and power supplies iirc. The snow models feature a completely new interior and are (supposed to be) more reliable. Of course m snow one died the other day and is being replaced but hey, it happens from time to time
Right, and the lights are white, not multi-colored.
My advise - buy a new one.
Maybe I should just go for one of the third party transmitters?
If you go third party, get the Orinoco (Lucent/Agere) RG-1000 or RG-1100.
They both support 128-bit WEP, and are exactly the same internals as the Graphite base station.
So, you get to use the Apple Airport Admin Util to configure it and it works with all protocols.
FYI: Other differences between snow and graphite are that the graphite (Orinoco) part uses an AMD 486 CPU running KarlNet software whereas the Snow uses an embedded PPC 860 cpu running VxWorks.
People have ported Linux to the Graphite model, which makes it more desirable to some (like me)--but I have the RG-1100 which is the same.
They both support 128-bit WEP, and are exactly the same internals as the Graphite base station.
So, you get to use the Apple Airport Admin Util to configure it and it works with all protocols.
FYI: Other differences between snow and graphite are that the graphite (Orinoco) part uses an AMD 486 CPU running KarlNet software whereas the Snow uses an embedded PPC 860 cpu running VxWorks.
People have ported Linux to the Graphite model, which makes it more desirable to some (like me)--but I have the RG-1100 which is the same.
Yes, the Graphite base stations are notorious for over heating and burning out their power regulating capacitors. I've already repaired 2 with exactly the same problem. They work extremely well tho, if you sepperate the inner case and ditch the outter UFO case. They never over heat this way, and the airport signal stregnth is brilliant! Looks a bit ugly, but is safe to do. So is worth it, I think. If you dont want that hassle tho, Go for a Snow base station, or an alternative 3rd party version.
Please help us "separate the airport case" ! My graphite Airport Base Station's hidden anyway, so who cares about the looks if I get better range!?!
I don't find any screws (not even torx) anywhere. Must I CUT into it? Drill? How do I know where it's safe it puncture it without chewing up the insides?
(signed)
�Eager to Violate Airport Security
I don't find any screws (not even torx) anywhere. Must I CUT into it? Drill? How do I know where it's safe it puncture it without chewing up the insides?
(signed)
�Eager to Violate Airport Security
The graphite ABS has 3 screws underneath.. Undo those, and the bottom of the case should pop right off with ease.
The inner carrier/case is held in with a further 3 screws. Undo those too. You will notice a power socket and lead on the carrier, and an ethernet lead and socket, unplug these.
The next bit is the only awkward bit.. There will be a thin black cable going into the carrier, this is the 56k modem lead. And it plugs onto one of the PCB's inside the carrier. If you are lucky, you can peel back the silver tape from the carrier, and pull the plug from it's socket on the PCB, and through the hole of the carrier. If not, then you gotta pry off all those little clips around the carrier, and unplug it from the pcb that way.
Anyway! Once the carrier is separated from the UFO case, you can just plug the normal power cable and ethernet cable from your cable modem or whatever, straight into the carrier. You wont be able to use it with dial up like this, due to the fact the modem lead is removed.. But who cares about that
The inner carrier/case is held in with a further 3 screws. Undo those too. You will notice a power socket and lead on the carrier, and an ethernet lead and socket, unplug these.
The next bit is the only awkward bit.. There will be a thin black cable going into the carrier, this is the 56k modem lead. And it plugs onto one of the PCB's inside the carrier. If you are lucky, you can peel back the silver tape from the carrier, and pull the plug from it's socket on the PCB, and through the hole of the carrier. If not, then you gotta pry off all those little clips around the carrier, and unplug it from the pcb that way.
Anyway! Once the carrier is separated from the UFO case, you can just plug the normal power cable and ethernet cable from your cable modem or whatever, straight into the carrier. You wont be able to use it with dial up like this, due to the fact the modem lead is removed.. But who cares about that