AirPlay speakers...where's the 802.11n??

So I'm in the market to get some whole home audio going in my house. I've researched all of the various methods to do so (wired + receiver, airport express + speaker + amp, airplay speakers, bluetooth, etc) and I think I'm going to settle on getting AirPlay speakers. I just don't want to mess with wiring everything up and doing the AirPort Express thing....plus AirPlay speakers are actually cheaper than doing anything else. Granted you don't get the flexibility, but it's still a better budget decision.
In looking for some good AirPlay speakers, the only budget options ($150 or so) are Phillips and iHome. I've found both on eBay for around $80 a pop depeding on the version. Anyway....what's the deal with the AirPlay speakers only having 802.11b/g? I was getting ready to pull the trigger, but now I'm thinking I won't because of 802.11n becoming the standard and b/g will be going out the window soon. My wifi router supports the legacy frequencies, but I don't want to buy speakers and then in 2 years they are obsolete. I know I know, go with the airport express route. Well I'm open to suggestions at this point, but I'm just curious as to why the speaker manufacturer's are bundling b/g into their NEW products?

I had a similar concern: an airplay speaker only support 11g, not 11n. I did some study and made my move and hopefully it helps by sharing what I did.
Study:
The major chip inside airplay speakers comes from one single vendor: SMSC (lately got bought by Microchip). It offers 11b/g and not 11n. No firm schedule on 11n, it takes time to make a speaker from a chip
Most 11n routers support 11b/g too. So playing music to 11g airplay speakers shall not be a problem; but it will affect your internet speed as some old routers will downgrade to 11g (which is 54Mbps, not too bad).
The new 11ac routers with multi-bands (2x2 or 3x3) can be a solution to this with ability to have separate channel for 11g airplay and other channel for 11ac internet browsing.
My Purchase:
I did not buy any airplay speaker as it is over $100 my budget. Instead, I bought Yamaha PDX-60 dongle speaker which uses propietery RF technology which happened on sale at Amazon at that time. I did a check at Amazon store as I write and they are gone already. (relief: as I do not want to be sounded like sales :-)
Hope it helps//

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Where is the 802.11n Enabler??

I can't seem to find the 802.11n Enabler for $2 on Apple's store.. how can I find this?

It's there. Here is the link.

Where can I buy the 802.11n updater?

I want to buy the 802.11n updater. I'm at work on my PC and can't find a URL on Apple's website for it. I just want to put it on my usbkey disk and take it home to my mac.
How can I buy this update? Surely it directs you to a webpage.

I found it by searching in the store for the 802.11n enabler.
Try this url for your self - http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/6064003/wo/jw5Cg OTRI0pz2wMO2GGMPxSaNqD/2.0.21.1.0.8.25.7.11.0.3

HP Color LaserJet 1500L - drops off the 802.11n network

My HP Color LaserJet 1500L drops off the network (it just stops printing). This happens when it is plugged into the usb bus of my new 802.11n base station or directly into the usb bus of a computer. The only way to fix it seems to be to plug it directly into a computer and unplug the usb plug and replug it, or to add the printer again. This problem has occurred in the past, but over time, and after various upgrades to the operating systems and hardware, etc, the situation tends to change. Before I installed the 802.11n base station the printer was staying in contact with my computers, but now it is misbehaving again. I doubt there is a real solution out there now, because it happened before and I never did discover a direct fix, but I thought the problem to be worth posting. This problem does not happen with my Canon PhotoPrinter iP6000S, which sticks to my network like glue whereever I plug it in (airport express, airport extreme, direct to computer, etc.) The HP loses contact with either of my computers in exactly the same way.
Mac Pro Intel Core 2 Duo, and iMac Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.8) airport express, airport extreme 802.11n, cable modem
iMac Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.8)

To use the OS X standard network protocols (Windows/IP printing), you must have either a postscript printer (the driver in that case is just a ppd for the OS X postscript output) OR, a driver designed to work with CUPS (CUPS driver). HP doesn't provide CUPS drivers for OS X (who knows why, since they do for linux).
You need to install foomatic and ESP ghostscript:
http://www.linuxprinting.org/macosx/foomatic/
then, install the foo2oak driver:
http://www.linuxprinting.org/showprinter.cgi?recnum=HP-Color_LaserJet1500

Airport Extreme - Only the 802.11n only (5 ghz) works

Airport Extreme - Only the 802.11n only (5 ghz) works
Posted: Sep 21, 2008 2:50 AM Reply Email
I just bought an new Airport extreme Base station, and i am not very good with network settings. I am experience an weird problem.
I follow the instruction to set up the Airport extreme. I get the green light on the extreme, everything went well up to that point. but then when i try to connect to the internet wirlessly, it won't let me.
The weird thing is... the computers that were connecting wirely to the Airport extreme using ethernet works fine. but my macbook pro and along with other labtops are not being able to connect to the internet. On my macbook pro, it first says connection failed after i put in my password. but after couple try on entering the password( i thought i typed it in wrong), it finally connected to the network but still no internet. then I went to the network preference panel to check, it says i am connected but with a self-assigned IP and may not be able to connect to the internet.
The even worse thing is... if i change my airport extreme to only broadcast the 802.11n only (5 GHZ) mode, everything works fine. But of course I have some device in the house are not N compatible, which makes this "solution" pretty useless. I understand n is faster and all, but I still want my G compatible device to work with my network.
It will be really nice if anyone can give me a solution and help me get the 802.11n (a/b/g compatible) works.
Thank you.

I am having the exact same issue with my Macbooks. I have 2 Macbooks and they've all stopped connecting to the Airport Extreme router via wireless N. Yeah, I can switch to 5ghz mode, but then my PC laptop, iPod Touch, wireless printer, Xbox 360 wifi adapter and Nintendo Wii all can't connect as they all use wireless a/b/g.
BRUTAL. When are we going to get a fix for this? How do I roll back to a previous rev of OSX, if that's the issue (it must be, as this recently stopped working - i.e. when I installed the latest OS update - when it has worked fine for months).
Message was edited by: Adrian Crook

The 802.11n standard

I need to extend the range of my wifi. How can I tell if my 2011 iMac supports the 802.11n standard that Airport requires?

Check  (Apple menu) > About This Mac > More Info.. > System Report
The above is your model iMac.

Question: why the 802.11n doesn't work on my brand new MacBook?

dear sirs,
I've just found out that the 802.11n upgrade doesn't work for my MacBook 2 GHz Intel Core Duo. How come? Is it possible? What should I do to have it talk to my also new AirPort Extreme 802.11n at the same rate?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Tomaso

Also on http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/performance.html it states:Most currently shipping Mac systems support the next-generation 802.11n technology in the new AirPort Extreme Base Station.2
2. All Mac computers with Intel Core 2 Duo and Intel Xeon processors except the 17-inch iMac with 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor support the 802.11n technology in AirPort Extreme. These 802.11n-compatible Mac systems require enabler software that is included on the AirPort Extreme CD.

Is the 802.11n 1st generation a dual band router?

Is the 802.11n 1st generation a dual band router?

Yes, but not simultaneously I think. If you look at the tech specs (http://support.apple.com/specs/#airport) for the Airport Extreme, the 1st and 2nd generation all say "2.4GHz or 5GHz" while the 3rd generation and up say "2.4GHz and 5GHz simultaneously".

HT201335 Airplay speakers not available , The speak Apple TV is currently used by someone else

Hi, i bought apple TV and we are getting error message Airplay speakers not available , The speak Apple TV is currently used by someone else so can you lot tell me that how stop this

Classroom scenario: We have Apple TVs in classrooms. If a teacher is using the Apple TV to display their device & forgets to disconnect, leaves the room . . . next teacher comes in . . . if they still see the other device being mirrored they can kick them off by pressing the menu button on the remote. However, when they then try to connect, they get the "In use by someone else" message. Only solution we've found then is to restart the Apple TV. So, is this truly the only solution?

Is the 802.11n download compatable with my Mac Book Pro?

I have a Mac Book Pro with a core duo processor. I was wondering if I could purchas the $2.00 download and make my computer 802.11n compatable. I dont know if I need to get anything new, say a different airport card, or if I can just download the "new" software.

You'd need a new Airport card or ExpressCard for 802.11n. But if you just want it for Internet, don't bother, only for local file transfer, e.g. Time Capsule.
http://www.quickertek.com

Two computers accessing the 802.11n Basestation - problems . . .

While trying to get my base station to allow me to "see" my new HD, I kept messing with the settings in the base station set-up. I am NOT a networking specialist by far . . .
Anyway, I now have access to the disk, but anytime one of our other computers tries to access the network for internet access, it immediately slows down the other one - or knocks the other one off. Some kind of DHCP error comes up on my wife's PB G4.
It is not an issue of the flavor of 802.11 - both machines (Macbook core duo, and Powerbook G4) are 802.11g machines.
Both accessed the connection fine, with no problems a week ago.
I will add that I recently had to replace the HD in the Powerbook, but everything seems fine otherwise.
When one of the computers only is accessing, everything is fine.
Any ideas?

Unfortunately that hasn't worked. The g card is working fine, but the n cant go online when the g is online. They both are recognized and accepted by the airport station, but it will only let the g online if they are both logged on at the same time.

Can't find Range Extender after installing firmware upgrade to fix the 802.11n bug

I got my RE1000 shortly after Christmas but had trouble after a while where devices would claim they were connected to my wifi network but not really have a connection.
I discovered by doing a network scan that my router was broacasting/accepting B/G/N... all of my devices support N, so they were connecting on N... but the RE1000 wasn't broadcasting/accepting N... only G.
Since the RE was on G, this caused major issues trying to connect.
So in late Jan / early Feb I updated the firmware on the device as per instructions from the Cisco rep... but didn't have a chance to plug it back in and test until now.
Now when I plug it in, it lights up all solid green... but in the setup (Windows 7 / PC) the setup can't find the device. My laptop and the RE are within 25 feet of the router... and the laptop and RE are about 6-10 feet apart (I tested different distances to ensure it wasn't too close)
So now I'm stuck... I can't even verify if the RE1000 is properly updated.
What can I do or do I need to return this unit?

scunliffe,
What is the model number of your router? Is it a Linksys device too? You can configure the RE1000 manually, you will have to connect your laptop straight to the RE1000 via ethernet cable and access its setup page by typing 192.168.1.1 on your browser.
Check this link: http://kb.linksys.com/Linksys/ukp.aspx?vw=1&docid=76055e8973f5487f82d2d3f610da4c02_Accessing_the_web...
Title: Accessing the web-based setup page of the Linksys range extender
Article ID: 24379
Scenario 1 is applicable for you: Using a wired computer.
You may need to disable the WiFi capability on your laptop while doing this to make sure that it is not connected wirelessly to any network. You may need to have both the RE1000 and the laptop at least 6-10 feet away from your router.
I would say you are fmiliar with the wireless settings on your router, right? You will need those information to configure the RE1000 (SSID, Channel Width, Security Mode, and Passphrase).
For the steps, check this link: http://kb.linksys.com/Linksys/ukp.aspx?vw=1&docid=bc79b0ee350f404d82f231d729bc9530_Manually_Configur...
Title: Manually configuring the wireless security settings of the Linksys RE1000
Article ID: 24344

WRT310N + MacBook Pro = slow as 802.11g performance on the 802.11n band?

I have a Macbook Pro and recently bought a WRT310N router. I used own a WRT54GS and finally decided to go N and Gigabit. The 2nd part has been good but the N part is really sucking right now.
I've read numerous reviews about how this router gives great performance even in Mixed Mode, often hitting over 90mbps:
http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/linksys-wrt310n-wireless-n/4505-3319_7-32815483.html
http://www.digitgeek.com/linksys-wrt310n-router/
Neither review mentions the wireless card in their test machines, which is a bit suspect. I've not been able to get over around 18mbps which has what my old 54GS was giving me. I've tried Windows XP and OSX on this machine with latest drivers, turned the router to N-only mode, wide band, etc and still suffers from slow speeds.
Any thoughts on how to improve performance to something near what the reviews are claiming?

Hey try resetting the router reset button in such a way that power
light is blinking on the router & then do a complete network power
cycle i.e., unplug the power cables from the modem & from the router &
then plug in the power cable to the modem first once all the lights are
solid green you could plug in the power cable to the router & check out
it will definately work!!
Open the setup page of router using 192.168.1.1 then put in the
password as admin...all you need to do is do the wireless settings such
as Radio Band Frequency to Standard 20 MHZ frequency,channel to 11.
Also,the advanced wireless settings to Beacon Interval=50,Frag
thres=2306 & Rts thres=2307 & then uncheck a Block Anonymous Internet
Requests & it will definately work!!!
Also, make sure that you are doing the Security mode as WPA as it works great with the WRT300N router & will get good connection & speed.

So where are the final 802.11n updates ???

The 802.11n protocol (802.11n FINAL, NOT 802.11n DRAFT) has been official almost a month now... So when will the firmware updates incorporating the ratified 802.11n protocol be released for our Wireless-N enabled devices ???

What is the model no of the Router?Based on the model no.you can check on the Linksys Website www.linksys.com/download
for the available firmware.

Does 802.11n give a speed boost on the iPad?

I did some testing to see if I'd get a speed boost by enabling 802.11n on my Belkin F5D8233-4 router, which supports 802.11n draft specification. I have Verizon FIOS with 25Mbps download/upload. I also have the Verizon router, which only supports 802.11b/g, and I can switch which router I'm connected to in order to compare speeds of 802.11n and 802.11g. All tests were done less than 3 feet from either router.
Bottom line is that the iPad doesn't get any speed boost by using 802.11n, at least by using speedtest.net to do the testing.
The test I used was with the speedtest app for the iPhone. I made the Belkin a pure 11n router, and ran that app from the iPad. So the connection had to be 802.11n. Then I connected the iPad to my Verizon router, which had to be 802.11g, and saw virtually no difference.
I did the same test with a Windows laptop from my job that supports 802.11n. It connected locally to the Belkin router at 72Mbps according to the internal utility. Testing using speedtest.net indicated that using the 802.11n connection on the Belkin was 50% faster than the 802.11g connection on the Verizon router. (About 30Mbps for Belkin/802.11n compared to 20Mbps for Verizon/802.11g for downloads).
But with the iPad, doing the same test (switching from Belkin router to Verizon router), the speed didn't change. It actually seemed a little slower when I was on 802.11n, but repeated tests showed some variability, and the average was about 19Mbps.
I realize that the overall speed for the iPad when I'm in my house will get throttled by the FIOS connection max of 25Mbps (although it's interesting that with my MacMini, and the Windows laptop, when connected via 100baseT, I get 30Mbps from FIOS when they promise 25Mbps!). But I can't get the good results from the iPad using 802.11n that I see with the Windows laptop. I'd like to try a local speedtest using the local LAN. I installed Speedtest MINI on the MacMini, enabling the Mac as a server, and the Windows laptop did 72Mbps on the local LAN. But Speedtest MINI requires Flash in the browser, so I can't do that test on the iPad. And the Speedtest app for iPhone doesn't let you pick a local URL for the server.
So I'm now pretty sure that 802.11n isn't really working right on the iPad with my Belkin router, in terms of delivering increased performance. I've read other posts where people have looked at the transmit rate from the router side, but I really wish I could look at the transmit rate from the iPad (like I do in Mac OS X, or in Windows) to verify.
To be sure, I'd like to run a speedtest on my local LAN from the iPad. Has anyone been able to actually do some kind of test that verifies the speed of an iPad connection on a local LAN, and does that verification from the iPad, and not the router?
And finally, has anyone ever done a test that verifies that 802.11n from an iPad delivers a speed boost compared to 802.11g? Are there specific requirements on the router side that need to be satisfied so that the iPad gets a boost? I've read elsewhere where someone said that you only get the boost if using Apple's Airport Extreme as the router (so that you can't really get 802.11n on a non-Apple router), and I think I saw someone say that the router has to support communication over 5.0Ghz for the iPad to be fast on 802.11n. Has Apple ever said what are the real requirements for the iPad to be faster on 802.11n versus 802.11g?

To the contrary, my experience is that the "G" standard on WiFi provided MUCH faster speeds than the "N" standard on Wi-Fi. It makes no sense, I know, but it is true.
I was having horribly slow Wi-Fi speeds on my iPad2, despite a fast cable modem connection and a "N" generation Linksys wireless router (maybe 2-3 yrs old). Was achieving speeds of only 1.3Mbs -- slow enough that you couldn't watch YouTube videos. From hunting around on the web, I came across the suggestion to manually set the Wi-Fi router to the "G" standard (ie downgrade it from the faster "N" standard). Remarkably, I did it and it worked like a charm. I now get Wi-Fi speeds of about 12 or 13 Mbs, or 10x what I was getting before. It is an easy fix. And also I think the "G" standard is capable of 50Mbs so even though it is a slower and older standard, it is still way faster than anything you are likely to achieve as a home user. I think there is some glitch or oddity in the iPad and iPad2 which can cause it to perform very poorly with older "N" standard WiFi routers. New ones don't seem to have a problem.

AirPlay speakers...where's the 802.11n??

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