Two versions of original Airport card?

Question

I have only today learned that the original Airport card came in two versions: 661-2219, which does not have the capability of accessing a WPA-protected router, and 661-2549, which does. My question is, how do you distinguish between these two cards, visibly or otherwise?

Answer 1

It was not 'suddenly discovered,' as we have made this claim for many years. I don't understand how it is inconsistent with what you insist to be the case, as…
• we refer only to the A/B revisions—which you agree do not support WEP beyond 40 bits—to be incapable of supporting WPA, as they shipped from the factory
• we sell such cards with the lower level of capability for use in pre-OS X 10.3 installations with the clear caveat that such cards, as sold, don't support WPA or—if you will—are not guaranteed to, and should be expected to, support WPA
It's not in our financial interest to apply firmware to the older cards which we periodically encounter and we don't claim that it has been done, as we don't test each card specifically for such capabilities. Why bother to, when they are sold indicating that they do not support WPA? We don't speak for others in the industry, only for ourselves. And, we attempt to convey simple, accurate information. In this case, we think we achieve that in a way that lowers what might otherwise be heightened user expectations and avoid unintended outcomes.
Since the higher cost cards are priced at a level consistently at or lower than most vendors and carry a one-year warranty, and the less capable early cards are discounted from that level yet carry the same warranty, we think that they pair offer better overall value to most users under most circumstances. That said, they can be less expensive—or, more expensive—than some unsupported product sold on eBay. But, ours are tested and warranted, and the price has remained consistent across low and high availability situations, something that we again believe provides better overall value to buyers.
Sure, they might—in fact—support it, in some circumstances. But, we would be inundated with complaints from users wanting such support if the individual card they purchased did not support it when they received that specific card. While Apple claims that the original AirPort base station never supported WPA, you need only put a WPA capable replacement card in it and use the appropriate software to gain access to this feature. Components other than the card itself in an AirPort base station can be reasonably characterized as passive. It is the card itself that determines the capabilities of the base station.
We're currently out of the original cards, or I would arrange to ship you one of each to test in your own environment to satisfy your concerns. In our case, testing cards at one point for such capabilities reasonably satisfied us that M7600LL/A and B cards did not support WPA 'out of the box' and so we've simply pointed that out.
It's akin to saying that original iMacs based upon a G3 processor do not support the installation of Mac OS X, unless and until a suitable firmware update is applied. And that statement also is true, given that most shipped pre-OS X and without the installed firmware.
How do I put this? Most alternative suppliers in this industry are chumps: they know little, and care even less. It's all about 'turn and burn' to them, and they seek almost exclusively to maximize their opportunity. Despite their claims, they could care less about customers. You only have to look around the web to figure that out…
We've been quietly engaged in this market in the background for nearly twenty years, so we know a thing or two about the other players.
We find it too cumbersome to explain the capabilities of the original AirPort cards in general beyond what we describe, and not economical to upgrade the firmware of such cards and attempt to sell them as the second generation of that product line, thereby creating an instantaneous identification conflict.
When we receive and qualify additional cards, I will get ahold of you in The Lounge if you are interested in setting up a 'lab test' on your own premises, or modifying the A or B card by applying a firmware update.
To some degree, the argument is moot: Apple no longer supports the original card at all, and the second generation of the product line remains supported only in California, and only for a limited remaining time period.