JJB Blog

Apple has introduced two new products to the Airport [http://apple.com/airport] family:

http://www.apple.com/airport/
specs.html
A version of the Airport base station which natively accepts power over etherne
t (power over ethernet is part of the 802.3af [http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/d
ownload/802.3af-2003.pdf] standard). This allows an enterprise of base stat
ions to be deployed with only one cat5e wire going to each base station, and th
e base station does not need to be near an electrical outlet.

http://www.macupdate.com/i
nfo.php/id/14758
Software to administrate an enterprise of base stations. Configuration files ca
n be uploaded to many base stations simultaneously, and the status of each can
be viewed from one place.

These two things are a great idea. Combined with the Airport’s performance and
ease of use, this makes for a very attractive solution for people designing wir
eless networks.

But there is something missing. The current base stations all have dual Etherne
t ports and routing capabilities, which make them very flexible, easy to use, a
nd economical solutions for home users and small business. Just jack your broad
band modem and a switch into the airport, and you instantly have a wired and wi
reless network. But for someone deploying 50 base stations, chances are that th
ey both (a)won’t need the routing or dual ethernet capabilities for the bulk of
their network and (2)even in the places in their network where they do need mu
ltiple ethernet and routing (like, for example, wherever it is that all the oth
er Airports plug in, which is probably a $400 switch/router from Lucent or some
thing), they will need capabilities far more advanced than what the Airport bas
e station offers.

Apple should offer an “access point” base stations, that has neither dual ether
net nor routing capabilities, and maybe other features that an enterprise might
need. How about, instead of the external antenna port, this version comes with
a beefy antenna to begin with? Then, offer this version at a reduced price. Sa
y, $199 or maybe even $150. A cheaper access point version that still had the q
uality and ease of use of the rest of the Airport family would make for a very
attractive overall solution for network designers.

Then again, maybe the overhead of designing, manufacturing, and marketing an ex
tra product would cancel out any savings had from ripping out the ethernet and
processing hardware.

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