Apple M8209LL/A AirPort Base Station

by Apple

Product Details

Product Manual [704kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• ASIN: B00006662F
• Item model number: M8209LL/A
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 12, 2006

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

AirPort is the cutting-edge wireless networking technology that lets you get on the Internet from anywhere in your home, school, or office--without cables, additional phone lines, or complicated networking hardware. And AirPort is fast: with a data rate of up to 11 Mbps, AirPort enables high-speed wireless communications within a radius of approximately 150 feet from a base station.

As thousands of Mac users have discovered, to their delight, AirPort lets you use your Mac for work, play, surfing the Web, or sending and receiving e-mail from just about anywhere.

Similar to the base station of your cordless telephone, the AirPort base station includes a 56K modem for your phone line, plus two Ethernet ports. AirPort is broadband ready. And because Apple designed the hardware and software--and designed them to work smoothly together--you'll find AirPort simple to set up and use.

AirPort is based on the IEEE 802.11b wireless standard and is WiFi certified for interoperability with other 802.11-compliant products (including PCs). That means you can use your AirPort card at thousands of wireless-enabled locations--including airports, coffee shops, and at least 90,000 hotel rooms in the U.S. alone.

If you're running a network of PC users, all you need is one AirPort-enabled Apple computer (iBook, PowerBook G4, iMac, or Power Mac G4) to set up your base of wireless operations. The AirPort base station comes with a handy 10/100Base-T Ethernet connector that can act as the hub of your cross-platform universe.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Apple Wi-Fi Made Simple - The Airport Rocks!, August 7, 2002

By 

goatswood (Goatswood, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apple M8209LL/A AirPort Base Station (Electronics)

The Apple Airport Base Station is simply the easiest to deploy and trouble free 802.11b wireless access point networking solution available today.

As with all Apple products I have recently purchased, in less than 10 minutes out of the box, this product was fully setup and operational and supporting multiple iBooks and iMacs with full signal strength wireless networking made even more impressive with a broadband internet connection.

But what is really cool is that even if you do not have a fast internet connection, you can still share a dial up internet connection over the Airport network. How many other routers on the market today have this RJ-11 feature?

I uplinked the Airport to a Linksys 4-port router and turned off the NAT and DHCP capabilities of the Airport - just to let the Linksys continue serving NAT & DHCP - using the Airport as a bridge (and a wireless access point), instead of a router. Yet, the Airport can serve as your primary router if you have no additional hardware - I did not want to turn my Linksys into an expensive switch!

A hub or switch can be connected to the uplink ethernet jack if more wired LAN capability is needed. This product is a breeze to setup in either OS 9.x or OS 10.1 (and will be even easier in OS X 10.2). Make sure you use the latest Airport software for your OS (currently version 2.0.4 for OS X 10.1.5 and OS 9.2.2).

The Airport Setup Assistant and the Airport Admin Utility (in the Applications -> Utilities directory in OS X) are you friends - just plug the Airport into your LAN or modem, run the Assistant, and the next thing you know, you will be enjoying the freedom that only Wi-Fi can provide. No more wires!

If you are an Apple user who is looking for a Wi-Fi solution, look no further. You want the Airport Base Station - a purchace you will not regret!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars connect to the internet by magic, May 5, 2002

By 

A. Freed (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple M8209LL/A AirPort Base Station (Electronics)

The airport base station is the coolest and most under appreciated device I own. It connects two iBooks and a desktop to the internet, and is amazingly simple to use. I've used non-apple routers in the past, and this was almost too easy to set up. I have the v.1 model, and the newer editions have more features, like an extra port. If you want easy wireless, use this. If you want to save money and deal with more headaches, get something else.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely the best for Macs - but get the latest software, July 3, 2002

By 

H. A. Grant (Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apple M8209LL/A AirPort Base Station (Electronics)

While the Airport mightn't have all the bells and whistles of some of the competition, it is the absolutely the best solution for Mac users. I use it at home to support a mixture of Macs and PCs, and found it a breeze to set up and use.

It's also really easy to upgrade, unlike some other wireless routers I've used. Apple keep adding new functionality that you can download for free...(e.g., 128-bit encryption, PPP dial-in, and PPTP support).

N.B. - If you use a Windows PC to access your office network over a VPN, then you will need to check the Apple website to get the latest version of the Airport software (version 2.0.4). Earlier software versions don't support Microsoft's PPTP tunnelling protocol, but the latest version works just fine (you also need to be running MacOS X 10.1.5).

Upgrading is a breeze, after you install the update on your Mac, you just have to hit the "update" button in the Airport confugration tool! No messing around with setting up tftp or serial connections.