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More on Apple Extreme's details: I'm at Macworld Expo all this week, and had the opportunity to speak directly with Greg Joswiak, Apple's VP of hardware products, about the specifics of Apple Extreme.
Joswiak wouldn't discuss the chip supplier for Apple's new 802.11g devices, but it's clear that it's Broadcom, given that Agere, Apple's continuing partner on the older AirPort cards, doesn't have an 802.11g solution, and Broadcom is the only chipmaker shipping 802.11g chips. In the short run, this is good news, because with Apple, Linksys, D-Link, and others commanding an early "g" lead, later companies will be said to "not be compatible" rather than all devices describes as "not interoperable." This remains a huge difficulty with deploying a draft standard, but Joswiak was confident that firmware upgrades and the Wi-Fi Alliance would bring together the pieces quickly to keep compatibility among g devices.
The new Apple Extreme Base Station supports access point and bridge mode simultaneously. Deploying several base stations is now a simple solution for smaller networks that need more client access is different places.
Apple worked with Dr. Bott to handle the development and marketing of the antennas that are available only for the $249 base station model. Joswiak said that Apple didn't want to get into the business of antennas, but Dr. Bott's antennas are fully FCC certified to work as a system with Apple's base station.
Joswiak said that Apple continues to look at WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) without having made a decision about support yet. However, since the chipset they're using will likely have a simple firmware upgrade to WPA, Joswiak acknowledged that Apple would follow trends in the marketplace if WPA becomes widely desired or used.
Other News
Apple's move to dismiss 802.11a is not unique: Microsoft and others are also dubious about 802.11a's future versus 802.11g's rapid availability and compatibility.