For network admins and advanced users, you’ll be cursing Apple as you download the previous version. (You may also hate it for this reason.) For average users, having fewer choices with better presentation is a plus. It looks to me as though Apple has pruned at least half of the options available in nested dialog boxes and elsewhere. You may like, for most network purposes, the simplicity of version 6. If you want the old style stand-alone window, Option-click the Edit button for a base station, and a non-modal dialog appears. Hover over a client’s name, and all the current connection information (such as theĬlick Edit, and a multi-tabbed modal sheet appears that’s similar to the previous version of AirPort Utility. Hover over the base station’s name and it reveals the MAC (Media Access Control) addresses for each of the wired and wireless interfaces. Click a base station, and AirPort Utility 6.0 shows the obligatory IP information, but also gives you the serial number, errors (including those you’ve opted to ignore), and a list of connected wireless clients showing their Bonjour names. The green, amber, or red status dots next to base stations or the Internet let you see any problems at a glance, too.īase station information is much more accessible here, too. For the Internet, you see the router’s address, DNS server information, and the default domain name. This visual layout is also functional: click any element and you get a popover (as shown in the figure) with details about the part. Some graphical details appear only after you select and log into base stations, and AirPort Utility reads configuration details that let it figure out how the various pieces are connected. If you have, as I do, a base station that’s plugged into a broadband modem and that then serves up NAT addresses via DHCP to other base stations on the network, those other base stations are shown below the main one. What You Will Like - AirPort Utility 6.0 for Lion opens with a graphical bang: a visual depiction of your network (its topology), including the hierarchical relationship among parts. See below for where to download previous releases.) However, because the 5.5.3 version of AirPort Utility remains available and still works fine, I recommend keeping a copy of that handy, both to use my tome and to access features that have disappeared in 6.0. (And, yes, my “ Take Control of Your 802.11n AirPort Network” book will need to be updated to include the iOS app and reflect what’s in AirPort Utility 6.0. I have not yet tried to set up a base station from scratch to see what the new assistants look like for walking you through the process, step by step, and that may offer more to like or dislike. Instead of telling you how every last feature now works in version 6.0, let me walk you through things I know everyone will like, changes that some of you won’t (especially if you use a mix of 802.11g and 802.11n hardware), and some particular callouts for network administrators who are already turning amber in distress. However, Apple continues to make older versions of AirPort Utility available, as I explain below. The new version works only in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and cannot configure pre-2007 802.11g Wi-Fi hardware. The firmware adds iCloud support, discussed below, and “fixes an issue with wireless performance.” But AirPort Utility 6.0 also cuts off the past. The new AirPort Utility was released simultaneously with firmware upgrades for all 802.11n Wi-Fi base stations: the AirPort Extreme, Time Capsule, and AirPort Express. (I wrote an exhaustive look at the iOS app for Macworld.) The latest iteration, AirPort Utility 6.0 for Mac OS X Lion, is a distinct break from the past, picking up elements of the iOS version of the utility added in October 2011. It still retained most of the characteristics of the original, though. In 2007, when Apple released its first 802.11n base stations, the “Admin” part of the name was retired, and a new, somewhat crisper, utility appeared. #1643: New Mac mini and MacBook Pro models, new second-gen HomePod, security-focused OS updates, industry layoffsĪpple’s AirPort Utility is a hoary old beast, dating back to 1999 when it was called AirPort Admin Utility.#1644: Explaining Mastodon and the Fediverse, HomePod Software 16.3 and tvOS 16.3, GoTo breach.#1645: AirPlay iPhone to Mac for remote video, Siri learns to restart iPhones, Apple's Q1 2023 financials.1646: Security-focused OS updates, Photos Workbench review, Mastodon client wishlist, Apple-related conferences.1647: Focus-caused notification issues, site-specific browser examples, virtualizing Windows on M-series Macs.
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