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Wireless (Apple) Businesses Apple Hardware

Power Over Ethernet for AirPort Base Station 75

Posted by pudge from the now-we-just-need-power-over-wifi dept.
An anonymous user writes, "With Apple's recent announcements I took a quick stroll through some other items on the site and noticed that there's now a third AirPort Extreme Base Station. This model, at the same price as the model with modem and antenna ports, does not have a built-modem, however it does have an antenna port, supports Power Over Ethernet, and conforms to UL 2043. Great news for those that have wished they could put their Base Stations out of reach of a power outlet."
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Power Over Ethernet for AirPort Base Station More

Power Over Ethernet for AirPort Base Station

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  • Also announced (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Johnny Mnemonic ( 176043 ) <mdinsmore&gmail,com> on Monday April 19, 2004 @12:13PM (#8905323) Homepage Journal

    Also announced today was AirPort Management Tools 1.0 [apple.com], which provide powerful tools for planning, setting up, fine-tuning, and managing larger, enterprise-class wireless networks. Both of these announcements aren't targeted towards the home user; they don't do Power-over-Ethernet, nor have to manage lots of AirPort Base Stations.

    With this plus the other things today, it sounds like Apple is starting to get serious about the Big Enterprise. WWDC could be really intersting.
    • Neither a search on apple's site nor a google search found anything.
    • I'm not sure whether this is a good move for Apple (moving into the Big Enterprise market), Johnny.

      Last time they tried this was with the Quadra series, and the LaserWriters, and they didn't fare so well.

      Businesses are interested in the cheapest solution available, not necessarily the best technology. That's why you see $150 machines instead of iMacs being used for workstations.

  • I'm waiting until... (Score:5, Funny)

    by lxt ( 724570 ) on Monday April 19, 2004 @12:21PM (#8905466) Journal
    ...power over wireless ethernet. Now that would be good... ...A man can dream :)
  • What are some good PoE [power over ethernet] power sources? Soekris has some similar boards and I remember wondering when I read about them about how you'd go about setting up the "P" part of PoE. Wiring diagrams would be helpful too, as it would really suck to send 12V down the wire into these devices.
    • I've definitely been reading /. too long. The `and raise you a BSD.' part in your sig had me thinking of necromancy.
    • Well, if you want diagrams, you'll have to work google for about 2 seconds.

      For 10BaseT and 100baseTX (and not GigE), 2 pairs of 4 are used for data. The specs for RJ45 Ethernet allowed for the other pair to be used by PHONES (1 or 2 pair, I suppose perhaps Lucent type digital phones might use 2 pair) without conflict.

      Lots of places (eg. schools with wiring already run, cheap offices, etc) break out a cat5 to be 2 ethernets.

      Cisco's spec allows for 48VDC (think "telco" and bank of batteries with that numb

  • Ethernet power rating (Score:3, Interesting)

    by andy55 ( 743992 ) * on Monday April 19, 2004 @12:40PM (#8905815) Homepage

    Wow--I didn't even know power support was built in to the ethernet spec. Anyone know the power capacity of the spec and any related details?

  • UL 2043? (Score:5, Funny)

    by System.out.println() ( 755533 ) on Monday April 19, 2004 @01:00PM (#8906100) Journal
    UL 2043: "Fire Test for Heat and Visible Smoke Release for Discrete Products and Their Accessories Installed in Air-Handling Spaces" ....so my new AirPort base has a smoke detector inside it? Why don't they build that into the new Powerbooks? ;-)

    SYSTEM ERROR #43: MOTHERBOARD ON FIRE.

    • No joke (Score:3, Interesting)

      by useosx ( 693652 )
      This is dead serious [powerbook-fr.com].

    • Re:UL 2043? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Captain Nitpick ( 16515 ) on Monday April 19, 2004 @05:37PM (#8909242)
      UL 2043: "Fire Test for Heat and Visible Smoke Release for Discrete Products and Their Accessories Installed in Air-Handling Spaces" ....so my new AirPort base has a smoke detector inside it? Why don't they build that into the new Powerbooks? ;-)

      It means you can shove an airport base station into an air duct without violating safety codes.

      SYSTEM ERROR #43: MOTHERBOARD ON FIRE.
      From Ward's Wiki [c2.com]:
      The BeOS programmer's guide covers two functions IsComputerOn (returns 1.0 if computer is on, unspecified otherwise) and IsComputerOnFire (returns temperature if mainboard has flames coming from it, unspecified otherwise). It's right there in the printed version (though I quote from memory).
      • I thought that this guy had to be full of it, but I happen to have the Be Developer's Guide (ISBN: 1-56592-287-5) on my desk so I looked it up and it's true, though not entirely accurate. On Page 802, in Chapter 5: The Kernel Kit, there is a system info function documented as:

        is_computer_on_fire()
        double is_computer_on_fire(void)
        Returns the temperature of the motherboard if the computer is currently on fire. Smoldering doesn't count. If the computer isn't on fire, the function returns some other va

  • Power over ethernet? (Score:3, Funny)

    by kekeruusperi ( 771725 ) on Monday April 19, 2004 @01:09PM (#8906223)
    Wow, and I thought RFC 3251 [faqs.org] was just a joke!
    • Well, you know, given what Apple has done for USB and FireWire, you had to figure that they'd be pushing the bar for electricity over IP.

      Unfortunately, I now have unrealistically high expectations for the iPigeon.

  • External Antenna Port Worthwhile? (Score:3, Informative)

    by tbmaddux ( 145207 ) * on Monday April 19, 2004 @01:41PM (#8906659) Homepage Journal
    I have an AEBS with no antenna port and no modem port. It is located on the 2nd floor of my house. My coverage downstairs is not as good as I would like. I have considered getting a new base station plus a Dr. Bott omni [drbott.com] to give me better range, but some discussion on the Apple forums [apple.com] has given me pause, and this guide from VonWentzel [vonwentzel.net] implies that a +dbi antenna will only give me more range in certain directions. So it would appear that the "omni" will give me better range while I'm on the 2nd floor of my home but poorer range/reception when I am above or below my base station.

    Has anyone else tried these external antennae, and if so, has it resulted in better or worse signal when above or below the base station, compared to using an AEBS with no external antenna connection?

    • Re:External Antenna Port Worthwhile? (Score:5, Informative)

      by kencurry ( 471519 ) on Monday April 19, 2004 @06:03PM (#8909695)
      I have an original graphite station. I added a lucent external antenna (I don't remember the specs, maybe a 5dB boost?) that required a "case hack" I saw posted somewhere. In may case, the antenna plugs directly into the embedded PCMCIA card. the addition did boost performance for me, but I still found that some areas downstairs remained spotty.

      I noticed that the Dr. Bott is more expensive than the lucent. To be honest, I think you will be disappointed to spend a hundred bucks and find only marginal improvement.

      • I noticed that the Dr. Bott is more expensive than the lucent. To be honest, I think you will be disappointed to spend a hundred bucks and find only marginal improvement.

        Been there, done that. 5dB boost is about all you'll get out of most base stations. For me, the cheap boosters at radioshack worked as well as the $100 antenna i ordered.

  • POWER Over Ethernet (Score:4, Funny)

    by jareds ( 100340 ) on Monday April 19, 2004 @01:45PM (#8906713)
    Are you absolutely sure it supports power over ethernet [fiftythree.org]?

  • What could be useful... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by grahamtriggs ( 572707 ) on Monday April 19, 2004 @02:07PM (#8906977)

    I notice that the USB port is disabled when using POE... which kind of got me thinking - there are more uses for a USB port than attaching printer... how about a model that allows you to connect a cable/DSL modem via USB (many of the modems given away only have USB connections).
    • PoE and UL 2043 are for an above a drop ceiling type install (with only an ethernet connection being required)...as USB has active power in the connector, this is a Bad Thing to have on if the fire suppression system goes off, since there there would be an Airport Extreme Base Station electricifying pooling water (potentially)
      • Don't overlook the fact that there are many many 120v receptacles at shin level. The USB port is mostly disabled because PoE wouldn't be able to provide the specified 2.5W to the USB port.
        • to the best of my knowledge (being an estimator by trade), cables must be raced and open electrical receptacles are not allowed...fire stopping regulations also come into play...
          • That's not what I am saying...receptacles have slots in them you know, otherwise they wouldn't receive anything. Last time I checked most institutional rooms (except hospitals and labs) don't have all GFI circuits as standard. My point is that most people wouldn't keep the station on the floor; the water would have to 2.5 feet deep which would cause problems much more significant than some exposed USB port.

            I highly doubt that the USB port isn't disabled because of flooding potential...5 volts @ 500mA max

  • 802.11 (Score:4, Funny)

    by peu ( 163472 ) on Monday April 19, 2004 @02:44PM (#8907395) Homepage
    What do we need for power over 802.11 ? Tesla coils?

  • I'm waiting for... (Score:3, Funny)

    by psyconaut ( 228947 ) on Monday April 19, 2004 @02:46PM (#8907416)
    ...power over 802.11!!!!!

    -psy

  • :) Interesting (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Power over Ethernet...

    Many people are trying to transmit data over power cables. However this PoE is reverse idea. :)
    Intersting...
    Which one would be better?

  • wow... Story copied word for word (Score:4, Informative)

    by acomj ( 20611 ) on Monday April 19, 2004 @04:23PM (#8908521) Homepage
    see http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/.. For the original email this was posted from.. No wonder it was done anon...

  • Value of Airport Base Station (Score:4, Insightful)

    by reidconti ( 219106 ) on Monday April 19, 2004 @04:43PM (#8908713)
    I had a snow ABS I bought for $300.

    Used it for a year and a half

    sold it for $180 on ebay, bought a linksys for $60.

    The linksys just sucks. Apple's hardware simply works way better. You get what you pay for.

    Sticking with the linksys because I don't feel like laying down the cash for the ABS, but I should have just kept the Airport originally..
    • Weird! I bought a linksys wireless base station and I thought it was the best piece of hardware I ever bought. The easiest to install and administer. I'd say it's the only piece of hardware I've ever bought that I can't really fault. No drivers to install. I just plugged it into my network at home, I did a tiny bit of config to give it my DSL password, and it worked.

      The airport base station must be *really* good. (Saying that proves I don't work for Linksys :-)

    • Re:Value of Airport Base Station (Score:4, Informative)

      by hrbrmstr ( 324215 ) * on Tuesday April 20, 2004 @08:32AM (#8915137) Homepage Journal
      The WRT54G model, once re-flashed with some of the very feature-rich firmware produced by the open source community has been a rock-solid, problem-free device.

      I would love to be able to spend the money on an apple airport base station, but *this* model Linksys works for me. I can see where an all-Mac home/shop or even a small, multi-platform environment might want to go with easy-to-manage Apple WLAN equipment, tho.

      Now, the older, 802.11b AP's from Linksys were not worth the plastic case they came in, so if you're comparing the Apple equipment to those, Apple is definitely worth the price premium.
    • I bought a soekris 4521 and put a card in it. Cost me ~$340 for all that. Got a 16MB CF, put OpenBSD on it (readonly) and it's the basestation. Which runs ssh. And snmpd. And a web server. And nagios (kinda, I store to a ramdisk, so reboots kill history - every 100 days).

      Same CPU as the airport.

      picked up a 4801 and have 802.11g for THAT one (so freebsd). Boot from (readonly) CF, but put an old kinda iffy 12G laptop drive in it. Later on, I have to move a 160GB USB/Firewire drive so I can put THAT

  • Currently I can only use Wireless Distribution System (WDS) with WEP not WPA. WDS was one of the major selling points for me with the Airport. I would love to move to WPA, I sort of assumed that the client portion of the WDS code would need to be updated to be WPA capable.

    Adrian

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