

Apple’s attached drive support used to be a big deal when OS X was oriented around AFP, and it was difficult to create networked fileservers except Mac OS X Server or personal filesharing in regular OS X. And most Wi-Fi routers include USB-based printer support that’s compatible with macOS (although not always with iOS). Even quite inexpensive printers now include Wi-Fi networking, allowing a completely cable-free connection.

The AirPort Extreme has an audio jack for sending music from a Mac or iOS device to a set of speakers using the AirPlay protocol. Guest networking (access to an isolated and protected network for guests)Įach of Apple’s advantages has slipped away over the years:.Separate network names for 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks.DHCP assignment or “reservation,” offering a permanent local network address to a device on the network.Other features found in Apple’s base stations are easy to find in other routers:

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However, for Mac users in particular, the gateways had Apple-specific features you couldn’t get elsewhere. What about Apple’s proprietary base station features?įrom Apple’s introduction of the original AirPort until just a few years ago, its base stations were often the best on the market, even if sometimes the most expensive’.
