The AirPort Express is the smaller one on the right. They're both discontinued, though. As 9to5Mac and MacRumors report, a new firmware update adds AirPlay 2 to the venerable Wi-Fi router. Is your Airport Extreme, Time Capsule, or Airport Express showing a blinking yellow/amber light? You might need to update your router’s firmware.
The intelligent, easy-to-use AirPort Extreme Base Station with simultaneous dual-band support is the perfect wireless access point for home, school, or office. It offers next-generation 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology and delivers high-performance wireless access for Mac computers, PCs, and Wi-Fi devices such as iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple TV.Airport Extreme Firmware 7.9.1
Some of the features mentioned in these release notes require AirPort 4.1, which is available only for Mac OS X 10.3 or later. Though some features (printer renaming, WPA security for WDS networks) are not available to 10.2.8 users, there are other issues resolved in this update and this update is recommended for your AirPort Extreme base station.
Fixes:
- Hard reset behavior is improved. With this firmware version pressing and holding the reset button for more than 5 seconds will cause the LED to flash rapidly. This visual feedback lets you know you’ve held the button long enough to trigger a hard reset.
- Resolves a potential problem with PPPoE configurations when updating from 5.4 or earlier.
- Improved reliability of WDS networks when using WPA security. If you had a WDS network secured by WPA and then removed any of the WDS nodes, this could cause a memory leak resulting in the need to reboot your WDS network nodes.
- Resolved an issue with inbound passive FTP to a port-mapped computer on the network.
- Resolved an issue with certain printers which were no longer recognized by the base station after the 5.5 firmware update was installed. With the 5.5.1 firmware these printers are again recognized by the base station.
The following items were part of the previous 5.5 release and are also included in this firmware:
- AirPort firmware updates are now packaged in a new utility application which simplifies the process of installing firmware updates. This application is available for use on Mac OS X computers (10.3 and later) and on Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP.
- USB printer renaming - USB printers connected to the AirPort Extreme can now be renamed by using the AirPort Admin Utility (version 4.1 or later).
- Multiple printer support for the “Power over Ethernet” model of AirPort Extreme - The “Power over Ethernet” model of AirPort Extreme now allows multiple USB printers to be connected through a USB hub to the AirPort Extreme. Other models of AirPort Extreme still support only one single USB-attached printer.
- WPA security for WDS networks - WDS networks made up of AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express base stations can now be secured with WPA-Personal security. All AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express units must be upgraded to the latest appropriate 5.5 or 6.1 firmware before the network can be secured with WPA.
- Improved reliability for WDS networks - WDS nodes will now check for the presence of other WDS nodes. This results in better WDS network connectivity. All AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express units must be upgraded to the latest appropriate 5.5 or 6.1 firmware.
- In certain situations wireless clients could send certain types of data which could cause the AirPort Extreme to stop transmitting data. This issue is improved in the 5.5 firmware update.
- The 5.5 Firmware Update improves performance and other concerns related to FTP, RTSP, IPSec, TCP, UDP, and other IP protocols.
- Certain DNS traffic could affect AirPort Extreme performance. This issue is improved in the 5.5 firmware.
- Certain PPP or PPPoE connections (commonly used with DSL ISPs) could encounter a situation where the AirPort Extreme could not communicate with the ISP, requiring the base station and/or the ISP’s modem to be rebooted. This is fixed in the 5.5 firmware.
- Improved printing performance when printing to USB printers connected to the AirPort Extreme.
How do I download and install a firmware update?
OS X
- Make sure you are connected to the Internet.
- Open AirPort Utility. (Navigate to the /Applications/Utilities folder, to locate it.) AirPort Utility will display a badge to the right of the name of any AirPort base station in your network that has a firmware update available for it.
- Select the AirPort base station you want to update.
- Click the Update button.
iOS
- Make sure you are connected to the Internet.
- Tap AirPort Utility on your iOS device.
- AirPort Utility will display a badge to the right of the name of any AirPort base station in your network if there is a firmware update available for it. Tap the AirPort base station to update.
- Enter the password if prompted.
- Tap Version.
- Tap Download and Install.
Airport Extreme Firmware Version
Important
: If you are updating an AirPort base station that shares internal or USB disks, disconnect any clients that may be using them before installing the firmware.
It is highly recommended to always use the most recent driver version available.
Try to set a system restore point before installing a device driver. This will help if you installed an incorrect or mismatched driver. Problems can arise when your hardware device is too old or not supported any longer.
- COMPATIBLE WITH:
- OS Independent
- file size:
- 1.1 MB
- filename:
- AirPortExtremeFW5.5.1.basebinary.zip
- CATEGORY:
- Router / Switch / AP