| The Old Gray AirPort - she's still what she used to be... | | Date Created: 26 Apr, 2007, 10:23 PM |
 Ah, the joys of moving home!
For the second time in almost the same number of years, I've moved home, and enjoyed what is probably the second or third most stressful thing to do which occurs for most people on a predictable basis.
We're not talking here of car crashes, losing one's job, or divorce. But the usual hassles of getting things packed, preparing old and new residences for the move, and ridding oneself of possessions whose use-by date was up long ago.
And now the new stressor which those of us who've become immersed (nay, reliant!) on our communications media for our news, entertainment, and business needs: not having high-speed, always-on internet connection.
Here in Australia, no more high speed cable connections are being rolled out, and indeed, our regression to a second-world technology community has become a political football pitch for our federal election due later this year.
The current conservative federal government has a less-than-visionary history of helping large and small business alike take advantage of the utility of high speed internet, quite remarkable for its leader whose platform is very much about the economic prosperity of "middle Australia".
Which means that most Australians now choosing to move from dial-up to broadband
(and I mean serious broadband, not what has laughably been called fraudbrand by some commentators), must now count on the myriad ISPs who have access to telephone exchanges' ADSL2+ DSLAM connections.
Allegedly allowing download speeds of 24Mbps, in reality on my iinet ISP I imagine I was lucky to get half of that even when the speed peaked. Mind you, compared to my old cable connection, the upload speeds were positively blistering.
Only trouble is, it takes some 5-10 working days for the nearest telephone exchange to be configured once a request for a new conenction has been made, at a cost of $79 to make the transfer, despite my continuing the service.
In the meantime, I've set up a dial-up account to get by, allowing me to access email, and pretty much nothing else. Wanting podcasts, and the latest episodes of favourite free-to-air TV (limited to less than a handful including final episodes of The Sopranos, the return of Heroes, the better-than-mainstream news Daily Show, the resurrecting Lost, and the lascivious Desperate Housewives) I've been mooching high speed downloads from friends.
While I believe one of the qualities that makes us human is our species' stupendous ability to adapt, this is one aspect to which it seems impossible to adapt: going from ADSL2+ back to 56kps dial-up - a new form of 21st Century torture.
But in the circumstances, adapt one must, but at least let it be on my terms!
And so buried in one of those boxes storing antiquated technology, I located my old gray original model AirPort Graphite base station. Maxing out at 11Mbit/s, and 10 wireless connections, I bought it in 2001(the model was first released in 1999), along with the first Titanium Powerbook, the one that once more showed the tech. world that Apple knew design like no one else.
Same went for the AirPort, whose flying saucer design probably made most conservative tech. company execs. choke on their Cornflakes with its out-of-this-world design, but one which in its own way reinforced how Apple could take bleeding edge technology, give it a funky appeal, and make it available to any and all who could see this was the future of home networking.
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Unlike later AirPorts, the original came standard with a 56kps modem.
I can recall many trips to the US and Europe where we packed the AirPort, and used it in hotel rooms not yet equipped with broadband, where our connection to the internet was via a $19.95/mo AOL subscription (since dropped).
Nowadays, we visit internet cafes with our Powerbooks and an Airport Express, or take a day's rental on hotel broadband and share.
In the new home, it took a few days for the phoneline to come to life (yes, that long) and so connection to the outside world was via cellphone. Once the phoneline became active, it took but a few moments to place the AirPort online, and dial up via its built-in modem from anywhere in the house.
Unlike the new Macbooks which come sans internal modem (hmm, that would have put a dent in my setup without the AirPort or the purchase of an external USB modem), I could have used the Powerbook's modem to connect.
So why use the AirPort, you might ask?
Look at the screenshot below (click on it to enlarge): |
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Note between the AirPort and Screen Display icons in the menu bar the following:
1d 00:36:59
This shows the dial up connection via the AirPort to have been active for more than 24 hours. Just as well I took an unlimited dial up connection option, rather than paying by the hour.
And so we see the added advantage of the old gray AirPort. Not just do I get portability, but when I put the Powerbook to sleep at night, I'm able to wake up the next morning with the connection still active allowing me a quick email check and news update (with Firefox's image display preference off to speed things up).
Using the inbuilt modem and putting the Powerbook to sleep would have seen me having to dial in again and wait while a connection was made, along with all that hideous screeching, compared to the silence of the AirPort.
And so for the next few days, while my ADSL router and AirPort Express sit waiting for the broadband setup to come online, the original Base station - one that didn't see its capacitors expire prematurely - still performing sterling service six years after its initial firing up.
Amongst my friends I was perhaps the first to have a wireless broadband connection at a time when most thought both were unnecessary.
Oh, how little they knew then. Kind of like how certain governments remain clueless as to how technology can best be marshalled for increased quality of living, perferring to play it safe and conservative with a "we know best" attitude. It seems to me that a lot of those 18-22 year olds who make up Generation M (for media) and who grew up only ever knowing always-on broadband, might have a thing or two to say later this year about such attitudes when they vote for the first time.
Of course, the fact that Australia remains allied with the US in not signing the Kyoto pact may also help their decision making. |
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