WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.920 The iBook is among the most influential computers in computer history, and it's not because 00:00:06.920 --> 00:00:14.520 of how it looks, unfortunately. I really wanted one of these as a kid. 00:00:14.520 --> 00:00:20.200 Because it actually pioneered a technology we take completely for granted these days. 00:00:20.200 --> 00:00:26.200 It's Wi-Fi. This laptop and its companion router were the first devices to bring Wi-Fi to the masses 00:00:26.520 --> 00:00:31.360 after Apple in a move that solidified Wi-Fi as the standard wireless networking technology 00:00:31.360 --> 00:00:35.080 pushed the competing standard into obscurity. 00:00:35.080 --> 00:00:38.320 So Apple gave us Wi-Fi right up until they abandoned it. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:44.160 Now this video is sponsored by ASUS because they provide what Apple won't anymore. 00:00:44.160 --> 00:00:47.840 And I've got the whole history of airport routers and I'm going to show you what they 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:54.280 could do and why that's not good enough anymore. 00:00:54.280 --> 00:00:59.360 We just upgraded our internet here at the house to one gig, which is amazing. 00:00:59.360 --> 00:01:04.840 But this decade old airport network can't handle it, which is too bad because it's 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:11.200 pretty sweet. Upon their release in 2013, the airport extreme router supported the latest draft AC spec 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:16.320 which denoted a theoretical throughput of up to 1.3 gigabits per second, which is close 00:01:16.320 --> 00:01:21.520 enough for me. It even supported mesh networking before all the other kids started doing it. 00:01:21.600 --> 00:01:25.920 I have an airport express in the living room that provides a lower latency wired connection 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:28.920 to the TV and airplane music to the stereo. 00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:33.360 And in the basement, I installed a two terabyte time capsule to help up speeds there and provide 00:01:33.360 --> 00:01:38.840 local and convenient backups for my MacBooks without having to pay $10 a month for iCloud. 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:42.440 But unfortunately, that's not going to do because I'm not getting anywhere near the 00:01:42.440 --> 00:01:48.840 advertised speeds. The fastest speeds I'm able to get is around 500 megabits per second and in this age of 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:53.240 countless wireless smart home devices crowding your network and home internet speeds reaching 00:01:53.240 --> 00:01:59.840 up to 2.5 gigabits per second or beyond, using the latest Wi-Fi technologies is critical 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:05.920 and Apple doesn't offer them anymore. It's a shame really because it was Apple who pushed for the Wi-Fi technology we know 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:11.920 and use today. They made it happen and well before the term Wi-Fi was even a thing. 00:02:11.920 --> 00:02:12.920 Let me explain. 00:02:15.200 --> 00:02:18.720 Back in the late 90s, things were a lot different. 00:02:18.720 --> 00:02:23.400 Apple was a struggling company that had fallen from glory and the internet was this new whiz 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:28.120 bang thing that would bring the world's information to our fingertips. 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:32.680 That's what the i in iMac is for because not only did it have a telephone internet modem 00:02:32.680 --> 00:02:38.920 built in, it also had Ethernet, which was common only on business PCs at the time. 00:02:38.920 --> 00:02:42.800 Ethernet is amazing, but the executives at Apple recognized a problem. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:46.480 Constantly plugging in a laptop was never going to work, even if there were ports at 00:02:46.480 --> 00:02:50.720 every corner, which wasn't possible anyway because retrofitting centuries of asbestos 00:02:50.720 --> 00:02:54.600 filled building construction, especially in schools, was not something Apple could do 00:02:54.600 --> 00:03:00.280 or expect to happen quickly. The answer, of course, is wireless. 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:04.520 The most viable seeming wireless standard at the time was called HomeRF, which is being 00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:08.880 developed by a consortium that included Intel, Motorola and Siemens, among others. 00:03:08.880 --> 00:03:12.920 It had momentum and according to John Rubenstein in an interview with the Computer History 00:03:12.920 --> 00:03:18.120 Museum, the HomeRF team was pushing the FCC standards to make it work for them. 00:03:18.120 --> 00:03:21.280 Better for HomeRF versus, you know, not as good for Wi-Fi. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:24.680 Sounds good enough. Well, Apple didn't go with HomeRF. 00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:29.720 Okay, so one thing I really wanted to try is the first ever network, so I got the first 00:03:29.720 --> 00:03:37.680 devices that used them and it was a huge pain to get this iBook to work. 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:41.720 There was another technology called Waveland that was developed by a team at NCR in the 00:03:41.720 --> 00:03:47.080 Netherlands. Today, under the leadership of Vic Hayes, known as the father of Wi-Fi, turned the technology 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:52.000 into the first IEEE standard 802.11 by the late 90s. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:04:01.280 In that first standard, things were still being figured out, but Apple saw potential. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:05.360 The technology was being used in industrial and commercial applications, so it was expensive, 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:10.360 big and inefficient. But Apple, using their muscle, essentially pushed for the technology to be scaled down 00:04:10.440 --> 00:04:17.040 to a $100 PC card and $300 airport base station, leading to the implementation of the 802.11 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:21.200 B standard they introduced to the mainstream in 1999. 00:04:21.200 --> 00:04:26.160 What I've seen, many of the executives talk really fondly about the airport project, whether 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:31.320 it was bringing the technology to market or marketing it at the iBook launch keynote. 00:04:31.320 --> 00:04:37.560 They made Phil Schiller jump off a scaffold onto a mat in front of everyone. 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:42.920 You might not have the momentous reputation as the iMac, but I'd argue that it was more 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:47.040 impactful to our daily life. And Apple really committed to Wi-Fi. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:50.520 From then on, every Mac that was released incorporated Wi-Fi intent is to make sure 00:04:50.520 --> 00:04:57.320 anyone could simply adopt Wi-Fi when they were ready just by plugging this card in. 00:04:57.320 --> 00:05:04.880 I tried so hard to get this to work, but unfortunately I just can't get the base station to connect 00:05:04.960 --> 00:05:11.400 to the internet. And even if I could, I probably wouldn't even be able to get to a speed test website 00:05:11.400 --> 00:05:17.760 to verify the 11 megabits per second throughput that this supports. 00:05:17.760 --> 00:05:24.320 This uses Wi-Fi 1. The final airport setup only supports the draft version of Wi-Fi 5. 00:05:24.320 --> 00:05:28.200 Now Apple devices released in the past year support 6e. 00:05:28.200 --> 00:05:33.320 That includes the new MacBook Pros, iMacs, iPad Pros, and iPhone 15 Pro. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:35.360 So that's why this video is sponsored. 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:43.000 This is the top router from ASUS, their ET12. 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:51.880 It's very beautiful. It and their spider looking AXE7800 support the current Wi-Fi 6e standard. 00:05:51.880 --> 00:05:57.280 7 is still in development, though ASUS has a router for that too. 00:05:57.280 --> 00:06:03.040 We've come a long way, three wireless bands with a backhaul for the mesh network and speeds 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:10.120 of almost 10 gigabits per second. Yep, looks like we're getting the full gigabit speeds just about anywhere in the house. 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:16.560 But there's more too. These routers support 2.5 gig Ethernet, meaning you can connect the latest high speed network 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:20.560 attached storage and be ready for future internet speed upgrades. 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:25.400 There are advanced features at no extra cost, like a simple to use network setup app, built 00:06:25.400 --> 00:06:30.840 in VPN, security, and family profiles to manage the young ins internet usage. 00:06:30.840 --> 00:06:35.360 One thing I really like is how you can add any AI mesh-supported ASUS routers to your 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:40.040 wireless network should you need more coverage, and you can find out all about it in the link 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:45.360 below. Now, Apple was also doing mesh before and early too. 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:50.040 Back when Wireless G, now called Wireless 3, was released, Apple was right at the front 00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:56.120 lines with this airport extreme, and in 2004 they released this very handy airport express. 00:06:56.120 --> 00:07:00.360 It could be used as a standalone router, of course, but it could also connect and expand 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:05.600 your existing network, while also serving as a printer, server through the USB port, 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:08.800 and music through the audio output and airplay. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:11.920 Though that was called air tunes at the time. 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:16.600 And that does mean you'd have to place your printer next to your speakers, doesn't it? 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:20.880 Nevertheless, if you were outputting from iTunes, these supported multi-room audio at 00:07:20.880 --> 00:07:25.640 the same time as the plucky startup Sonos. 00:07:25.640 --> 00:07:29.320 For the next decade, Apple kept up with the wireless technologies releasing models that 00:07:29.320 --> 00:07:33.200 supported the faster wireless N, Wi-Fi 4 standard. 00:07:33.200 --> 00:07:37.480 They also introduced the convenience and security of local backups with the time capsule, which 00:07:37.480 --> 00:07:40.680 was an airport extreme with a hard drive built into it. 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:44.760 Yes, airport routers were one of the more expensive options at the time, but if you 00:07:44.760 --> 00:07:48.920 were an Apple user, you got a pretty simple and reliable setup with technologies the 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:52.600 mainstream didn't adopt until years later. 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:58.560 So what happened? Well, in 2013 Apple released their final suite of routers. 00:07:59.080 --> 00:08:03.960 Later they disbanded the entire airport team, and then in 2018 they discontinued and sold 00:08:03.960 --> 00:08:08.040 off the long, old models. 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:11.160 You don't have to throw out these airports, by the way. 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:16.040 The last airport Express actually supports the current AirPlay 2 standard, and the time 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:20.600 machine can be connected to any network just like any device to still be used to back up 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:27.600 your Macs. So that's nice. But if you want the fastest speeds and latest technologies, you have to look elsewhere. 00:08:27.640 --> 00:08:31.840 Like these ASUS routers. And thanks to them for sponsoring this video. 00:08:31.840 --> 00:08:38.240 Thanks for connecting to this Mac Address wirelessly. I'm curious in the comments below when you got your first Wi-Fi router, and if you want 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:41.720 to check out another video we did, check out the one where I left an air-tagged backpack 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:44.200 on a train and then had to go find it again.