AirPort Extreme Firmware 5.1.3 released

Apple on Friday released an update to the firmware for its AirPort Extreme Base Station. The new update — v5.1.3 — can be downloaded from Apple’s Web site.

Apple lists the following features:

Enhanced security for handling unsolicited Internet traffic, including different types of denial-of-service attacks, that may be directed at an AirPort Extreme Base Station. The new protection mechanisms in this firmware will help prevent loss of Internet connectivity.

Additional improvements in USB printing performance.

Base station Interference Robustness, which provides improved performance when 2.4GHz devices like cordless phones and wireless video distribution system cause significant interference with the AirPort network.

Simpler Wireless Distribution System (WDS) setup experience in AirPort Admin Utility

Administrators have the ability to set the DHCP range on their base station when NAT is on

Performance improvements between wired and wireless clients.

AirPort Extreme is Apple’s moniker for IEEE 802.11g wireless networking technology. The standard operates at a transmission speed of up to 54Mbps, compared to the 11Mbps of Apple’s previous AirPort hardware. It’s also downwardly compatible with that older technology. AirPort Extreme made its debut this past January with Apple’s introduction of the 17-inch PowerBook G4 and has been implemented in several other Mac products since then.

The download measures 1MB. More details are available from Apple’s Web site.