Editing AirPort (section)

===AirPort Base Station===
{{multiple image
| image1 = Apple graphite airport base station front.jpg
| caption1 = Original ''Graphite'' (1999)
| image2 = Apple Airport-001.jpg
| caption2 = ''Snow'' (2001)
| align = right
| direction = horizontal
| total_width = 250
| header = AirPort Base Stations
}}
The original AirPort Base Station (known as ''Graphite'', model M5757, part number M7601LL/B) features a [[dial-up modem]] and an [[Ethernet]] port. It employs a Lucent WaveLAN Silver PC Card as the Radio, and uses an embedded [[AMD Élan]] SC410 processor. It connects to the machine via the Ethernet port. It was released July 21, 1999. The Graphite AirPort Base Station is functionally identical to the [[Lucent]] RG-1000 wireless base station and can run the same firmware. Due to the original firmware-locked limitations of the Silver card, the unit can only accept 40-bit WEP encryption. Later aftermarket tweaks can enable 128-bit WEP on the Silver card. Aftermarket Linux firmware has been developed for these units to extend their useful service life.

A second-generation model (known as ''Dual Ethernet'' or ''Snow'', model M8440, part number M8209LL/A) was introduced on November 13, 2001. It features a second Ethernet port when compared to the Graphite design, allowing for a shared Internet connection with both wired and wireless clients. Also new (but available for the original model via software update) was the ability to connect to and share [[AOL|America Online]]'s dial-up service—a feature unique to [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] base stations. This model is based on [[Motorola]]'s [[PowerPC]] 855 processor and contained a fully functional original AirPort Card, which can be removed and used in any compatible Macintosh computer.