Airport extreme: no external antenna?

[steve harley]

they whom i call R.L. Grigg wrote:
> We need the external antenna jack to hook a linear rf amp and waveguide 
> to it for a special purpose contract so theres no way a unidirectional 
> AE unit can do what we need. I guess Apple just killed off the external 
> antenna market niche too.

your needs seem pretty specialized -- isn't there another router 
that will work? there are cheaper routers with antenna jacks plu 
more features than Apple's router ...

overall, i'd expect a trend away from external antenna connectors 
on consumer routers, both because of 802.11n's requirement of 
multiple antennas (and hence multiple connectors), and because 
802.11n's greater range is more likely to satisfy users without 
an external antenna

but considering Apple's market share and its place in the 
wireless router market, i doubt Apple itself could harm the 
antenna niche

(that said, i'm happy i have a garage-sale Dr. Bott directional 
antenna on my 802.11g Apple router)