Good news for those who want to change the settings and check on the details of Apple's Wi-Fi base stations without having a computer handy. Apple has released the free AirPort Utility app alongside iOS 5. It allows much, but not all, of the same configuration changes you can effect in the desktop version of the software. The biggest difference is a graphical depiction that appears on launch, showing the Apple 802.11n base stations on your network and the connections among them [This difference may seem less different when compared to AirPort Utility 6.0 for the Mac, released in late January 2012. —Tonya]. This launch screen can help you troubleshoot problems by showing status lights (green, yellow, or red) next to units that are having problems.

I wrote up the utility in great depth at Macworld. In a future update to this book, I'll incorporate details about how to use the app, and its limits.

—Posted by Glenn Fleishman on October 18, 2011