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Apple updated their AirPort Extreme router with some awesome new features, but the new design was definitely a shock to me. The new vertical design is said to improve Wi-Fi performance, plus it saves some desk space since it’s footprint is now less than 4 inches square. I just think this new 6.6 inch hight looks very strange, especially since Apple usually makes things thinner. I’m looking forward to testing it and hopefully it’s improvements will help me forget about the odd new tower look.
802.11ac. The new definition of fast.
With three-stream 802.11ac technology, the AirPort Extreme Base Station takes Wi‑Fi speeds over the top. Now you can reach data rates of up to 1.3 Gbps1 — triple the previous 802.11n standard. Which means up to three times faster Wi‑Fi.2 You also get double the channel bandwidth, with 80MHz-wide channels providing more room for more data to flow faster than ever. And if you have 802.11a/b/g/n devices, AirPort Extreme maximizes that connection as well. What you do with all that extra speed is up to you.
Simultaneous dual-band support.
AirPort Extreme features simultaneous dual-band 802.11ac Wi‑Fi. That means it transmits at both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies at the same time. So no matter which band your wireless devices use, they’ll automatically connect to the best available band for the fastest possible performance.
Beamforming puts the focus on your device.
With 802.11ac technology comes the intelligent, powerful beamforming antenna array. Most base station antennas emit an equal and constant Wi‑Fi signal in all directions. But the beamforming antenna array is smarter — it knows where an 802.11ac device is on the network. Then AirPort Extreme targets its signal to that device. So your Wi‑Fi signal is stronger, clearer, and faster.
A top-down approach to design.
For the all-new design of AirPort Extreme, we took an approach that centered around performance. We made it taller and put the antennas at the top, creating a higher platform for dispersing the signal. We also increased the number of antennas. There are now six of them — three for the 2.4GHz band and three for the 5GHz band. Together with 802.11ac wireless technology, they let you connect faster, farther, and with more power than ever before. The bar for Wi‑Fi base stations has been raised. In every way.
Smaller footprint. More desk space.
The new vertical design not only improves Wi‑Fi performance, it also saves you valuable desk space. At less than 4 inches square, the footprint of AirPort Extreme is 64 percent smaller than its predecessor. And to keep everything tidy, even the power supply is built in. Which means AirPort Extreme takes up no more space than it should.
http://www.apple.com/airport-extreme/
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