Each stream of the Wireless-N standard can handle a bandwidth of 150Mbps, making the AirPort Express effectively an N600 router (one that offers up to 300Mbps on each band). The new router still supports dual-stream 802.11n wireless networking, meaning the router can broadcast signal in two spatial streams on each of its two frequency bands. Its new appearance and dual-bandwidth support are welcome additions, but overall the new router doesn't feel as if it has four years' worth of advances.įor example, the USB port on the new AirPort Express still doesn't support external storage devices, but only some printers. In theory, both bands have the ceiling speed of the Wireless-N standard.Īpple has introduced the new AirPort Express Base Station almost exactly four years after from the previous model. The difference between the two bands mostly comes down to the fact that 5GHz generally offers better real-world performance thanks to the fact that it uses higher frequencies that other home appliances, such as microwaves or cordless phones, don't use. Instead, it's a mini version of the AirPort Extreme Base Station and shares the same power cord as well as support for true dual-band Wi-Fi.ĭual-band wireless networking means that a router broadcasts signals in both the 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz frequency bands. Measuring 3.9 inches by 3.9 inches by 0.9 inch, the new AirPort Express seems slightly smaller than the already-compact previous first and second generations and now no longer comes in the wall-wart design. For the brand-agnostic, other dual-band routers such as the Asus RT-N56U and the Linksys E3200 offer more features than the AirPort Express for the same price or less.
For Apple fans, the $100 wireless router will make a capable addition to your home, giving you a more versatile network than the previous AirPort Express thanks to its new dual-band capability.
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