Digital Trends

One of the most promising features of the AirPort Extreme is the USB 2.0 port and the ability to connect hard drives to it. This helps create NAS-like storage on the cheap. The fact that a USB hub can enable you to connect multiple hard drives is truly revolutionary. 

 

I tested the AirPort Disk Utility to see how easy it was to set up and how the overall performance rated. 

 

Setting up the AirPort Disk Utility was easy quick. The application asked if I wanted to allow free connection or if passwords access was preferred. I'm data-paranoid, so I chose the password option. I denied disk access to guests. Bah, guests. Within 2 minutes, the 250GB USB 2.0 drive I connected was accessible via my menu bar and my desktop. I was pleased, until I began moving data to and from the drive. 

 

1. 2.4GHz unencrypted 802.11g/n Avg.    2.8MB/s up    3.8MB/s down

2. 2.4GHz encrypted 802.11g/n              Avg.    2.8MB/s up   3.7MB/s down

3. 2.4GHz unencrypted 802.11n                 Avg.    2.6MB/s up    3.7MB/s down 

4. 2.4GHz encrypted 802.11n                 Avg.    2.2MB/s up   3.5MB/s down 

5. 5GHz unencrypted 802.11n                    Avg.    2.7MB/s up    3.5MB/s down 

6. 5GHz encrypted 802.11n                    Avg.    2.0MB/s up   3.8MB/s down

 

In most cases, encryption seemed to slow things down a little, but not much. 

 

As a final test, I did what many people will eventually do - I backed up an entire directory of documents, spreadsheets, PDFs and images to the AirPort Disk. The directory contained 6.17GB of data. The data transfer was started at 6:15am. By 7:30am, only 2.33GB of data had been moved over. 

 

I was disappointed by the AirPort Disk stats, but I had to recognize that the data rates I was seeing were still technically 'decent'. I just expected a lot more, especially with 802.11n. 

 

As I mentioned above, varying conditions in your immediate environment may significantly alter your AirPort Extreme speeds. 

Internet Connection Boost

One thing I found particularly impressive was the fact that my overall Internet speeds increased two-fold after installing the AirPort Extreme. Previously, I was getting an average of 2,400kbps with my 6mbps Comcast connection (using Motorola's SB5120 modem and speakeasy.net's speed test).

After I hooked up the AirPort Extreme base station and configured it for encrypted 802.11n running at 5GHz, my average speed tests ranked closer to 5,900kbps down and 350kbps up! That's awesome! Even directly connected to the cable modem, speeds never jump over 6,100kbps, so to have 6mbps wireless is a real treat. On a day-to-day basis, this will be much appreciated and nearly justifies the $179 price tag of the AirPort Extreme.