The Apple AirPort Extreme is an individual-looking router that boasts super-fast WiFi speeds. At £199/$199 it’s not cheap, but it looks great and performs at top wireless speeds.
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The AirPort Extreme has six internal antennae (Apple says it has put the antennae at the top, creating a higher platform for dispersing the signal), offering simultaneous dual-band wireless networks with support for all wireless bands. There’s a limited set of connectors at the rear, though – a single USB 2.0 port, three gigabit ethernet LAN ports and one ethernet port for a WAN connection.
The router has been designed with ease of setup in mind, either via a Mac or an iPhone or iPad. Instead of the usual web-browser-based administration interface, a dedicated software application, AirPort Utility, is built into OS X.
It automatically detects the router, and configuration screens load quicker than on a browser-based interface. Annoyingly, though, changing some settings still requires a full reboot.
The AirPort Extreme (version 6) features simultaneous dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11ac wireless, Gigabit Ethernet WAN port for connecting a DSL modem, cable modem or Ethernet network, USB2 port for connecting a USB printer or hard drive; and three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports for connecting a computer, Ethernet hub or networked printer.
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