Airport Extreme 802.11n Teardown

Teardown

Teardown

Teardowns provide a look inside a device and should not be used as disassembly instructions.

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How to take apart the Airport Extreme 802.11n.

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Add Note Edit Step 1 — Airport Extreme 802.11n Teardown  ¶ 

  • We got our new Airport Extreme 802.11n today. We decided to deviate from our standard modus operandi and run some benchmarks before we took it apart. (I know, I know-- our screwdrivers were lonely for a while.) This image is a sneak-peek to get your appetite whetted.

  • The new base station is amazing. We achieved a 10x performance boost, and a 3x usable range increase (significantly better than Apple's 5x/2x claims). Actual benchmarks are on the next page.

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Add Note Edit Step 2  ¶ 

  • Included: Base station, the famous $1.99 install CD, smallish power brick, and a manual. No USB or ethernet cables.

  • Our office is a little bit spread out-- we have two snow 802.11g base stations and two Airport Express units. We may be able to replace them all with just one new base station!

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Add Note Edit Step 3  ¶ 

  • From bottom up: Mac Mini, new base station, old base station.

  • The base station is the exact same footprint as the Mac Mini, and slightly more than half as tall.

  • The device feels very sturdy, and weighs a bit more (1.70 pounds) than the old base stations (1.22 pounds).

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Add Note Edit Step 4  ¶ 

  • This is the infamous 802.11n Sarbanes-Oxley mandated $1.99 802.11n enabler.

  • These benchmarks are crude, but should give you a rough idea. All benchmarks were performed with a MacBook Pro 15" Core 2 Duo, a 'snow' 802.11g Airport Extreme Base Station, and the new 802.11n Airport Extreme Base Station.

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Add Note Edit Step 5  ¶ 

  • We ran all the benchmarks at least three times, and we're presenting you with average numbers. Your mileage will vary significantly, particularly with distance-- our base stations were inside, but the building wasn't big enough so we had to go outside to get 300 feet away.

  • This graph shows transfer speeds at 5, 100, and 300 feet for both base stations. The graph is not linear or particularly to scale.

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Add Note Edit Step 6  ¶ 

  • We transferred two 35MB quicktime files (70 MB total). The first location was 5 feet from the base station. With the G base station, we had a reported comm quality of 56, and with the N base station the commQuality was 76. To get the commQuality, run the command `/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/ Resources/airport -I`.

  • At 5 feet, N was giving me a whopping 9 MB/s! (It averaged at 7.8 MB/s.) I'm accustomed to keeping an ethernet cable at my desk to plug in when I need to make large transfers. With 802.11n, I'll be able to get rid of the extra cable.

  • At 300 feet (with a building in the way), we were still getting 500 KB/s. We got tired of walking and stopped. I suspect you could still get signal at twice that.

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Add Note Edit Step 7  ¶ 

  • There is a rubber pad covering the bottom attached by an adhesive. To get into the base station, you have to peel the pad off.

  • There are five Phillips #0 screws underneath the pad you need to remove.

  • The numbers on the bottom are: FCC ID BCGA1143, IC: 579C-A1143, Model Number A1143.

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Add Note Edit Step 8  ¶ 

  • Lift the perforated plastic cover out.

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