Apple AirPort Extreme--How Fast Is It?

We have owned an Apple AirPort Base Station (ABS) and wireless AirPort network almost since they first came out along with the original iBook. Initially, the ABS connected a PowerBook 2400c and an original clamshell iBook to our network. Later we replaced our original graphite ABS with a snow ABS primarily to move up to 128-bit WEP encryption and partly so our graphite ABS could become a traveling companion. We used the graphite ABS to get internet service during meetings and conferences and to avoid having to use a hotel room's night stand as a desk while making a modem internet connection.

Recently, we got Apple's new AirPort Extreme ABS and now use the snow ABS as our traveling companion. Our attraction to the new Extreme ABS was simple: it has a higher rated speed using the new 802.11g protocol, it can serve as a router on a wired/wireless network and signal-amplifying antennas are easy to connect.

The Extreme ABS's throughput is supposed to be on the order of 5 times faster than the original and now ubiquitous WiFi 802.11b protocol of the snow and original graphite ABS's. In theory, the advantage is 54 mbps vs 11 mbps (mbps = megabits per second) but Apple has stated that the realized throughput is more like 25 mbps vs 5-6 mbps for the older "b" protocol under optimal conditions. That 4-5 times difference is very attractive to us since we frequently pass large files among the computers on our network, especially from and to our 1-GHz 17" PowerBook G4 (Big Al) that has an AirPort Extreme card.

We have Earthlink DSL internet service through a BroadMax DSL modem to an Asante FriendlyNet 3002AL router and 8-port SMC 10/100 autosensing switch. The DP1.42 and Extreme ABS are hardwired to the SMC switch, along with several other Macs and a PC. Big Al gets its internet service via the Extreme ABS along with several other Macs and 'Books used throughout our wood-frame building. So how fast is it?

After finding and eliminating some incompatible hardware in our network (see yesterday's article), we set up some speed tests between Big Al and our dual 1.42 GHz Power Mac G4 (FW800) which we will call DP1.42 for convenience. We set up Big Al at our reference location measured exactly 25 feet from the Extreme ABS and oriented so the side of the ABS faces Big Al. We got a solid 4 arcs on Big Al's signal strength menu icon. Then we timed how long it took to transfer a 160 MB folder containing 6 DV video files (the iMovie Tutorial folder) from Big Al to the DP1.42 and back to Big Al. We timed the Extreme ABS in all three of its modes: 802.11b/g, 802.11g-only and 80211.b-only, plus the snow ABS that uses just 802.11b. Both ABS's were set to enable 128-bit WEP encryption and to disable Interference Robustness. Here are the results: