Airport Extreme 802.11n base station tested and dissected

We've already seen Apple's 802.11n-enhanced Airport Extreme base station unboxed, but that'll hardly satisfy those more curious about the router's inner working than its shiny exterior. Thankfully, the folks at iFixit ripped theirs apart so you don't have to, also taking the time to run the base station through some benchmarks to see how it performs. On that point, they found that the base station definitely delivered the goods, providing a 10x performance boost and 3x range increase over the non-802.11n base station. In transfer rates, that translates to a speedy 9MB/s in short range tests, and a still-impressive 500KB/s when put to a long-range test, with some 300 feet (and a building) separating their MacBook Pro and the base station. As for that peek under the hood, you can check out another pic after the break, then click through to iFixit for a look at the complete operation.

[Via Digg]