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Apple's AirPort Express gets extra juice with 802.11n upgrade

The portable wireless base station now comes with the fastest iteration of the networking standard, already present in Apple's other hardware.

Caroline McCarthy headshot
Caroline McCarthy
Apple

Apple has updated its AirPort Express portable wireless base station to make it compatible with the speedy 802.11n wireless standard, the company announced Monday.

802.11n, the latest iteration of the wireless networking standard, more than quadruples wireless-data rates to 248 megabits per second from the current 54 megabits per second offered by the 802.11g wireless standard; there are also some security improvements over 802.11g.

Apple's current lineup of laptops, iMac desktops, Apple TV set-top boxes, and Time Capsule backup devices already come with 802.11n.

An AirPort Express allows up to 10 Wi-Fi users to share a single broadband connection, access a printer wirelessly through a USB, and wirelessly stream media from Apple's iTunes software through its "AirTunes" feature. Always a proponent of small size, Apple touts the weight of the little guy as just 6.7 ounces; it costs $99.