AirPort Express Bargain N Extender

Apple's revision to the smallest member of its Wi-Fi equipment line-up--the AirPort Express--seems to fit neatly in the consumer space. But the $99 device, refreshed a few days ago after spending four years fixed in time, hides business features in its compact form. Like all Apple wireless hardware, the Express can be configured and used equally well by Windows XP and Vista as by the various flavors of Mac OS X.

The Express is small, hangs directly off a power outlet (a separate A/V kit with an extender plug is available), and is designed to be portable. It has a single Ethernet jack, a USB slot, and a combo analog/optical digital audio output port. The USB slot can share a single printer. The idea is that you can use the Express as your main base station in a wirelessly enabled home, where the Express plugs into a broadband modem; or as an extension to a network elsewhere.

This is where the Express may shine. The Express packs the Wi-Fi certified draft-N version of 802.11n into its compact frame, and the cheapest device to offer both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz support; similarly priced hardware from other makers are 2.4 GHz only. The 5 GHz flavor of draft-N uses a relatively uncrowded spectrum band and can span the equivalent of two normal Wi-Fi channels for raw throughput up to 300 Mbps or real world speeds of 100 to 150 Mbps. Reports indicate that the Express more modestly may range from 50 to 100 Mbps; this is still far better than 802.11g, and you get the better range, to boot.

Most laptops offer draft-N as an upgrade option, and most support both spectrum bands for flexibility, which could make the Express an easy route for supporting faster connections from newer computers. (All of Apple's laptops have included 802.11n in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz since Oct. 2006.)

Because the Express--like nearly all modern base stations--supports roaming when you use the same network name as other access points on the same network, you could place one or more Express routers at the edges of an existing network linked up via Ethernet. (No gigabit Ethernet; just 10/100 Mbps. You're shaving a bit of your top speed off, but you're also keeping costs down.)

The audio output is individually addressable for each unit from within iTunes, allowing you to stream music to a stereo or powered speakers under Windows or Mac OS X. A third-party package, AirFoil, offers Windows and Mac OS X support for streaming any audio to an Express, or even to other Mac or Windows systems.

The Express seems nearly like a toy, but it can also work as a cheap way to beef up coverage.