Apple Airport Extreme Wireless Router Wi-Fi 802.11ac A1521 with Power Cable

Type

Wired / Wireless Router

Brand

Apple

The Apple AirPort Extreme 802.11ac is a high-performance Wi-Fi base station released by Apple in 2013, known for its ultra-fast Wi-Fi speeds of up to 1.3 Gbps, using the three-stream 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) standard. It featured simultaneous dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, a unique tower design, and included a built-in power supply, Gigabit Ethernet ports (one WAN, three LAN), and a USB 2.0 port for printer sharing or attaching a hard drive for network-accessible storage. The device also supported Apple's Time Machine backups using an external USB hard drive and utilized beamforming antenna technology to improve signal quality. Key Features 802.11ac Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5): Provided speeds up to 1.3 Gbps, significantly faster than the older 802.11n standard. Simultaneous Dual-Band: Supported both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands at the same time for optimal performance and compatibility. Design and Antennas: Featured a distinctive, taller form factor with a six-element internal antenna array. Connectivity: Included one Gigabit Ethernet WAN port, three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, and one USB 2.0 port. Network Storage: Allowed an external USB hard drive to be connected for network file sharing and Time Machine backups. Beamforming: Used a six-element beamforming antenna array to direct wireless signals for better performance and range. Usage and Discontinuation The AirPort Extreme served as a high-performance router and Wi-Fi access point, capable of sharing broadband internet connections. It could be configured using the Airport Utility on Mac, iOS, or Windows computers.