MAXPower 802.11n/g/b Wireless Router
Newer Technology
newertech.com
US$ 89.95
AirPort Extreme Base Station with Gigabit Ethernet
Apple
Apple.com
US $179.00
The Weeks Division of MyMac Labs spent some time recently with Newer Technology’s 802.11n/g/b Wireless Router. How did it stack up against our mainstay wireless router, Apple’s Airport Extreme?
At first glance, most eyes are attracted to the imposing triple antenna array that Newer uses. They call it Smart Antenna Technology. Other than looking very smart and high-tech, does it actually provide better range? We’ll learn more a bit later on.
Newer’s triple antenna array uses MIMO (multiple in multiple out) technology to help get the best range possible with 802.11N.
Out of the box, the MAXPower (MP for short) is a smallish plastic box. You can stand it on end, or lay it flat. The backside of the case also has molded lugs to facilitate wall mounting. That’s a nice touch that Apple’s more elegant design would never entertain. Apple does sell third-party wall mounting racks for current Airport models for 34.95
The antennas are hinged so they can be oriented properly regardless of how the MP is oriented.
The MP is not a Gigabit router; it has one WAN port, and four 10/100 Ethernet LAN ports. While the lack of Gigabit goodness does not affect Internet speeds, it significantly limits file transfer speed between wired and wireless network clients. If you want to ship a big file between a wired machine and a wireless machine, you’re stuck with Fast Ethernet (100 BaseT) transfer speeds, even if the wired machine is running at GigE (1000 BaseT) speeds. Take it from me, while the difference in transfer speeds is not as noticeable with small files, the difference is significant with big files.
In contrast, Apple’s current Airport Extreme is Gigabit capable. In typical Apple fashion, the styling is simple yet elegant. It’s a plain polycarbonate slab, unadorned save for the Apple logo on the top of the case.
Setting up the Newer’s MP is a straightforward affair. Like most routers today, you configure it using a web browser. I had no trouble using Safari 2 and 3 to talk to the router, and that’s a pleasant change from years ago when most browser-configured routers seemed to require Internet Explorer.
The MP provides an average amount of functionality for a wireless router. It provides 802.11B, G, and N signals. It can broadcast in B-only, G-only, N-only mode, or B/G mixed mode. The MP can provide WPA secure access. It will do port forwarding, MAC address filtering, web site blocking by both URL address and keyword, and it can restrict access by time of day.
Rejecting the browser approach to router setup, Apple touts its Airport Utility as the easiest way to configure a router. In my opinion, Airport Utility is the easiest way for a non-techie to install and set up a wireless access point. Apple’s Assist Me wizard walks you through the setup process, and insulates you from the confusing geek networking jargon. If needed, users can tweak the various settings manually. Note that some settings, such as port forwarding, must be manually set.
On top of it’s router abilities, the Airport Extreme provides one additional bit of hardware; a USB port. This adds two very useful features; printer sharing and network storage. Printer sharing allows you to connect a printer, which can then be shared among both wired and wireless clients. This differs from regular printer sharing of a printer connected to a Mac, where the host Mac must be up and running to share its printer. In contrast, a shared printer connected to an Airport Express needs no host Mac. Be advised that this doesn’t magically morph your plain-Jane USB inkjet printer into a print server. It simply allows you to share the printer. If you plan to hook up a multi-function printer/scanner/copier/fax, don’t expect to use all those fancy features. Apple supports only printing, so the extra capabilities won’t work. Check this unofficial list to see how your printer fares.
The hot breaking news for Airport Extreme owners is that Apple now supports Time Machine backups for USB hard drives connected to the Extreme’s USB port. Without repeating all the Net wailing of the past few months, it suffices to say that this supposedly advertised feature did not show up when OS X 10.5 Leopard was loosed from its cage. Airport Extreme owners, who had planned, mistakenly or not, on having this ability, were steaming mad. As of last week, the most recent Apple update to the Airport software incorporates that missing capability.
So, there are a goodly number of features that distinguish the MAXPower router from Apple’s Airport Extreme. But how do they work, once set up and running?
I’d love to report that MyMac Labs rented exotic test equipment, and benchmarked the two routers to within inches of their respective lives. But no, I’m not an electrical engineer, nor do I play one on TV. I did use a great shareware application called AP Grapher to measure the performance of the MAXPower and Airport Extreme.
AP Grapher does just what it says; it can graph various parameters of a wireless network. It will measure and graph
• Graphs up to five connection statistics at a time: signal, noise, SNR, transmit rate, and comm quality.
• Customizable colors and refresh rate.
• Ability to “mark†the graph at specific times.
• Optional history graph in dock icon.
• Optional menu extra to display connection quality and or speak it aloud.
• Adjustable history length – record only a few samples, or keep it going for an extended period of time as you walk around.
After making sure that the two devices were broadcasting on widely separated channels, so as to prevent signal overlap, and setting each one for B/G/N compatibility mode, I used the time-tested scientific technique called "wander around the house and see which signal is stronger."
I had originally planned to include numerous graphs and charts of the varying signal strengths. As the testing proceeded, I concluded that would be a waste of time and bandwidth for one reason.
The Airport Extreme and MAXPower router provided virtually identical signals all throughout my house.
AP Grapher showed that both routers had almost numbers for signal strength, and signal to noise ratio.
What? Was the MP’s exotic looking triple antenna array more for show than go? Not really. It turns out that the Airport Extreme also uses a MIMO antenna set, but it’s hidden inside the case. I have to admit surprise that packing the antennae away inside did not hurt the Extreme’s performance, but that was not the case.
Conclusion. Marketing jargon about maximum range and reliability aside, the MAXPower’s performance is no better or no worse than the Airport Extreme. Your buying decision will have to focus on cost versus features, and ease of use.
The MAXPower is a perfectly good router/wireless access point. It provides the basic requirements, and little more. Its actual performance as a wireless access point and router is as good as the Airport Extreme.
The Airport Extreme is easier to setup. It provides printer sharing, and the ability to connect a USB hard drive for either network storage or Time Machine backups. It can also be used a part of a distributed (WDS) network, to extend your wireless network range by using multiple Airports or Airport Expresses.
The MaxPower is $89.95. The Airport Extreme is $179.00. Is the Extreme worth the extra $89.05? That’s a decision only you can make. For me, the MAXPower is a good product, but the Airport Extreme is worth the extra money.
MyMac rating
MAXPower wireless router 3.5
Apple Airport Extreme 4.0
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