If I buy an Airport Extreme Base Station in the US, will it work in the UK?

September 6, 2007 8:57 AM

If I buy an Airport Extreme Base Station in the US, will it work in the UK?

I know that the plugs are different, and I know that most Apple hardware can take an international range of voltages, but I can't tell whether there's anything about the Airport Extreme that would change this.

posted by adrianhon to computers & internet (5 comments total)

Mine did.
posted by k8t at 9:41 AM on September 6, 2007

The power adapter on my Airport Extreme (this is the 100Mb/s ethernet version, not the most recent revision) says it accepts up to 240V AC. Should be fine virtually anywhere with the right plug adapter.

This article suggests that some of the increased speed that you get running the base station in 802.11n mode is turned off for the UK. Of course, your base station won't know that it ought to go and comply to local regulatory restrictions, so it should work fine.
posted by jacobbarssbailey at 9:42 AM on September 6, 2007

voltage adapters are voltage adapters. are you asking if the 802.11b/g/n spec is different in the UK? It isn't.

Here's the only thing, from the Apple Website:

"The AirPort Extreme Base Station (ed: UK Model) is based on an IEEE 802.11n draft specification and is compatible with IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11g. The following countries do not allow wide-channel operation (ed: 5ghz) : Austria, Estonia, Germany, Japan, Latvia, Slovakia, Spain, United Kingdom."

If you take a US model over to the UK you might see some interference on that frequency with other devices in your house and in your immediate surroundings - phones, baby monitors, etc. I believe thath most developed countries have legal restrictions to prevent you from using reserved frequencies, but I doubt you'll see much of a problem from enforcement.

I think you can also turn that frequency range off if you're worried (in regional settings). Or you can DL a UK version of the firmware.
posted by uaudio at 9:42 AM on September 6, 2007

Thanks guys - it was mostly the voltage issue. I know I can get a voltage adaptor, I'd just rather not bother.
posted by adrianhon at 9:56 AM on September 6, 2007

You don't even need a voltage adapter. Just a plug-style adapter.
posted by fatllama at 2:35 PM on September 6, 2007