The iPad (3) took front row during the recent launch extravaganza, however Apple also refreshed their Apple TV with a new model sporting a single core A5 SoC and some other noteworthy tweaks. We've spent some time with the new model since its launch, and have found a few interesting new things lurking inside. In addition to decoding 1080p iTunes content and Netflix streams, the new Apple TV also includes a second WiFi antenna with better gain, which translates to improved reception and network throughput.  

Read on for our quick review.

The world of wireless networking products has been slowly advancing over the past decade or so. We started at 11Mbps 802.11b and 54Mbps 802.11a in 1999, added 54Mbps 802.11g in 2003, and then 802.11n in 2009 (though we first saw this in Draft-N form in early 2008) brought us support for 150Mbps and up to 600Mbps connections, depending on the controller and antenna configuration. We have yet to see any 600Mbps parts, and since the launch of 802.11n, the major differentiating factor among the product landscape is what level of 802.11n support they provide. Is the card 2x2:2, or 3x3:3 MIMO (or something else)? Does it have dual-band support or is it 2.4GHz only? How many data streams can the card support on each frequency? All of these elements affect potential performance and throughput, but is there still a difference between products that are otherwise specced the same? Enter the Bigfoot Killer Wireless-N 1102.

In order to prove that all wireless networking products are not created equal, Bigfoot is entering the market and claiming to be the new king of the hill. We’ve been testing their 2x2:2 MIMO part, the 1102, for the past couple of months. It has dual-band support with connection speeds of up to 300Mbps. Bigfoot claims to have the best throughput of any current wireless device, including most 3x3:3 solutions, and they have custom drivers, firmware, and software to help improve latency and other aspects of performance. To help us do some real apples-to-apples testing, Bigfoot shipped us two identical notebooks, courtesy of Mythlogic Computers, with the only difference being the wireless chip in each laptop. Of course, we have other wireless devices on hand, so we decided to throw additional combatants into the ring. Can Bigfoot’s Killer 1102 live up to their claims of overall superiority? Join us as we investigate performance under a variety of situations.

Apple has been playing it cool on the WiFi side of things lately. It started with the previous Airport Extreme (Gen 4) which quietly introduced three spatial stream support, followed up by the Early 2011 MacBook Pro update which brought a three spatial stream compliant WLAN stack, and now has continued with an even more understated update for the Time Capsule (4th generation) and Airport Extreme (5th generation).

How does this refresh compare with the previous generation? Read on to find out.