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Airport Extreme Power Adapter Specs

Aftermarket Brick for my Airport Extreme
I have two Airport Extremes, but one was without its power adapter.  It was lost in transport, and Apple-original Extreme AC adapters are very expensive. Instead of having a useless paperweight around, I decided to buy an aftermarket adapter that meets all the specifications.

Modern USB power bricks are great, but only recently could they provide enough power for something like a high-end WiFi router.  And sadly, there are many unscrupulous sellers that sell inexpensive "Extreme compatible" bricks for a premium.  I decided that I wanted an affordable adapter.

The Specs of the Original

The A1202 Power Adapter Specs Label

I was lucky enough to have an original Extreme power brick, the Apple A1202 adapter that came with my other Extreme.  I read the specs, I tested it with my multimeter, and I measured the physical connector with my micrometer!  This is what I found:
  • 12 Volts DC
  • 1.8 Amps (per label)
  • Center pin is positive.  Barrel ring is negative.
  • Outside Diameter of barrel ring is 5.5 mm
  • Diameter of center pin is roughly 2.5 mm
  • Length of barrel ring including plastic tip is roughly 10 mm
(Just for reference, input is labelled as 100V - 240V AC, 50 - 60 Hz, 1.0 Amp)

Very happily, these specs are not weird at all.  In fact, they're fairly common.

Extreme Power Unit Replacement

Given all that, I ended up buying this power brick that meets all of my Airport Extreme's specs.  So far, this inexpensive wall wart works great. I just plugged it into my Extreme and it's been working great for the past couple months.  Any questions?  Let me know in the comments, or DM me!

My Extreme works great with cheap Wall Wart!

Postscript

Clearly I love my label maker.  It's a Brother.  It's not perfect, but it makes some great labels. 

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