During the upgrade from my alien spaceship-shaped Airport Extreme station to the 2007 802.11n version, I realize my Jan. 2006 Intel Core Duo iMac ‘g’ client is becoming the bottleneck to the whole network. I’m basically left with two options. I can either crack open the case, kiss my extended warranty goodbye and put in a 802.11n mini-PCI internal card, or opt for the wireless USB adapter. The second route is the more logical choice for those who have enrolled into the 3-year protection plan.

QuickerTek has two of these ‘n’ USB adapters: nQuicky & nNano. The first of which reveals two directional antennas and appears to be a solution for desktops. It is a 802.11n Draft 2.0 compliant device. So I expect top speeds to be achieved when I switch to the less occupied 5Ghz band and wide channels. The nNano sports a compact form factor with its antenna hidden under the plastic dongle which could mean less range coverage. The nQuicky is already shipping for $149 and the nNano USB goes for just $59.95.
Permanent Link

Leave a Reply