QuickerTek has created an upgrade for older MacBooks — the US$149 Quicky — to take advantage of the latest wireless technology: 802.11ac. An USB device allows older PowerBooks to have the quicker 802.11ac networking built into the latest MacBooks, the company says.

The reason for the effectiveness of the 802.11 AC Wi-Fi technology in the latest MacBook Air is that it uses wider RF bandwidth – 5GHz spectrum, higher modulation and a number of other technologies to boost wireless speeds. The 802.11a/b/g/n ac specification has an expected multi-station WLAN throughput of at least 1 gigabit per second and a single link throughput of at least 500 megabits per second (500 Mbps). Consequently, 802.11n is now half as fast as the new AC networking standard.

The AC Quicky uses the same chipset as Apple so users may know that their upgraded MacBooks, Pros and Airs maintain all of the compatibility that a new MacBook Air offers, according to QuickerTek CEO Rick Estes.. Networking drivers are included in the Mac OS X.

Estes says the AC Quicky works with all popular wireless network equipment — including wireless access points from Dlink, NetGear and many others. It also installs into any USB port and includes saved software on a USB or SD card.

The AC Quicky requires MacOS X 10.4.x or higher. Go to http://tinyurl.com/my9ftaz for more info.