QuickerTek on Monday announced an upgrade for Apple’s 802.11n-equipped AirPort Extreme Base Station. QuickerTek claims the antenna upgrade can add up to 50 percent range to its networking capabilities. The upgrade is available starting at $129.95.
Apple’s AirPort Extreme Base Station, released earlier this year, supports the faster 802.11n networking standard — up to four times faster than the 802.11g networking standard its predecessor supported. (A recent update to the base station added Gigabit Ethernet ports.)
QuickerTek is now offering an external antenna array upgrade for the Base Station case that enables better signal gathering capabilities. The array is a set of matched antennas that extends the 802.11n specification. It comes with a 4-foot coaxial cable so you can position the antenna array to best affect your network range. The upgrade enables the device to retain backwards compatibility with previous wireless standards.
The $129.95 nets you a customer-installable upgrade. QuickerTek also offers its own upgrade service for $179.95, or will sell you an already-upgraded base station for $349.95 if you prefer. The company advises that this upgrade should only be performed by experienced users.