TRENDnet Bridges Old iMac, MacBooks with 802.11n

When you are stuck with an iMac that comes with no PCI or ExpressCard slots, but plentiful of USB ports, a USB dongle is the only viable option for getting your desktop onto the 802.11n bandwagon without voiding Apple's all-in-one warranty. TRENDnet TEW-664UB Dual Band Wireless-N USB adapter will have you covered; it is recently announced with the support for Tiger and Leopard in addition to Vista and XP.

As the product name suggests, the $59 dongle is able to talk to dual-band router using either 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz radio frequency, the latter of which can bypass all the interferences from home cordless phones, Bluetooth devices, and microwave as well as 802.11b/g to push wireless speed up to 300Mbps theoretically over the uncongested waveband. This should significantly reduce the time needed to sync with Apple TV, and should be able to stream bandwidth-hungry HD content to a media extender. WPS on the TRENDnet adapter will ease security setup procedures only if you have compatible wireless router, which is neither Apple Time Capsule nor Airport Extreme. The only gripe is that TREDnet's utility will always stay in the dock when it detects the presence of the adapter, and there doesn't seem to be a way to get rid of it. For those with Linux instead, here's a dongle with the ultimate compatibility.

More 802.11g, 802.11b & Bluetooth Adapters

• Get TRENDnet TEW 664UB Dual Band - network adapter now for $49.99 at TigerDirect.com
• Get TRENDnet TEW 664UB Dual Band - network adapter now for $47.99 at Amazon.com
• Get TRENDnet TEW 664UB Dual Band - network adapter now for $49.99 at Circuit City
• Get TRENDnet TEW 664UB Dual Band - network adapter now for $42.99 at Amazon.com Marketplace