MP 1,1-5,1 Antenna connector size problem with newer WiFi cards

[netsrot39]

Good day everybody,
as many of you might know, pretty much any classic Mac Pro can be equipped with a recent M.2 third party WiFi card or an original Apple AirPort card from a newer Mac. This can be achieved by adapting those cards to a Mini PCIe interface. So far, so good. Not really as I've found out since pretty much all newer M.2 WiFi cards and Apple AirPort cards from Laptops have male MHF4 interfaces while the internal Mac Pro antennas are female MHF1/IPEX1. Hence, they don't clip together or very loosely. Even if they clip together loosely, as soon as you move the card the female antenna connectors will pop out. I'd really like to use a newer WiFi card in my Mac Pro 5,1 without resorting to those crappy IPEX4 to IPEX1 cables because I have very bad experience with those. Even those IPEX1 extension cables (that are frequently used to attach the internal Bluetooth antenna to an AirPort combo card) are of very bad quality and break easily. I tried to extend my Bluetooth antenna cable with one of those and the male part of the extension cable got stuck in the female part of the Mac Pro's Bluetooth antenna cable making it impossible to detach. Upon trying to detach both cables the male connector of the extension cable broke and parts of it are still inside the Bluetooth antenna cable leaving me now with a broken Bluetooth antenna cable ...

So my question is if anyone here has a good solution for attaching MHF1 antennas to a MHF4 interface. I was thinking a non-conductive clip that keeps pressing the antenna against the connector (something like a paper clip) or perhaps some hot glue. I really do not want to destroy more of my Mac Pro's internal antennas by using those crappy adapter cables that eventually leave the antenna cables ruined. I think (I will double check with a multimeter) even though IPEX1 and IPEX4 don't fit perfectly together, there will still be continuity if enough pressure is applied.

What do you guys think?

Thanks for any suggestions you might have regarding this matter.

 

[tsialex]

BCM94360CD and BCM943602CDP have the exact same antenna connectors as the Mac Pro.

 

[netsrot39]

BCM94360CD and BCM943602CDP have the exact same antenna connectors as the Mac Pro.

Thanks for pointing that out. I wish I had bought those cards but I now do have a BCM94352Z DW1560 M.2 WiFi card, a BCM94331CSAX and a BCM94360CS2 AirPort card (with the right adapters to mini PCIe). All of those should be compatible with recent macOS versions so it would be a shame if I don't use them. Also I really do not want to buy more cards when I already have all those other cards which are perfectly fine with the only disadvantage of being MHF4 antenna size cards. This afternoon I was looking into more solutions and I've found adapter cables that don't have a fragile male connector because the connector is soldered on a PCB (like this one for example). I believe this will really make a difference and I'll try going that route (will have to wait though because the items are shipped from China).

Moreover, I was thinking of replacing the internal Bluetooth antenna in the meantime but replacement antennas for the 4,1 and 5,1 are extremely costly (considering it is only an antenna). My plan would be to rip out the old antenna and put a new generic one with a MHF4 connector in its place (with adhesive). Would there be a downside to that and does the antenna need to be screwed into place in order to function (like the original one)? I think the screw hole that comes with the original antenna cable is for grounding purposes but I'm not sure. Could I alternatively put a 2006, 2007 or 2008 Mac Pro's Bluetooth antenna in there or wouldn't it fit? The reason I'm asking is because those are more available and much cheaper from what I've seen. I haven't done any case swaps so far so I'm really not sure what Mac Pro parts are interchangeable between the generations and there is not much information on the web about the antennas.

Right now I'm using a CSR Bluetooth 4 dongle which works great BUT I'd like internal Bluetooth via the combo card since a) I already have the cards and b) I even made a custom BT cable for the backplane before the ****** extension cable ruined my Bluetooth antenna ... External antennas are out of the question unfortunately since I have already set up my PCIe extension cards and I really can't go without them because they are crucial for my workflow.

 

[flat4]

BCM94360CD and BCM943602CDP have the exact same antenna connectors as the Mac Pro.

Just be to be sure this is a plug in play to replace the original card in the 5,1?

 

[tsialex]

Could I alternatively put a 2006, 2007 or 2008 Mac Pro's Bluetooth antenna in there or wouldn't it fit? The reason I'm asking is because those are more available and much cheaper from what I've seen. I haven't done any case swaps so far so I'm really not sure what Mac Pro parts are interchangeable between the generations and there is not much information on the web about the antennas.

Not sure if the antenna module itself is interchangeable since I've never took apart a MP1,1 to MP3,1 one. The position of the BT antenna is more or less the same, but I'm sure that the cables is of very different length since MP1,1 to MP3,1 have the AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth module near the HDD bay 2.

If time allows, I'll take a look on a MP3,1 that I have on storage this weekend.

Just be to be sure this is a plug in play to replace the original card in the 5,1?

No, it's not. You need the adapter for the card connector size (BCM94360CD and BCM943602CDP are mPCIe) and the cable for the USB D+ and D- for the Bluetooth controller. See the reference thread:

802.11ac, BT 4.0, Continuity, and Handoff Working on Mac Pro 2010

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[Macschrauber]

MP 5,1 to MP 1,1 have all the same size of the antenna plugs

1.1 to 3.1 share the same BT board what is bigger and not compatible to 4,1/5,1

1.1 to 4.1 came with BCM94321MC so the antennas are the same. Remember 1.1 has 3 antennas and sometimes the BT antenna was mislabled.

 

[tsialex]

1.1 to 4.1 came with BCM94321MC so the antennas are the same.

We are now talking about the whole antenna assembly, not just the u.FL connector.

For the Bluetooth antenna the cables have different length and I think that the way the antenna is screwed to the case is a little different too - part numbers are different from MP3,1 to MP4,1 - just the u.FL connectors are the same between MP3,1 and MP4,1/MP5,1.

 

[netsrot39]

So I ended up buying this handy adapter card for my Mac Pro 5,1. Connecting the antennas is very simple with it and I'd say it is a perfect fit. I put the DW1560 card (Broadcom but not Apple branded) in the adapter and slid the adapter in the mini PCIe slot of the Mac Pro. On native Mojave I don't see anything connected, neither in System Profiler nor in System Settings. On Windows 10 the card is recognized and I can see my networks. Is it normal that non Apple branded cards won't be recognized and will this be fixed when I boot Mojave with OCLP? I think in the PowerPC days there were some non Apple branded cards that worked OOTB. Therefore I assumed as long as the chipset is the same a non Apple branded WiFi card will also work out of the box, even today but a lot has changed probably since then ...

 

[MacHosehead]

Is it normal that non Apple branded cards won't be recognized

Yes, pretty much so.

will this be fixed when I boot Mojave with OCLP?

There is a possibility OCLP has support for this card but you would have to try it. OCLP really only supports Big Sur and later.

You could also try one of the OC installations for MacPro5,1 on this forum. Then make changes suggested here:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/broadcom-bcm94352z-dw1560-with-opencore-big-sur.307161/