How to upgrade to mac mini to "n" wireless?

[dqpassat]

I have an older MM with only 802.11a/b/g. I cannot hardwire this machine as it is too far from any ethernet outlet. Transferring files back and forth from my imac is a painfully slow process.

What are my options as far as upgrading to "n"? Would I really see any improvement? I've seen those ethernet powerline adapters...are these any good?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Dalton63841]

Have you ever opened up your Mac Mini before? That is the dificult part. After that it should be as simple as swapping out the wifi card. What model of Mac Mini do you have?

Bear in mind that it will not get much range, because it only has 1 antenna, while wireless N uses 2.

 

[dqpassat]

I've opened up the mac mini for RAM/hard drive upgrades. First time was nerve-wrecking, but now that I know what to do it's no big deal.

I have this mac mini
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_mini/stats/mac-mini-core-2-duo-2.0-specs.html

Where would I buy the new wifi card? what about those USB adapters?

 

[Dalton63841]

Any Apple/Broadcom miniPCI-eX wifi card will work in it. As far as USB, to my knowledge most D-Link or Netgear wifi adapters are compatible. Find one you are interested in, and just google it to be sure.

 

[EvilC5]

I know its probably not the ideal solution, but the netgear powerline adapter is what im using to connect 3 of my apple tv's to my network.

the kit comes with 2 adapters, plug one into the wall next to your router, and the other into the wall next to the system you want to wire. its not as fast as an actual cat5e hardwired connection, but im getting 60-80mb/s transfer speeds on mine. better than even the 802.11n gives me in my house....

I think the kit was ~100 bucks for 2 adapters, probably less headache than opening up your mini to replace anything...