iM 4,1-14,4 iMac (late 2007 to mid 2011) 802.11ac + BT 4.0 internal upgrade

[kkclstuff]

Thanks for the reply.
I personally don't know anything specific but I just don't like power going somewhere it wasn't intended. And, people saying it "works fine" is different than someone who says they know where it goes and can prove it doesn't have any adverse effects (not that I don't trust the information here but those are 2 different things).

Curt

I hear you, and agree, thats why I asked. Hopefully someone with hardware or engineering background might be able to chime in here.

Plus-it's unclear after reading the thread what the proper length should be for the antenna extension in a 2011 27" iMac.

I don't mean to add ambiguity to the thread but if it can help...
I used the following cable off eBay, it had about 6-8inch (15-20cm) extra for my 21.5' iMac. I would imagine that a 60cm might fit for you.

• U.FL IPX cable male to female terminal block cable 1.13 pigtail connector 60cm

Hope it helps

 

[picree]

Thanks @kkclstuff. Can anyone else comment on the osxwifi kit in a 2011 27" iMac? Was there enough space to comfortably install it or did it press on the LCD panel?

Curt

 

[osxwifi]

Another question for the thread: I thought I read in here someone saying the OSXWIFI solution didn't fit in their 2011 27" iMac as well as the v3 solution. v3 has the antennas facing back and, I believe OSXWIFI had them facing forward. At this point I could install either (one saves money, is more work, but may fit better?). I would probably opt for an easier install with the OSXWIFI unless the fit is too tight against the LCD panel.
Plus-it's unclear after reading the thread what the proper length should be for the antenna extension in a 2011 27" iMac.
Can anyone comment on either question?
Curt

hi
I am not so sure if the osxwifi antennas facing up will not fit in imac 2011, but i am sure with the osxwifi solution , you will not able to screw the adapter on the 2011 imac. the adapter i have bought from china which you can screw it on , the bcm94360cd is already fixed on the adapter, and on the right side of the adapter, there is a holl for screwing.

Thanks @kkclstuff. Can anyone else comment on the osxwifi kit in a 2011 27" iMac? Was there enough space to comfortably install it or did it press on the LCD panel?
Curt

Hello All,

Our new adapters for iMac have proper mountings for every iMac model - with a left and a right mounting hole.

We tested our adapter in iMac 2011 and our kit fits into miniPCI-E slot without applying any pressure on the LCD panel.

We have many happy customers around the world, with different iMac models, and we have never got any problems with this new kit for iMac.

Please, feel free to contact us if you have any questions, and we will be happy to answer those.

Best Regards,
OSXWiFi

 

[picree]

I know there have been very good photos uploaded to show the boards, the soldering, and the mods but, for me they did not really capture the size of the parts. So, attached is a card photographed next to a dime. My eyes are not as good as they used to be. I had to use a magnifying glass to make sure those little coax connectors were on correctly. For anyone considering this mod here are my observations:

1) I almost ordered a DIY kit which would have required modifying the miniPCI-E card by adding bluetooth power and cutting a trace. At the last minute I decided to pay the extra $50 and go the OSXWIFI route. I am SO glad I did. If you think you can buy parts off Amazon and mod them go ahead. But you better have REALLY good eyes, magnifying equipment, a steady hand, and a REALLY small soldering stand! Hats off to those who have done it as I could not have.

2) The OSXWIFI kit was as advertised. It fit perfectly in a 27" 2011 iMac. Screws lined up. LCD fit fine. Shipping was fast. All parts worked fine.

3) I had one SNAFU. Someone else mentioned in this thread that the antennae wire markings from their old card did not match the connectors. (Something like; the wire with 1 band was on CH0, the wire with 2 bands was on CH1, and the wire with no bands was on CH2.) They surmised that was why they always had poor signal reception or something. Well, my wires were similarly crossed. So, even though I never had a problem, I assumed Apple had the design right and Foxconn had the assembly wrong. When I installed the new OSXWIFI card I switched the wires so the one with 2 bands was on J2, 1 band was on J1, and 0 bands was on J0. Guess what? That was a bad plan. Don't do that. Bluetooth worked but WiFi showed up in the OS as "No Hardware Found". I put them back the way I found them and everything worked fine. Good thing I had a picture. ;-)

4) If you are going to do this yourself be VERY careful when connecting and disconnecting the display data cable. That cable is very fragile. After 4+ times taking the display off (new HD, SSD, video card, Bluetooth) my cable is so buggered up I'm surprised I got it back together (jewelers loop). I have since bought a new cable ($20 eBay) and will replace it when it comes in.

Anyways-summary? Unless you are REALLY skilled just buy the OSXWIFI bundle. That's my 2 cents.

 

[maurooo]

Hi kkclstuff

I've an iMac 21,5" mid 2011 and I would like to know if is possible to find on market a female connector to plug the old data bluetooth connector.
Of course this is in order to create a cable between old BT connector and new minipci-e card.

thx in advance
Mauro

Plug and play install with scavenged connector



Hello
First off, thank you to everyone, all their ideas, and posts!!

I too wanted to do this upgrade in my 2011 21.5" iMac without altering (cutting) any of the wiring. Ive been trying to find the model number of the BT connector so that we can purchase the part for our upgrades.

FWIW, buying a used BCM92046MD BT board to scavenge the connector is probably the most cost effective solution. My cost for a used board on eBay was $3 shipped. As stated in scroberts72 post, QuikChip is worth the investment—makes to a quick/clean job of connector removal.

when all of my parts arrive I'll post a complete install tutorial in a new thread.
Fingers crossed.

Many thanks!


UPDATE: After some digging, I found the part for those wanting to make their own removable USB D±/3.3V cable. (photo below shows my V3.0 adapter card with the 2pin connector removed and a JST connector installed coupled with an 16" extension USB D±/3.3V cable and 21" BT antenna extension.)

JST connector
wire housing: SHLP-06V-S-B
shrouded header: SM06B-SHLS-TF
contacts: SSHL-003T-P0.2

PDF: http://www.jst-mfg.com/product/pdf/eng/eSHL.pdf

 

[kkclstuff]

Hi Mauro
I listed the JST part numbers in my post. You'll have to search the net/suppliers for the part or get scavenged used Mac parts for the items you need.

And of course, there are a couple of fine plug-n-play options listed in this thread, though I don't have any experience with them.

Cheers

 

[kkclstuff]

3) I had one SNAFU. Someone else mentioned in this thread that the antennae wire markings from their old card did not match the connectors. (Something like; the wire with 1 band was on CH0, the wire with 2 bands was on CH1, and the wire with no bands was on CH2.) They surmised that was why they always had poor signal reception or something. Well, my wires were similarly crossed. So, even though I never had a problem, I assumed Apple had the design right and Foxconn had the assembly wrong. When I installed the new OSXWIFI card I switched the wires so the one with 2 bands was on J2, 1 band was on J1, and 0 bands was on J0. Guess what? That was a bad plan. Don't do that. Bluetooth worked but WiFi showed up in the OS as "No Hardware Found". I put them back the way I found them and everything worked fine. Good thing I had a picture. ;-)

View attachment 567351

Thats interesting to hear. I would agree, replace your antennas to their same post locations.

Im not sure if you're referring to my post #151; I switched my ch0 and ch2 to match the cable labeling (they were reversed before the upgrade). While searching for where to place the old BT antenna on the new card, I read a post describing the "location labeling" of antenna cables, I surmised that may be my issue. FWIW, my Mac has been working great since switching the cable to their proper locations.

It could be possible some cables were mislabeled or mis-assembled at Foxconn.
Here's a pic from the fixit.com repair guide for the 2011 21.5" iMac (step10) showing locations:

Also, +1,000 on taking pictures during your upgrade, they are great for on-the-spot memory recall! -as well as magnification of small parts

 

[stlwx21]

I have a late 2009 iMac. I really want to do this upgrade, but I don't want to solder or do anything of that sort. My Bluetooth card is a Broadcom so I could do the USB dongle?

 

[schmidt65]

Hi everyone. So i bought the osxwifi kit and had it shipped to the UK (by a friend actually!). Plugged it all in today and the iMac (2011 27") recognises it and wifi and bluetooth work fine, handoff and bluetooth LE (and instant hotspot) are all recognised in the system report as "Yes' supported, but none of it actually works? Handoff never appears, instant hotspot doesn't appear? I've signed out of iCloud numerous times, turned off bluetooth but nothing changes Wifi works fine (and connects to ac wifi which it didn't have before), bluetooth is fine as it connects to my keyboard, the mac recognises it's all supported, but no luck?

Works fine on my other macbook 13" retina (supported out of the box), and also on my iPhone and iPad.

Any ideas?! Thanks

 

[osxwifi]

Hi everyone. So i bought the osxwifi kit and had it shipped to the UK (by a friend actually!). Plugged it all in today and the iMac (2011 27") recognises it and wifi and bluetooth work fine, handoff and bluetooth LE (and instant hotspot) are all recognised in the system report as "Yes' supported, but none of it actually works? Handoff never appears, instant hotspot doesn't appear? I've signed out of iCloud numerous times, turned off bluetooth but nothing changes Wifi works fine (and connects to ac wifi which it didn't have before), bluetooth is fine as it connects to my keyboard, the mac recognises it's all supported, but no luck?

Works fine on my other macbook 13" retina (supported out of the box), and also on my iPhone and iPad.

Any ideas?! Thanks

Hello,

Please try next:

1) Log out from iCloud on every device
2) Reboot every device
3) Log in back to iCloud on every device

Best Regards,
OSXWiFi

 

[schmidt65]

Hello,

Please try next:

1) Log out from iCloud on every device
2) Reboot every device
3) Log in back to iCloud on every device

Best Regards,
OSXWiFi

Hi,

Yep tried all that (on all devices) but no luck. Cannot get the Mac to recognise the other devices for handoff or Instant Hotspot

 

[JordiMdD]

Hello.
I buy this part BCM94360CD to update my iMac mid 2010 With a adapter mini pic-e to install on a original airport card. But I don't have any instructions to connect the antennas cables...
Someone have a idea that what is the Bluetooth antenna connector?

The Bluetooth don't see my keyboard and mouse.

Thanks in Advance

Jordi.

Czo, did you end up going through with this upgrade? How did it go? I just ordered and received today the below kit from OSXWIFI and I plan on doing the upgrade this weekend to my 2011 27 inch iMac.

http://www.osxwifi.com/pre-order-ap...-with-adapter-for-macpro-2009-and-macpro-2011

Although the kit is for a 2009 or 2010 Mac Pro, the parts look to be equally applicable to the 2011 iMac. The instructions that came with the kit look very helpful. I plan to connect to the existing BT USB cable if needed. I also ordered an extra antenna for the BT to be on the safe side if I could not reroute the existing BT antenna.

I am very interested in how your upgrade attempt went. Thanks!

 

[johnrak]

I have a Mid 2011 21.5 iMac.
If I understand correctly I have to connect the Airport card where the old is, grab 3.3V/D+/D- from the old bluetooth card and connect them on the new adapter to activate the new bluetooth card.
My concerns are:
Does this method still work on 10.11 El Capitan?
Does the Wifi work in recovery mode?
Does the Bluetooth work in recovery mode?
Any other issues?
What should be the length of the U.FL extension for the 21.5 iMac?
Thank you

 

[sqvarepants]

Will works the new magictackpad 2 with 2011 iMac with updated Bluetooth and el capitán?!

 

[yifuhood]

Will works the new magictackpad 2 with 2011 iMac with updated Bluetooth and el capitán?!

Yes it should not have any problems, I had some problem running 10.11.1 with handoff ,but so as my 2015 MacBook Pro 13" , in this case I'm confident , the problem has had nothing to do with the iMac wifi card upgrade. The current 10.11.2 has no problems on my iMac .

 

[johnrak]

I have installed the BCM94331CD with an adapter on my Mid 2011 21.5 iMac. I removed the connector from the old bluetooth card, stripped off the 3.3V, D+ and D- cables and soldered them on the new wifi+bluetooth card. Also I connected the bluetooth antenna with an extension u.fl cable. The new card is working but I had to use the Continuity Activation Tool to enable Handoff. After that everything is working. The whole setup costed me about $25.

My only problem is the signal from the bluetooth card.
I have a lot of lag issues with the mouse cursor. The RSSI is between -70dBm and -80dBm. Could this be a problem with the extension cable I used for the bluetooth antenna? I'm thinking it might be a voltage drop issue due to the long cable that gives 3.3V on the new card. Has anyone experience anything like that?

 

[kkclstuff]

HI
I've had no issues since my install (see post #150). For reference, my Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad are at -50dBm RSSI 1' away. No issues/ lag.

Heres a list for thought;

1) The Antenna extension cables can be fussy about Male to female connections (list jokes here...) Make sure they're seated (snapped) properly together. As well as all other antenna connections.

2) I have an ext for the D±/3.3V, no issues. I doubt theres a voltage drop unless you have a bad solder joint (Double chk w/ MM for continuity)

3) How long is your Antenna extension cable? An extra, extra long cable length stored behind the screen "might" cause interference. IIRC, I used a 60cm on a 21" iMac with just enough slack for comfort. No issues

4) Make sure you run the antenna extension in the "open space" around interior components, and not over/against them.

Let us know how you make out.
Good Luck!

 

[HarshReality]

I got ahold of this guy but cant really see the D+/- pins on the adapter board.. From what I was told there are actually three versions of the board so I am clearly going to have to MacGyver something once I figure out what goes where..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261763388809?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[kkclstuff]

HI HarshReality

V3.0 cards address most of the issues with installation, also be aware of mounting hole locations. But, everything can be MacGyver'd!

Check out the conversation between (Cordes/ mhafeez/ Vic Otting) at posts #75, #76.

 

[Hobamedia]

HI HarshReality

V3.0 cards address most of the issues with installation, also be aware of mounting hole locations. But, everything can be MacGyver'd!

Check out the conversation between (Cordes/ mhafeez/ Vic Otting) at posts #75, #76.

Thanks,

this was a great helpful thread -

All things works fine til MacOS Sierra..........

My iMac 2011 can't pick up any incoming cellular calls to my iPhone , outgoing cellular calls are working fine.

Facetime calls :No Problem

Have someone any idea ?



Greeting s
Hobamedia







Systemversion: macOS 10.12 (16A238m)

Kernel-Version: Darwin 16.0.0

Startvolume: Festplatte imac2011


Modellname: iMac

Modell-Identifizierung: iMac12,2

Prozessortyp: Intel Core i5

Prozessorgeschwindigkeit: 3,1 GHz

Anzahl der Prozessoren: 1

Gesamtanzahl der Kerne: 4

L2-Cache (pro Kern): 256 KB

L3-Cache: 6 MB

Speicher: 16 GB

Boot-ROM-Version: IM121.0047.B23

SMC-Version (System): 1.72f2




Softwareversionen:

CoreWLAN: 11.0 (1200.21)

CoreWLANKit: 12.0 (1200.21)

Menüerweiterung: 12.0 (1200.24)

Systeminformationen: 12.0 (1200.2)

IO80211-Familie: 12.0 (1200.12.2)

Diagnose: 7.0 (700.5)

AirPort-Dienstprogramm: 6.3.7 (637.4)

Schnittstellen:

en1:

Kartentyp: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0xF4)

Firmware-Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.21.167.2.1a2)

MAC-Adresse: 80:49:71:17:02:e5

Locale: FCC

Länderkennung: DE

Unterstützte PHY-Modi: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Unterstützte Kanäle: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140

Ruhezustand bei drahtlosem Zugriff beenden: Unterstützt

AirDrop: Unterstützt

AirDrop-Kanal: 44

Status: Verbunden



Apple Bluetooth-Softwareversion: 5.0.0d76

Hardware, Funktionen und Einstellungen:

Name: Horsts iMac 3,1 GHz i5

Adresse: 80-49-71-17-02-e6

Bluetooth Low Energy wird unterstützt: Ja

Handoff wird unterstützt: Ja

Instant Hotspot unterstützt: Ja

Hersteller: Broadcom

Transport: USB

Chipsatz: 20702B0

Firmware-Version: v125 c9192

Bluetooth-Signal: Ein

Sichtbar: Ein

Verfügbar: Ja

Zeigegerät automatisch suchen: Ein

Entferntes Beenden des Ruhezustands: Ein

Hersteller-ID: 0x05AC

Produkt-ID: 0x828B

HCI-Version: 4.0 (0x6)

HCI-Revision: 0x23E8

LMP-Version: 4.0 (0x6)

LMP-Unterversion: 0x417D

Gerätetyp (Obergruppe): Computer

Gerätetyp (komplett): Mac Desktop

Composite-Klasse des Geräts: 0x380104

Geräteklasse (Obergruppe): 0x01

Geräteklasse (Untergruppe): 0x01

Dienstklasse: 0x1C0

Tastatur automatisch suchen: Ein

 

[d5aqoëp]

Thanks,

this was a great helpful thread -

All things works fine til MacOS Sierra..........

My iMac 2011 can't pick up any incoming cellular calls to my iPhone , outgoing cellular calls are working fine.

Facetime calls :No Problem

Have someone any idea ?

Greeting s
Hobamedia

Sierra is still a Beta OS. As far as I know, they are changing few things about facetime protocol in Sierra and iOS 10.
We need to wait till both Sierra and iOS 10 are final versions.

 

[Cordes]

Hey gang, I'm wondering if any of you have upgraded to public release of OSX Sierra and if Continuity functions, etc, still work ok? And does copy/paste from nearby IOS device work?

 

[sigma7]

How about AirDrop? Is it working?

 

[Hobamedia]

How about AirDrop? Is it working?

Airdrop works still fine with Sierra (MacOS 10.2 and iOS 10)

My Problem is, that I can't pick up any incoming mobile cellular call....

 

[sqvarepants]

Hey, has anyone get continuity working?

I've got an iMac 2011 Bluetooth updated, installed sierra from 0, the system shows handoff/continuity/Apple Watch unlock. But the only thing that works is airdrop.

I've installed CAT but says that everything it's ok. I also turn off the system protection and overwrite cloudpair file.

In all betas all was working fine. But now only airdrop

Any ideas?