Inexpensive wireless solution for PowerMac G5?

[Altemose]

Thanks for the link! I think I'll give one of these a shot and see how it works with my iBook, I might even use it in the future for the PowerBook for wireless N networks.

The nice part about the Netgear aside from it being Wireless N is the design. Most of the USB adapters that worked with PPC were so oddly shaped that they either put pressure on the USB port when the laptop was sitting on a table, or were wide and blocked the use of the already limited USB ports that Macs come with. The Netgear WNA1000M does not block the other port and is small so you don't have to worry about it being connected to the port and it in a laptop bag for example. Keep in mind, that chipset is just a 1x1, so you are only going to get 150 Mbps at best. However, that is quite an improvement over the 54 Mbps that the AirPort Extreme cards could do. I am still looking for a adapter that is compatible with PPC that can achieve 300 or even 450 Mbps wireless N speeds.

 

[LarsG5]

Hey guys,
Ive just found such thing on ebay:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-PCI-E-...ffType=OrderSubTotalOffer&_trksid=p5731.m3795

Do you think there is any chance it could work with some early Intel-based macs airport modules and an original, late 2005 G5 antenna cables? I mean not exactly this model, but more like a device like that?

I'm still gonna install a pci-e usb card, so choosing one with an internal usb port is not a big deal actually...

 

[weckart]

Hey guys,
Ive just found such thing on ebay:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-PCI-E-...ffType=OrderSubTotalOffer&_trksid=p5731.m3795

Do you think there is any chance it could work with some early Intel-based macs airport modules and an original, late 2005 G5 antenna cables? I mean not exactly this model, but more like a device like that?

I'm still gonna install a pci-e usb card, so choosing one with an internal usb port is not a big deal actually...

Don't order that. It is for 3G WiFi adapters. It will not work with ordinary WiFi cards. My Thinkpad has a mini-PCIe slot inside for these 3G cards that take ordinary mobile sims giving you mobile data on the go. This adapter basically turns these cards into 3G usb adapters that you can get more or less for free from your carrier.

 

[LarsG5]

Yeah, this model won't work, but won't ANY of such things work as well?

 

[weckart]

Yeah, this model won't work, but won't ANY of such things work as well?

They don't exist for WLAN cards. Your two options are mini PCIe to PCIe or something like the item below, which is a portable 3G/WiFi router. Tiny thing about 2cm x 6cm and weighs nothing.

The advantage of the PCIe solution is native AirPort WiFi. The advantage of the latter is that it is OS independent and will be seen as a LAN connection by Leopard. Both are cheap solutions. Personally, I would go the PCIe route as I did in mine and save the router option for older machines that run OS9 if you need a network connection for that.

For the PCIe, you just need to source a Broadcom card from an early MacBook (Pro). Just make sure you get the one that matches the PPC driver in Leopard.

 

[LarsG5]

Thanks

Btw, will the Macbook Pro Airport work on Tiger as well or is it only compatible with Leopard?

 

[weckart]

Thanks

Btw, will the Macbook Pro Airport work on Tiger as well or is it only compatible with Leopard?

I will need to fire up my G5 and get back to you on that. The short answer is it should. However, the driver for Tiger is only to be found on Mac OSX Server 10.4.7, which was issued as a Universal disc. All other Tiger retail discs are PPC only and do not have the driver as it was written after Tiger was released. I have the disc and cannot remember if I got it to work. I think I did. I shall let you know tomorrow if I don't forget. I shall let you know what the Broadcom card you need is as well.

 

[LarsG5]

Would be awesome, thank you so much!

 

[weckart]

The card you need is the Broadcom BCM94321 (VID 14e4, PID 0x87) - a generic card should work but since they are so cheap these days you may as well go for an Apple branded one.

I fired up Tiger on my G5 and it refuses to load the driver from Tiger Server. I may need to fiddle about with things or try reinstalling 10.4.7 before adding the kext so that OS versions match. It should work immediately is my understanding from all the reports I have seen. I don't have the time at the moment to play with Tiger, so this is one for a rainy day.

 

[Michael Anthony]

There's plenty of cheap USB 802.11n cards on ebay, (Ralink and Realtek chip models have good driver support) they're recognised I think as an Ethernet interface in system preferences but the driver software comes with a program to connecct to networks anyway and I found that they can be a bit touch and go, but in the end I've managed to have them working fine even on a 2001 G4 with a PCI USB 2.0 card

 

[Altemose]

However, the driver for Tiger is only to be found on Mac OSX Server 10.4.7, which was issued as a Universal disc.

The kexts were not included at all in the 10.4.11 combo update?

 

[WalnutSpice]

You want an incredibly simple solution? Do you have an iBook G4 or PowerBook you don't use but runs Leopard? You have an ethernet or FireWire 800 cable? Turn on the PowerBook, plug one end of either cord into both computers, connect the laptop to wifi, turn on internet sharing over which ever cord you're using and there you go. Thats what I do. My PowerBook G4's dedicated job is doing that. It shares Wifi to my custom build PC and PowerMac G5 over FW800