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mac mini help, wireless-->ethernet?

howard

howard

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 18, 2002
2,017
4
I have a mac mini and an issue with the getting it connected all the time. It doesn't have wireless, and from what I know ones that don't come with wireless cards can't be installed with them later on.

I have a router with ethernet ports but it is far in another room and I don't want to run cables. Is there a solution to this? Is there a device that I can connect to the mini via ethernet and "grap" the wireless signal coming out of my router? Does the airport express do that in reverse? ie: if I connect the mini to an airport express via ethernet will the airport express find the wireless signal?

Thanks
 
you can get an air port express (wireless) card installed, but apple says you need to get it professionaly done by an apple certified technichian, but if you are the adventerous type you can install it yourself. otherwise there are USB wireless adaptors, you plug it into the USB and it works like a wireless card, not 100% sure that they work with OS X, but they sell then at best buy, frys, staples, etc for $20-$50, so it might be worth checking that out
 
1. You can install an Airport card in a mini, but it will be expensive as you need a riser card, and you will void the warranty unless you get an authorised Apple place to do it for you.
2. You might be able to plug a usb wireless dongle in, but I don't think many work successfully with a Mac. Even the Belkin one on the Apple website says 'for Windows only'.
3. Your existing wireless router may be able to 'talk' to an Airport Express or Extreme base station, but by far the cheapest way is to run an ethernet cable direct from the Mini to the router - a few pounds and an hours work maybe???
 
i have the same issue. or rather my little brother does, and i am trying to figure it out for him. i used my airport express in WDS mode and was able to get that to work. the only problem it is MY airport express that i use in my apt and my parents dont want to pay that much to get my little bro on the internet.

i went to fry's (cheap electronics outlet store for people who aren't familiar with it) and got a little USB wi-fi adapter. i couldn't find any that said "mac compatible" on them so i just bought the cheapest one. after doing some research i found that most of the little USB adapters use the same chip set (Ralink RT2500) and i found the mac drivers on the internet, but the last known version of OS X they worked with is 10.4.1 and i couldnt get them to work on 10.4.3.

so, after the failure of the USB adapter my thought was to get a gaming adapter (similar to the airport express where it pulls down wireless bandwidth then gives it to the wired client (instead of a typical router that pulls from the wire and broadcasts to wireless)) but those are still pretty expensive at about $90 a piece.

the cheapest thing i can think of is just to buy a router for like $40-$50 and just hack/configure it to client WDS mode (i know it can be done with the Linksys WRT54G ) but yeah, any other ideas? or does anyone know a USB wi-fi adapter that actually works with OS X?
 
well then. . . i was able to answer my own question. kinda. i finally got the USB wi-fi dongle to work. so if youre interested in trying USB wi-fi you can check to see if the device has an RT 2500 chip here then download the latest driver here and finally follow the instructions in this thread and you should be all set. but be ready to roll up your sleeves and dive into root!!
 
The internal Airport/Bluetooth upgrade card for the MacMini can be found online with installation instructions for around $100. The install takes less than 2 hours and is straight forward if you can use a screwdriver and are slow and careful in performing the upgrade.

Installing the card does not void the waranty if you don't break anything during the install. Not breaking things is why you need to be careful and not force any components.
 
stevep said:
1. You can install an Airport card in a mini, but it will be expensive as you need a riser card, and you will void the warranty unless you get an authorised Apple place to do it for you.
2. You might be able to plug a usb wireless dongle in, but I don't think many work successfully with a Mac. Even the Belkin one on the Apple website says 'for Windows only'.
3. Your existing wireless router may be able to 'talk' to an Airport Express or Extreme base station, but by far the cheapest way is to run an ethernet cable direct from the Mini to the router - a few pounds and an hours work maybe???
Click to expand...


I installed Aiport & Bluetooth myself on one of my mac minis.

1 - They are about 130 Euro (that's how much I paid) Installation isn't that complicated on a mac mini (fiddly at times - but not complicated).

Biggest challenge as always with the mini is getting the cover off without scratching the finish.

2 - Belkin F5D7050 Wifi USB dongles (can be bought from Argos etc.. about 30 Euro) now will work with 10.4.4 using the RaLink 10.4 drivers from their website. Very good reception. Using one on my other mac mini in the lounge to stream music and video and surf...

3 - You want to connect your min to aipport express and then connect the express to the router (which is connected to the internet).. Hope I understood that correctly. In theory you shouldn'nt have a problem doing that. May have to fiddle with iP Addressess, but I can't see any reason why you couldnt.

Before I got cable broadband (I love it :D) I was stuck with ISDN. I had a PC connected to a router with internet sharing enabled on the pc. Then an ethernet cable connectd the router to the airport express and all my macs then communicated with express via wifi - and all were able to share the internet connection. This isn't so much different from what you want to do..
 
thread intstructions

wPod said:
well then. . . i was able to answer my own question. kinda. i finally got the USB wi-fi dongle to work. so if youre interested in trying USB wi-fi you can check to see if the device has an RT 2500 chip here then download the latest driver here and finally follow the instructions in this thread and you should be all set. but be ready to roll up your sleeves and dive into root!!
Click to expand...

hello there, i was wondering if u have another link to the thread instructions as when i click onto it, the page is invalid.
thank you
 
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