MacBook Pro 802.11ac upgrade

[XStylus]

Has anyone tried the Ucard 4 on their MacBook Pro?

I'm interested in finding out what the "CD with patch software" patches. I'm imaging it is the Bluetooth 4 patch as the site says WiFi will work without drivers. Does the patch require System Integrity Protection to be disabled?

Curious about this as well. I've found no reviews for the card anywhere.

I'd be tempted to buy one on blind faith if it were in the sub $100 range, but $150 is a lot to pay for a device that might require hackery.

On an interesting yet related note, on Google I stumbled across some pictures of a potentially handy device, supposedly from this thread. However, whatever post that these pictures were from seems to be gone now.

 

[laurihoefs]

Curious about this as well. I've found no reviews for the card anywhere.

I'd be tempted to buy one on blind faith if it were in the sub $100 range, but $150 is a lot to pay for a device that might require hackery.

On an interesting yet related note, on Google I stumbled across some pictures of a potentially handy device, supposedly from this thread. However, whatever post that these pictures were from seems to be gone now.


View attachment 606401 View attachment 606402

The post is still available: MacBook Pro 802.11ac upgrade

The adapter never went into production. The problem is, the antenna connectors of the pre-2012 cards are larger than the current ones.

 

[Mickc82]

Well that's disappointing. Wifi is literally the only thing bugging me about my early 2011 MBP. It has 16 GB of ram and a flash drive so it really is a fully functioning machine that should be useful for years to come!

 

[pitt1717]

old thread i know. but wanted to get onto AC with my 2012 rmbp. I ordered the part and popped it in (damn old eyes struggled with the antennas, but booted it up and all working.... On latest El Cap Beta (10.11.4). now i may have to get an AC router. been pretty happy with my airport express so i may go apple again.

thanks for adding some extra years out of this machine!!!

 

[landi.erik]

old thread i know. but wanted to get onto AC with my 2012 rmbp. I ordered the part and popped it in (damn old eyes struggled with the antennas, but booted it up and all working.... On latest El Cap Beta (10.11.4). now i may have to get an AC router. been pretty happy with my airport express so i may go apple again.

thanks for adding some extra years out of this machine!!!

I currently use the AC1900 Netgear Nighthawk R7000 and get great throughput\range on both 2.4GHz\5GHz. http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/rankers/router/ranking/AC1900/rev7/6 is a great site on Router Reviews, the Airports are normally solid\realiable but a little unwhelming in the perfomance side. Glad this thread helped you out!

 

[bigcat]

I'm confused as to what board to get for my 15" mid2012 rmbp. I see some links posted above to eBay but the eBay posts say compatible with 13", say nothing about 15". There is also an Amazon link posted above for a similar or same card but price is 29 instead of the 49 on eBay. Wondering what the differences are?

Anyway can anyone with a 15" rMBP from mid 2012 post where they got their card from?

Thanks

 

[JTToft]

I'm confused as to what board to get for my 15" mid2012 rmbp. I see some links posted above to eBay but the eBay posts say compatible with 13", say nothing about 15". There is also an Amazon link posted above for a similar or same card but price is 29 instead of the 49 on eBay. Wondering what the differences are?

Anyway can anyone with a 15" rMBP from mid 2012 post where they got their card from?

Thanks

- If it fits the 13", it fits the 15". They use the same board.

 

[laurihoefs]

The 13" and 15" rMBP cards are the same, the model number is BCM94360CSAX. I have no idea why many eBay sellers list only the 13" models as compatible.

This is the one I got for my 2012 15" rMBP: http://www.ebay.com/itm/121761206553

Works like a charm. Only issue I've come across is with Internet Recovery:

Booting with Cmd + Opt + R does not work. But restoring Time Machine backups over Wi-Fi with the recovery partition works. Or alternatively you'll just have to use a USB stick to reinstall OS X if you ever change or wipe the SSD.

 

[bigcat]

Hi guys. Ended up getting the card below. I received it yesterday and installed it today. Unfortunately, my MBP is unable to join my 5GHz (AC) network. It joins my 2.4Ghz network fine. It shows the 5Ghz network as available and full strength but when I click to join it, el capitan says that the network could not be joined.

Based on what I've seen on this thread, so far I've deleted the NetworkInterface.plist file, and also reset the SMC and PRAM. Also repaired permissions. None of this has helped. The mac system reports shows a "AC" capable WiFi card, and below that it lists all available networks, however, each network is shown as a "N" networks.

Any ideas what else I can try?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PDN4H9E?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

EDIT: My machine is the original rMBP (mid 2012)

 

[satinsilverem2]

I just ordered the Ucard4 so ill let you all know how it works. Yeah it was a little expensive but there are really no other options for unibody owners to upgrade to AC. Ive been using a bluetooth dongle for months and I'm tired of having it sticking out of my laptop and taking up a USB port.

 

[JTToft]

I just ordered the Ucard4 so ill let you all know how it works. Yeah it was a little expensive but there are really no other options for unibody owners to upgrade to AC. Ive been using a bluetooth dongle for months and I'm tired of having it sticking out of my laptop and taking up a USB port.

- Awesome. Definitely looking forward to hearing more!

 

[satinsilverem2]

Well they aren't the fastest company thats for sure. I placed the order over a week ago and still nothing. All They tell me is that my order is confirmed and that I should check back for updates. I know I'm being a little impatient but I'm excited to have AC and all of the 4.0 features.

 

[satinsilverem2]

So I cancelled my order. 1, the card was 150 dollars and thats a little high for me. 2, I received no updates and they still didn't even charge for the card. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. I sent them numerous emails last week asking about my order and never heard anything back from them. I was on Fixit's website today and I noticed that they had the CAX card back in stock so I just ended up ordering one of those. Ill miss out on AC but still get an upgrade to 4.0. Im wired most of the time and 3 stream wireless N is still pretty darn quick even in 2016. Just thought Id update everyone. Kind of a bummer because that Ucard4 seemed so nice. Also I noticed that there weren't ever any real reviews just articles highlighting the product, so it makes me wonder if there are even any in the wild at all.

 

[JTToft]

Also I noticed that there weren't ever any real reviews just articles highlighting the product, so it makes me wonder if there are even any in the wild at all.

- Doesn't sound too encouraging. I've also wondered about the lack of user reports or reviews. You were about to be the first. But I guess not.
Thanks for trying, though!

 

[satinsilverem2]

Got my CAX card installed today. While its not AC its still nice not to have any adapters sticking off the side of my machine. Im still trying to get Handoff working. I have airdrop working but so far handoff and instant hotspot are a no go. I don't know if its because I'm running a beta version of El Cap or what.

 

[JTToft]

Got my CAX card installed today. While its not AC its still nice not to have any adapters sticking off the side of my machine. Im still trying to get Handoff working. I have airdrop working but so far handoff and instant hotspot are a no go. I don't know if its because I'm running a beta version of El Cap or what.

- Shouldn't be because of the beta version, but could be. Did you follow all the guides provided by CAT such as logging in and out of iCloud, etc.?

 

[satinsilverem2]

I haven't everything except logging out of iCloud because when I log out it wants to download my Photos library and thats going to take a while due to the amount of photos I have on it.

 

[JTToft]

I haven't everything except logging out of iCloud because when I log out it wants to download my Photos library and thats going to take a while due to the amount of photos I have on it.

- Well, that's impractical. It's probably what would fix it, though. I had to log out when I first did it, but never since.

 

[satinsilverem2]

Signed out and back into iCloud. Hotspot works, Airdrop works, and continuity works most of the time now. The only thing is that I'm having to completely re sync my Photos library again haha. So nice to have all of the new features of OS X working. The only thing that I can think that I don't have now is AC wireless and Metal support and those are because of hardware limitations and things that I can live without.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Hi guys. Ended up getting the card below. I received it yesterday and installed it today. Unfortunately, my MBP is unable to join my 5GHz (AC) network. It joins my 2.4Ghz network fine. It shows the 5Ghz network as available and full strength but when I click to join it, el capitan says that the network could not be joined.

Based on what I've seen on this thread, so far I've deleted the NetworkInterface.plist file, and also reset the SMC and PRAM. Also repaired permissions. None of this has helped. The mac system reports shows a "AC" capable WiFi card, and below that it lists all available networks, however, each network is shown as a "N" networks.

Any ideas what else I can try?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PDN4H9E?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

EDIT: My machine is the original rMBP (mid 2012)

I'm so confused as to what parts might work on what models. I have a late 2011 17" MacBook Pro (8,3). Would this part work to update my WiFi to AC/Bluetooth 4.0?

 

[JTToft]

I'm so confused as to what parts might work on what models. I have a late 2011 17" MacBook Pro (8,3). Would this part work to update my WiFi to AC/Bluetooth 4.0?

- You need an AirPort card with part number BCM94331PCIEBT4CAX. That will give you BT 4.0, but no 802.11ac. For that, the uCard4 discussed in this thread is the only option, but it doesn't really seem to be an option based on satinsilverem2's experiences.

Look on Ebay and AliExpress for the CAX card.

 

[LewisChapman]

So did anybody buy the uCard in the end?

 

[knudsen2]

Just upgraded the wifi card in my pro 15 retina mid 2012 to the AC card from 2015; BCM943602CS.

Price: 13 GBP from here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Macbo...3602CS-W017-/300574959423?hash=item45fba9e73f

It was pure plug-and-play, and seems to run BT4.1 and AC wifi perfectly. The pentalobe driver and a small torx driver were needed (don't know the size of the torx, but ifixit probably does).

 

[satinsilverem2]

So did anybody buy the uCard in the end?

Not that I'm aware of. I think it was more a vaporware product more than anything.

 

[LewisChapman]

Not that I'm aware of. I think it was more a vaporware product more than anything.

I contacted the company and had a reply within a day. The blokey I was speaking to was quite friendly and seemed fairly switched on - was very confident in the product. I asked him why there appears to be no reviews on the card and he said it's because it's a new product.

I'm contemplating making the purchase as I can do it through PayPal with my credit card so if there was an issue I would be backed but the aspect that puts me off is investing more in my laptop when new MacBooks are just around the corner.