MacPro 3,1: Airport Extreme help

[MacGamver]

Hi guys,

I've dug around a bit, but this place always seems to have the sharpest folks around!

I have a MacPro 3,1 that had built-in Bluetooth, but no Airport card. I bought a card off eBay, the appropriate BCM94321MC model, but seem to be having some issues that I'm not sure are evidence of the card being defective or not. The installation was a little tricky as those tiny antenna wires are a pain to seat; in addition it did not come with mounting screws, so I had used different ones. they work, but the card is not totally flat (as it is spring loaded) but it is seated in the socket just fine.

Here's the problem. System info shows the card 802.11a/b/g/n recognized, and I can join my wireless network. I can load up a web page immediately, but any data transfer (for example a net speediest page) causes it to slow down to nothing, and drop out the network connection. This causes all connectivity to drop out, even wired.

Anyone here of this, or can shed some light on the problem? Thanks in advance.

 

[kwarwick43]

Hi guys,

I've dug around a bit, but this place always seems to have the sharpest folks around!

I have a MacPro 3,1 that had built-in Bluetooth, but no Airport card. I bought a card off eBay, the appropriate BCM94321MC model, but seem to be having some issues that I'm not sure are evidence of the card being defective or not. The installation was a little tricky as those tiny antenna wires are a pain to seat; in addition it did not come with mounting screws, so I had used different ones. they work, but the card is not totally flat (as it is spring loaded) but it is seated in the socket just fine.

Here's the problem. System info shows the card 802.11a/b/g/n recognized, and I can join my wireless network. I can load up a web page immediately, but any data transfer (for example a net speediest page) causes it to slow down to nothing, and drop out the network connection. This causes all connectivity to drop out, even wired.

Anyone here of this, or can shed some light on the problem? Thanks in advance.

Right of the bat, I'd be concerned if the card is not sitting totally flat as it may not be making a solid connection.

Also double-check you have the antennas connected correctly as there has been an issues with some Mac Pros having mixed up labeling with the Bluetooth antenna.

 

[MacGamver]

Yeah, I had to juggle around the antennae, as there were conflicting reports for configurations of these models. Pretty sure I have that part right…

 

[kwarwick43]

Yeah, I had to juggle around the antennae, as there were conflicting reports for configurations of these models. Pretty sure I have that part right…

I would say either you have a bad card or more likely the card being not seated completely is the issue. If you have the bluetooth module installed you could try temporarily borrowing the screws used to secure it, I believe they are the same as the ones needed for the wifi card.

 

[MacGamver]

I would say either you have a bad card or more likely the card being not seated completely is the issue. If you have the bluetooth module installed you could try temporarily borrowing the screws used to secure it, I believe they are the same as the ones needed for the wifi card.

A colleague of mine also suggested that one of the two screws is a ground, and if that is missing it could affect performance as well. I'm going to try that and report back! Thanks guys.