How To: Build your own "Real" Airport Card

[dark4181]

Building this card is the best no-hassle way to get WiFi.

I got a 3-stream Atheros card (new iMacs have these) instead of Broadcom, works great:

This is good news, having another viable, totally current option.

thanks

Does it have Bluetooth also?

 

[Kris404]

Building this card is the best no-hassle way to get WiFi.

I got a 3-stream Atheros card (new iMacs have these) instead of Broadcom, works great:

This is good news, having another viable, totally current option.

thanks

Does it have Bluetooth also?

No, it doesn't have Bluetooth.

I have a 'Sabrent Micro USB Bluetooth Adapter' that gets recognized natively as Cambridge Silicon Bluetooth radio.

 

[chris.h]

Is there a wifi-bluetooth combo chip that works with this method?

What could work is a BCM943224PCIEBT2BX - used in a MacBook Air

It's possible, but definitely note that the card won't work with a normal mini pci-e to pci-e adapter. You'll notice that the new card has a 6+12 pin arrangement rather than the typical 8+18, which is unfortunate since you can find the newer cards on ebay for $5 cheaper than the 4322mc. :

 

[alpha90]

Is there a wifi-bluetooth combo chip that works with this method?

What could work is a BCM943224PCIEBT2BX - used in a MacBook Air

chris.h commented:
It's possible, but definitely note that the card won't work with a normal mini pci-e to pci-e adapter. You'll notice that the new card has a 6+12 pin arrangement rather than the typical 8+18, which is unfortunate since you can find the newer cards on ebay for $5 cheaper than the 4322mc. - (end chris.h comment)

@chris.h, thanks for alerting that the BCM943224PCIEBT2BX wi-fi & bluetooth combo cards are now available on eBay. Seems like 3 weeks ago there were zero. Also thanks for pointing out that they are not using the familiar mini-PCIe 8+18 pinning, but have the smaller 6+12 instead. Unsure of the name for the 6+12 config. micro-PCIe?
Any way, before the BCM943224PCIEBT2BX wi-fi & BT cards can be used in a CustoMac, a 6+12 socket will be needed on the PCIe adapter card.

Here are two of the best-priced eBay deals for the BCM943224PCIEBT2BX card (including inapplicable cable & bracket for MBP):

$29:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0636775499

$30:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Macbook-Pro-15- ... 0714116423

 

[chris.h]

Here are two of the best-priced eBay deals for the BCM943224PCIEBT2BX card (including inapplicable cable & bracket for MBP):

$29:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0636775499

$30:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Macbook-Pro-15- ... 0714116423

Ha, the macbook pro ones are yet another type of connector. Those use a ribbon cable to connect to the motherboard/logic board.

The one's that are (technically) pci-e are the ones from the macbook air, which seem to come up as BCM943224PCIEBT2, like the one here: ebay link

I'm pretty sure the pci-e on those is proprietary to Apple, so who knows if an adapter is even possible since there are fewer contacts on the card.

 

[Badaboum03]

My WiFi card won't connect automatically :x :x Any suggestions?

 

[Badaboum03]

i was already at WPA2

 

[thedarkavengerx]

I noticed the original method was posted in mid 2010. I don't really want to go and check the 40+ pages in this thread to find an answer. But does the parts in that tutorial still work today with lion?

Thanks.

 

[Badaboum03]

I noticed the original method was posted in mid 2010. I don't really want to go and check the 40+ pages in this thread to find an answer. But does the parts in that tutorial still work today with lion?

Thanks.

Yes, OOB.

 

[alpha90]

I noticed the original method was posted in mid 2010. I don't really want to go and check the 40+ pages in this thread to find an answer. But does the parts in that tutorial still work today with lion?

Thanks.

This thread isn't a tutorial, but rather an episodic accumulation of testimonials on what has & hasn't worked.
But here's what it seems to boil down to:
For 10.7 Lion you "should" be good with Kris404's Atheros 9380 model choice on p.43.

Otherwise the hyperlinked card in my sig, a BC4321, "usually" seems to be fine OOB.
A few users have also managed to get the slightly newer BC4322 to work, but it seems to be problematic at times.

The reason I put "should" and "usually" in quotes is that there are exceptions:
A) every user's CustoMac may be unique at some level where they are including an un-mentioned conflicting hardware item or atypical OS config choice that never gets spoken about because they're sure, possibly incorrectly, that "it" doesn't matter.
B) some cards work OOB, but then fail intermittently for reason yet undetermined.
C) as routine troubleshooting, some users refuse to remove a failed Network software config from both the CustoMac and router, reboot, and re-do the inputs to assure that a corrupt config is not fruitlessly relied upon as a perpetually flawed foundation.

So unless you have broad return rights, it's a bit of a risk regardless of what others have managed on their CustoMacs. Your trial & error exposure will be the $25-$40 cost of the mini-PCIe wi-fi card plus the 1x PCIe adapter. To most users it's well worth rolling the geek dice.