Contribute
Register

How To: Build your own "Real" Airport Card

Yeah, I've taken it out and reseated it quite a few times and tried it in the x1, x4 and x8 PCI-E slots.

I'm going to try a different adapter first as it's the cheapest part. Should have one arriving tomorrow –– if that works I can send the other one back. If not, will have to look into trying a different BCM94321 or alternative.

Will keep you posted. Cheers.
 
New Mini PCI-E to PCI-E adapter arrived today. Put the BMC94321 in, turned on my machine and Wi-Fi was there - just had to turn it on. :) Now I just hope I can get a refund on the faulty adapter.

Thanks for the help!
 
larkinslair said:
New Mini PCI-E to PCI-E adapter arrived today. Put the BMC94321 in, turned on my machine and Wi-Fi was there - just had to turn it on. :) Now I just hope I can get a refund on the faulty adapter.

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...

Excellent!
 
I'm just not having good luck with this project.

At first, i ordered an AR5BXB72 and a PCIE adapter that had superglue on the circuit board. The combination *kindof* worked, with a very spotty connection that dropped frequently and other times would not connect at all.

Recently, I purchased the recommended BCM94321 and a better quality PCIE adapter... and got basically the same results. It connects easier with better speeds and for slightly longer intervals, but still -- it slows to a snail's pace frequently and drops occasionally. At times it won't connect at all, but this is less that before.

I'm not sure if it matters, but one of the antennae i'm using is the one with the striped wire.
I've got it plugged in to the blue PCIE port.
I've built a "windsurfer"* for my wireless router, which i'm not very far from. My MBP works flawlessly when placed next in the same spot as the tower.
*http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html

Any further tips would be appreciated...
 
aFlockOfMoosen said:
I'm just not having good luck with this project.

At first, i ordered an AR5BXB72 and a PCIE adapter that had superglue on the circuit board. The combination *kindof* worked, with a very spotty connection that dropped frequently and other times would not connect at all.

Recently, I purchased the recommended BCM94321 and a better quality PCIE adapter... and got basically the same results. It connects easier with better speeds and for slightly longer intervals, but still -- it slows to a snail's pace frequently and drops occasionally. At times it won't connect at all, but this is less that before.

I'm not sure if it matters, but one of the antennae i'm using is the one with the striped wire.
I've got it plugged in to the blue PCIE port.
I've built a "windsurfer"* for my wireless router, which i'm not very far from. My MBP works flawlessly when placed next in the same spot as the tower.
*http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html

Any further tips would be appreciated...
Click to expand...

I had i similar problem with my iMac and it turned out to be a router issue. It was really strange because oout of my four macs it was the only to drop signal, and it was fine in bootcamp. Replaced the old D-link with a newer Linksys running DD-WRT custom firmware and have not had a problem since.
 
ndeda said:
Can someone help me :)

Will this card be recognized as AirPort in Lion:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 102wt_1309
It's generic BCM94321MC card, not Apple branded.

I'm having trouble finding original Apple card on Ebay.

Tnx

Ndoc
Click to expand...
I don't have the Apple branded card, I got the BCM94322M which shows as an Apple Airport Extreme card
 
Z77X
GA-Z77X-UP4-TH |  i5 3570K |  GeForce GTX 970
Is this still a good method? To be honest last time I installed Snow Leopard I got fed up of the Ralink wireless utility and I saw this thread. I'd happily pay a bit of cash to get a reliable 802.11n 300Mbps card that will work properly in OS X, provided it will work in both SL and Lion, and that it works in Windows 7 x64 as well.
 
Build 1
GA-Z77X-UD5H |  i5 2500K |  HD 3000
I just installed my new Air Port card following these directions. I bought the adapter and card from ebay. The Adapter came from China and the card from California. I used this card.

Broadcom 4322AGN BCM94322MC bcm4322 802.11agn dual band Wireless mini pci-e Card.

The airport adapter connected to to my wireless right away except it shows up as WI-FI not Air Port. Not sure if this will cause problems, I don't really care as long at I can get online. Although it would be cool to have it recognize as Air Port.

On a side note when I booted into my Windows drive it was also recognized and connected to the Wifi with out a problem.
 

Attachments

  • $(KGrHqNHJDEE7BcvgwkOBO1FlyES-!~~60_3.JPG
    $(KGrHqNHJDEE7BcvgwkOBO1FlyES-!~~60_3.JPG
    37.7 KB · Views: 230
Got my Atheros AR9280 AR5BXB92 card working tip top @ 130mbps (802.11a/b/g/n) http://www.ebay.com/itm/250915087322?ss ... 406wt_1091

Along w/ $13 adapter (w/ the metal cover on the pci adapter)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005JT ... os_product

Virtually plug & play, only "issue" was that when i turned the system on the connection was named (Bluetooth), but that was a simple fix to rename to Wi-Fi and it hasn't been an issue since.

Both products shipped from the US and got to CO in under a week!

Installed on hack @ 10.7.2 Lion, hardware is:

Gigabyte GA-H61N-USB3
Intel i3 2105-Sandy Bridge
no graphics card, onboard HD3000 graphics used

p.s. - it's for my original NES hackintosh mod, that will be glorious, and I will happily post pics when done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Copyright © 2010 - 2024 tonymacx86 LLC
Back
Top