What's the best way to get a working wifi?

[Metion]

Hi all, i just builded my first customac running osx 10.8
Everything works great except for wifi. I used an old wifi card from an old pc, i dont know what wifi card it is.. windows say is a Lite-on USB (its connected to internal usb).. some google searches say it is a railtek chipset but none of railtek kext works

is there a way to get a working wifi with my card?
any other cheap solution to get wifi?

 

[pizzamac]

******any other cheap solution to get wifi?

USB WiFi adapters are the cheapest and easiest solutions. Many can be bought for $10 or less (sale or e-bay)
and even say they are Mac OS X compatible.

futhermore, look here for a starter list of WiFi compatible ones.....http://legacy.tonymacx86.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Peripherals


is there a way to get a working wifi with my card?

we would need to know which specific realtek chipset number you have to
know if you can use your card/if there is a working kext for your card.

 

[darukaru]

Just drop the ~$40USD on a TP-Link TL-WDN4800 and save yourself a lot of headaches. It Just Works.

 

[Metion]

i think 42€ (in the italian amazon this is the price for that card) is really too much..
at the least i want to try to enable my card or buy a cheap usb dongle..

do you guys know any software that recognize my wifi card chipset? windows doesnt showit it just show lite-on usb

 

[pizzamac]

you could try a program called

SIW

the Home Version is free and tells just about everything in Windows

 

[Metion]

ok this is the SIW response for my wifi card.. any idea?

USB Wireless 802.11 b/g Adaptor
Device ID USB\VID_15A9&PID_0004\6&2C24CE2E&0&5
Status 0x0180600a Started
Problem 0x00000000 (0)
Service netr7364
Capabilities 0x00000084
Config Flags 0x00000000
Class Net
Manufacturer Lite-On
Hardware IDs USB\VID_15A9&PID_0004&REV_0001
Hardware IDs USB\VID_15A9&PID_0004
Compatible IDs USB\Class_FF&SubClass_FF&Prot_FF
Compatible IDs USB\Class_FF&SubClass_FF
Compatible IDs USB\Class_FF
Class GUID {4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
Location Port_#0005.Hub_#0004
Bus number 0x00000000
Enumerator name USB
Description USB Wireless 802.11 b/g Adaptor
Driver {4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0007
Physical Object Name \Device\USBPDO-7
Upper filters vwifibus
Bustype GUID {45204342-2042-4437-2039-442035442043}
Legacy bus type 0x0000000f
Install State 0x00000000
Device Address 0x00000005
Location Paths PCIROOT(0)#PCI(1D00)#USBROOT(0)#USB(1)#USB(5)
File di configurazione della periferica oem17.inf
NewDeviceInstall 0
NetCfgInstanceId {868BE687-9729-402B-ACC0-69DCD5917DA4}
*IfType 71
Characteristics 132
*MediaType 16
*PhysicalMediaType 9
NetLuidIndex 0
DeviceInstanceID USB\VID_15A9&PID_0004\6&2C24CE2E&0&5
InstallTimeStamp DC 07 08 00 04 00 02 00 09 00 2B 00 23 00 00 02
PortAuthSendControlState 2
PortAuthReceiveControlState 2
PortAuthSendAuthorizationState 1
PortAuthReceiveAuthorizationState 1
WirelessMode 3
Channel 1
AdhocOfdm 1
CountryRegion 0
CountryRegionABand 0
Radio 0
IEEE80211H 0
CarrierDetect 0
SmartScan 0
WPSDevName Ralink Client
BusType 15
ComponentId usb\vid_15a9&pid_0004
InfPath oem17.inf
IncludedInfs netvwifibus.inf
InfSection RTWLANR.ndi
InfSectionExt .NT
ProviderName Ralink
DriverDateData 00 C0 90 E5 03 7F CC 01
DriverDate 9-30-2011
DriverVersion 4.0.10.0
MatchingDeviceId usb\vid_15a9&pid_0004
DriverDesc USB Wireless 802.11 b/g Adaptor
PnPCapabilities 16
RaCoInstOpt 00000000
EnableNewPS 0
SafelyRemoveOff 1
Class Net
ClassDesc Schede di rete
IconPath %systemroot%\system32\setupapi.dll,-5
Installer32 NetCfgx.dll,NetClassInstaller
EnumPropPages32 NetCfgx.dll,NetPropPageProvider
LowerLogoVersion 6.0

 

[pizzamac]

based on your hardware ID
my best guess is you need a

Device driver for Ralink Technology's RT257x, RT267x and RT520x based USB wireles
(Ralink RT7x)

http://www.ralinktech.com/en/04_support/support.php?sn=502

Remember,
If you are using ML, it may or may not work, you may have to patch the kext, (they probably do not have a ML driver for your device yet)


Futhermore, you might find an already patched driver for your device ID on the web somewhere.

Good Luck
and please post your results in case some one else may need/use them.

 

[Metion]

i've just tried those kext from railtek but my system recognize my wifi card as an ethernet card so it can't scan for available network

this is a screenshot of my network preferences


(currently using my iPhone usb thetering to get internet)

 

[pizzamac]

my thoughts up to now,

First and foremost - The drivers from Ralink are not ML compatible (yet?).

--- with a lot of USB wifi dongles, a utility called Ralink wireless utility is/should be installed
and used to connect to your network.

---Also, getting your mac to recognize the adapter/dongle you have probably requires
modify a kext(s) at the minimum, and then (adding the device/re-inserting it in system preferences-network?)

http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=390

if you cannot find the correct mods on the internet,
maybe someone else in the forum has had your problem and can help you further
on these problems.

Good Luck

 

[Metion]

i already saw this "real" airport card tutorial but parts + shipping would cost me more than TP-Link TL-WDN4800...

anyway thanks pizzamac, i'll search something for my card..

i've sent an email to railtek requesting mountain lion support, not shure if they will update those drivers, this card is a bit old