- Joined
- Apr 19, 2020
- Messages
- 55
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte Z390i Aorus Pro WIFI
- CPU
- i5-9600K
- Graphics
- RX 580
- Mac
- Mobile Phone
I've seen others claim the have a working solution for wifi and Bluetooth for this itx motherboard but not with any details other than confusion about several adapters to buy. Since it's working for me I thought I'd share my experience setting this up.
As owners of the this motherboard know, it's equipped with two m.2 slots - one in the front and one in the back (naughty...
The "Pro Wifi" part isn't that Pro for MacOs users since it's locked and can not be used by any MacOs compliant cards. This is really annoying since it's a great motherboard. I don't really "need" wifi and Bluetooth was working fine without any additional cards, but I was up for the challenge. I ordered a bunch of different cards and adapters from many parts of the world (anyone looking for a DW1560, let me know) to see what's needed. The working solution can be bought for below 50 USD.
I ended up with the following: BCM94360CS2. This is native Apple and wifi was up n running before I had even logged into Catalina. No kexts needed.
The card is plugged into this adapter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JF3FBZ8/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
#1 You can either use the native Bluetooth and only wifi from the added card. In this case you do not need to connect the cable to the card from the mobo (cable was included in my purchase). I tried this solution and it works.
#2 Or you can connect the cable according to the below pic. Connect to "F_USB1" (see manual) on the mobo with the 9 pin connector. This will provide BT. Also, in this case I can turn off BT from Catalina, which I can not using onboard BT.
On the pic above I am using the front M.2 slot. As soon as cables for the antennas arrive from China I will put it in the back slot.
BIOS
Your new card will not be detected in BIOS. No worries though, Catalina will find it right away and you will see the blue led light right once PC is powered on.
If you go route #1, enable Wifi as it's needed for BT.
If you go route #2, only utilising the additional card, you can disable Wifi in BIOS.
Due to Covid I'm on the countryside. Quite impressed with the speeds though since I connect wifi via iPhone and especially considering I don't have any antennas. Sorry for the non-English screenshot but basically I get 37 Mbit down, 4 Mbit up with a 38 millisecond delay. Will update once I have the cables for the antennas and proper connection.
As owners of the this motherboard know, it's equipped with two m.2 slots - one in the front and one in the back (naughty...
The "Pro Wifi" part isn't that Pro for MacOs users since it's locked and can not be used by any MacOs compliant cards. This is really annoying since it's a great motherboard. I don't really "need" wifi and Bluetooth was working fine without any additional cards, but I was up for the challenge. I ordered a bunch of different cards and adapters from many parts of the world (anyone looking for a DW1560, let me know) to see what's needed. The working solution can be bought for below 50 USD.
I ended up with the following: BCM94360CS2. This is native Apple and wifi was up n running before I had even logged into Catalina. No kexts needed.
The card is plugged into this adapter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JF3FBZ8/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
#1 You can either use the native Bluetooth and only wifi from the added card. In this case you do not need to connect the cable to the card from the mobo (cable was included in my purchase). I tried this solution and it works.
#2 Or you can connect the cable according to the below pic. Connect to "F_USB1" (see manual) on the mobo with the 9 pin connector. This will provide BT. Also, in this case I can turn off BT from Catalina, which I can not using onboard BT.
On the pic above I am using the front M.2 slot. As soon as cables for the antennas arrive from China I will put it in the back slot.
BIOS
Your new card will not be detected in BIOS. No worries though, Catalina will find it right away and you will see the blue led light right once PC is powered on.
If you go route #1, enable Wifi as it's needed for BT.
If you go route #2, only utilising the additional card, you can disable Wifi in BIOS.
Due to Covid I'm on the countryside. Quite impressed with the speeds though since I connect wifi via iPhone and especially considering I don't have any antennas. Sorry for the non-English screenshot but basically I get 37 Mbit down, 4 Mbit up with a 38 millisecond delay. Will update once I have the cables for the antennas and proper connection.