Thank you, Peter! Much information (not more than I wanted, just more than expected! :-) I appreciate the effort and time to type it all up; it is indeed very helpful. Out of curiosity, the intended AirPort slot in my G5/PCI-E dual core: is that really a mini-PCI-E slot? Thanks again, Dana
On Oct 16, 8:02 pm, [email protected] wrote: > > Thank you for the advice, both from you and Kris. I believe i still > > have some homework to do. Do you have a specific brand, unit that you > > recommend? Are all PCI-E mini cards that same size/form factor? > > There are two mini-PCI-e form factors, and some Asian sellers sell both, > while others sell adapters from short to long. > > The PCI-e adapters (fits in a PCI-e 1x slot) are all the same size, and > some have provisions for one, two or three antennas. > > The actual PCI-e WiFi cards can be made by many manufacturers. > > Those which use a Broadcom chip set are generally out-of-the-box Airport > Extreme-compatible. > > Broadcom cards are generally designed for one or two antenna connections, > NOT for three antenna connections. > > To complicate matters, there are also the Broadcom mini-PCI cards, which > fit in a mini-PCI to PCI adapter. These are also Airport > Extreme-compatible. > > Only the latest, the Broadcom 4322 or 94322 are AirDrop-compatible, > although the others are Airport Extreme-compatible. > > I use Broadcom mini-PCI/mini-PCI to PCI in my Hacks which have a free PCI > slot; Broadcom mini-PCI-e/mini-PCIe to PCI-e in my Hacks which have a free > PCI-e 1x slot; and Broadcom mini-PCIe in my Hacks which have a free > mini-PCI-e slot. > > I generally use one antenna even though the Broadcom cards support two > antennas. > > On my most recent Hack, a Shuttle SH67 (Intel H67 chip set), I have used a > Broadcom 4322/94322 with two antennas. On this machine, the motherboard > has a mini PCI-e slot which is available for installation of a WiFi card > thereby leaving the PCI-e 16x and PCI-e 1x slots available for other uses. > > I think the following correlation is correct: > > Broadcom 4313 = mini-PCI, and is Airport Extreme-compatible OOTB, but does > not support AirDrop. > > Broadcom 4318 = mini-PCIe, and is Airport Extreme-compatible OOTB, but > does not support AirDrop. > > Broadcom 4322 = mini-PCIe, and is Airport Extreme-compatible OOTB, and > does support AirDrop. > > Other than the mini-PCI cards, which come in only one form factor, the > mini-PCI-e cards come in short and long form factors. > > Sometimes the mini-PCI-e adapters support both form factors, but more > commonly the adapter has the stand-offs soldered onto the board. In this > case it may be best to buy an adapter for a long card and then buy a long > card or a short card plus a short-to-long adapter. > > All of this stuff is sold for very low $$$ on eBay by Hong Kong sellers, > which usually ship immediately and by air, getting from HK to the West > Coast in as little as five days, but more usually in about ten days. > > In all my dealings with those sellers, I have had only one DOA card, and > it was simply the wrong card, not the one I had ordered, and the seller > agreed to immediately ship the correct card. > > And, yes, several of my Hacks also are dual-booted with Windows 7, and > these Broadcom cards are fully functional, not the half-a$$ed "Windows > Edition" cards which won't work on any but a specified version of Win. > > Once you install the card under MacOS X, it should be immediately > recognized by the system. > > Once you boot Windows, you will most likely have to go into the screen > where maintenance is applied. Windows will recognize the card as being new > and will download the Broadcom driver from whichever site hosts it. > > I also, on occasion, use USB WiFi dongles, and there are some good ones > out there which have full MacOS X support. Rosewill RNX-N150UBE is my > current choice, and it 802.11b/g/n-compatible and has 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6 > drivers, and the 10.6 driver works perfectly on Lion. > > Probably more than you ever wanted to know about Mac networking on-the-cheap. -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
