Airport Card alternatives?

As the original Airport cards are pretty hard to come across (and expensive!) would anyone recommend a BELKIN F5D7050uk?? or any suggestions to use with my iBook G3 to link into my wireless network (NETGEAR ADSL DG834GT router with iMac G5)
Thanks

Expensive though they are, there is nothing that beats the AirPort card in my opinion.
Some sources (some will be out of stock, but I'm listing the links in case they do get some back in stock):
http://www.lacomputercompany.com/cgi-bin/rpcart/index.cgi?command=dispitem&type= sku&sku=10061
http://store.macsolutions.com/airportad.html
http://powerbookguy.com/
http://store.yahoo.com/hardcoremac/apaicau.html
http://www.pbparts.com/shop/ac.html
http://www.smalldog.com/product/32833
as well as eBay, of course.

Similar Messages

  • G4 support for Airport Card alternative?

    Hi all,
    It never dawned on me that there is an alternative to Apple's Airport cards for our systems until recently. I have a G4 dual 1GHz system which houses a hookup for the original airport card; the system also has PCI slots. I have an Airport Extreme Base station and would like to restrict my frequency range to the 5 GHz ONLY (to avoid the crowding of 2.4 GHz range.) So, is it correct to say that my G4 is not tied down to the original airport card but can theoretically use "n" capable WIFI cards via on board PCI or USB? And if so, any you would recommend? Also, how's the software support for it, i.e., drivers, Airport Utility, etc. since the card would be third party and not Apples? Would I get the support from say, Airport Utility as if I had an Apple airport card in there or are there going to be compatibility issues? Many thanks!

    OK, I just found this out:
    http://www.beowulf.org/archive/2001-July/004174.html
    32 bits/33 Mhz : aggregated ideal peak at 132 MB/s
    64 bits/33 Mhz : aggregated ideal peak at 264 MB/s
    And that's shared between all items on the PCI bus.
    It would be interesting to measure the bandwidth on the USB 2 PCI card. I've seen it vary wildly on a G4/400 Mhz Yikes, sometimes dropping to as little as USB 1.1 even with only one USB item connected on an IOGear card. I no longer have access to that machine. That's of course assuming nothing else is sharing the same bus.

  • Original Airport cards and e-Bay

    I have a 17inch flat panel iMac, 800 mhz speed and am thinking of going wireless. I know I need an original airport card for my computer, NOT the airport extreme. I have been searching on e-Bay and found various sellers with a huge difference in prices. My question is: are there different models of the original airport card? One vendor lists an airport card model # M7600LL/A for a high price, but in the information it lists my computer as one of the models this card will work with. Another vendor has an airport card model # M7600LL/E for a much lower price but the information on the card's compatability is rather sparse. Are they the same card just with a different price? What is your advice about buying an airport card from e-Bay in general? I will also need a wireless router and have my eye on a Linksys model that a few of my friends have in their wireless networks and they recommend it highly. Any thoughts on that area?
    17 inch Flat panel iMac, 800mhz   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

    Basically the difference between the two is one was for American market I believe and the other the European market.
    Both should work fine.
    Original Airport Card Alternatives
    http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/1030.html
    A Mac with an original Airport card can connect to any wifi certified 802.11b wireless network (or 802.11g in backward compatible mode).
    Out of all the different wireless routers I have used, I have found my Airports to be reliable and easy to setup.

  • Any cheaper alternatives to the M7600LLE Airport Card?

    Hello,
    We are trying to connect a Snow White G3 iBook, with a faulty ethernet card to the internet but can't afford the prices for a used or new original airport card. A friend mentioned that their are other companies which make USB devices which do the same thing. Is there a cheaper alternative which does the same thing as the M7600LLE card? The iBook is a model M6497 snow white iBook running OSX 1.2 I think. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
    best,
    Rich and Lily
    G3 iBook - Snow White - M6497   Mac OS X (10.2.x)   Burnt out Ethernet card

    Moved to G3 section.

  • USB alternatives to Airport card?

    I have an iBook with damaged pins that will not work with an airport card--thus I am looking for an alternative to the airport card. I have seen many USB wireless ethernet devices that allow PCs to connect to wireless networks. But, there does not seem to be such a device that is MAC compatible. Does anyone know of such a device?

    You mean a USB wireless Internet device, not a USB wireless Ethernet device.
    That being said, you are better off buying a wireless access device that uses Ethernet in lieu of USB. The Ethernet device won't require software drivers like the USB device. The problem with USB devices is finding one with Mac compatible software.
    Click Here

  • Airport card broken on MacBook Pro 2012, alternatives for wifi?

    Hello All,
    I dropped my MacBook Pro 2012 and immediately it said that Airport Card is not installed, nor Bluetooth. I took it to Apple Service and after they looked at it, they told me the entire logic board will need to be replaced in order to fix it. Obviously I won't be forking out 700 euros for a new one when I can just get a new MacBook eventually, I was just hoping to get a few more months out of it.
    My question is can I use a wireless usb adapter to pick up wifi, or an airport express? I bought today a D-Link Wireless adapter usb and it is not installing for some reason. I have IOS X Mavericks 10.9.5 If I use the Airport Express how do I go about setting this up?
    Thanks for any help, I am fairly confused at this point!

    You need to buy a USB wireless that is Mac compatible.. and it must have drivers available for Mavericks.. not just Mac compatible.. It is not easy to find them but look on ebay.. just search usb wireless mac.
    You must double check though.. DWA-125 proclaims itself as mac compatible.. that means.
    (Mac OS X,  10.4.X,  10.5.X, 10.6.X)
    Mavericks made a big jump as did Lion and apparently so does Yosemite.. do don't expect drivers will jump out at you. I have tried lots of USB sticks and they seldom work.
    Many companies lie.. or bend the truth and they say Mac compatible and mean.. up to snow leopard.
    or an airport express?
    Yes, you can use an express.. but not by USB.. that means on a MBPr you will need to buy a Thunderbolt to ethernet adapter (forget the USB one.. it is 2.0 useless junk).. as well as the express and setup the express as wireless bridge. This is great for a static computer.. but rather less than portable.
    I think it is such a shame we lost the old Express port.. PCMCIA as it was in earlier days.. it was great for this sort of thing.. and was better as it actually connects to the main bus in the computer..
    Otherwise move up your new computer replacement date.

  • Cannot connect to the internet through my Airport Card, while in Windows 7

    Alright, so I wasn't sure how best to give a topic heading for this, but i think thats the jist of it. Basically I have Windows 7 on  hard drive and am able to boot up my Macbook Pro (Early January 2011). Everything seems to run the right way, however I am unable to figure out what is causing the Windows 7 to either not recognize or not connect to my wireless network in my house. It is passworded and everything, however nothing I tried would work and allow access to the internet to my Windows 7.
    I've read over some things online, and tried to figure out if there was some driver or something that I was missing that needed to be there, however I couldn't seem to find any answer to the problem. When I go to configure the network connecting and such, I get a message saying that apparently the hardware or something is missing, however I am unsure how or where I can go to get the info or not.
    I'm guessing that using Bootcamp to install Windows 7 is probably the actual way I'm meant to do this, however I'm trying not to have to partition the computer, though I fear I may have to. Basically what I've done is booted up my computer from the Windows 7 install disc, and used it, like you would a Mac OS disc, to reformat my internal hard drive into working with Windows 7. This is probably an unorthodox method, but my dad had looked up that I couldn't install Windows 7 onto my external disk, and that this would be the alternative to have a more 'native' Windows running, rather than having to use Bootcamp.
    My questions to you guys out there, are:
    Should I reformat/reinstall Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard, and simply use bootcamp and its utilities and such to run Windows 7 through my computer? OR is there something I'm missing that I needed to download to allow Windows 7 to recognize my Airport Card, or whatever is needed to access the Internet.

    Try clearing your cache and cookies.
    # Open the Tools menu, then select Clear Recent History... .
    # In the '''Time Range to clear:''' drop-down, select '''Everything'''.
    # Click the arrow next to '''Details''' to display the list of items that can be cleared.
    # Select both '''Cookies''' and '''Cache'''.
    # Click Clear Now .
    Or you can try creating a test profile to see if it happens on that profile as well. See [[Managing Profiles]]

  • IBook G4 internal Airport card faulty

    I have had my iBook G4 since mid 2005 and up until recently it has been brilliant but sadly it has started crashing and the report indicates that the airport card is at fault. Having spoken with the local mac repairer they suggested that changing the card could solve the problem but equally, given the age of the laptop, it could ultimately be the logic board!! Rather than throw good money after bad their suggestion was to disconnect the airport card (which seems to be integrated rather than easily removable) and use a usb wifi connection. They suggest D-Link WUA-1340 but I cannot find this anywhere in the UK. Does anyone have a suggestion where I can buy this or an alternative that will work. Thank you.

    this is what it looks like anyway: http://www.ifixit.com/iBook-Parts/iBook-G4-12-Inch-1-33-GHz-or-14-Inch-1-42-GHz- Airport-Bluetooth-Board/IF183-054
    anymore, most adapters have a pretty good chance of working. Check around for which models are available where you live & then search for mac compatability on those.

  • AirPort card not working ... mostly

    This is one that has me a bit stumped. I have a G3 iBook with the original airport card installed. Yesterday, it stopped recognizing any wireless networks in the local area (I have one graphite ABS and one AirPort Express, plus there are one or two other wireless network around here I can normally at least see). My other portable (PowerBook G4 12") sees all these networks fine. I re-seated the card in the iBook, to no avail. I assumed it had conked out and started researching replacement cards (quite spendy, as you probably know).
    Just today, my iBook started recognizing wireless nets again ... briefly. For about five or ten minutes, I saw a few networks and actually was able to access the WAN. After then, though, it's back to not working at all. Has this happened to anyone? Was it the last, final gasp of my venerable airport card? Or if this has happened to you, did you find that it was another problem entirely?
    Thanks for any help.
    iBook G3   Mac OS X (10.4.4)  

    Appelfan,
    I had gotten frustrated with the random behavior and posted a question about the possibility of an USB dongle wireless solution for the Mac. Duane answered me and gave me a very helpful suggestion - that I consider Ethernet Wireless Adapters, and even mentioned a couple of brands - just in case you may consider that route. I have copied his responses to me, below:
    Thank you,
    Gino
    Duane
    Re: Is there a USB Wireless Dongle or card for a Mac?
    Posted: Mar 24, 2006 5:33 PM in response to: Gino La Pointe
    An alternative to USB wireless adapters is Ethernet wireless adapters. Those require no drivers and therefore will work with any Ethernet device regardless of OS.
    Duane
    Re: Is there a USB Wireless Dongle or card for a Mac?
    Posted: Mar 25, 2006 11:14 AM in response to: Gino La Pointe
    Examples of Ethernet wireless adapters are the Linksys WET11 and Linksys WET54G. There are many more.

  • Two versions of original Airport card?

    I have only today learned that the original Airport card came in two versions: 661-2219, which does not have the capability of accessing a WPA-protected router, and 661-2549, which does. My question is, how do you distinguish between these two cards, visibly or otherwise?

    It was not 'suddenly discovered,' as we have made this claim for many years. I don't understand how it is inconsistent with what you insist to be the case, as…
    • we refer only to the A/B revisions—which you agree do not support WEP beyond 40 bits—to be incapable of supporting WPA, as they shipped from the factory
    • we sell such cards with the lower level of capability for use in pre-OS X 10.3 installations with the clear caveat that such cards, as sold, don't support WPA or—if you will—are not guaranteed to, and should be expected to, support WPA
    It's not in our financial interest to apply firmware to the older cards which we periodically encounter and we don't claim that it has been done, as we don't test each card specifically for such capabilities. Why bother to, when they are sold indicating that they do not support WPA? We don't speak for others in the industry, only for ourselves. And, we attempt to convey simple, accurate information. In this case, we think we achieve that in a way that lowers what might otherwise be heightened user expectations and avoid unintended outcomes.
    Since the higher cost cards are priced at a level consistently at or lower than most vendors and carry a one-year warranty, and the less capable early cards are discounted from that level yet carry the same warranty, we think that they pair offer better overall value to most users under most circumstances. That said, they can be less expensive—or, more expensive—than some unsupported product sold on eBay. But, ours are tested and warranted, and the price has remained consistent across low and high availability situations, something that we again believe provides better overall value to buyers.
    Sure, they might—in fact—support it, in some circumstances. But, we would be inundated with complaints from users wanting such support if the individual card they purchased did not support it when they received that specific card. While Apple claims that the original AirPort base station never supported WPA, you need only put a WPA capable replacement card in it and use the appropriate software to gain access to this feature. Components other than the card itself in an AirPort base station can be reasonably characterized as passive. It is the card itself that determines the capabilities of the base station.
    We're currently out of the original cards, or I would arrange to ship you one of each to test in your own environment to satisfy your concerns. In our case, testing cards at one point for such capabilities reasonably satisfied us that M7600LL/A and B cards did not support WPA 'out of the box' and so we've simply pointed that out.
    It's akin to saying that original iMacs based upon a G3 processor do not support the installation of Mac OS X, unless and until a suitable firmware update is applied. And that statement also is true, given that most shipped pre-OS X and without the installed firmware.
    How do I put this? Most alternative suppliers in this industry are chumps: they know little, and care even less. It's all about 'turn and burn' to them, and they seek almost exclusively to maximize their opportunity. Despite their claims, they could care less about customers. You only have to look around the web to figure that out…
    We've been quietly engaged in this market in the background for nearly twenty years, so we know a thing or two about the other players.
    We find it too cumbersome to explain the capabilities of the original AirPort cards in general beyond what we describe, and not economical to upgrade the firmware of such cards and attempt to sell them as the second generation of that product line, thereby creating an instantaneous identification conflict.
    When we receive and qualify additional cards, I will get ahold of you in The Lounge if you are interested in setting up a 'lab test' on your own premises, or modifying the A or B card by applying a firmware update.
    To some degree, the argument is moot: Apple no longer supports the original card at all, and the second generation of the product line remains supported only in California, and only for a limited remaining time period.

  • G5 Airport Antenna Alternative

    Hi Guys
    I have finally managed to install an airport card, but haven't got a very good signal strength, I'm aware there is an apple antenna available, I have seen a few on ebay, but wondered if there was an alternative, i.e buy an antenna which will fit the connector? Does anyone know what type of connection it is? and if is a common enough connection and if antenna are readily available...
    Thanks for your help guys
    Darren

    I just got the AirPort card for my G5.1.6 GHz and also picked up the Apple AirPort antenna on ebay for it. Even with the original antenna on the back of the G5 I've still got very weak signal, however, I should state that my G5 is in my recording studio two floors down from my office where the other iMac with an airport extreme card is acting as a software base station.
    I did just purchase the AirPort Antenna extender that is shown as a link in the previous responders message. It looks like I just take the AirPort Antenna out of the back of the G5, then plug it into the socket on the extender which allows it to be stuck to a wall higher off the ground. The other end of the extension cable goes into the airport antenna jack on the back of the G5.
    I hope this works and I don't have to get something more powerful.
    Good luck with your quest for wireless access.
    Regards,
    John
    Message was edited by: johnbezjian

  • Belkin F5D7000 NIC as Airport card in a Mac

    First off, I only want to provide my experience here so that others will have less trouble than I.
    Hardware: Two Blue & White G3's running 10.4.6 and 10.4.6 Server.
    Summary: I purchased a Belkin PCI NIC model F5D7000 (version 4.00), popped it in the Mac and immediately it was recognized as an Airport card with no problems.
    The story doesn't end here because according to the bulk of online information, the F5D7000 uses the Broadcom chipset and works the same as an Airport Extreme card. I only later found out that this is an over-simplification and the version of this card is very critical. I only got lucky as there are now six versions of this card floating around out there. Not even Belkin Tech support can tell them apart.
    I needed to purchase a second one for my other Mac and this is where my aggravation really begins. I was faced with version 4.00 and 5.00 on the shelf. I only selected the 5.00 because it was newer and had a removable antenna where the 4.00 does not. This was a huge mistake as the 5.00 does not work as an Airport Extreme card at all... I could not get it to work... I exchanged it for a version 3.00 and subsequently purchased a version 2.00.
    Results:
    Let me summarize my test results below.
    v1.00 - Untested but have read that this version contains the Broadcom chipset and works as an Airport card.
    v2.00 - Airport Confirmed with Broadcom chipset. Belkin told me this version was not Mac compatible.
    v3.00 - RT2500 chipset and not recognized as an Airport card. However I did get it working with the 11g-RT2500 Drivers provided at this link- http://www.ralinktech.com/supp-1.htm -> Even though Belkin's F5D7000 product page mentions Mac compatibility, version 3.00 is the only supported card and that's only with OS 10.2 and 10.3. Belkin's drivers do NOT work in Tiger and Tech support will not assist you with Tiger.
    v4.00 - Airport Confirmed with Broadcom chipset. Also note, as far as I could tell, this is the only version without a SMA type removable antenna. Permanent mount that is upside down while in a PowerMac. Easily flipped 180 with some basic tools.
    v5.00 - I can only confirm that this version did NOT work as an Airport card. It may have the same RT chipset and work with the same RT drivers as the 3.00, but I did NOT figure out or confirm this before returning it to the store. A user on another forum has confirmed that his version 5.00 requires the RT2500 drivers from Ralinktech confirming my suspicions that this card uses the RT2500 just like the version 3.00.
    v6.00 - ?? unknown. Some stores carry this version but I did not get my hands on one. Following the chipset leap-frogging pattern above, it looks like this card might have the Broadcom chipset. Can anyone confirm?
    Conclusion: I think this is a great inexpensive card but it's definitely in a gray area between Mac unsupported and fully supported. Belkin needs to decide which way to go and correct their online documentation and tech support people.
    If you can get your hands on a version 1.00, 2.00, or 4.00, you'll probably be ok with a great NIC you can setup as an Airport card in under a minute. With version 3.00 or 5.00 (and maybe 6.00?), you'll need to do a little more work installing the RT drivers. Actually, setting that up was very easy too but since it's not recognized as Airport, you have to make sure to do the extra configurations so you automatically connect on start-up.
    If you get a Belkin F5D7000 that has neither the Broadcom or RT chipsets, then you are outside of my testing arena and I can't really say if/how that would work in a Mac.
    Other Comments: The most difficult part was finding comprehensive online information about this card, chipsets, versions, and Mac support. Also if you get a RT chipset, the Mac initially will not even see this PCI card, therefore, finding out what chipset you have is virtually impossible. Anyone with a Windows PC handy can install it in there perhaps to find out more details.
    I hope that some people will find my post somewhat helpful. I know I was dying to find a post like this about 24 hours ago.
    (2) B & W G3/500 & Gigabit G4/1.6 Ghz Dual   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

    I went to every single OfficeMax and Staples and
    Circuit City in my area and only found v.5000 and
    v.6000 F5D7000s. Even asked them if they had any old
    stock in the back and they shook their heads.
    Got fed up with this, did some research, and ordered
    a Buffalo WLI2-PCI-G54 card from NewEgg; it was
    cheaper than Amazon's price, approx. $31.99.
    I assumed that everybody should already be aware that the Buffalo card is also a very good alternative.
    However, some of us got some very good rebate deals on the Belkin, some of us have a Belkin already, and finally some of us had been given a Belkin F5D7000. In those cases, the information regarding Belkin's various versions and chipsets is extremely valuable for saving some time. So this thread was started to provide detailed information to the various Belkin owners since Belkin is so unable or unwilling to help the Mac community.
    Now it's too bad you just didn't try the Belkin version 6.000. It too has the SMA connector and it might have the Broadcom chipset. Then you could have reported back here to confirm or deny status of the latest version's compatibility. Staples has a 14 day no hassle return policy. That's how I was able to test out a couple versions.
    Regardless, I'm very glad this thread at least helped you in that since you could not find version 2.000 or 4.000 you went with a known good alternate.
    (2) B & W G3/500 & Gigabit G4/1.6 Ghz Dual   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

  • Switching Ti Powerbook Airport card to iBook G3 , need advice

    Hello,
    I have a Ti Powerbook G4 1GHz running OS 10.4.5 and recently got my husband a G3 ibook 600 MHz running 10.2.8. I want to get him up and running wirelessly so I thought I would install my Airport card in his book and look for something else or my Powerbook. Do all the 3rd party cards hang out of the laptop and/or have antennas that extend? He surfs about three times a week, I am online 2 or more times a day. I would rarther not have somthing that hangs out or can get caught. However I thought it would be a plus to have my system on 802.11g.....
    Is there a better solution for his system? I am just looking into it and would appreciate anyone's advice on options for our systems.
    Thanks for your help.
    Ti Powerbook 1GHZ G4   Mac OS X (10.4.5)  

    Zyvette,Welcome to Apple Discussions.
    This sounds like a good plan.
    The iBook needs an original Airport card that the Ti has.
    Check out this site which has the manuals for all Macs - choose your models and the Airport card instructions are in there.
    You certainly can put a 802.11g card in your Ti - it will stick out a little, but it's that or spending $100+ or so on a 2nd hand original Airport card on ebay.
    Alternatively I have seen one of these cards crammed inside an Airport slot with some modifications - see this post.
    regards
    mrtotes

  • Airport Card for G3 to use on current Airport Express Network

    I have a G4 PowerBook, a gray G4, and most recently a hand-me-down blue (green?) G3. I have an Airport Express that the two G4s use for wireless internet. I'd like to add an airport extreme OR old airport card to the G3 to include it in our home network wirelessly as well. Can this be done? What, exactly, do I need?

    Hello Owen,
    Yes, but the Antenna is built-in. Alternative if it doesn't have an Airport card right now...
    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/MXP2802GU2/
    It's possible to run as high as 10.5.8 on it.
    Leopard requirements/10.5.x...
        *  Mac computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor
    minimum system requirements
        * 512MB of memory (I say 1.5GB for PPC at least, 2-3GB minimum for IntelMacs)
        * DVD drive for installation
        * 9GB of available disk space (I say 30GB at least)

  • MacBook says no airport card install suddenly

    My MacBook suddenly lost wifi connection and says that no airport card installed. How can I reinstall the card?

    There are a couple of things you can try to get your AirPort card working again.
    Reset the Parameter RAM - http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11243
    Reset the System Management Controller - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
    If neither of those works, you probably have a dead AirPort.
    Contact Apple using www.apple.com/support/contact if you are in a country that supports it or call the appropriate phone number on this page. Alternatively carry the MacBook in to an Apple retail store or service provider to ask for an estimate.
    Best of luck.

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