USB Airport card

I'm probably the 1,000 person asking this question...please forgive me but I need an answer ASAP without alot of research. Has anyone tried using the new Airport type cards that just plug into a USB port? If so, do they really increase the range 3 to 5x? Do they work well with iBook G3 with Tiger OS?
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

When Apple first discontinued selling the original AirPort Card, they were selling for up to $200 on eBay.
These links were last checked on 1/30/08:
http://www.synaptech.com/catalog/index.php?mainpage=index&cPath=4953
http://www.dvwarehouse.com/Apple-Original-AirPort-Wireless-Card-802.11B-p-31366. html
http://www.teksale.com/laptops/laptopparts/listings/apple-airport-original.htm
http://www.macofalltrades.com/AppleOriginal_Airport_Card_APp/airport1.htm
http://www.powerbookguy.com/xcart/catalog/Airport-Cards-price0-p-1-c-507.html
http://store.airportcardsdirect.com/
http://www.expercom.com/productdetail.html?PRODUCTID=305851
http://www.macrecycling.com/apple-airport-card-ibook-g3g4-powerbook-g4-p-100531. html
http://techrestore.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16174
http://www.ifixit.com/cart/catalog/product98_AirportCard.html
http://www.megamacs.com/v1/?action=view&pid=967052
http://www.lacomputercompany.com/cgi-bin/rpcart/index.cgi?command=dispitem&type= sku&sku=10061
http://www.welovemacs.com/ibkap.html
I wouldn't want anything but an original AirPort card with my iBook G3. They have been so great that I just wouldn't think of trying anything else. I'd rather pay a little more and get something I know will work. No drivers to download and install. It's all right there. The first couple AirPort Cards I bought were about $100 from Apple. I've bought two used ones for $50 each.
I would want to buy one that had a 30-day warranty (at least), since I did have to replace one once (a very rare occurrence).
I am told that usually a used card is as good as new; they fail so infrequently.

Similar Messages

New USB Airport card

I'm probably the 1,000 person asking this question...please forgive me but I need an answer ASAP without alot of research. Has anyone tried using the new Airport type cards that just plug into a USB port? If so, do they really increase the range 3 to 5x? Do they work well with iBook G3 with Tiger OS?
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

James,
I'm probably the 1,000 person asking this question...please forgive me but I need an answer ASAP without alot of research. Has anyone tried using the new Airport type cards that just plug into a USB port? If so, do they really increase the range 3 to 5x? Do they work well with iBook G3 with Tiger OS?
No I personally didn't know much about them. I looked into this over a year ago as a solution for a CRT iMac and didn't find anything compatable. Now I hear of people buying cheapies off eBay with great results.
It would be a great solution if it works as promised especially with the problems that people have with some extreme cards. I've got a PowerBook G4 Mercury that has absolutely abysmal range from it's original setup. I was considering scabbing an large Yagi antenna on the top of the display.
Richard

Can I use a USB wireless adapter with my iMac G4 Flat Panel (it has no Airport card).

I have just salvaged an iMac G4 15-inch Flat Panel from the skip and now have it running Mac OS X Tiger 10,4. It has a 700mhz cpu, 80Gb hard drive and 512mb of Ram. No airport card is fitted so I was wondering if a USB wireless adapter could be used instead. I have a Belkin F5D8055ea USB wireless adapter fitted and the system recognises the device, this is as far as I have got as I am a complete novice on Apple/Mac machines. Anyone any ideas please?

If the device is recognised, see if you can located your wi-fi network using Airport Utility.

E-mac (usb 2.0), will extreme airport card work?

Hi fellow discussionists,
I just purchased a second hand e-mac. When I type it's serial number into a website, it tells me it is a E-mac (usb 2.0) model. I found some documentation on Apple's website saying this is compatible with an 'extreme airport card'.
Before I log on to the apple store and order one, can anyone tell me if an extreme airport card will work with this model e-mac?
Thanks for your time!

My eMac is also eMac (USB 2.0). I purchased an Airport Extreme card and inserted it into the computer, then tried to run the install disk. But I get a message telling me that I "cannot install Aiport on this volume. My software is currently up to date." What's the problem? It says I must have OS X v10.3 or later and I have 10.4.11. Yet My base light is solid orange and I am at a loss.
Thanks.
Nick

Apple Airport Card versus alt USB Wireless

Hello,
I own a Graphite IBOOK Clamshell G3 366mhz and I would like to give it to my nephew for 1st year university. It is not wireless - it has the Airport software. He needs wireless.
Should I purchase an Apple Airport Card alt USB Wireless G3 G4 G5 OSX.3 or 4 from Ebay @ $39.99. Someone at a store in town stated that they were not reliable.
OR
Should I purchase NEW WIRELESS APPLE AIRPORT CARD - iBOOK iMAC G3 PB PM from Ebay @ $130.00
and
will that be all I need - aside from upgrading the system to 10.3.
Thank you for your help.
Hue

USB wireless adapters need drivers to work. I don't know if there are any for OS 9. Many people find that the drivers don't work well with OS X. Therefore many people who try USB wireless adapters give up on them.
The original AirPort card is the best solution.

I have an iMac G4 and need to connect it to the internet. Do I need to buy an airport card or can I just use a normal USB wifi stick?

I have an iMac G4 and need to connect it to the internet. Do I need to buy an airport card or can I just use a normal USB wifi stick?

Will this need to be a special mac compatible one or will they all be fine?
You need to see "works on Mac" on the box. All such deveices require a driver. The adaptor would work in many cases except for the lack of Mac drivers. Some companies have the proper Mac drivers on their web sites, some shuffle you off to suspect third-party sites, and some have no Mac drivers at all. If you want to buy one adaptor, not have to return it or send hours searcing the web for a driver that works, look at this one:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/MXP2802NU2C/
It is best for iMacs with USB 2.0 ports. If you have only USB 1.1 ports, you can save money with this one:
Newer Technology MAXPower 802.11g/b Wireless USB 2.0 Stick Adapter Share, Surf, & Stream Anywhere!

Did all dual-USB iBooks have an airport card installed by default?

Did all dual-USB iBooks come with an airport card installed? I ask because I just bought one from eBay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270303646742) (model M6497) and the owner didn't know if it had an airport card installed. Of course, I don't know if the laptop's been modified at all, I was just trying to get an idea of how likely it was that it would come ready for wireless. Thank you

Possible sources for the original AirPort Card:
http://www.macofalltrades.com/AppleOriginal_Airport_Card_APp/airport1.htm
http://www.dvwarehouse.com/Apple-Original-AirPort-Wireless-Card-802.11B-p-31366. html
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/M7600LLE/
http://www.synaptech.com/catalog/index.php?mainpage=index&cPath=4953
http://www.teksale.com/laptops/laptopparts/listings/apple-airport-original.htm
http://www.megamacs.com/v1/?action=view&pid=967052
http://www.macrecycling.com/apple-airport-card-ibook-g3g4-powerbook-g4-p-100531. html
http://memorysolutions.com/memorysolutions/orapaica1.html
http://store.airportcardsdirect.com/
http://www.powerbookguy.com/xcart/catalog/Airport-Cards-price0-p-1-c-507.html
http://www.ifixit.com/cart/catalog/product98_AirportCard.html
http://techrestore.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16174
Links priced low-to-high, last checked November 9, 2008.
Installation instructions can be found in this Knowledge Base article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=111919

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 vs ethernet vs 3rd party usb adapter.

Hello, I hope someone here can help. I have a G4 tower 8493 and purchased Airport Extreme so I can connect an iPad. After reading tons of support questions it looks like I have 3 options. Purchase an airport card and give up some speed, connect G4 directly to airport exteme with ethernet or purchase a 3rd party usb adapter.
First - are those options correct?
Second - which is better/stable?
Third - if ehernet is chosen, what exactly would I buy and where would this cable go?
Thanks so much in advance, I really have no idea what I should do.

Hello,
The Airport 802.11b card & the USB Wifi adapter limited by USB1.1 speeds will have about the same theoretical limit of speed, but I get far better range & speed using the USB adapters, & the USB adapters can do WPA2, which Airport cannot.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/MXP2802GU2/
Another option is a PCI card, more expensive, but more speed...
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/N80211PCI/
Not sure if this cheaper one works on G4s, I'd ask them...
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Edimax/EW7722IN/
You have a built-in Ethernet port, but make sure it works before going that route.
I'd chose the USB Wifi myself.

What is needed to network 2 computers using Airport card

I know I need an airport card in my eMac, but is there any other cards that have to be in the computer? I want to network my eMac with an iMac using a DSL line. The eMac will be downstairs and the iMac will be upstairs. I'm waiting for delivery from Apple of the iMac. It has everything built in that is needed to network but my eMac doesn't. To make my eMac wireless is all I have to buy is an Airport Card and a Wireless Gateway for the iMac which is the computer connected to the DSL modem and Wireless USB adapter with connects to the eMac? What type of Airport Card do I need to buy for my eMac (model #'s etc.) It is the card that inserts above the super drive in the front of the computer. Is there any software that is needed to install Airport?

I am also doing some configuration changes (we have one Imac and two eMac's)
but one eMac does not have a airport card and is hardwired (ethernet) to the high speed cable modem then a apple airport. One Imac and the Emac with a airport card work fine, it is a bit tricky finding the correct airport card (or airport extreme card if you have a ATI graphics card (use about the mac/system profiler then click on more to see if you have a graphics card (which affects which airport card you need, there are alot of resellers on the net so you should find what you want.
If in doubt there is a free program mactracker which provides data on every mac made (available off off versiontracker.com (free site just register) it will guide
you on the type of card needed. I was quite amazed at the amount of different spec eMac's made in their relativealy short history.
Macwireless.com does sell eMac cards (for two models) but also antenna type
or flash drive appearing USB based wireless connectors that may help.
I found the mactracker program helpful (alot) as alot of web sites provide some vague info and I would hate to se you get stuck with a non returnable card.
The actual card install does not look hard (its done through the cd rom drive door.
I am not sure why we did not get a airport card for ours when we bought it.
Wish I did as it would have saved some $ (maybe) and surf time making sure I find the right one.
We did have a antenna wireless antenna for a "green" Imac (long gone) and it ran on OS9 but it was finicky when we had the airport base station upstairs
and the Imac and antenna in the basement (about 50-75 feet)
Best of luck
Hope this helps, I am not a expert, the serial number on the cd drawer will
nail down the model you have and what you need.
We have been working adding a laser printer and airport express and the two macs with cards work fine but the Emac with no card can not be set up yet. The laser printer will sure save on ink!

Airport card works in 10.1, HW test passes, but not detected at all in 10.4

Ok, Hi. I'll first admit this is my first post so go easy on me!
I just bought a used iBook G3 and it was working fine for a while until about a month ago when all kinds of weird things stared happening. Some of which those problems I solved from reading previous topics from these forums - but anyways, I'll skip all my other problems and get right to my current one.
First off here is the complete specs:
12.1" iBook G3 "dual USB series"
500MHz PPC processor
128+256MB ram = 384MB RAM
15GB hard drive (NOW 160GB HARD DRIVE!)
No Airport Card (NOW ONE HAS BEEN ADDED!)
Multiple OS's - OS9 and 10.1 were included (have original disks)
I also have a set of 10.4 Tiger CD-ROM disks
Anyways, here is basically what is happening. I bought an Airport card off eBay for my iBook. I installed it about a week ago. I booted into 10.4 Tiger and it did not detect the card. Tried to do the manual setup with the wizard and it said there was no card attached. I went into the system profiler and is said No info available under the airport section. I then booted to my "apple hardware test disk" and ran the full/extended test. It passed everything (including the Airport card) so I know that is not the problem. I then booted into OS X 10.1 and lone behold the card is detected and is working without any fooling around with! Instant wireless internet! So I know that the card is working, but I want to use it in Tiger as 10.1 is almost worthless. So I boot into Tiger again knowing that the card is working, and Tiger still does not recognize it! I even booted into OS 9 and it detected the card (although it was having some connection problems, but at least I know that it IS detecting it.)
Here is what I tried (so you can cross these suggestions off your list! lol)
I've deleted the Airport "ktext" files, etc. (can't remember the actual names of the files, but I've cleared all of those caches and still no luck.)
I've zapped PRAM
I rest NVRAM
I rest the PMU.
I did a Arcive and install of 10.4
...All of which did not help. Again, the card worked in 10.1, but 10.4 is completely blind and can't find it!
Now we are caught up to today. I was having many other odd problems and it all lead to my hard drive probably being bad. So toady I finally bit the bullet and bought a new hard drive from Best Buy. It took me forever to install it, but I did it, and it works! Now I have 160GB (make that only 128GB detected) of space. I partitioned it 4 ways as well:
"Tiger" - 80GB
"Other OS" - 30GB
"Extra Space 1" - 10GB
"Extra Space 2" - 8GB
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- 128GB Total
So now that I have a new hard drive (that I was told would fix all of my problems because my old one was "bad" I thought I would have it working today, but no. So I put in the brand new drive, partitioned it, booted off my Tiger disk, installed it on the 80GB partition. The install went fine. So I now have 10.4 on the new drive. Seems to be a lot faster then my old drive! I did the combo updater (which I downloaded on my iMac and transfered to a flash drive and loaded on to my iBook) Ran the updater, and now it is running 10.4.11! But then I realized, the Airport card is STILL not detected in Tiger!!! - I thought the new hard drive would solve all my problems as I was staring from scratch, but no, there is still a problem!
I ran the Apple hardware test disk again, full test, and it said my Airport card is still fine. I didn't reinstall 10.1 yet (nor did I want to, I was hoping Tiger would work for what I wanted) but it seems now that I might have to go back and install 10.1 again. I don't know what it will prove - other then it will work again, but I don't want to use 10.1 so I'm not going to bother doing all that again.
Anyways, after looking into this further, I brought up the system boot log (of tiger) and found these lines interesting, and hopefully useful to you guys:
localhost kernel[0]: AirPortFirmware: start Sta f/w download
localhost kernel[0]: AirPortDriver: F/W download failed
localhost kernel[0]: AirPortFirmware: start Sta f/w download
localhost DirectoryService[64]: Lunched version 1.8 (v346)
localhost kernel[0]: AirPortDriver: F/W download failed
it then lists the eithernet address and then ramblers on about other nonsense. If anyone needs the other "stuff" i'll try and save the whole log file and attach it here if anyone needs it.
So could anyone please help? It seems as if i've done everything, and still can not get an answer on why it is doing this, and how to fix it!
Please Help!
Thanks you so much, and sorry for the long yet detailed message!!!
-Scott

Hey, just wanted to post an update to let everyone know what I ended up doing.
Bottom line with the airport card I had is that is was "bad" - well only kind of. I got an email from a guy from a local PC repair shop. He told me he had just gotten one of those cards in and had it for sale for only $25. So I was chatting with this guy and he said it would be alright if I brought my iBook right in his shop, swap the cards and try it before I buy it. So I did so. Very nice guy and we swapped out the cards no problem. Right away it recognized his card and worked! I then downloaded the Airport update and ran it. (remember before, when I tried to update my card, after it restarted it was no longer recognized.) So we did the update with HIS card in and after it restarted, it STILL worked! It also added WPA support as well! We then booted into to Tiger (remember the old card wasn't recognized at all in tiger) and it ALSO worked in Tiger! I also had WPA support right away! So I bought the card and was all happy that it was all working again! I then figured out what the problem was with the old one.
My original card was one of the "original" originals. Then, Apple "changed" the original cards and replaced ones with "128bit" support. (this is all before the extreme cards) I then found out that the newer original cards (the one the guy just sold me) are worth MORE because these are the cards that are compatible with the newer update (128bit WEP, and WPA) The cards looked exactly the same, but the newer card has "128 Bit" printed on the bottom of the card.
SO, it ended up, I was "asking too much" out of the card I had - as the card I had did not support what I was trying for it to do. Where as the newer card I bought IS compatible with the update, and worked like a piece of cake. So all in all, the first card I had isn't "dead" it just wasn't working with what I wanted it to. So I'm going to end up selling it. Hopefully craigslist, but I will get more for it on eBay. so that is what I'm going to do. I'll just make sure to tell people this "story" so they don't try and do the same thing I did. But for someone with an even older laptop, an older OS, or an older router, this card will work just fine for them.
So thats basically it! Looks like I got everything working!
-Scott
Message was edited by: sdschramm

Can I use Airport Extreme instead of an internal Airport Card?

+Sorry I realise there are various queries all over the web relating to this same issue, however I can't seem to find a consensus anywhere, or a setup that specifically relates to my situation...+
I currently have a G5 iMac (OS X 10.5.6), which connects wirelessly to my 2Wire "2701HGV-W Gateway" ADSL2+ modem/router. I also have a Lexmark wi-fi printer wirelessly connected to the network. This setup has worked flawlessly for nearly a year now. Occasionally a friend comes over and connects his XP laptop to the same network, again without any problems.
I use WPA2 security and my wireless network is set to 802.11b/g (said friend's XP laptop runs on 'b' only; my iMac and printer run on 'g').
Yesterday I inherited an old eMac (1GHz, 80GB, 512MB RAM, superdrive, 56kb modem, no airport card). In lieu of buying a really long ethernet cable or going to the hassle of finding and installing a suitable airport card (I'm not a technical guy!), I wondered if I could simply buy an Airport Express, and connect that to my eMac via a short ethernet cable, this enabling the eMac to get online? The setup I'm imaging goes something like this:
*eMac > ethernet cable > Airport Express > (((wireless connection))) > 2Wire modem/router > internet.*
Is this a feasible solution? Would it enable me to connect to the wi-fi printer and also share files with my iMac?
Also, if it would work, could I simultaneously connect my Time Machine HD (or another external HD) to the USB port on the Airport Express to share it with both my iMac and eMac?

Not unless you're already using an AirPort base station as the router. The AeroPad mini meets your requirements.
(42976)

How to set up wired PowerBook (dead airport card) to wireless network

The airport card in our PowerBook isn't working and not worth fixing. I wanted to hook it up via Ethernet to Clearwire modem, but it appears there is only one Ethernet port on it which I have to use for my airport express for my iMac to access. There is a USB port on the airport but didn't know if that would do anything. Darn, I'm usually good at this stuff, so please help!

Wow, thanks for that fast reply.
The PowerBook is about 6 years old, apple called it vintage. Although it has airport in it, this happened once before where the antenna or whatever came dislodged. Hubby likes to fall asleep with laptop in... His lap!
I also have a 2008 iMac running off the same airport and was trying to see if I could daisy chain something up. I have a FireWire cable too. I hear you smiling...
So if you can explain what a wireless USB adapter is I'd appreciate it. I thought I could just hook it straight up to my modem or airport express but apparently each have only one Ethernet.
I'm the kind that sits and looks at what I have, so never would have thought about buying more stuff! :)

I have a Power PC G4 which is running on OSX 10.5.8, it has the AirPort utility but cannot connect to the internet as my iMac can, I think I might need an AirPort Card? Is that the case or do I need something different to connect to a wireless modem?

I have a Power PC G4 which is running on OSX 10.5.8, it has the AirPort utility but cannot connect to the internet as my iMac can, I think I might need an AirPort Card? Is that the case or do I need something different to connect to a wireless modem?

Welcome!
Only one variant of the PowerMac G4 could use the faster Airport Extreme Card. The rest used the original Airport card that is pretty slow.
To get fast wireless without buying more than one thing, consider this:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Edimax/EW7722IN/
It goes in an available PCI slot
There are USB solutions also. However, all PowerMac G4 towers had only slower USB 1.1 ports, so any USB wireless adaptor can only run at about wireless 'B" speeds (slow) unless you also install a PCI USB 2.0 adaptor card. Doing that would allow a USB wireless adaptor to run at its maximum rated speed. These items working together would accomplish that:
USB wireless "dongle:"
Newer Technology MAXPower 802.11n/g/b USB Adapter + Plug and play direct or with extension cradle
USB PCI adaptor:
http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Popularity%7c1&Ne=5 000&N=7069&Ntt=USB+PCI
Each approach has its advantages. The PCI wireless card is a one-piece solution that takes up no desk space. The USB2 card+USB2 Dongle gives you more fast ports for transferring date from other external USB devices (primarily cameras and external hard drives) at hugely faster rates than can the original ports. I have a USB 2 PCI card in my G4 tower strictly for transferring images from my digital SLR camera in a timely manner.

I have a mid 2009 15" Macbook Pro that does not recognize there is an Airport card installed.

I bought the Macbook Pro secondhand and I'm sure I saw the Airport Icon when I first booted up, but then I did a clean install of 10.8 and since then I can not get Airport turned on again. The machine had damage to the clutch cover so I assumed the Airport card was faulty and replaced it but no joy, I then sourced a new WiFi / Camera cable and plugged that into the motherboard and tried each of the cards and still nothing. I've used Detectnewhardware and edited locations and still nothing. I am assuming that if the card was detected then I'd see the Airport option come up in Network settings but nothing I do triggers that. One thing I noticed is that with both cards and cables when connected in any combination the Airport card gets hot very quickly, which I find strange given it's allegedly not turned on.
Are there other settings that might be making the card invisable to my machine, it's possible this was a Corporate machine in an earlier life so I'm wondering if there's a low level setting that disables WiFi, although I'm sure I saw it come up the first time I used it but maybe my memory is playing triks.
I've also tried a USB WiFi dongle and that doesn't do anything either, but I think that could be a driver issue.
Other than the logic board I can't think of anything else to change, and I don't want to change that, so if anyone has ideas please let me know and put me out of my misery.
Thanks, Mark

Does anyone thing it's possible that installing the OS without the Airport card working has caused the system to completley ignore it even though it may now have a working card and cable, seems unlikely to me but really struggling to know where to look now.

USB Airport card

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