WiFi Cards

flip360 · #1 09-17-2009, 10:54 PM

Hello all,

first of i would like to say thanks to all the osx86 community for doing a fine job for us noobs and unlocking osx for pc`s

anyway i have a notebook (signature) which is working fine on OSX 10.6 but has an Atheros AR9285 wifi card that seems to be unsupported in OSX. i was reading that you can replace the wifi card with another one like Dell 1505 or any other broadcom4321n chip but i am kinda confused about slots and compatibility with my rig. any help on which cards?

here is a link to a review of my notebook together with pictures of the innards, i can see the wifi card but...

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-...k.18971.0.html

thanks in advance,

cheers

Imkantus · #2 09-22-2009, 10:29 AM

What you need is a Mini PCIe Card - get one with BCM4311 Chipset they work without any drivers as an Airport card.
It doesn't need to be a Dell - there might be cheaper ones.

flip360 · #3 09-23-2009, 11:32 AM

hello imkantus, glad you answered

I thought that Broadcom4321 chip that is in the Dell1505 works native with OSX? if not, which cards do you recomend? I have narrowed down my choice to Dell1505n, Asus WL-270N, Gigabyte with Atheros AR5008 and i cant find anything with the chip you mentioned Broadcom4311, although its reported that the HP6910P has a wifi card with that chip...Do you have any links of wifi cards with BCM4311 that i can check?

thanks in advance,

cheers

Imkantus · #4 09-23-2009, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flip360

I thought that Broadcom4321 chip that is in the Dell1505 works native with OSX?

It's reported to do so - the BCM4306 & BCM4318 ones as well.
I just reocmmended the BCM4311, since I am using one myself and can confirm that it works great.

Quote:

Do you have any links of wifi cards with BCM4311 that i can check?

Just go for it on ebay or google for it. I don't know from which country you are, but for example when I look it up on ebay.com I'll find cards like mine for just about 12USD or even less - and the used chip is nothing different to the one, the notebook manufactures you mentioned use for their products.

flip360 · #5 09-23-2009, 09:16 PM

Hello Imkantus, thanks for the answer. I hail from Macedonia and those kinds of miniPCe wifi cards are rare here. I saw couple of them on ebay.de for around 20 euro, and on ebay.com around 10-15 USD, they`re quite cheap but i dont know if they ship to my country

One question about Snow Leopard: Is it better to be n or just regular g will do (due to compatibility issues and transfers speeds are huge difference).

cheers

Imkantus · #6 09-23-2009, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flip360

but i dont know if they ship to my country

Well you just need to look for items marked as "Ships to: Worldwide" and check the shipping costs.

But you should also check the situation on import taxes - as your country isn't part of the EU, (yet ?) - I don't know if that might gonna be a problem or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flip360

One question about Snow Leopard: Is it better to be n or just regular g will do (due to compatibility issues and transfers speeds are huge difference).

Well as far as I see - aside from the compatibility and transfer rate question - none of these cards even supports 8002.11n (I hope I understood your question correctly...

)

flip360 · #7 09-23-2009, 10:18 PM

i think you did

the Dell1505 is an n-draft card

well i am off to buy one of those Broadcoms and hope for native airport

All i have to do now is wait for another release from VoodooHDA (i have sound but it has some constant noise and screatches on playout, dunno if i have to patch my DSDT for audio which i dont know howto of course

) and have a fully working and functional Hackintosh. Thanks man for your help,

cheers

Imkantus · #8 09-23-2009, 10:41 PM

Yeah, it looks like you have been missinformed it took me some research, but the Dell 1505 isn't using a Broadcom chip, like earlier Dell cards did - it's Intel Pro/W 4965

flip360 · #9 09-24-2009, 12:19 AM

Yeah?
Well i have to say thanks again mate for your attention

Seriously, i will buy a card with Broadcom4311 chip after the previous post, is your card a specific manufacturer or? Also are you using it in your Asus laptop? The reason i am asking this is because i am unsure how it will work with the on/off keyboard shortcut or will it be always on

cheers

Imkantus · #10 09-24-2009, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flip360

is your card a specific manufacturer or?

No. It just says "Manufactured in China".

Quote:

Also are you using it in your Asus laptop? The reason i am asking this is because i am unsure how it will work with the on/off keyboard shortcut or will it be always on

Sadly it doesn't longer work, after replacing, but working Wifi is woth that I guess.