Adding an Airport WiFi Card to a Mac Pro
I have an ancient (2007) Mac Pro desktop machine that I needed to connect to a wireless network but I hadn't purchased the machine with the optional AirPort card. I went to the Apple Store to see if they had any AirPort kits there as it apparently isn't a "user serviceable part" but alas, they don't stock such outdated items anymore. They pointed me toward the online Apple Store which I had already checked and then told me to call 1-800-MY-APPLE which yielded the same lack of results. I was apparently out of luck.
Then I ran across a MacRumors.com post strongly hinting that others had attempted a DIY install of the Airport kit. I had already checked inside my Mac Pro to see if I could do the install myself but had given up because I couldn't find the antenna wires. I assumed these came in the AirPort kit.
So I went rogue and bought the Mac Pro AirPort Extreme kit from SmallDog.com and sure enough, no antenna wires. All that came was the Broadcom BCM43xx PCI-Express card and little screws to keep the thing in place. So I took a closer look at some of the pictures online and noticed that the antenna wires disappeared behind the logic board. So I removed the hard drives of my Mac Pro and went digging around the edge of the board with some tweezers. Sure enough, there was a bundle of three antenna wires tucked just behind the logic board and slightly out of view. (#1 for the optional BlueTooth radio and #2 and 3 for the antenna diversity connectors of the Broadcom card) I added the card, screwed it down and popped the antenna wires into the card and everything worked like a charm!
Incidentally, if you have an Apple TV or something else that you're not using that uses the PCI-Express Boradcom card, you can just use that instead of buying the Airport kit. They also go for ~$15 on eBay but in both cases you'll need to get some tiny screws to make the whole thing work. As usual, check the model number on the card to make sure its exactly the right one. Some cards only work on older Mac Pros while others only work on new Mac Pros.
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Mac Pro Airport Extreme WiFiTrackbacks
To send a trackback, use the URL of this story appending ?page=tb at the end.Comments (2)
Nick from NJ
thank you, good sir
Kenny Holloway from Nashville, TN USA
I've provided free detailed step by step instructions with pictures as a "how to" diy install the wi-fi card here: http://tr.im/diymacpro
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