Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Late G5 Wireless Antenna

L

lastmile

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 10, 2008
117
7
Is it the bluetooth or airport antenna, or both, that is on the rear of the later model G5s and covered by a vertical strip of grey plastic?

I've been looking at mods to fix the horrible bluetooth reception on my 2009 Mac Pro. It seems the best solution is to run a cable from the stock Apple bluetooth card to an externally mounted antenna. Most people are drilling a hole in a PCI slot cover and mounting the antenna there but that takes up a PCI-E slot.

I'm wondering if there might be a way to conceal a rear mounted antenna using parts from a G5. Does anybody have a pic of a G5 with that plastic cover off? I don't know if its covering an indentation in the case where the antenna sits or if the antenna is thin enough that it could actually just be stuck on the back of a Mac Pro and covered with that plastic piece. I expect it would take some modification but it'd look better than a big router antenna sticking out of the back of the Mac Pro.
 
D

drorpheus

macrumors regular
Nov 20, 2010
160
1
the grey rectangle bar on the leftside under the latch on the back is indeed the wifi and bluetooth antennas. I'm not sure how to dismantle but it should either be 1 long or 2 mid size bars a little thinner than a twix bar same kind of shape. with 1 wifi and 1 bluetooth cable that should run to the bluetooth/wifi card.

I can't say I have any experience rigging up MacPro's but the wire then should go out of the antenna to the card should be small enough to fit through on of the cheese grater holes, but I again I have no idea with that.

Have you tried any usb stick wifi/bluetooth generic adapters?
 
L

lastmile

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 10, 2008
117
7
You can't wake the Mac from sleep with a USB bluetooth adapter because unlike the Apple card the USB adapter doesn't receive power during sleep.
 
D

drorpheus

macrumors regular
Nov 20, 2010
160
1
I see, I've never used sleep since I once had what seemed to be a cpu stuck and could not wake up from the nap.

I found you a pic of the actual antenna.

late05antenna.jpg

You'll need to know how to take apart the entire cpu unit, then the powersupply, then the logic board because it appears the wires are taped to the case underneath the logic board. That wire coming out runs all the way to the frontish part of the case.

I'll PM you the guide on how to do it.
 
L

lastmile

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 10, 2008
117
7
Thanks for your help and the PM. But from that pic it looks like there's actually a hold in the back of the G5 case to accommodate the whole antenna + cover assembly and I'm not going to go cutting my Mac Pro so I guess I'll have to do the fix the "normal" way.

Or switch to a hackintosh because I'm not impressed with this Mac Pro. :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom