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Wireless card and router suggestions for new G5 Power Mac?

K

knoq2wice

macrumors newbie
Original poster
A friend of mine recently bought a new G5 Power Mac (dual 2.3GHz). When he bought it, he had decided he wouldn't want the wireless upgrade -- though once it was setup at home, he decided wireless might not be so bad afterall (a hem, aka didn't want the trouble of routing network cables to his new home office haha).

Anyhow, I told him I'd look into what his options were....

It's my understanding the newer Power Macs have PCI Express slots instead of the old PCI slots. I'm guessing (correct me if I'm wrong) that means that regular PCI cards won't work in the Power Mac. So from what I've read so far, the options for him will be an Airport Extreme card, or a PCI Express-based wireless card (if there are such things of course - I couldn't find any yet... if there are some, I'd appreciate any recommendations). Having just bought the Power Mac, and in the process of buying the other typical add-ons (RAM, external hard drive, etc) he's interested in saving $ if possible.

So far as a wireless router, I was considering recommending the Linksys WRT54G for him, since it's pretty cheap and it has worked pretty well in my experience. I know an AirPort Extreme Base Station is cool, though probably out of his price range. If you have some other suggestions, I'm all ears 🙂

Thanks in advance you guys!
 
not yet...

hey! i'm in the exact same situation right now, (i have the powermac g5 and am working on making it wireless). my airCard Extreme just came in the mail today and i already have a network set up with a d-link router, so all i have to do is get the card in my computer (which the mac store wouldn't even let me buy on my own, i had to go to compUSA and order it in the mail since they were out. the mac store makes you bring in your fifty pound machine and charges you $30 to install the $80 card. since i am cheap and i live an hour away, i said "no way jose.")

anyway, that's what i'll be doing today, installing the card and getting my computer on the network if all goes well. i'm pretty nervous about it because it didn't come with any directions (but luckily i have friends who build computers).

so what i'm saying is, i'll let you know as soon as i figure this out if you still need advice. i'm suprised that no one has responded any sooner. ah well. i'll get back to you soon... 🙄
 
sorry for such a delayed reply, but it took a while for me to get this card installed, since compUSA sold me the wrong wireless card. i ended up taking my powermac in to the store and had them install it for me. the card ended up being $100 and the installation fee was $30. i would suggest that if you buy the correct card the first time, just install it yourself and save the money, since it is very easy to install. just be sure to specify which kind of aircard it is that you need. if you have the model and all that crap about your computer ready at the store they can sell it to you. the apple store will not sell you the card because they are bitches, so the only place i could get it was at compUSA.

anyway, to make a long story short, the card works EXCELLENTLY. all i did was plug in my computer and i was online. it was worth the money. i have a d-link router downstairs and i get great reception from it. anyway, i hope that helps you out!!! 🙂
 
p.s. the d-link is only about thirty dollars and you can have at least five computers on its network. my connection is always very very strong even though there's a few walls between my computer & the router. my mom's laptop also works well from anywhere around the house.
 
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