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View Full Version : Airport Extreme Mini PCI-E Card for your Mac Pro the cheap way



pnyc
Nov 22, 2008, 04:47 PM
I decided to get an Airport Extreme Mini PCI-E WiFi Card for my 2x3.2 Quad MP and after looking around for a while found several selling online for between $49.00-$89.00 which I thought is a little high for what after some research seams to be a pretty generic part.

Unwilling to throw my money out the window I bought this part on eBay for a total of $20.00 including shipping :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130268548488

The card arrived today 9 days after the initial purchase. The installation took about 5 minutes and the card appears to be working perfectly. I'm unable to test the N protocol as my router does not support it but the Network Utility seams to recognize the card as supporting it.


hatehereyes
Nov 22, 2008, 08:33 PM
Did you install it where the usual airport extreme card goes or did you actually install it in one of the PCI-e slots?
pnyc
Nov 23, 2008, 12:01 AM
It's a Mini PCI-E Card so it installs in the exact same place as the Apple Airport Extreme.
hatehereyes
Nov 23, 2008, 12:10 AM
ah sorry i confused it with a PCI-e 1.0 card

but did you install it in a early 2008 mac pro?
dukebound85
Nov 23, 2008, 12:14 AM
i have a pc desktop (non wireless) and a dead emac with the airport extreme card

is there any way to get that card to work on my pc (there are no mini-pci slots)
pnyc
Nov 23, 2008, 12:43 AM
ah sorry i confused it with a PCI-e 1.0 card

but did you install it in a early 2008 mac pro?
Yes it's a Mac Pro (Early 2008)

i have a pc desktop (non wireless) and a dead emac with the airport extreme card

is there any way to get that card to work on my pc (there are no mini-pci slots)
If there are no appropriate Mini-PCI slots in your PC it might be tricky getting the card to work although an adapter such as this one might work :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230308136089

There's also the issue of finding the right drivers. You might be better off selling your Airport Extreme card and getting a cheap USB, PCI, etc. WiFi card/adapter that's compatible with ports/slots and the OS you're running.