Airport Extreme card not 802.11n compatible?

A

Aidin

macrumors newbie
Bought a used Mac Pro 3,1 2.8 but it didn't come with an airport card. Bought and installed a Broadcom airport extreme card but when applying the 802.11n enabler it says:

"Your computer does not meet the hardware requirements for this update"

Does that mean the card I have isn't n compatible? I'm running 10.6.4 with latest updates.


Airport Extreme card:


en2:
Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x89)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.91.27)
Locale: Unknown
Country Code: GB
Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g
Supported Channels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140
Status: Connected
 
Exactly. So I assume you're transferring files across the network?

The Mac Pro had an optional Airport Extreme card that did support Wireless N. As far as I know, this was a proprietary part, not to be sold separately.
 
Here's my Mac Pro's wireless card info:

en2:
Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x87)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.91.27)
Locale: ETSI
Country Code: GB
Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Supported Channels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140
Status: Connected

The only difference appears to be the card type where yours is 0x89 and mine is 0x87, from a quick Google search it appears that the card you have doesn't support 802.11n, even though the card type number is higher than mine. My card is the one which came with the Mac Pro 1,1.

I also bought a couple of the Apple Wireless-N 300M cards on eBay, they are just standard Broadcom cards and worked fine for 802.11n.
 
If you want internal 802.11n you will need:

This
(Fastmac also sells a similar rebranded card)

or

This
(OWC is very overpriced, but I don't know the official Apple part#. If you Google you should find it and can then do a price search. You should be able to find a legit vendor selling for $50. I bought mine at the local Apple Store, but that is always a hit or miss when it comes to parts. Some of them are snooty and won't sell them, others want a happy customer.

Follow these instructions

I had a 2006 MP that had no problem getting "n" w/ an '08 Apple Airport card for MP. I did have to buy a 3rd antenna on eBay, but I believe the MP 3,1 comes w the 3rd antenna pre-installed.
 
First off are you in the US? If, so well that's not a US card.

And your card looks different from mine. This is what mine says:
Code: 
en2:
  Card Type:	AirPort Extreme  (0x14E4, 0x87)
  Firmware Version:	Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.91.27)
  Locale:	FCC
  Country Code:	US
  Supported PHY Modes:	802.11 a/b/g/n
  Supported Channels:	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165
  Status:	Off

Finally the N-enabler is for Atheros cards; they don't say that, but those were the ones that shipped with original MacBook Pro notebooks and were the cards that have N-wireless disabled.

The latest Broadcom cards either have N or they don't. Therefore you need to buy the correct part to get N-wireless.

I bought mine from B&H for $50: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/682954-REG/Apple_MB988Z_A_AirPort_Extreme_Card_for.html
It does say for Nehalem, but that's just what Apple labeled it help sell it; the card will work in your machine.

FYI: Both of the cards Chupa Chupa listed are Atheros cards. The one I linked to is a Broadcom card. I don't know if you care, but that's that.
 
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