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MacBook Pro 802.11ac upgrade

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Doward

macrumors 6502a
Feb 21, 2013
526
8
troop231 said:
Sorry guys, I've unfortunately come to realize that the antenna connectors on the cMBP are too large to be used with the new rMBP 802.11ac cards. I feel like I got so close to finishing the project, yet failed. This would've been an excellent Kickstarter. I even spent the time on developing an adapter board. :( Feel free to chime in.

Photos:

roAa3gM.jpg

byu3VGZ.jpg

FjHhHgF.jpg
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I'd be interested in getting one of those boards from you - I've got a 17" late 2011, I'd be *very* interested in making this happen (even if it means new antenna)
 
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troop231

macrumors 603
Jan 20, 2010
5,822
553
Doward said:
I'd be interested in getting one of those boards from you - I've got a 17" late 2011, I'd be *very* interested in making this happen (even if it means new antenna)
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for the interest. To make this truly successful, I would need to find somone else willing to help/share resources and pull together on a joint Kickstarter effort. It's just unfortunate that it costs too much without making hundreds or even thousands of them. :) Would be nice if MacRumors did a story.
 
nateo200

nateo200

macrumors 68030
Feb 4, 2009
2,906
42
Upstate NY
Ok so can I get 3 antenna stream 802.11ac on my early 2013 15" rMBP?! Based on the posts it looks like a 1:1 swap but if more can confirm that would be great. 1.3Gbps or even 850Mbps would be epic for situations where you want speed but don't want to use gigabit ethernet...although I doubt youll get anywhere near 1.3Gbps outside gigabit ethernet.
 
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troop231

macrumors 603
Jan 20, 2010
5,822
553
nateo200 said:
Ok so can I get 3 antenna stream 802.11ac on my early 2013 15" rMBP?! Based on the posts it looks like a 1:1 swap but if more can confirm that would be great. 1.3Gbps or even 850Mbps would be epic for situations where you want speed but don't want to use gigabit ethernet...although I doubt youll get anywhere near 1.3Gbps outside gigabit ethernet.
Click to expand...

Yes, you'll get 3 stream 802.11ac since your rMBP came with 3 antennas. :) Shouldn't be too much longer before the WiFi cards start becoming more available.

Part of me thinks that my adapter board could live on if I can bundle short lengths of the newer smaller antennas. This would raise the cost however, and would make the Kickstarter more difficult.
 
caseyfriday

caseyfriday

macrumors member
Apr 8, 2011
93
20
SAT
KSUWizard said:
A buddy of mine with an older MBP told me that Apple released some update that "unlocked" the 802.11n band on his machine. Wonder if that's the case with the newer models. Without researching I'm going to guess no, but who knows.
Click to expand...

HornetOSX said:
Wrong..
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Actually, it's true. My 06 C2D BlackBook got a $1.99 "Airport Extreme Enabler" update straight from Apple, and it enabled the N band on my laptop's WiFi card. It happened.

Doward said:
I'd be interested in getting one of those boards from you - I've got a 17" late 2011, I'd be *very* interested in making this happen (even if it means new antenna)
Click to expand...
I currently have a 17" early 2011, and I'd love to get AC on this thing too! I already have native USB3 with a Fresco ExpressCard adapter, so WiFi AC would be the icing on the cake for me. I'm always writing to / reading from my NAS.
 
nateo200

nateo200

macrumors 68030
Feb 4, 2009
2,906
42
Upstate NY
troop231 said:
Yes, you'll get 3 stream 802.11ac since your rMBP came with 3 antennas. :) Shouldn't be too much longer before the WiFi cards start becoming more available.

Part of me thinks that my adapter board could live on if I can bundle short lengths of the newer smaller antennas. This would raise the cost however, and would make the Kickstarter more difficult.
Click to expand...

Sweet! Thanks man! I'll probably wait it out now that I think about it. I bought the laptop myself but my aunt paid a good amount for warranty and accident protection and I'd hate to void that....of course if its as easy as swapping an Optibay out and as untrackable then I might do it since if I need to go in for repairs I can just switch them...I feel like 802.11ac is a WiFi standard worth looking at, Wireless N was a great improvement but AC looks like it'll provide pretty beefy bandwidth. I'd be curious to see how it stacks up for things like accessing NAS/SAN's for video editing, streaming 1080p and 4K, etc.
 
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b0rg

macrumors member
Oct 5, 2009
95
49
Swap?

So can i buy a Bcm94331csax wifi AC card on ebay and swap it with the one in my Macbook 2012 Retina?

Will that work?
 
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locoboi187

macrumors 6502a
Oct 3, 2012
711
375
b0rg said:
So can i buy a Bcm94331csax wifi AC card on ebay and swap it with the one in my Macbook 2012 Retina?

Will that work?
Click to expand...

I'm very curious about the performance and compatibility with the late 2013 rMBP AC WiFi's chip on the mid 2012/early 2013 rMBP.
 
U

undesign

macrumors regular
Nov 4, 2013
241
0
bugout said:
yeah that's crazy talk!

Image
Click to expand...

Korea's had faster speeds than that for years. If you want to be amazed you should get familiar with Canada's speeds. Only 1 month ago did my ISP finally upgrade the neighbourhood from 1mbit speeds. Yes, 1mbit was my FASTEST speed until 1 month ago and am now getting an incredible 5mbit. For $45/month, plus tax. In Canada. In city of 500,000 people. In an urban area. With 2 universites, 1 college and Blackberry global headquarters employing 10,000 people.

When I see people getting anything more than 5mbit I get pretty jealous, still.
 
B

b0rg

macrumors member
Oct 5, 2009
95
49
Dunno of the card fits in a Macbook Retina 2012 model and if it works correctly..

Was hoping here somebody already tested it.
 
bigcat

bigcat

macrumors 6502
Sep 12, 2008
493
168
b0rg said:
So can i buy a Bcm94331csax wifi AC card on ebay and swap it with the one in my Macbook 2012 Retina?

Will that work?
Click to expand...

That model is the model you already have in your 2012 machine.

I believe the correct model is BCM94360CSAX for the latest rMBP.
 
caseyfriday

caseyfriday

macrumors member
Apr 8, 2011
93
20
SAT
I'd be interested in putting together this triangular bit in Sketchup to provide it as a base for your adapter, so that it could be a drop-in solution. I'd just need to find the size of the "snap-in" connectors, and see if I could source them anywhere...

MBP%2520WiFi.jpg


Actually - it looks like those RF coaxial connections are soldered on 2 contacts on the board - likely ground and TX. or TX/RX? Anyhow, I bet they could be easily removed and you could solder some of the old sized contacts on the new AC board.

I'm browsing the lot of them at Mouser, and it seems totally doable. I know the new contacts are smaller, but I bet the proper solder connections can still be made. Better yet you could splice the three wires' snap-contacts and replace them with the proper-sized smaller contacts.
 
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skydesigner

macrumors newbie
Dec 1, 2011
25
0
caseyfriday said:
I'd be interested in putting together this triangular bit in Sketchup to provide it as a base for your adapter, so that it could be a drop-in solution. I'd just need to find the size of the "snap-in" connectors, and see if I could source them anywhere...

Image

Actually - it looks like those RF coaxial connections are soldered on 2 contacts on the board - likely ground and TX. or TX/RX? Anyhow, I bet they could be easily removed and you could solder some of the old sized contacts on the new AC board.

I'm browsing the lot of them at Mouser, and it seems totally doable. I know the new contacts are smaller, but I bet the proper solder connections can still be made. Better yet you could splice the three wires' snap-contacts and replace them with the proper-sized smaller contacts.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. I'd happily buy one.
 
O

oGu

macrumors regular
Sep 19, 2007
112
25
I am also really curious because I can't seem to find any good source for the card.
 
P

priitv8

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2011
4,036
640
Estonia
Reading these stories, I wonder if this hack is even worthwhile at the moment?
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1693460/
If anybody gets the ac card working on older Mac, please report back if you experience any connectivity problems?
Also, should Apple release a firmware update for bcm436x card, would we need the late 2013 machine to get it installed?
 
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