PCI wireless card question

[honam1021]

I am trying to hook up my G5 to the internet from my bedroom wirelessly.

The Airport extreme card is too slow, homeplugs are too pricey (A pair of them cost more than the G5 itself), now I am looking for a PCI wireless card.

I wasted $15 on a USB 2.0 card that ends up not working in my G5 (It doesn't boot at all with that card installed), I don't want the same thing to happen again. So I want to be sure if all wireless n cards works with PPC Macs.

Will this one work with my G5?
http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=240&model=TL-WN851ND

 

[Nameci]

I am trying to hook up my G5 to the internet from my bedroom wirelessly.

The Airport extreme card is too slow, homeplugs are too pricey (A pair of them cost more than the G5 itself), now I am looking for a PCI wireless card.

I wasted $15 on a USB 2.0 card that ends up not working in my G5 (It doesn't boot at all with that card installed), I don't want the same thing to happen again. So I want to be sure if all wireless n cards works with PPC Macs.

Will this one work with my G5?
http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=240&model=TL-WN851ND

My personal take on this is that as long as the chip used is broadcom it will surely work OOB.

 

[RedCroissant]

I am trying to hook up my G5 to the internet from my bedroom wirelessly.

The Airport extreme card is too slow, homeplugs are too pricey (A pair of them cost more than the G5 itself), now I am looking for a PCI wireless card.

I wasted $15 on a USB 2.0 card that ends up not working in my G5 (It doesn't boot at all with that card installed), I don't want the same thing to happen again. So I want to be sure if all wireless n cards works with PPC Macs.

Will this one work with my G5?
http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=240&model=TL-WN851ND

I don't think it's natively compatible with the G5. If you look at the user guide and the drivers available for download, they are only for Windows Xp-Windows 7. If you have the ability to flash it, then maybe, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I would recommend looking at www.macsales.com first and especially checking out their wireless networking cards. I found this one that looks like it rund natively on OS X and should be compatible with the G5:

Wireless N

 

[honam1021]

I don't think it's natively compatible with the G5. If you look at the user guide and the drivers available for download, they are only for Windows Xp-Windows 7. If you have the ability to flash it, then maybe, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I would recommend looking at www.macsales.com first and especially checking out their wireless networking cards. I found this one that looks like it rund natively on OS X and should be compatible with the G5:

Wireless N

Most wireless cards are compatible with Linux even the manufacturer doesn't support it, but I am not sure about OS X. (It mostly depends on if the wireless chipset maker release any drivers for PPC)

 

[honam1021]

I installed the wireless card into my G5 and it's identified as "other network controller" by OS X

The card uses a atheros chipset, there are drivers for USB adapters, But I can't find any drivers for PCI extension cards.
I am sure the card will work under Ubuntu and Debian, but I want to stick with OS X for better software support.

 

[honam1021]

I found kexts for my wireless card(unfortunately they require 10.7+), I have no luck finding any drivers for 10.5 PPC.

Did I just waste $15 or the card will only work in Linux?

 

[honam1021]

I burned a copy of Ubuntu 21.04 LTS for my G5, booted it and the wireless card worked (sort of), but it can't display the signal strength properly.

I read that someone managed to get the card to work perfectly on a hackintosh by modding the io80211family.kext, it's possible to do the same on PPC?

 

[RedCroissant]

I found kexts for my wireless card(unfortunately they require 10.7+), I have no luck finding any drivers for 10.5 PPC.

Did I just waste $15 or the card will only work in Linux?

I burned a copy of Ubuntu 21.04 LTS for my G5, booted it and the wireless card worked (sort of), but it can't display the signal strength properly.

I read that someone managed to get the card to work perfectly on a hackintosh by modding the io80211family.kext, it's possible to do the same on PPC?

Have you tried contacting the manufacturer to see if they have any solutions? I know their website is a resource that you've checked, but sometimes calling their tech support can be a better way to get what you need. You might even get lucky and end up talking to a Mac savvy tech that knows how to make it work properly.

Personally, I would recommend returning the card and checking out MacSales and speaking to a tech or sales rep before buying purchasing. If anyone other than Apple knows about G5 hardware/software compatibility, I think OWC would.

I honestly don't think it should be that much work to get something to function properly. if it's not working in OS X and only partially functions in Linux, then this is absolutely the wrong card for your machine.

And yes, Debian/Linux is great for amy things, but it's not always going to be the answer. This is especially so when you wanted to stick with OS X anyway.

 

[honam1021]

Have you tried contacting the manufacturer to see if they have any solutions? I know their website is a resource that you've checked, but sometimes calling their tech support can be a better way to get what you need. You might even get lucky and end up talking to a Mac savvy tech that knows how to make it work properly.

Personally, I would recommend returning the card and checking out MacSales and speaking to a tech or sales rep before buying purchasing. If anyone other than Apple knows about G5 hardware/software compatibility, I think OWC would.

I honestly don't think it should be that much work to get something to function properly. if it's not working in OS X and only partially functions in Linux, then this is absolutely the wrong card for your machine.

And yes, Debian/Linux is great for amy things, but it's not always going to be the answer. This is especially so when you wanted to stick with OS X anyway.

OK, I think I am going to return the card and spend about $15 more for a pair of 100mbps homeplugs instead. But before that I am going to ask about that card on tonymacx86 if I can come across someone that knows about hackintosh kexts and PPC Mac really well to answer my question