USB Wireless Options?

[dornoforpyros]

I just bought a used early 2008 Mac Pro with no wireless card in it, I called the local apple store this afternoon and was told they don't stock cards for this model, just the newer mac pros.

So I'm wondering if anyone has found a USB wireless stick that words with OS X? I took a look today at a couple of local stores and none of the wireless USB sticks mention anything about OS X. I picked a generic looking one just to see and had no luck even after a few hours of searching on google and downloading a few drivers. System profiler identifies it as a USB2.0 WLAN device but that's about it.

 

[matthewscott661]

You can get an airport extreme on ebay for relatively cheap.
Also, just because they don't stock your model at the Apple store doesn't mean they can't order one. It should only take a couple days for them to get one sent to the store.

 

[alphaod]

What you'll need to look for is model number: MB363Z/A (that's the Airport card for your computer). I found a few on ebay and Amazon, but you'll have to contact the sellers to make sure that's the model you're getting.

 

[ungraphic]

If youre in the Ontario region, make sure you don't buy from these guys:

Carbonation

They installed my Airport Extreme card wrong, twice. The first time I thought I had a faulty card, I had them replace it. The second card was acting up again, I went deeper into the situation, and found out they completely screwed up the cable connectors; there are 4 in the mac pro, and none of them were connected properly. I fixed this issue on my own, but as usual, for Apple, this voids your warranty; I dont care, I now have a working card without some jackass charging 50 bucks for a 2 minute install.

So yeah.....thats my story.

If youre going to buy off ebay (which I would strongly suggest) make sure to follow these simple steps on installing the card: http://guides.macrumors.com/Adding_Bluetooth_and_Wireless_to_a_Mac_Pro

 

[kellen]

Buy it and do it yourself. I did mine and it takes a total of 5 minutes. Really easy. If you can change out a HD, then you can do this.

If a problem would arise, I would just take the card out.

 

[gugucom]

You can get good USB type of 300 Mbit/s WLAN sticks. Those with Ralink chips are all compatible because Ralink posts OS X drivers on their web site. its just 20 bucks for a good one. If you want a sophisticated version with three remote external antennas you get one for about 30$.