OS X Hax

Yes, the Buffalo AirStation WLI-CB-G54A card works natively with the AirPort drivers. I use one in my TiBook every day. MUCH better reception than the original AirPort card (not that you can get one of these easily these days anyway...)

One additional benefit of the Buffalo card is that it has an external antenna connector - I haven't seen this on any other cardbus cards and is really nice for extending range when needed. I believe the connector for the external antenna is 'MMX' so you may need a pigtail if you don't use a Buffalo brand antenna.

Kirk out

I got a hold of a version 2 and it's a NO GO for Mac, it comes with a Texas Instruments Chipset so the Mac won't see it at all.

Don't fell so sorry though, this chipset is also a pain to use on a Windows machine.

I'm driving tomorrow to a place that has the Speed Booster version cause I believe its a Broadcom chipset again. If they let me plug it in I'll post the results.

I am tryign to help a friend get my WPC55AG wireless card working the system sees the card adn the Atheros chipset, but is there anyway to get it to work? or do only a specific few chipsets work?

Again, we older PowerBook owners have an option!!!

I returned my Linksys "WPC54G V2" last night and exchaged it for the new "WPC54G SPEED BOOSTER" version.

Plugged it in, inmediately recognized as airport and in exactly 15 seconds I was streaming audio perfectly to my Airport Express.

My AE is in the livingroom, I walked all the way to the second floor with the Powerbook and still streamed without breaks. My older internal airport dropped the signal half way up the stairs.

Great reception on this Linksys card and the exact same Broadcom chipset as the Airport.

Forget the WPC54G and look for the Speed Booster one before they again exchange chipsets.

Jon is right: the latest WPC54Gv2 does not work with TiBooks. So, after struggling with to get mine to work, I returned it for a WPC54gs ("Speedboost"). So far, it seems to recognize it (it lights up, and the menu says "Broadcom" and "80211b Carbus", but greyed out), but my previous attemtps to hack AppleAirport2.kext seems to have hosed things. I copied the old info.plist back into the .kext, but that doesn't seem to have done the trick -- I still get the same error message (yes, I delete the cachekext and mkext and rebooted):

The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/AppleAirPort2.kext“ was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.

System Log:
Oct 7 20:39:44 localhost kernel: IOPCCard info: cs: cb_alloc(bus 1): vendor 0x14e4, device 0x4320
Oct 7 20:39:44 localhost kernel: IOCardBusDevice: binding socket 0 function 0 to card services.
Oct 7 20:39:44 localhost kernel: IOPCCard info: cs: cb_config(bus 1)
Oct 7 20:39:44 localhost kernel: IOPCCard info: fn 0 bar 1: mem 0x90002000-0x90003fff
Oct 7 20:39:44 localhost kernel: IOPCCard info: irq 255

Hi. iv got Mac OS X 10.2.8. Would all i need is to insert the WPC54G and it should recognise as an Airport card? Iv got a G3 Bronze Keyboard 333, and was told an internal Airport card would not work, and i would have to get a PCMCIA Airport card.

Quick update: I repaired permissions, deleted the mkext and kextcache, rebooted, and all is well.

So, skip the WPC54g and get the WPC54gs.

I found on my french favourite apple resealer site (http://www.macway.com/index.php?cPath=11_993_994_1039) the Trendnet card (PCMCIA and PCI cards).
The vendor sayed me that it's a good condidate for my PBG4 and my G4 but I didn't tried it (very soon).

I had a Linksys WMP54G I bought about a year and a half ago. It died on me, so I sent it in to Linksys for a replacement. The have sent me 2 replacement cards and both of them don't work. On one of them, the green light comes on. The other freezes the machine and the light never comes on. What can I do? Any insight?

I have an IBook with an Airport Extreme w/o WPA. I tried a Sony Vario PC AMD from 2001 with a WPC54G version2. It cannot work with the Airport's Wep encryption. It works OK with WEP disabled. I spent three hours on two sessions with Linksys tech support and tried two WPC54G cards. Linksys gave up.

On another topic, I am shock at how weak the Airport's range is. I have a small house and it cannot go more than 40-50 feet. I am pondering whether to toss the Airport and get a Linksys router or try a different card on the PC. The IBook works a bit further away than the PC but not that much better.

I can confirm that the Linksys WPC54GS Speedbooster card seems a good choice.
I've just plugged one in a Powerbook running OS 10.3.5 and the card is recognized and works perfectly well with Apple's Airport driver :-)

Is there any way to distinguish the old WPC54G from the new one? Preferably outside the box, so I can check before I buy.

It is a bit cheaper than the WPC54GS.

Is there any particular version card to watchout for when buying the Linksys WPC54GS Speedbooster card or are is it known to have the broadcom chipset regardless?

Just got pinched my the WMP54G. Returned it to CompUSA and, after scouring the shelves of 54G cards, found that the only one with Mac compatibilty is the Belkin F5D7000. Says Mac right on the box. Popped it into my G4/400 tower and ta-da! Flawless.

Is there any way to distinguish the old WPC54G from the new one? Preferably outside the box, so I can check before I buy.

It is a bit cheaper than the WPC54GS.

Yes, there is a way to tell
http://www.linksys.com/products/imagelib2/wpc54gv2.jpg
http://www.linksys.com/products/imagelib2/wpc54g.jpg

I bought a Buffalo WLI-CB-G54A and it does not work with my Alunium PowerBook 1.5GHz 15" SuperDrive. Mac OSX 10.3.6 and Airport 3.4.4 drivers. I can put the card connected put no lights come on(Power light or the link light does not go on) with the buffalo and it crashes my powerbook if I remove it and reconnect it again. It also crashes the computer if its in the slot when I boot. Does anyone know how i could get it to work? The orginal Airport really sucks and I need better range. I read very many storys that the buffalo would work but it does not work. Even the Buffolo site says it works http://www.buffalotech.com/products/product-detail.php?productid=32&categoryid=7 . Another possibility is that I get the Linksys WPC54G but is it 100% that it would work with my PowerBook system?

Little correction to the last post. The Power and the Link light actualy are ON. But the light was very dim. So I saw it now. But It still seems to use the orginal airport card and also crashes the powerbook very easily(Kernel Panic?). Does the Linksys crash the computer as you remove it and reconnect it?

Just purchased a Belkin F5D7010au v3000au and it runs on the Ralink chipset. I installed the Ralinktech driver on their website and it works flawlessly with my Bronze Keyboard.

I have purchased a Motorola WN825G from Walmart

It works on 10.3.6 with AP 4.x on my Pismo and AL 1.25 G4 PB....except OS X recognizes the card as 802.11b version.

However, if you have MenuMeter installed, the pull down menu will show the card connnection speed as ethernet 54Mbps as 802.11g supposed to be.

Go Walmart if they still have some left.

regarding the linksys WPC54G and how to tell outside the box: yes, the images on the cover are different, but there is any easier way. on the side of the box, under the UPC symbol, in VERY VERY SMALL type, there's a product number that says "WPC54G v2..." and some other numbers after it. all the large type on the box fails to differenciate between the original card and the v2 card.

i can tell you this because i'm sitting here looking at the box along side the non-working card next to my ti-book. :^( and this is after getting the Buffalo WLI-CB-G54L (note the "L", not "A" at the end) which i can confirm ALSO does not work in my ti-book. :^( so it's back to fry's customer service hell again...

just bought a new WPC54GS (speedbooster version) in Toronto and it works great with latest airport/os x software...

Answer to Chris about the F5D7000
Belkin has released a version 2 of this card which doesn't work at all with Macs (chipset changed). Just had the bad surprise this morning ; the technical assistance confirmed it.

Regarding the Buffalo WLI-CB-G54A, it does work with Airport. I have a 15” Ti running 10.3.8 and Airport 4.1. Joonas, your kernel panics and power oddities may be a result of you leaving in the internal Airport card. You need to remove this before using the WLI-CB-G54A.

I have a F5D7000, it has the Ralink chipset and works on my G4 tower with the driver and app from the http://www.ralinktech.com/supp-1.htm website. Good luck C

After reading the recommendations regarding the WPC54GS being compatible with my PB G3 bronze I went ahead and purchased it along with the WRT54G v2.2 router. Can somebody please take me step by step on how to set this system up for wireless operation ?

*Note I can surf the web with the router hooked via ethernet cable.

Just bought the WPC54GS slapped it in my PB G3 bronze OSX 10.2.8 works like a charm!!

I would like to purchase the Linksys PWC54GS. I'm running OS X 10.1.5 on Powerbook G3, 400 MHz. Should this be OK?

I have a 15" Powerbook G4. It has the internal Airport card and that works fine if I'm real close to the WAP.

I bought a Buffalo WLI-CB-G54A card which has an antenna jack and an external antenna to go with it. When the card icon comes up on the status bar it shows it to be a Broadcom chipset. Everything I've read says that the card should work with the native Airport drivers.

That hasn't been my experience. I did see it work one time but shortly after crashed the computer (as far as I can tell).

The tech support at Buffalo are kind of in "Mac OS wha?" mode.

Since I have Applecare I called them and they said, the driver can only support one Airport and if there is an internal one, that's it.

Nowhere in the Network Preferences does this card show up as a device. I'm not sure how it worked once.

The power and link lights seem to glow dimily when not in a really healthy state. Once there is a real connection they are on full bright.

Anyone have any Ideas that might help me be able to use the internal card most of the time and hook up this card when I need more range?

Thanks, Bill

The fix for that is to disable the driver for the internal card.

Open up a terminal, sudo tcsh, then cd to /System/Library/Extensions, and mv AppleAirPort.kext to AppleAirPort.kext.DISABLED.

Reboot and you should find the internal card is gone.

YO,
Try the TrendWARE TEW-401+. The 401s all have broadcom and are very reasonable, and I am using mine right now with the airport drivers.

I just bought a WPC54GS. It works great for me with the Airport drivers under Mac OS X 10.2.8.

I just tried out this WPC54GS with my Ti book (15" 1GHZ) and it did powerup and show me the greyed out Broadcom and 80211b Carbus. Unfortunately that is as much as it would do.

I still have the original Airport card installed in the laptop, but have Airport turned off. Am I supposed to take the card out of the laptop to be able to use the linksys card?
If there is an option that would allow me to use the linksys card + not take out the airport card, please share and experience my thousand thanks.

Trying to get the Buffalo WLI-CB-G54A card to work between my PowerBook G3 (Bronze 333) and Airport Extreme. Already running a PowerBook G4 with the base station. Password is refused every time. Looking for a solution to what I suspect may be a security issue. Buffalo doesn't support Apple. Thanks.

FYI, the WPC54GS still works in Tiger. However, it seems that if I remove the card, it's not recognized when I put it back in, it shows up as "Broadcom" PC card, but not recognized as an Airport card until I restart.

Is there an 802.11g PC card that has been shown to work in an internal original Airport slot (I have an iMac G4 800 running 10.2.8 with 512mb RAM and an AEBS with software v3.1.1)?

I know the Sony C150S (802.11b) does and has been used by many as a substitute (http://homepage.mac.com/macinside/PhotoAlbum36.html) for the original Airport card internally.

I have also beed told that the Buffalo WLI-CB-G54A should work, but I can find no-one who has successfully tried it..

It must be out there... Any ideas??

Hi,sorry to drop in but i bought this card a (D-link airplus G) wireless G desktop adapter and i want to know what more it could do??. and can you tell me what equipment can i buy to increase the range on my card,like to 4-6 miles,i have an external antennae 16db,but i dont get much...thank you

I just got a older Powerbook g3 333mhz laptop, and it is my first experience outside of my work.
I haven't setup anything that has OS9.1 like this laptop has, and I need some help in figuring it out.
I need to setup wireless on it and have a Motorola WN825G wireless card. So far, I am not able to find a driver and software that will work with this at this time.

I have a 12" powerbook I just bought and I am upset that I can't put the airport card into promiscuous mode. Has anyone tried this out:

http://www.madge.com/products/products-20-03.aspx

I have just been reading about the MacWireless 11g PC card. C heck out the review at:
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.asp?g=mac&seqNum=53&rl=1

Looks like the business, but will see how it goes when I get my hands on one.

FCC ID: PKW-WPC54G, thats what i see on the card itself.
Guess it's a 1st gen WPC54G card. It works with the original airport card in the internal slot. Works with the apple network drivers also. Used MenuMeter to verify that it's working at 54Mbps. Can be plugged in after computer has booted up, also can be unplugged and replugged without rebooting.

I use Kismac to load different drivers for wireless cards. It also has an option that permits passive mode for airport cards.

Hope this helps.

Hi, I bought Linksys 802.11b wireless card, WPC11 v.4.
I tried to connect to Linksys WRT54G wireless router with that WiFi card to my Powerbook G3 Pismo running in Tiger(10.4.2), but it's not recognized with that card.

If someone has experience with my case, please let me know.

i have a G4 and needed an airport only to find out that they are no longer available.. old news i know. which of these will work with my G4 running 10.2.8? is it the buffalo? any help would save me.. thanks

Purchased the WPC54GS tonight from Wal-Mart for just under $60 and it works great. Had previously purchased a Belkin G card (F5D7010) that did not work "Unknown" showed up under the PC Card Menu. Skip the WPC54G and go for the SpeedBooster model. Shows up as Airport Extreme under System Profiler too. No hacks/mods to install. True plug and play. Using latest Airport Software and 10.4.2 on a 400MHz Pismo.

I bought a pci card from belkin d7000ea,i made the tips for and now the sistem look at like a ethernet network port...nobody can help me to understand what mean this?
sorry for my very bad english ....

FYI I bought a WLI-CB-G54A-3 802.11g card to put into my internal original airport slot in my imac g4 800 flat panel.

It is too big unfortunately - too long so the lead in the bas of the imac cannot stretch to plug into the external antenna port if you try to plug the card in. Card CAN plug in. Lead CAN plug into ext antenn. port. CANNOT do BOTH. Pity..

The search continues : 1. Compatible Broadcom chipset

2. Slim form factor ( such as the Sony 802.11b card mentioned in my earlier post ehich DOES work as an internal original airport card replacement )

If anyone dicovers the magic card please do post..

After a long search, I found and bought at Apple's Store il Plano, Texas a Belkin F5D7010 VERSION 1112 -- it works great in a Powerbook G3 Firewire with Apple's Airport driver, no configuration required, just plug it in and the Mac thinks it an Apple card! In other stores I found later versions of the Belkin card which are NOT compatible with the Mac (different chipset) -- do make sure that you look not only at the product reference number but also at the VERSION number, it's a small label on the box. Very confusing, no idea why Belkin does not change the ref number if it is a different product...

dec 30 2005: linksys wpc54gs from best buy doesn't work on 10.3.7 with airport 4.1. no special version/rev number on the card or box that i can see.

I have an Apple Airport Extreme I bought in 2004 running on an HP WindowsXP PC. I was running it just fine with a Linksys WPC55AG Card in my Dell Inspiron 4000 Laptop with WindowsXP. However, I recently had other people with wireless networks move into the area and I decided to go to WPA-PSK encryption. I am now having problems linking and holding lock on the Airport. I also have TrendMicro PCCillin 2006 AV which looks to see new networks and I think the Dynamic IP is causing a problem there as well. I have to keep playing with the Windows Network settings to dis-able and the re-enable it, then use the Linksys Monitor to re-establish a passcode and connection. About 3-5 minutes later it drops off and starts searching for the address again.

Any ideas?

my Belkin F5D7010 works fin with 10.3 and it's a 54g card

Belkin PCI Network Card is working great on my G 5 (2 x @ghz) under 10.4.4. It talks to a Linksys Wireless router and everything is ok!

I have a Powerbook G4 with OSX 10.4.5. I have an internal Airport card (included with the laptop). I bought a Linksys WPC54GS v1.1 from Circuit City (SN BGO10E203884) and it's a no-go. Locks up when card is inserted on boot-up. When card is inserted after boot-up, the card shows as Broadcom under the menu-bar pc card icon, but no indication of an additional wifi card in the network configuration program. NOTE: The box does not indicate the card is V1.1, however after opening the box, the back of the PC card indicates it is V1.1.

I think the WMP54G's (later versions) used a Prism chipset, and therefore this should work: http://gtdriver.binaervarianz.de/

I couldn't find this back when I actually needed it but I had found this blog, so I am hoping that a future person in my predicament will be helped, or at least let me know that it failed (by visiting my blog or something).

hello i have recently got a linksys WPC54G version 3, installed airport express and works without a hitch, 10.4.6

I just got an old Lombard 333 G3 Powerbook. I'm trying to get this wireless card to work - Linksys WPC11-CP, and 802.11b cardbus card. From what I found online this is supposed to work. I downloaded two different third party drivers and nothing. In the network prefs it doesn't give me any airport options. I am running OS X 10.0. Any help?

does anybody know how to get pass the "wpa personal passord" where do I go to make this adjustment ( tell your WAP54G to use "WPA Shared key", select TKIP, and make up a pass phrase and type it in) also my range is poor, do I need a diffrent wireless card?

brodster

Hi. I'm wondering whether the following wireless cards work (on Mac OS X 10.3.9)?

WLI2-CB-G54L
WLI3-CB-G54L (both Buffalo Air Station))
Dell TrueMobile 1300

I understand that WLI-CB-G54L works on Mac OS X (thanks to you guys!), but the above happen to be available on eBay right now so I just thought I might seek your advice. Thanks!

i have successfully gotten the linksys 54gs working on my aluminum 1 ghz, but as an earlier poster commented, if i remove it i have to restart to get back airport functionality. has anyone come up with a work around? running os x 10.4.7

I have just installed a Dell TrueMobile 1300 in the PCMCIA slot of my 15" Titanium Powerbook. It worked instantly, with no drivers required. It shows up as a Broadcom chipset. Using OS X 10.4.7, with all updates.