Upgrade path to 802.11n for PowerBook owners?

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smatanovicsmatanovic
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I have a AlBook with an Airport Extreme v.1 (802.11b/g) card, and I would love to pick up a new Airport Extreme (v.2) to take advantage of the significantly higher speeds. Are there any upgrade paths for the existing airport extreme card? I would imaging that the hardware is not all that different.



thanks,

SM

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    tomjtomj Posts: 120member
    That's really a good question. A quick look through the apple website and store implies that there isn't an upgrade path available. The store, though it sells the n spec base station, only sells the g spec airport card. Though I could be wrong..maybe i missed it. I would certainly like to have an n spec card in my ibook. Let's hope for the best, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
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  • Reply 2 of 8
    smatanovicsmatanovic Posts: 120member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tomj View Post


    That's really a good question. A quick look through the apple website and store implies that there isn't an upgrade path available. The store, though it sells the n spec base station, only sells the g spec airport card. Though I could be wrong..maybe i missed it. I would certainly like to have an n spec card in my ibook. Let's hope for the best, but I'm not going to hold my breath.



    Does every new Mac come with Airport pre-installed? If so, we may be SOL on the retail front, though there may be an option with perhaps buying a card up as a spare part.
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  • Reply 3 of 8
    tomjtomj Posts: 120member
    It looks like the macpro has it as an option, so I would assume that apple would sell it separately. Of course we all know about assumptions.... My honest opinion is that we are SOL unless we can find it somewhere else, and then...can we be sure that it's pin compatible with what we have? Oh well. Good luck to us!
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  • Reply 4 of 8
    isomorphicisomorphic Posts: 199member
    I have a MacBook Pro (Core Duo--not Core 2 Duo), so I guess I'm scrod.



    Perhaps this product will do:



    http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProdu...duct_Id=299617



    ...unless the 802.11g card isn't integrated onto the motherboard, and it's where you can get at it.
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  • Reply 5 of 8
    smatanovicsmatanovic Posts: 120member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Isomorphic View Post


    I have a MacBook Pro (Core Duo--not Core 2 Duo), so I guess I'm scrod.



    Perhaps this product will do:



    http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProdu...duct_Id=299617



    ...unless the 802.11g card isn't integrated onto the motherboard, and it's where you can get at it.



    Sure, that will be an option, but I would love a card that is integrated into my machine, not sticking out the side like a tumor. \
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  • Reply 6 of 8
    o_rlyo_rly Posts: 27member
    This is just speculation, and I've mentioned it in another thread, but I think that the reason there won't be any 'n' cards for older Macs is because of the supporting hardware for that card. I'm thinking that the antennas might be different, or the new Macs might have multiple antennas. Possibly different power requirements? The new 'n' spec is MIMO you know...
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  • Reply 7 of 8
    tomjtomj Posts: 120member
    that is very true.
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  • Reply 8 of 8
    wmfwmf Posts: 1,164member
    Yep, n uses three antennas (for best performance), but old Macs only have two. Get a third-party USB dongle.
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