Has anyone bought a recent card that works with Tiger?

Edit: Discovered that the wirelessdriver free software has been updated for tiger here though I have yet to try it.

I am contemplating buying the current Linksys WMP54GS to try and see if it has a Broadcom chipset and works in Tiger.

RaLink are infact supporting OS X, among all the other OS's. It appears that the RT2500 Chipset is supported for OS X at this stage.

Just as an update. If anyone happens to see a wifi card that has a broadcom chipset in it. Please post it here.

Thanks
pipsqeek

Not having my working pcmcia Belkin card handy I can't tell which of the 5 revisions it is that has the Broadcom chip.

Can anyone give me a heads up?

I think it was the vers 1 and 2 with vers 3-5 using the other chip but its a bit of a stab in the dark.

My PMCICA Belkin 802.11 g is a version 1 it has the broadcom chip set

I just got a Cnet 54g Wifi card that uses the RaLink chipset.

Though I did noticed, as I have a few of these cards laying around, there are various versions, all RaLink. But different revisions. Some of them appear to work, while others do not.

Still having issues finding a good Broadcom based card. They were plentiful at one stage, and now are hard to find. Seems most manufacturers are leaning towards RaLink..... they must be cheaper to manufacture or something.

pips

The RaLink drivers/software is crap.

Now that I got that off my chest, I am thinking of going on a quest to get as many broadcom based PCI wifi cards as possible, and testing them in various macs I have here at home.

I am even thinking of the possibility of going to Hardly Normals and buying various cards that I think may work, and returning the one's that don't. In the name of "science" :P

Naturally, once I have a large quantity of cards, I will more then likely offer them to ATAU members at reasonable prices.... of course higher then what I bought them for, payment for the work I am about to embark on, and a guarantee that it will work in any PCI slot in your mac.

What do people think of this idea?

I'm about to start looking for a card to put in my G4 Xserve (wife wants the noisy beast moved to the back of the house!).

I gather I should still be looking for anything with a Broadcom chipset.

I also note that the Xserve's PCI slots are recessed at the rear of the machine by a good 2.5 cm - is this likely to be an issue with the antenna connector on the rear of the card (ie do they stick out far enough?).

Finally, anyone know of issues putting such a card in a G4 Xserve (other than the network performance hit).

Regards,

JMD

Yes, You should still find a card with the broadcom chipset.

Most PCI cards have manouverable antennas. So you should still be able to fit them.

Not testing any cards in Apple Servers, I am unsure what issues there would be. Though I can't think of any that would occur.

Good luck with the test. I'd like to hear about the results.

Cheers
pipsqeek

OK - being the impatient type, I ran out to a local store and brought a:
<blockquote>Belkin F5D7000au (version 3000a)</blockquote>
It is not recognised by the Apple Airport Software

It is recognised by the Ralink software located on:
<blockquote>Ralink Drivers Page</blockquote>
Using 11g-RT2500, PCI/MiniPCI/CardBus, 2005/06/21, Drv1.0.0.0, 10.4.X.

I really don't like their interface, but I can confirm that it works under OSX.4 Server.
However, it appears that the card will only become active once the Ralink software is run. Currently, this requires me to log in after a system restart. (I will research on starting it as a service)

Given that the whole purpose was to run the Xserve as a headless, wireless server in a remote part of the house, I am still a fair way from a useful solution.

Not having had any experience with the Apple Airport Client Software - once configured, does it start up as a service without the need for a user to login following a system restart?

Regards,
JMD

Greetings all,

I can confirm that at least one PCI card currently on the market works with the Apple Airport Software:

<blockquote>Buffalo/Uniden WLI2-PCI-G54S</blockquote>

I found them at Dick Smith Powerhouse and Harvey Norman for around AU$99.

The Linksys WMP54GS which is listed on the rapla site is also still available for around $125 - but I have not purchased and/or tested this (Pipsqeek?)

Anyway, got the Buffalo installed on the Xserve and linked to my network, still need to test whether the server will come back up with the card active without intervention.

BTW: While I didn't like the look of the Ralink configuration tool - now that I have played with the Airport configuration - I actually think the Ralink tool was easier!

Regards,

JMD

That's great news.

Thanks for taking the plunge, to which it's been unfortunate for me having zero time to go out and purchase a Linksys card to see if it can work.



I can only assume I'll have a little time in the next coming months. June/July is a hectic month for me.

pipsqeek

Final test complete on OSX.4 Server - can confirm that using Apple Airport Software the server will automatically login to the wireless network without intervention on restart.

Good reason for those with servers to use an airport compatible card for wireless.

So in summary:

* G4 Xserve
* OSX.4 Server
* Buffalo WLI2-PCI-G54S wireless network card

Can be used to run all server functions via Apple Airport Software without need for wired network and any user intervention.

Regards,

JMD.

I've been looking for an Airport compatible wireless NIC for my B&W G3 for a couple of weeks. The one I've got is a Ralink based one, which connects to other PC's and the network but won't let me browse the net or anything like that.

I'll definately be picking up a Buffalo WLI2-PCI-G54S, and for anyone else who's looking for one, I've found an online store that stocks them for $80 including shipping here. The picture next to the card is of a PCMCIA Card, but it is the right card. They've just used the wrong image.

I know there is a broadcom chipst in the PCI wireless cards made by Ravo.

If this helps at all?

Yeah - I found that site too, but was put off by the incorrect image on their page.

An alternative source for the Buffalo card is:

Expansys

I just got impatient and wanted to drive over and pick one up.....

Regards,

JMD