I've been doing some research on PCI cards on Macs and it turns out that most Broadcom based PCI 802.11g cards are supported natively by the Airport Extreme 3.1 driver, or later.
The cards available commonly in Oz using the Broadcom chip are:
Linksys WMP54G
Belkin F5D7000
Minitar MN54GPL

I was interested if anyone has used one of these cards in a PowerMac.

Hi larfinboy,

I've been thinking the same thing for my B&W G3, but only just came across these posts from XLR8here and here.

Seems that generic Broadcom 802.11b/g cards do indeed work under Airport software, but obviously we're not sure which ones specifically do, such as the ones you've listed.

So I've got the Minitar MN54GPC card here I haven't installed into my PC yet, will try and let you know.

JB

Alright ... I can confirm this Minitar card works, as I'm using it right now in my B&W G3 running 10.3.3. Cool, will have to get another for my PC now!

JB

Good work bYrd.
I spoke to PC Range, since they are in Adelaide and they are the distributor for Minitar. They don't have any in stock and don't expect to get any for the next 3 weeks.
The local OfficeWorks normally have the Belkin cards but don't have any in stock.

I'm in two minds about getting the same card or getting a different card to we can verify another brand.
The cheapest card for me is a Belkin through a mate at wholesale prices.

I have a WPM54G in my Shuttle X PC. It was put in there for the sake of learning to configure it with Linux.

If the info above it correct, the it should work in my G4 450!!!

I will let you guys know when it happens (or does)

Steve

pipsqeek if you can confirm that the Linksys card works, then I probably will get a Belkin and that will cover off all the readily available cards in Oz.

Just chuck it in your Mac Steve, if you get an Airport icon on your menu bar, and it comes up with a 'new card detected' message, you're pretty much good to go.

This is really great news - considering that Airport Extreme PCI cards are hard to get, let alone at a reasonable price.

JB

Well I've just got back from Harvey Norman's with a Belkin F5D7000au 11G PCI card after parting with $79.95.

It turns out the card is a 3.3V PCI card and will go into the G5.

Hell, I can't wait to head down to my parents place tomorrow night, it's going into the G5 'Right Now!!' :P

So I'm now typing this over the Airport Extreme connection.
The Belkin gets a green light.

So if pipsqeek gets a chance to do the Linksys and it works, all the card seem to be a good option for older PCI Macs or the G5 user on a budget !?!@!? (If such a thing exists)

do these work in G4? with 64 bit pci slots? (the long MDD pci slots, like pci-X or something)

I am happy to inform you guys that the LinkSys WMP54G works.

Although I did notice that the reception is erratic and not that great. I feel this is more to do with the card or the antenna on it. When I fitted an Airport card to it when the iBook was in hospital, the reception was fine. 100% all the time.

The distance to the WAP is about 8 meters, through one wall.

My iBook with the airport card had better reception 50 meters away in a steel shed. through 2 walls also.

But never the less. It works fine, there are no dropouts, and Its 54g.

Thanks for the idea.

Steve

Jimbo, I had the Belkin card working in a G5 which has a 100Mhz PCI-X slot.
So if it works in this it should work in anything slower.

The card is destined for my G4/400 at my parents, so I'll post again once I have confirmed it works. B)

I'm interested in getting one for my MDD.

Does anyone know how mac os x deals with two airport cards?
I currently have the original airport in my MDD and want to use internet connection sharing between the original airport and the PCI 802.11G card.

Cheers,

Josh.

I can't comment from experience, since this entire exercise started because I was having problems getting an original Airport card for my G4.

I can say that the drivers for Airport and Aiport Extreme (the PCI 11g card) will be different as they are for different wireless chips.

If you're in Adelaide I might be able to help you out with a card for testing.

Thanks for the offer but I'm in Perth...

If I come across a cheap linksys card or something I'll pick it up and report back here in case someone else is in a similar situation.

- Josh

Pinned this one as well = another cheap idea from Appletalk