Which wireless PCMCIA cardbus for G3 Pismo? - Some answers.
I am based in the UK.
I have spent the last four weeks researching this issue - reading various forum posts, ringing companies etc - I wanted a card which worked natively with Airport.
I now have the Belkin Wireless Notebook Network card F5D7010 vers. 1314uk - it has a Broadcom chipset and is plug and play with Airport. This is an older version of this card in the UK though - the current version sold in Staples, PC World Currys etc. is version 3, which is the prism chipset and DOES NOT work with Airport - it needs ralink drivers to work. To the best of my knowledge, unfortunately, the older versions are not generally available to purchase from stores in the UK although some might have old stock. I only picked this card up by chance as a customer return in PC World.
Below is a summary of my findings, hopefully it will save some of you a lot of time and effort, particularly those searching in the UK:
Sonnet Aria Extreme G54CB - available in the UK but expensive £50
Asante AeroLAN-XG AL5403-XG - not available in the UK
MacWirelessAerocard Extreme WPE-800 - not available in the UK
Buffalo Airstation
WLI-CBG54A - works natively with Airport,old version no longer available in UK, recently removed from Buffalo website.
WLI-CBG54HP - latest model - doesn’t work with Airport.
WLI-CBG54S - possible it is Broadcom and works with Airport
WLI-CBG54L - possible it is Broadcom and works with Airport mysteriously appeared on Buffalo website as ‘A’ version was removed. Also an older card version than above.
(Buffalo Uk’s line is that non of their cards are supported in the Mac environment, even though some of them may work, you will not recieve technical support and your warranty will be void if you tell them you’ve used it on a Mac. The ‘A’ version of the card is known to be a Broadcom chipset and works natively with Airport and until recently was on the Buffalo website as supported in OSX 3)
Belkin Wireless Notebook Network card
F5D7010 vers. 1.x 2.x & 4.x - are Broadcom chipsets and should work
natively with Airport.
vers. 3.x - Prism chipset and needs ralink drivers
to work. Will not work with Airport.
Currently avail. in UK for £20 approx.
F5D7011 vers. 1000/1111 - according to a source in USA this
version works with Airport.
vers. 1212 - currently on the shelves in PC World UK
etc. It doesn’t work - I’ve tried it myself.
Sitecom WL-100b - on lists as having broadcom chipset so
should work but discontinued and
unavailable in UK.
WL-112 - sitecom tech support say this card has
ralink rt2500 chipset so probably won’t
work with Airport.
Linksys WPC54G - on lists as having Broadcom chipset and
reported as working on forum. available
in UK £34.
PowerBook G3500mhz Mac OS X (10.3.9)
I have spent the last four weeks researching this issue - reading various forum posts, ringing companies etc - I wanted a card which worked natively with Airport.
I now have the Belkin Wireless Notebook Network card F5D7010 vers. 1314uk - it has a Broadcom chipset and is plug and play with Airport. This is an older version of this card in the UK though - the current version sold in Staples, PC World Currys etc. is version 3, which is the prism chipset and DOES NOT work with Airport - it needs ralink drivers to work. To the best of my knowledge, unfortunately, the older versions are not generally available to purchase from stores in the UK although some might have old stock. I only picked this card up by chance as a customer return in PC World.
Below is a summary of my findings, hopefully it will save some of you a lot of time and effort, particularly those searching in the UK:
Sonnet Aria Extreme G54CB - available in the UK but expensive £50
Asante AeroLAN-XG AL5403-XG - not available in the UK
MacWirelessAerocard Extreme WPE-800 - not available in the UK
Buffalo Airstation
WLI-CBG54A - works natively with Airport,old version no longer available in UK, recently removed from Buffalo website.
WLI-CBG54HP - latest model - doesn’t work with Airport.
WLI-CBG54S - possible it is Broadcom and works with Airport
WLI-CBG54L - possible it is Broadcom and works with Airport mysteriously appeared on Buffalo website as ‘A’ version was removed. Also an older card version than above.
(Buffalo Uk’s line is that non of their cards are supported in the Mac environment, even though some of them may work, you will not recieve technical support and your warranty will be void if you tell them you’ve used it on a Mac. The ‘A’ version of the card is known to be a Broadcom chipset and works natively with Airport and until recently was on the Buffalo website as supported in OSX 3)
Belkin Wireless Notebook Network card
F5D7010 vers. 1.x 2.x & 4.x - are Broadcom chipsets and should work
natively with Airport.
vers. 3.x - Prism chipset and needs ralink drivers
to work. Will not work with Airport.
Currently avail. in UK for £20 approx.
F5D7011 vers. 1000/1111 - according to a source in USA this
version works with Airport.
vers. 1212 - currently on the shelves in PC World UK
etc. It doesn’t work - I’ve tried it myself.
Sitecom WL-100b - on lists as having broadcom chipset so
should work but discontinued and
unavailable in UK.
WL-112 - sitecom tech support say this card has
ralink rt2500 chipset so probably won’t
work with Airport.
Linksys WPC54G - on lists as having Broadcom chipset and
reported as working on forum. available
in UK £34.
PowerBook G3500mhz Mac OS X (10.3.9)
