Wireless N Card Question

Hi guys I'm really thinking about having OSX and XP on my computer. So since the factory wireless card doesn't work with OSX. My first question would be if I'm going to get a wireless card anyways is there a wireless N card I can get that will work with OSX?

My second question is do I have to have a router that does wireless N to take advantage of it? Or am I still going to get faster speeds and better signal even if the router doesn't have wireless N capabilities.

One last thing, could someone please post a link on how to install OSX I know their a few places on here but some of them are really confusing. I greatly appreciate it. Thank you thank you thank you for all who reply.

 

I'll respond in chunks so answers will be less confusing:

Hi, guy.

I am not sure if there is a wireless N card that is directly compatible with the AAO and OSX. Perhaps someone else could chime in. It is widely known that the Dell 1390 and 1490 wireless cards are tested and confirmed to be "plug and play" with OSX. If you get such a card, you will have to download a new 1390/1490 driver for Windows XP, uninstall the old driver, and install the new driver. That's a fairly easy (and well documented in many places on the internet) task.

If your router does not support Wireless N, you will not be taking advantage of Wireless N whether you have a Wireless N card or not. If you don't have a Wireless N router, I suggest sticking with the 1390/1490. (Hell, I suggest sticking with a 1390/1490 either way, as it's tested and known to work perfectly with AAO's running OSX, and I don't know of any Wireless N cards that work in an AAO running OSX.)

The absolute best and easiest (easy is, of course, releative to your current computer knowledge and comfort spending a few hours mucking about in terminals and modifying files that could potentially cause you to have to start over from scratch) OSX install guide (in my limited experience in OSX86 install guides) is this one:

iAtkos v5 10.5.5 install guide including 10.5.6 update:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=7802

Check the materials-needed list first to see if you have everything necessary. You will need an external DVD-RW drive and an "iATKOS v5 10.5.5" .iso file. Don't ask where to get it in this public forum. Search. If you do not have an external DVD-RW drive, you will need a 4+gb usb thumb drive. When you have the thumb drive, you will need to first follow this guide:

Installing OSX from USB Flash - HOWTO
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9047

...and then you can follow the above install guide.

 

i have an apple / broadcom 4321 card in mine which is also sold as a dell card but i forget which number. This card is n capable

As for the osx, I followed rory's tutorial. Just take each step one at a time, ask questions if you need to, but you should be fine.

found a link showing my card, it is infact the dell 1500/1505 along with a few others

http://www.yatow.de/shop/product_info.p ... f63694aed2

 

I have read that the Intel 4965AGN card works in both XP and OSX. While it would not be faster on a g network, it has been reported to have much better receiption strength.

 

Well, I should have searched first. It would seem there are a few tested N cards that work. First three that I found in a search were:

Dell DW 1500
Broadcom 94321 (BCM 4321)
DW1390

As stated earlier, though, you will only get N-speeds with an N router.

 

Hey thanks everyone who has responded so quickly. The only reason why I would consider getting a wireless N card and paying the extra money is I know once I get a new router I'm going to get the N capable one, that's just one less thing I have to worry about later down the road. As for installing OSX I think I'm going to try it out this weekend I'm a little nervous to do it though because I'm just starting out on dual booting and all that good stuff. Depending on how it all goes I would eventually like to get rid of Windows XP and just have OSX but considering I use XP to connect to Xbox live through my AAO. I'm not exactly sure how I would do that but that's a problem for another day. So anyways thanks again for all who have replied.

 

Just a suggestion (Assuming you have a 120gb+ model)

Partition 8-10gb for Windows XP and just keep the essentials on that OS for when you want to use it to connect your X-Box. The rest of the partition can be used for OSX and whatever programs and media you like. You'll have the basic functionality of XP when you need it, and have OSX for every day use.

As for the install, it's not too bad, just make sure to back everything up as much as you can before undertaking the task so if you screw it all up you have something to go back to.

 

Yeah that sounds like a good idea. I was also thinking though if I take out the wireless card does that void my warranty? If so couldn't I just put it back in if I needed to get something fixed and still have full warranty coverage?

Also if anyone else has any other confirmed wireless N cards that work with OSX please post what kind it is. Thank you.