Home Forums Networks & Cross-Platform Networking Airport and a 1st gen G5 iMac

I have a G5 iMac built in November of 2004. It lacks an airport card -- as do all first gen G5 iMacs. I'm hoping I can get an Airport card installed in -- for use in a rented winter condo in the USA where Time Warner has a pay as you go broadband internet service. But it uses wireless modems only.

Can I at this late date get an Airport card installed in it?

Do Apple stores install such things?

Edit: The first gen G5 iMacs don't have an airport card as part of the standard installation. But it was a pay extra option.

I can't say off the top of my head, but if it was an option once chances are that it still may be implemented although not necessarily by Apple. Have you tried Googling for 3rd party sources?

If you can find the card, you can install it yourself, according to Apple.

imacG5_17inch_AirPort.pdf
imacG5_20inch_AirPort.pdf

I just found this replacement card at SmallDog. It looks like what you are searching for. Good Luck.

DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with or receive any remuneration from SmallDog Electronics. I just happened to look there when I read this post.

Are you certain? I had one of those older iMacs and I installed an Airport card. As I recall, my iMac would take an Airport card but not Airport Extreme. Also, the Airport Card had an antenna hookup that was critical for it to work properly.

I only ask because the card at this link "looks" different than the one in the Apple instructions. Can RHV determine it by sending the iMac Serial Number here ?

ryck

Personally I would take Smalldog up on their offer to help determine if it would work by calling them at the phone number provided.

Did you have more than one iMac G5? If not, I think you have that backwards: you installed an Aiport Extreme card.

Yes, I did. I had one that I purchased in October 2004 (which would be in the age range of RHV's machine) and another purchased in May 2005. It is the second machine that would have got the Airport Extreme card.

And, before you ask "Why would you have two computers?", it is because I pass them on to my daughters when their machines croak or are technologically too old.

ryck

Well, you would know better than me, but according to both Mactracker and Low End Mac, the iMac G5 (2004) had an 802.11g AirPort Extreme card as a build-to-order option.

I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned this, but at this late date it might be easiest (nd cheapest) to forget about using the built-in Apple wireless card, and use a USB wireless dongle instead. You can get 802.11n USB gizmos, and as far as I know the built-in card will only do 802.11g.

G5 imacs, the white flat panels without the camera, take a standard airport extreme card. They also have a separate bluetooth card.

antennas and slots are installed on all of those imacs, even the ones that did not ship with the cards. the cards were bought separately or as a two piece kit and can be installed at any time.

the bluetooth cards can be hard to come by, but the airport is just a basic airport extreme card, used in some powermac g5's, some powermac g4s, imac g4s, emac rev 2's, some ibook g4's, 12" powerbooks, and as a surprise, some airports! You can salvage a card from any of these machines, so they're still pretty easy to find.

Finding the older A/B airport cards is a lot trickier. Be sure to plug the card firmly all the way in, same goes for the antenna cable.

Apple stopped selling the cards awhile ago but they're not so dated that you can't find one new in box around still.

It is clear what I need. I need an Airport Extreme Card. The Airport Card simpliciter was discontinued in June of 2004. The first G5 iMacs came out in August of 2004 and all require an Airport Extreme Card. All the required hardware is in the very first G5 iMac. (An external antenna is not needed.)

I know I can do it myself. But I'm not up for stress. So I'll get somebody else to do it and then test it for me.

I'll try Joemike's Smalldog.

Thanks to all who helped.

the card is extremely easy to install, it's considered a user-installable part like the RAM. There's even picture instructions inside the lid for what to do.