QuickerTek Announces Wireless 'N' Upgrade for Mac mini

[admin]

QuickerTek Announces Wireless 'N' Upgrade for Mac mini
Monday, March 26, 2007
Posted by: Glenn

QuickerTek today introduced its 802.11n Upgrade Kit for Intel-based Mac minis. QuickerTek's 802.11n upgrade is a complete solution that not only provides an 'n' card, but also provides a second antenna - required to get all of the speed that 802.11n wireless can offer. According to the company, "The wireless networking card is made to the same specifications as the Apple factory 'n' card and installs into the AirPort card slot - replacing the stock AirPort card. The 'n' wireless upgrade works with all 802.11/b/g/n WiFi equipment including Apple AirPort, AirPort Extreme and the latest 802.11n version of AirPort Extreme - seen for the first time at the January Macworld Expo." The user-installed Mac mini upgrade includes the 802.11n upgrade card, additional antenna with cable, tools, and illustrated installation manual. It is priced at $179.



http://www.123macmini.com/news/story/623.html

[scooper]

How about $99 and we call it a day?

[g5g5]

Yeah, $180 bucks seems a little steep. I'm sure more people would be interested in this at $75-$100 bucks. I think the card from Apple for the Mac Pro only costs like $50 bucks. Personally, I'll be waiting for the next Mac mini update.
_________________
1.25GHz Mac Mini / 1.8GHz iMac G5 / 2.0GHz C2D Mac mini (2009)
4GB iPod mini / 2G iPod shuffle / 16GB iPhone 3G
Apple TV 2
iLife's a Bitch!

[brobbo]

ok so whats so srecial about this adapter then

it comes with a seconds antenna! a second antenna is gonna cost $100, i think there barking up the wrong tree here
_________________
Intel Mac Mini 1.66ghz
1.25GB 667mhz Kingston memory
Samsung le26r74bdx HD Ready Lcd

[James T Kirk]

And (hopefully) in a short while: here he is, the Core2Duo MacMini with bigger and faster drive, faster processor and 802.11/n and 1 GB standard memory! Of course with free upgrade to Leopard and iLife 07 and maybe more goodies!
_________________
___________________Jim©
Now on Hackintosh in G5 case!

[brobbo]

and without a price increase? i dont think so
_________________
Intel Mac Mini 1.66ghz
1.25GB 667mhz Kingston memory
Samsung le26r74bdx HD Ready Lcd

[James T Kirk]

[brobbo]

ooooooo
i wanna get one of those t7600 babies make my mini a right little screamer
_________________
Intel Mac Mini 1.66ghz
1.25GB 667mhz Kingston memory
Samsung le26r74bdx HD Ready Lcd

[johnodd4]

booo this sucks i will just continue to use my current airport and upgrade the antenna myself

[brobbo]

yeah same here,just trying to make to much profit
they raping you of all the money we have
cheeky so and so's
_________________
Intel Mac Mini 1.66ghz
1.25GB 667mhz Kingston memory
Samsung le26r74bdx HD Ready Lcd

[Bandit Bill]

I agree, sounds like a great product, but way overpriced. $99.

[devo]

I would consider buying a kit that included a dual antenna system that completely replaced the stock spring-release antenna for under a $100. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to fit the bill.

[Crazibri]

Agreed. I wouldnt pay that for Wireless N yet, even more so since the Apple TV streams video fine via Wireless G. iTunes is not HD content yet anyway. Anyway, I'm sure when the Mini gets it, I can call up Apple and ask for the replacement part, pop it in and install. It'll probably be cheaper than $179 (same cost as the Airport Extreme).

[grayskyz]

Or you can order the card from powermax.com for 49.00 (I know its supposed to be 43.00) And get a second antenna from ebay for 10.00

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300094354668

And get er done for under 80.00 after shipping.

On a side note, the card powermax send is the B revison that comes with the "N" enabler software which saves 2 bucks unless you have the N extreme base station.(which I do)

~C
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Mac Mini 1.83 • 2 GB RAM • 80GIG STOCK HD
36" Samsung TV • 750GB MINISTACK V2
.• MACBOOK PRO 2.33• AIRPORT EXTREME N STATION• MAC OCTO PRO

[satchel]

well...I sprung for this one...installed but it wasn't easy getting the card recongnized...

The packing list referenced a CD to install the N enabler...well there was no cd in the box...the instructions were not bad, I'd been in there before...I got the card in and the antenna run out the back and it didn't register in the system that there was ANY airport card at all...so I fished out the Airport Extreme CD from my new base and the installer didn't recognize any airport hardware...System profiler also didnt see any airport...
the reason was I was still at 10.4.7. The N cards need 10.4.8.

After that upgrade it did see the card, but only as a G. Running the N enabler from the Apple CD was not working...it checks hardware and the mini was not on the approved list, so no install.
I found some suggestios online that said to copy the package to the mini and change the settings in the device checking portion of the installer script...I did that and finally got the installer to work, but still no a/b/g/n listed in Network Utility...

I tracked down the culprit to the system/library/extensions/IO80211Family.kext file...it was being installed by the CD, but only as a 72kb file...the same file on my Macbook Pro was 4 mb.
So I copied that file from the MBP to the same directory on the mini and all was well.

Let me know if you have any other questions about this product...