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Guides and repair information for Power Macs (previously known as Power Macintosh) including G3, G4, and G5 models.

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What kind of airport card do I need for my old G4?

I have an old G4 Mac tower (1 GHz PowerPC).

I'm looking to buy an Airport card so I can get wireless internet on it. How do I know which Airport card to buy that fits it? and where can I get one?

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The first generations of the G4 tower (Blue fronts) did not support an Airport card. Not until the 350 AGP models and the 'Quick Silver' models (Silver fronts) have the Airport socket and offered as optional install.

In all cases the original Airport is all you can install (802.11b version). These are getting hard to find locally. Here's an eBay listing eBay Airport cards. Be careful make sure you can get your money back if it doesn't work.

Depending on your OS you might find a 3rd party USB plugin WiFi option (drivers could be a problem). In this case you might find a 802.11n device.

Or, you could use an AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule which have a WiFi connection (802.11n and newer) you can then connect over via an Ethernet connection which I think is your best option (other wired systems can then share the WiFi connection). Later you can use it as your own AP.

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For anything made before january 2003, use an original airport card. If the slot has a notch in the middle, use an airport extreme. If there are 2 rows of pins, an original airport card.

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