Need Help: 2007 Mac Pro has no wifi

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I recently acquired an old mac pro from 2007 that has been upgraded in most areas. It has a nice ssd with OSX 10.7, 2 2.33 GHz Quad-core Intel Xeon processors, 8 gb DDR2, and an ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512 MB. It runs everything nicely.

My problem is that it has no wifi. My bedroom is on the opposite side of the house as our router and modem. There is no way that I can use ethernet. I'd have to run ethernet down a very long hallway, and through my roommates bedroom.

What are my options for setting up wifi on my device? I've searched around, but want to hear from people who know more.
I'm considering this:
http://store.bearextender.com/collections/amazon/products/bearextender-for-mac
Any thoughts?

Any help would be so greatly appreciated.
 

pigoo3

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I recently acquired an old mac pro from 2007 that has been upgraded in most areas. It has a nice ssd with OSX 10.7, 2 2.33 GHz Quad-core Intel Xeon processors, 8 gb DDR2, and an ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512 MB. It runs everything nicely.

My problem is that it has no wifi. My bedroom is on the opposite side of the house as our router and modem. There is no way that I can use ethernet. I'd have to run ethernet down a very long hallway, and through my roommates bedroom.

Firstly...please verify that this 2007 Mac Pro has an airport card installed in it. Airport cards were optional in some of the early Mac Pro's...which a 2007 Mac Pro would be included.

- Nick
 
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Firstly...please verify that this 2007 Mac Pro has an airport card installed in it. Airport cards were optional in some of the early Mac Pro's...which a 2007 Mac Pro would be included.

- Nick

I'm assuming that I'll need to open up the can to do that?
I'll find out if it has an airport card and give an update asap. Thanks to you both for the advice so far!
 

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I'm assuming that I'll need to open up the can to do that?
I'll find out if it has an airport card and give an update asap. Thanks to you both for the advice so far!

If you go to:

- About this Mac
- then click on "More Info"
- then click on the "System Report" button in the next window
- then click on the "airport" topic in the left column of the next window

If the computer has an airport card installed...you should get some info on the right side of this window. If you don't have an airport card installed...you may get no info...or it may say something like "no hardware installed"...or "hardware cannot be found".

- Nick
 
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(deleted)

Wow. Scratch that. I'm very dumb. I looked all of this up ON my macbook pro. I feel -incredibly- dumb. In my defense, I was distracted by Capcom's Ducktales game for NES, which I was teaching my four year old niece to play as I went through my misguided attempt at solving this. I'll stay more focused now.
 

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(deleted)

Wow. Scratch that. I'm very dumb. I looked all of this up ON my macbook pro. I feel -incredibly- dumb. In my defense, I was distracted by Capcom's Ducktales game for NES, which I was teaching my four year old niece to play as I went through my misguided attempt at solving this. I'll stay more focused now.

So are you saying that you looked up this info while on your MacBook Pro...but still need to check the Mac Pro?

If so...ok I understand...but still allow me a small chuckle!;)

- Nick
 
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Okay, so, I've checked. My computer has no wifi card.
Under wifi > software versions> Airport utility> it lists some numbers, but I'm guess that since no wifi hardware is listed, I'm not going to be able to do a lot.

I've built a computer, but I'm basically clueless about most networking technology, so I'm going to throw out a question that I suspect will be answered with a "no."

I've got an extra wifi router. Is there any way I can hook that up to my Pro's ethernet port and use it for wifi? I've never heard of anything like that, so I'm assuming it doesn't work. However, if it will help me avoid having to buy a new wifi card, I'll try just about anything.

All other options aside, I guess I will just buy a new wifi card.
 
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So are you saying that you looked up this info while on your MacBook Pro...but still need to check the Mac Pro?

If so...ok I understand...but still allow me a small chuckle!;)

- Nick

Chuckle, sir. You've earned it, and I deserve it.
 

pigoo3

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Okay, so, I've checked. My computer has no wifi card.
Under wifi > software versions> Airport utility> it lists some numbers, but I'm guess that since no wifi hardware is listed, I'm not going to be able to do a lot.

I'm not exactly sure what you're seeing...but compare what you see on your MacBook Pro for the Airport (since I'm sure it has wifi built-in)...to what you see for your Mac Pro before 100% confirming that the Mac Pro has no airport card. Of course...the Mac Pro could have an Airport card...and it could just be non-functioning/dead.

You obviously can open up the Mac Pro to confirm if you have an airport card or not....just thought it would be easier to confirm via the software/OS like you're doing.:)

I've built a computer, but I'm basically clueless about most networking technology, so I'm going to throw out a question that I suspect will be answered with a "no."

I've got an extra wifi router. Is there any way I can hook that up to my Pro's ethernet port and use it for wifi? I've never heard of anything like that, so I'm assuming it doesn't work. However, if it will help me avoid having to buy a new wifi card, I'll try just about anything.

That's an interesting idea!;)

- Nick
 
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Netgear's New LAN Powerline Adapters.

Try something like this..

Some routers can be used like that (range extender mode) i.e. it picks up the and let you plug in via LAN. Airport Express has that funtionality. The thing is WIFI is slower that LAN and the Power line LAN kits are just not that expensive.

If you really want to do this on the cheap you could always share the wireless from the MBP to the MP.
 
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If you really want to do this on the cheap you could always share the wireless from the MBP to the MP.

Would I just use an ethernet cable between the two? This seems like a good option. I don't need incredibly fast internet on the MP all the time. I just need to be able to download a few files, programs, and updates from time to time, and don't want to constantly deal with flash drives back and forth.
 

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