Older Macs may not have a slot for Apple’s AirPort Card – and even if they do, you may want higher throughput than 802.11b WiFi offers. 802.11g will give you nearly five times as much bandwidth.
These WiFi adapters may also cost less than an AirPort Card, which tends to sell in the US$50-100 range nowadays.
This page covers USB, ethernet, PCI, and other WiFi hardware that is compatible with OS X Macs. Some of these devices are also compatible with the Classic Mac OS (see WiFi Adapters for Desktop Macs Running Mac OS 9 for a list that includes only adapters that work with Mac OS 9); all of them are reported to work with Mac OS X.
PCMCIA/PC Card WiFi adapters compatible with OS X notebooks are covered in WiFi PC Cards Compatible with PowerBooks Running OS X, and the more efficient CardBus adapters are covered in WiFi CardBus Adapters Compatible with PowerBooks.
This information is adapted from Mac OS Wireless Adapter Compatibility List by permission of the author, who gives a “nod to the linux-wlan.org Adapter List for doing the heavy lifting.”
| Vendor | Type | Product ID | Interface | Chipset | OS Support | Driver(s) | Comments | |||||
A |
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| Airlink101 | 802.11g | AWLL3025 | USB | ZyDAS ZD1211 | 10.4.x | Zydas Mac Driver | Personally used | |||||
| Airlink101 | 802.11g | AWLL3026 | USB | ZyDAS ZD1211 | 10.4.x | Zydas Mac Driver | Personally used | |||||
| Alfa | 802.11g | AWPCI06G | PCI | Atheros | 10.2-10.4 | OrangeWare | ||||||
| Alfa | 802.11g | AWPCI06G | PCI | Atheros | 10.2-10.4 | OrangeWare | ||||||
| Ambicom | 802.11b | WL1100BCF | Comp. Flash | Prism2/2.5/3 | 9, 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
| Ambicom | 802.11b | WL1100CCF | Comp. Flash | Prism2/2.5/3 | 9, 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
| Asante | 802.11b | AL2001 | USB | Amtel | 9, 10.2-10.4 | Belkin | Belkin drv With Asante VID | |||||
B |
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| Belkin | 802.11b | F5D6000 | PCI | None | 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
| Belkin | 802.11b | F5D6050 | USB | Amtel | 9, 10.2-10.4 | Belkin | ||||||
| Belkin | 802.11g | F5D7000 | PCI | Broadcom | 10.2-10.4 | AirPort 3.1-3.3; 3.4 and up native | need Vend ID unless AP 3.4 | |||||
| Belkin | 802.11g | F5D7000UK | PCI | Broadcom | 10.2-10.4 | AirPort 3.1-3.3; 3.4 and up native | need Vend ID unless AP 3.4 | |||||
| Buffalo | 802.11g | WLIPCIG54 | PCI | Broadcom | 10.2-10.4 | AirPort 3.1-3.3; 3.4 and up native | ||||||
| Buffalo | 802.11b | WLICFS11G | Comp. Flash | Prism2/2.5/3 | 9, 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
| Buffalo | 802.11b | WLIPCML11G | USB (?) | Orinoco | 9, 10.2-10.4 | Ioxperts (10.2 and up), Macsense | ||||||
| Cisco | 802.11b | AIRPCI340 | PCI | Aironet (?) | 8.6-up | Cisco | ||||||
| Cisco | 802.11b | AIRPCI352 | PCI | Aironet | 9-up | Cisco | ||||||
D |
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| D-link | 802.11b | DWL-122 | USB | Prism2/2.5/3 | 10.2-10.4 | D-link | ||||||
| D-link | 802.11a/b/g | DWL-AG520 | PCI | Atheros | 10.2-10.4 | OrangeWare | ||||||
| D-link | 802.11g | DWL-G520 | PCI | Atheros | 10.2-10.4 | OrangeWare | ||||||
| D-link | 802.11b/g | DWL-G810 | Ethernet | 9, 10.2-10.4 | N/A | |||||||
E |
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| Emuticom | 802.11b | WL11000 | PCI | None | 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
| Eusso | 802.11b/g | GL2454-VP | PCI | Atheros | 10.2-10.4 | OrangeWare | ||||||
F |
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| Farallon (see Proxim) | ||||||||||||
| Fujitsu | 802.11a/b/g | FMV-JW481 | Atheros | 10.2-10.4 | OrangeWare | |||||||
G |
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| Global Sun | 802.11b | GL24110P | PCI | None | 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
J |
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| JAHT | 802.11b/g | JWN-5108PCI | PCI | Atheros | 10.2-10.4 | OrangeWare | ||||||
K |
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| KCORP Lifestyle | 802.11b/g | KLG-530 | PCI | Atheros | 10.2-10.4 | OrangeWare | ||||||
L |
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| Lancom Systems | 802.11a/g | MC-54ag | PCI | Atheros | 10.2-10.4 | OrangeWare | ||||||
| Linksys | 802.11b | WDT11 | PCI | None | 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
| Linksys | 802.11b | WET11 | Ethernet | Prism2/2.5/3 | Any | N/A | ||||||
| Linksys | 802.11g | WMP54G* | PCI | Broadcom | 10.2-10.4 | AirPort 3.1-3.3; 3.4 and up native | ||||||
| Linksys | 802.11a/b/g | WMP55AG | PCI | Atheros | 10.2-10.4 | OrangeWare | ||||||
| Linksys | 802.11b | WUSB11 (v.2.5-2.8) | USB | Prism | 10.2-10.4 | D-link DWL122 Drivers | ||||||
| Longshine | 802.11b | 8031 | PCI | ? | 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
M |
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| Macsense | 802.11b | WUA-400 | USB | Prism2/2.5/3 | 9-up | Macsense | ||||||
| Macsense | 802.11b | WUA-700 | USB | Prism2/2.5/3 | 9-up | Macsense | ||||||
| MacWireless | 802.11b | HMWPCI? | PCI | None | 10.2-10.4 | ??? | ||||||
| MacWireless | 802.11g | ? | PCI | Broadcom | 10.2-10.4 | AirPort 3.1-3.3; 3.4 and up native | ||||||
| MacWireless | 802.11g | ? | Ethernet | ? | Any | None | ||||||
| Melco (see Buffalo) | ||||||||||||
| Microsoft | 802.11g | MN-730 | PCI | Broadcom | 10.2-10.4 | AirPort 3.3.1 | Add Vendor ID string (pci14e4,4325 for MN-730) | |||||
| Motorola | 802.11b/g | WPC1810G | PCI | Broadcom | 10.2-10.4 | AirPort 3.1 and up | ||||||
N |
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| Nat.Datacom | 802.11b | NCP130 | PCI | None | 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
| Netgear | 802.11b | MA101 | USB | Amtel | 9, 10.2-10.4 | Belkin | Belkin drv. w/Netgear VID | |||||
| Netgear | 802.11b | MA111 (Ver. 1 ONLY) | USB | Prism | 10.2-10.4 | Dlink DWL-122 1.4.7 Drivers | Edit ID strings in driver | |||||
| Netgear | 802.11b | MA301 | PCI | None | 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
| Netgear | 802.11a/b/g | WAG311 | PCI | Atheros | 10.2-10.4 | OrangeWare | ||||||
| Netgear | 802.11g | WGE111 | Ethernet | 9, 10.2-10.4 | N/A | |||||||
| Nortel/Emobility | 802.11b | DR4000005 | PCI | None | 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
P |
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| Proxim | 802.11b | PN474(Skyline USB) | USB | Amtel | 9 | Proxim | Belkin OS X drivers? | |||||
S |
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| Sagem | 802.11g | XG-703A | USB | ? | 10.2-10.4 | Sagem | ||||||
| Siemens | 802.11b | SS1023 | PCI | None | 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
| Sitecom | 802.11g | WL-110b | PCI | Broadcom | 10.2-10.4 | AirPort 3.1-3.3; 3.4 and up native | ||||||
| SMC | 802.11b | SMC2602 | PCI | None | 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
| Sonnet | 802.11b/g | G54PCI | PCI | Broadcom | 10.2-10.4 | AirPort 3.1-3.3; 3.4 and up native | Aria Extreme | |||||
| Syntax | 802.11b | USB-400 | USB | Prism | 10.2-10.4 | Dlink DWL-122 1.3.2 Drivers | ||||||
T |
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| 3Com | 802.11b | PCI777A | PCI | None | 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts | ||||||
| TRENDWare | 802.11g | TEW403PCI | PCI | Broadcom | 10.2-10.4 | AirPort 3.1-3.3; 3.4 and up native | ||||||
U |
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| US Robotics | 802.11b | USR2415 | PCI | None | None | None | ||||||
| US Robotics | 802.11b | USR2445 | PCMCIA | Prism2/2.5/3 | 9, 10.2-10.4 | IOxperts, Macsense | ||||||
Z |
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| Zyxel | 802.11g | G-405 | Ethernet | Unknown | 9, 10.2-10.4 | None | ||||||
Short link: http://goo.gl/KrcSfa
searchword: wififorosx
