It better not be, the Apple store installed the Airport Extreme Card yesterday.
I’m sure it isn’t the card, its the genius engineers who decided that it should be fine to enclose a 2.4 ghz antenna inside 50 lbs of aircraft aluminum. I have to wonder if they EVER tested the thing.
The SECOND I opened the side of the case, PING! WiFi connected.
Obviously style prevailed over substance, and the fact that the card alone cost 85 bucks chaps my arse. Another 10 bucks and I could’ve just bought a roll of Cat 5 cable and connected at 100 mb/s. Sheesh, Wireless is supposed to be easy, this is NOT endearing at all.
Actually, I’ve had little problems with PMG5 Wireless. The real problem children from Apple on WiFi were the old Titanium PowerBooks - they had real problems.
By the way, where did you see that Apple claimed you didn’t need an antenna on the PMG5.
By the way, you’re *supposed* to have the stock external Wifi antenna on the back of the unit. There’s a cable that runs from the front of the case where the Airport card resides. On the back of the case, there’s a little wireless antenna connector. There should have been a plastic antenna on the back of the unit, a T-shaped thing. Is yours missing? All of them came with this from the factory.
My PowerMac G5 (including the 50 Lbs Aircraft aluminum case) came with an external WiFi antenna in the box with the computer. According to the docs that came with my G5, you need the antenna to use WIFI on the PowerMac G5. WIFI will not work on the G5 without the antenna. It was never intended to work without it.
Perhaps you better buy the antenna if you don't have the one that came with it.
Me? I'd buy this one on eBay. There are several more starting at 99¢ but those are auctions so the price may go up.