When we got our Time Capsule PolyVector and I began a search for Mac compatible USB dongles that would give his MacBook the ability to connect to an N wifi network. PolyVector has a first gen MacBook, meaning it was released before Apple decided to put N AirPort Extreme cards in all their Macs. Unfortunately Apple doesn’t provide an upgrade kit for the MacBooks nor is there an inexpensive USB dongle out there that supports connecting to an N wifi network on the 5Ghz band. So we took matters into our own hands.

I happened to come across quite a few people who were proud owners of the new AirPort Extreme Base Stations that supported N but happened to have first gen MacBooks. The most common work around for getting their MacBooks to support the new N technology was to simply mod it using an Apple AirPort upgrade kit for a Mac Pro (Pre-2008). PolyVector and I decided we would go ahead with this method and see if it would work for us.

The first thing you have to do is make sure you obtain the right part. You must get a Mac Pro upgrade kit with the part number MA688Z/A or MA688Z/B (which is what we used). You can find this part all around the web, but Amazon happened to be selling one from J&R and for $50USD (compared to the up to $300USD for a compatible USB dongle), it wasn’t that bad a price.

The next step of course would be putting the new AirPort card in your MacBook. Thanks to a tutorial from Hardmac we got through the entire disassembly of the MacBook and getting the chip installed with no problem. PolyVector is now enjoying being wireless once again.

Our first MacBook Mod was extremely successful. Phew!