iM 4,1-14,4 iMac (late 2007 to mid 2011) 802.11ac + BT 4.0 internal upgrade

[StephN999]

Bonjour,

Thank you for the tutorials/explanations, I struggled a little to position the antennas because there was not enough "flexibility". otherwise I had reversed D + and D - the wifi worked but not the bluetooth... ?

In short, everything works impeccably.

Have a good day.

 

[Roger GP]

Which is the best card to get, going to open my imac 27 2011 inch. Would prefer a plug and play option without spending osxwifi prices haha any recommendations?

 

[herrdude]

Which is the best card to get, going to open my imac 27 2011 inch. Would prefer a plug and play option without spending osxwifi prices haha any recommendations?

You want a bag of chips with it too?

 

[Roger GP]

You want a bag of chips with it too?

Just asking a question Smart@$$

 

[dac610]

For about a month now, I'm constantly having bluetooth problems almost on a daily basis ("Bluetooth: Not Available" with that grayed icon and a squiggly line on it). I suspect somehow MacOS messed with my BT card firmware...

Nope, no firmware problems. It turns out it was a faulty USB power supply connection I made for the BT section; replaced the adapter with one that supply power to both WiFi and BT sections from the PCI socket and no more problems since.

 

[dac610]

Which is the best card to get, going to open my imac 27 2011 inch...

The BCM94360CD card is the best choice, I'm afraid.

...Would prefer a plug and play option without spending osxwifi prices haha any recommendations?

No such luck: you still have to route yourself the USB data connections to the new card, extend BT antenna cable and further minor OS hacks are needed for full functionality.

But, it all sounds scarier than it is in fact; I bet anyone can manage it, with a bit of patience and focus.

 

[herrdude]

The BCM94360CD card is the best choice, I'm afraid.


No such luck: you still have to route yourself the USB data connections to the new card, extend BT antenna cable and further minor OS hacks are needed for full functionality.

But, it all sounds scarier than it is in fact; I bet anyone can manage it, with a bit of patience and focus.

It's a pain in the butt to figure out the wires. We can't count on the colours as they are not consistent.

 

[Roger GP]

The BCM94360CD card is the best choice, I'm afraid.


No such luck: you still have to route yourself the USB data connections to the new card, extend BT antenna cable and further minor OS hacks are needed for full functionality.

But, it all sounds scarier than it is in fact; I bet anyone can manage it, with a bit of patience and focus.

Thank you for your sound and quality advice. Much appreciated!!

 

[Ausdauersportler]

It's a pain in the butt to figure out the wires. We can't count on the colours as they are not consistent.

Using the original BT cable: right 3.3V, then D-, finally D+ - I have to it look up this every time again.

BTW:
The BCM943602CDP fits in the same way in the adapter and offers BT 4.2 which is said to enable watch unlock with Catalina in these days. Cannot prove this because I still do not own such a watch...

 

[xanderon]

…

BTW:
The BCM943602CDP fits in the same way in the adapter and offers BT 4.2 which is said to enable watch unlock with Catalina in these days. Cannot prove this because I still do not own such a watch...

where do you have this info from? asking for the watch problem, I only have bt 4.0 with swapped BCM94360CD card

 

[Ausdauersportler]

where do you have this info from? asking for the watch problem, I only have bt 4.0 with swapped BCM94360CD card

Found this quote on the Catalina thread and the cards on EBay...

 

[Macfredb]

Hello
I'm new user. I'm about ton upgrade my iMac 27" 2011.
I bought new wifi/bluetooth card (https://www.ebay.fr/itm/macOS-Hando...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2763.l2649).

To use Bluetooth 4, I understand that I should connect bluetooth antenna and I need this part: https://www.ebay.fr/itm/24-U-FL-IPX...ard/191422150400?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144
OK ?

I need too, connector cable to connect old Bluetooth connector to new wifi.bluetooth card, for use D+ and D-.
Somebody can help me to find it ?

Thanks for your help.
I hope my English not to bad, and you will understand me

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hello
I'm new user. I'm about ton upgrade my iMac 27" 2011.
I bought new wifi/bluetooth card (https://www.ebay.fr/itm/macOS-Handoff-Continuity-Wifi-Card-for-Broadcom-BCM94360CD-802-11ac-BT-4-0/283549985440?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2763.l2649).

To use Bluetooth 4, I understand that I should connect bluetooth antenna and I need this part: https://www.ebay.fr/itm/24-U-FL-IPX...ard/191422150400?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144
OK ?

I need too, connector cable to connect old Bluetooth connector to new wifi.bluetooth card, for use D+ and D-.
Somebody can help me to find it ?

Thanks for your help.
I hope my English not to bad, and you will understand me

Just go back some pages, on page 12 there is a guide through this.

The cables to connect D+/D-/3.3V are normal flat cables you know surely...

1m Kabel 20 AWG 2 3 4 5 oder 6 adrig CCT RGB RGBW RGBCW 2-6 Adern für LED Strips | eBay

Farbe der Adern: schwarz-rot (Zwillingslitze) braun-gelb-weiß (CCT), schwarz-blau-rot-grün (RGB), schwarz-grün-rot-weiß-blau (RGBW) und schwarz-gelb-grün-rot-blau-weiß (RGBCW). Breite (2-adrig): 3,6 mm.

www.ebay.de

Soldering is easy, I pulled the cables out of the old BT connector one by one and soldered them to the three lines with goes to the adapter board.

The antenna connector looks good, you need the IPEX-4 ones.

If you have no solder point for the 3.3V line it is the leftmost pin on the new smaller port for the new card. You will find pictures showing it in this not so long thread. Search it and read it!

 

[Macfredb]

thanks I will read page 12.

 

[herrdude]

Hello
I'm new user. I'm about ton upgrade my iMac 27" 2011.
I bought new wifi/bluetooth card (https://www.ebay.fr/itm/macOS-Handoff-Continuity-Wifi-Card-for-Broadcom-BCM94360CD-802-11ac-BT-4-0/283549985440?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2763.l2649).

To use Bluetooth 4, I understand that I should connect bluetooth antenna and I need this part: https://www.ebay.fr/itm/24-U-FL-IPX...ard/191422150400?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144
OK ?

I need too, connector cable to connect old Bluetooth connector to new wifi.bluetooth card, for use D+ and D-.
Somebody can help me to find it ?

Thanks for your help.
I hope my English not to bad, and you will understand me

I just used one of my wifi antennas and it worked fine. I am connected with a network cable and anyways I barely noticed a change in my wifi connection. If you choose to go this route, you need to make sure the two inside connections have an antenna. I can't remember which one is for bluetooth.
[automerge]1594740970[/automerge]

Just go back some pages, on page 12 there is a guide through this.

The cables to connect D+/D-/3.3V are normal flat cables you know surely...

1m Kabel 20 AWG 2 3 4 5 oder 6 adrig CCT RGB RGBW RGBCW 2-6 Adern für LED Strips | eBay

Farbe der Adern: schwarz-rot (Zwillingslitze) braun-gelb-weiß (CCT), schwarz-blau-rot-grün (RGB), schwarz-grün-rot-weiß-blau (RGBW) und schwarz-gelb-grün-rot-blau-weiß (RGBCW). Breite (2-adrig): 3,6 mm.

www.ebay.de

Soldering is easy, I pulled the cables out of the old BT connector one be one and soldered them to the three lines with goes to the adapter board.

The antenna connector looks good, you need the IPEX-4 ones.

If you have no solder point for the 3.3V line it is the leftmost pin on the new smaller port for the new card. You will find pictures showing it in this not so long thread. Search it and read it!

Maybe, we should ask to make the first post a Wiki to set up a proper guide ;-)

 

[Marsupio]

Hello,

finally I have sold my iMac 2011 27 inches and I had bought a "plug n play" wifi ac / bt 4 upgrade kit from local338 store. So I have this never used upgrade kit for sale. PM me if interested. I'm located in France. Thank you.

 

[herrdude]

Hello,

finally I have sold my iMac 2011 27 inches and I had bought a "plug n play" wifi ac / bt 4 upgrade kit from local338 store. So I have this never used upgrade kit for sale. PM me if interested. Thank you.

Maybe let the others know what part of the world you are in. This way they can decide whether it's feasible to do business with you.

Cheers!

 

[Macfredb]

Hi
I want to order this female connector (6pins):https://www.ebay.fr/itm/Micro-JST-G...700517?hash=item3d398f57e5:g:qMcAAOSw4A5Y01yd
to connect male connector from old Bluetooth card to the new one with D+, D- and 3.3V. (I don't want to cut old cable if I need to reverse to original bluetooth card)
Correct choice ?
Thanks for the time you take to read me.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

No one knows! Order, check and post your results ?

 

[KingCornWallis]

Hello all, is it possible to make this into a Wiki and pin relevant links, compatibility status, and pictures at the first post? Following this thread is becoming a bit unruly. Thanks!

 

[herrdude]

Hello all, is it possible to make this into a Wiki and pin relevant links, compatibility status, and pictures at the first post? Following this thread is becoming a bit unruly. Thanks!

I wouldn't mind setting up a guide-wiki for the first post. How can we convert the first post to a wiki?

 

[Weaselboy]

I made post #1 a wiki.

 

[Cordonblu]

I also have 10.15.5. I have tried everything it won't unlock my iMac. So, it's interesting that we both have the same problem which points to a software issue.

Hello there!

I have installed the local338 kit and everything is working without problems except unlock with watch in the lockscreen, I have been googling around for a bit and it seems that we need 4.2 BT for that.
So, until someone figures a workaround, the only option for now is the CDP 4.2 card.

 

[Marsupio]

Hello there!

I have installed the local338 kit and everything is working without problems except unlock with watch in the lockscreen, I have been googling around for a bit and it seems that we need 4.2 BT for that.
So, until someone figures a workaround, the only option for now is the CDP 4.2 card.

The local338 kit does not include a BCM943602CDP board ?

 

[Cordonblu]

The local338 kit does not include a BCM943602CDP board ?

Nope, its a BCM94360CD.