The mid-2007 Mac mini (model A1176) was a very interesting update for the Mac mini, because it got upgraded to a Core 2 Duo processor. There is however one thing that should also have been upgraded, but wasn’t (for some strange reason – cost reduction ?) : the AirPort card ; that stayed a WiFi-B/G compatible one only… even though all other Macs had WiFi-B/G/N at that time…
Mac mini A1347 (Mid 2011) Airport Card. Step 1 Bottom Cover. Place your thumbs in the depressions cut into the bottom cover. Rotate the bottom cover counter-clockwise until the white dot painted on the bottom cover is aligned with the ring inscribed on the outer case. You do not need to apply much downward pressure while turning. If you configured your Mac mini (2018) with 10Gb Ethernet, learn which cables to use and how to maximize transfer speeds. Connect to 10Gb Ethernet. Connect multiple displays to your Mac mini. With four Thunderbolt 3 ports built-in, Mac mini supports an HDMI display along with two 4K.
Luckily it is possible to upgrade the AirPort card to a WiFi-N compatible model.
I found one for a relatively good price on Amazon.de : the Atheros AR9280. Both MacOSX 10.6 Snow Leopard and MacOSX 10.7 Lion recognize it as a genuine AirPort-N card, so in 10.7 Lion the new AirDrop feature is also supported.
Airport Card For Mac Mini
I used the installing directions from iFixit.com :
Airport Extreme Mac Mini
It works perfectly, even with only one antenna (FYI : normally a WiFi-N card should have 3 antennas, but the WiFi-B/G card that was originally installed came with just one…)