T43 will not show wireless card

[swardrn]

I have a T 43. I want to make a computer just to stick in my garage from spare stuff that I have lying around. Everything works on the T 43 but I cannot get it to show install the wireless card. It has an Intel wireless card. I have tried multiple different cards. I have installed the drivers. It will not show the wireless card. On the net it shows that there is actual a physical switch to turn the card off and on other than function F5. I cannot find a switch on this T 43 and I’ve done everything I can think of to get it to recognize the Intel wireless card! Any ideas would be helpful

[RealBlackStuff]

There is no wifi-switch on T4x models.
Many wifi cards die of old age.
Over the years their gold contacts erode as well, clean them with a rubber eraser till they shine and remove any debris.
To be a more up-to-date and faster, look for a TP-LINK TL-WN861N 300Mbps card.

[Glaurung-quena]

I have a T 43. I want to make a computer just to stick in my garage from spare stuff that I have lying around. Everything works on the T 43 but I cannot get it to show install the wireless card. It has an Intel wireless card. I have tried multiple different cards. I have installed the drivers. It will not show the wireless card. On the net it shows that there is actual a physical switch to turn the card off and on other than function F5. I cannot find a switch on this T 43 and I’ve done everything I can think of to get it to recognize the Intel wireless card! Any ideas would be helpful

Your wireless card slot could be bad. Last year I ran into this exact problem on a T42 or T43 (don't recall which) - known working wifi cards would work on other T4x laptops, but not this one. The card slot was simply dead.

You could try finding an affordable replacement motherboard - if not a T43, a T42 board will fit the case perfectly and not represent much of a downgrade. Or get a USB wifi dongle.