Stuffing Wireless into my "new" T21

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theodork · #1 Post by **theodork** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 5:35 am

I just got a T21 (rescued it from a friend who thought it was dead) and I'm planning on stuffing internal wireless card/antenna into it.

I already saw and explored the links in
this thread but I'm still a little unsure of some things.

The IBM wireless cards, like this one tend to better than the Intel ones. But will they be compatible with my notebook? It's not listed in the compatibility list but i figured as long as i download and install the driver they should work since it IS mini PCI right? But im not sure.. Are there other cards i can look at? better and/or cheaper?

Also, IBM antenna kits are NOT as good as the generic ones such as these? Thats what it seemed like from Nolonemo's report, but i was thinking that could have been an isolated incident? But he's given the most detailed information.

Well thanks for ANY input i could get.

-Theo

Zeitgeist · #2 Post by **Zeitgeist** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 5:55 am

If you want detailled informations, follow flatdraft's instructions in

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... t=wlan+t23

It works!

theodork · #3 Post by **theodork** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:36 am

woah, that page is helpful, thanks! but the pricing for those parts is no longer accurate, its WAY more expensive now, ebay doesnt seem to be helping either. Do you guys think its possible to successfully snake antennas into the screen without buying all those parts and with little modification? or are the replacement parts necessary for decent signal strength etc.. just wondering because those the lcd covers aren't available on IBMs site anymore, and the hinge and antenna are going to cost over $60 alone

so its safe to assume hardware for t23 is similar enough to hardware in t21 in terms of mini pci card compatibility?

thanks again!

Zeitgeist · #4 Post by **Zeitgeist** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:36 am

theodork wrote:woah, that page is helpful, thanks! but the pricing for those parts is no longer accurate, its WAY more expensive now, ebay doesnt seem to be helping either.

so its safe to assume hardware for t23 is similar enough to hardware in t21 in terms of mini pci card compatibility?

At least the Ebay price for the WLAN card did not change:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... eName=WDVW

I don't believe that IBM changed the prices that much.

I forgot, the t21 is rather different from the t23, I think it is not possible to integrate wlan, check the hardware maintenance manual:

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.ws ... &loc=en_US

Nolonemo · #5 Post by **Nolonemo** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:58 am

theodork wrote: Do you guys think its possible to successfully snake antennas into the screen without buying all those parts and with little modification? or are the replacement parts necessary for decent signal strength etc.. just wondering because those the lcd covers aren't available on IBMs site anymore, and the hinge and antenna are going to cost over $60 alone!

Well, you can definitely get the parts into the LDC cover OK, because I did it two different ways. But as to signal strenght? The thing that made me give up on the IBM antennas was that in head to head comparisons with virutally identical installations under the palmrest, the generic ones outperformed the IBM ones.

So my results were that the IBM antennas, without more, give inferior results.

The question is, then, does the special T23 wireless LCD cover do something that improves the antenna performance? The only way to answer that is to get a cover and try it out, but as you found out, theyre pretty expensive (I think they were over $150 when I was looking, for the cover alone).

I got tired of throwing money at the project. BTW, I'll sell you my IBM antennas at my cost if you want, message me via this forum.

theodork · #6 Post by **theodork** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:20 am

I forgot, the t21 is rather different from the t23, I think it is not possible to integrate wlan, check the hardware maintenance manual

well the T21 and T22 come with no factory standard option of adding wireless, only the T23, but there have been many people who have claimed to have successfully installed wireless modules into the T22, and i figured it may be possible with the T21. Now i was wondering if i need to get a specific card like the one in your link

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... eName=WDVW

or if i could use any mpci card...

The thing that made me give up on the IBM antennas was that in head to head comparisons with virutally identical installations under the palmrest, the generic ones outperformed the IBM ones.

hrm, how des the generic antenna under the palm rest perform compared to a decent cardbus wifi card?

Zeitgeist · #7 Post by **Zeitgeist** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:46 am

theodork wrote: Now i was wondering if i need to get a specific card like the one in your link

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... eName=WDVW

or if i could use any mpci card...

You need IBM cards unless you want to perform a bios hack:
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~mjg59/thinkpad/wireless.html

BTW did you read the question at the bottom of the ebay link? If you replace the card you will lose the LAN function since the t21 does not support simultaneously wlan,lan,modem.

Nolonemo · #8 Post by **Nolonemo** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:00 am

Zeitgeist wrote:
You need IBM cards unless you want to perform a bios hack:
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~mjg59/thinkpad/wireless.html

NO! This is the case only with the higher number series (not sure when it starts, if its in the T30 or the T4x). Any miniPCI card should be compatible. I myself have used the Orinioco Silver b and Intel 2200 bg cards with no problems at all in the T22. If that's the case for the T22 I can't imagine that there would be a problem with the T21.

theodork · #9 Post by **theodork** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:41 am

BTW did you read the question at the bottom of the ebay link? If you replace the card you will lose the LAN function since the t21 does not support simultaneously wlan,lan,modem.

yes i did read that, thanks for making sure though =D

NO! This is the case only with the higher number series (not sure when it starts, if its in the T30 or the T4x). Any miniPCI card should be compatible. I myself have used the Orinioco Silver b and Intel 2200 bg cards with no problems at all in the T22. If that's the case for the T22 I can't imagine that there would be a problem with the T21.

thanks for the clarification, this means i can get an atheros or orinocco card then..

so do you think using the generic antenna cables routed under the palm rest would have good reception compared to PC card wireless cards? like an 3com XJACK ?

thanks for the replies guys, its very helpful

Zeitgeist · #10 Post by **Zeitgeist** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:28 pm

"Nolonemo
NO! This is the case only with the higher number series (not sure when it starts, if its in the T30 or the T4x). .

Thanks, I didn´t know that!

theodork: I think it is much better and cheaper to use the 3com card!

no_man · #11 Post by **no_man** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:29 pm

I run a LinkSys WPC54G wireless PC card in each of my Thinkpads, using it at freespots, and T-mobile Hotspots. Much stronger signals than internal wires. Card is problem free, the software includes a 'site survey' and detects all existing Wi-Fi in the area. Cost around $50.00 from many sources.

theodork · #12 Post by **theodork** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:18 pm

Thanks for the input guys, I know linksys cards are good, I was just hoping i could get away without having the extra wing on the left side of my computer =) I was kinda hoping to use the double pccard slot for an internal USB2.0 card that doesnt stick out. Anyone know of the reception strength of the 3com XJACK cards?

I know I'm kicking a dead horse, but nonolemo reported higher signal strength with the generic antenna cables than the OEM IBM wires, but im still wondering of the signal strength when those wires are under the keyboard. I wonder if paired with a really good MPCI wifi card if it would improve, although it seems like nonolemo used top notch orinocco MPCI cards with his wires and didnt get anything spectacular as he didnt really mention too much about it... sounded like a failed project..

but really, if a better MPCI card from ebay is paired with the $15 antenna mounted under the keyboard gives decent signal strength that wouldnt be too expensive, just a little more than a 3com xjack card. its just its unknown how good the signal strength would be.. or maybe it is and im just in denial =D

JHEM · #13 Post by **JHEM** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:31 pm

If it will help you decide, changing the existing MPCI card for a WiFi one will lose you the ability to connect via the RJ45 ethernet plug!

There no combo WiFi/Ethernet MPCI cards.

Regards,

James

Nolonemo · #14 Post by **Nolonemo** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:37 pm

I found that the signal strength (again, measuring with Network stumbler, so I was measuring in dB rather than icon bars or such) was about the same between my Belkin G pc card and the stronger antennas. I had been considering using an Xjack pc card to avoid the PC card sticking out of the side of the laptop. (It would have been a lot cheaper in the long run) but became obsessed with getting an antenna into the T22

)

When I was researching the xJack cards, I got the impression that they were a little less sensitive than most wireless PC cards.

If you really want to get the dope on what the most sensitive PC card is, you could try browsing and netstumbler.org, the Network Stumbler forums. People there really get into sensitivity.

BTW, I ran both the generic antennas and the IBM antennas under the palmrest, and the generic ones were the clear winners, but their performance, was, as I said, about the same as with the Belkin PC card. The comparisons to the PC card is for the Intel 2200 bg card, I can't remember exactly how the Orinoco performed, but I think it was about the same.

Note that the 11 mbps b xjack cards are 16-bit cards, so they will fit in the top slot of your PC card bay, but I think any usb2 PC card would either block the top slot or prevent the antenna from extending (which powers on the wireless card). But the a/b/g and super-g xjack cards are cardbus cards which will only fit in the bottom slot.

JHEM · #15 Post by **JHEM** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:53 pm

Nolonemo wrote:But the a/b/g and super-g xjack cards are cardbus cards which will only fit in the bottom slot.

I don't know what would make you think that, both of the PC card ports on the T series machines are Cardbus.

Regards,

James

Nolonemo · #16 Post by **Nolonemo** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:26 pm

Oops, thanks for the correction

theodork · #17 Post by **theodork** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 1:36 pm

thanks for the replies, I've learned a lot from them as well as my own research and tinkering.

I've decided I'll probably get a cisco aironoet lmc350 PCMCIA card or a IBM Internal Wireless PCMCIA card (if i can find one!) and pair it with an external blade antenna (1" x 6" x .1") mounted on the back of the screen. This setup should be pretty streamlined while giving excellent signal strength without losing any of the original functions of the laptop (ethernet/modem). This would also be reusable whenever I get a new laptop in the future so its not wasted money.

I considered getting an MPCI card and using the generic antennas routed under the palms rests and getting a xircom double PCMCIA card for ethernet/modem functionality. I decided against this mainly because this would be minimum $60 purchase that cannot transfer usefulness into other computers.

Aprox. the same amount of money with the lmc350/blade antenna gives much better signal strength as well as flexibility if i ever wanna go nuts with external antennas =D.

Stuffing Wireless into my "new" T21

Stuffing Wireless into my "new" T21

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