Disabling WIFI

[russliddle]

Hi I have a T42 that I need to absolutely disable the ability to get on the internet. I'm thinking I might have to remove the Network Interface Card. Do anyone have any other suggestions or instructions how to remove the cARD. thanks

Admin note: Moved from Forum Rules/FAQ forum

[Neil]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

You can disable the wifi adapter in "Wireless Connections" if you are using Windows. But, I suppose it would be better to physically remove the adapter if you want to completely prevent wireless connections.

Just remove the screws holding the palm rest and keyboard in place, and lift the palm rest. The wifi adapter is in a miniPCI slot right under the touchpad. Easy to remove.

[craigmontHunter]

You can also disable it in the bios, and set the corresponding supervisor password so that it cannot be activated. this way you wouldn't need to remove the card.

[systemBuilder]

Indeed, this week we are replacing the BIOS password chip on a laptop of ours, which has the 802.11 disabled in the BIOS, and it was purchased with a BIOS password so we could not re-enable the 802.11 in BIOS.

For the longest time, however, we ran this laptop with a $5 PCMCIA 802.11, the NetGear WG511 card, which worked so well that I also used this adapter in my employer's laptop (because Intel 2100 chipsets really don't work with advanced 802.11 encryption, frankly...)

If you are looking to block selective websites so that your kids cannot access them, you can "blacklist" them by adding the addresses as loopback addresses (127.0.0.1) to the hosts file in C:\WINDOWS\System32. There are much more sophisticated parental controls available, but i was just wondering : Are parental controls what you're looking for ??

[RealBlackStuff]

Indeed, this week we are replacing the BIOS password chip on a laptop of ours, which has the 802.11 disabled in the BIOS, and it was purchased with a BIOS password so we could not re-enable the 802.11 in BIOS.

Go ahead, replace the BIOS chip. It won't do you any good.

[systemBuilder]

I think you misspoke. And I am replacing the BIOS PASSWORD chip, the ATMEL chip, with one that has been reprogrammed for a T42. And I don't understand why you're so negative all the time .. got milk?