T41 with Cisco or Intel wireless cards problem

[jasonmiamifl]

For the last few days, I have been driven nuts by the problem of this used T41 I bought on Ebay.

The Intel wireless came with it I installed the driver ( mini pci ) and it was regconized & worked, then after logged onto my wireless network for few seconds and got disconnected. Sometimes it said wireless network out of range which it was right beside
the Linksys dsl router.

Then I switched to a Cisco MPI350 wireless card and installed and it had same problem, even worse.

I completely installed the Windows XP pro from the T40 restore cds. The problem remain same.

Anyone out there has some hints for this problem ??

Thanks in advance for your kind help.

[poshgeordie]

Hi Jason and welcome to the forums.

A few things to look at.

1. Can you tell us the FRU number for each card - it's usually written on the white plastic covering around the card. This is to make sure you have the right card for the TP.

1a. What is the make of the Intel card?

2. Run the wireless with no encryption.

3. Change the channel to one a long way from what you're on at the moment.

4. Linked to '3', interference from nearby UHF signal sources like digital phones (not mobliles but portable and DECT landline handsets); also microwave ovens.

5. You've installed all the drivers for the Thinkpad (TP) from here. The Intel Chipset driver should go on first to give a strong 'foundation' to the install. I mention this because I've had TP's in for repair too many times where these are missing and it doesn't work properly.
Also on the same theme, where there's an unknown driver in System > Device Manager > Devices (I think!) install the ACPI driver. Also to tidy up, the modem driver too but this isn't related to your problem.

6. The tiny antennae sockets are properly plugged in and the right way round - grey = main, black = aux.

7. Please confirm there's no obvious damage to the grey and black cables anywhere, especially where they go under the display connector at the top left hand corner and up into the display.

8. Try disable power-saving for the wireless card (device manager > wireless card > properties) or set it on the maximum performance if not yet (from this thread).

It's worth doing a forum search for each make of card: Search > Search for keywords: intel (or cisco) wireless; Search in T4x forums; Search within topic titles only. There are quite a few posts which may help you.

Of course please let us know how you've got on and I'm sure other's will have further ideas for you.

[jasonmiamifl]

poshgeordie:
Thank you very much for your prompt reply and helpful hints.

This morning I opened the T41 and saw the bottom of the touchpad way too close to the connectors of the Cisco, so I removed the touchpad and used a mouse to test it. Still said no wireless network in range. Then I run repair and found 5 wireless networks around and mine was top excellent signal, then it connected and I could surf Internet.

But then next boot up and it didn't find any wireless network and I had to run repair, then could connect. It kept like a loop.

So I inserted the Intel wireless card back FRU 91p7267 and it works right away flawlessly. So my unsolve mistery solved.

I suspected first time I didn't use the correct Intel driver, so it didn't work properly. Then I switched the Cisco and the metal bottom part of touchpad might touched the connectors of Cisco and grounded all signals. Maybe damaged it.

So for future reference, anyone who use Cisco FRU 2698522 wireless card on T41 be cautious & should put a small piece of electrical tape over the 2 connectors, in order to avoid problems.

Now I am happy and can eat & sleep peacefully. Thanks to your kind helps and this great Thinkpad support forum.

Wish you all the bests.

de Miami, Florida.