Atheros N mini pci and T23

[holdenburg]

Hi everyone...

I am tempted to go down this path and try the Atheros Mini-pci in the T23. I have read about others here who have braved the PINA disassembly and trying to squeeze an antenna into the LCD frame. I have the T30 antenna here and wanted to see if I can breathe some life into this project and make it work... There has been limited success in just using the antenna in the base so I wanted to see if I can mod the T30 antenna and make it work in the LCD frame.

I have also seen where some have been able to overcome the initial error of the unauthorized Atheros card by tweeking the card or bios...

Can anyone shed some light on this or has anyone tried this recently? I have an 802.11n router now for the home network and do not want to keep running the PCMCIA card...

Thx...

H.

[RealBlackStuff]

Look in the T2x forum, plenty posts about that subject.
Start here
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=32948
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=49382
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_w ... s#Solution
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_w ... twork_card

[holdenburg]

Hi and Thx for the links...

I installed the 1.1 processor today and installed the T30 antenna into the LCD. A bit if a mod as I had to drill holes to match up to the LCD brackets. I got thorough this fine. I snapped in the bezel and I was on my way. I was able to route the antenna wires under the system board and passed them through the left hinge area.

I did not take any pictures but I could do this again now that I completed this setup. I am waiting on the Atheros 802.11n card.
The Cisco 350 card is not very happy with the D-Link DIR-655 router so I am updating the firmware on the card now and will wait for the Atheros to arrive...

Best Regards;

H

[aaa]

What N card are you getting?

[holdenburg]

Triple A...

I was leaning toward the Atheros but after getting more reading done here, it would seem that one can get through the boot issues of the Atheros but I am not sure if it is worth it on the T23 platform.

I completed the atenna mod and used the t30 antenna on the t23 LCD. Threaded the antenna under the system board and attached them to the standard Cisco350 card. The performance of the standard Cisco 350 is sub-par and now my concern is if it is worth the effort at all even if I goto 802.11n. There has already been some discussion on this and others are experiencing the same performance issues. I never saw a T23 factory wireless so I do not know what IBM did on the original chassis that allowed it to work with an acceptable performace level.

At first I thought it was the firmware of the 350 card but now I see that there is an issue modding the t23 chassis and getting decent enough reception to make it worth while. It would be great to shed the pcmcia card but this may not come to pass. There is hope in that given the cavity of the left and right areas within the T23 LCD I would think there would be a way to mod a better performing antenna. Why does the t30 antenna not perform? Some think it's the constuction of the LCD shell it self on the t23. It does not allow for good reception. I am willing to explore this but you then start getting into antenna constuction and that is another topic of disscussion within itself.

Regards;

H.

[aaa]

Well my Cisco card is working great right now on my T40. I believe much of the case is metal, so you're limited on where you can place the antenna without it being blocked by metal. On my machine, there are slim plastic "portholes" on the edge of the metal screen, to allow wifi signal to get in.

I'd doubt N would alleviate this issue, you still have to find a way to let the signal in.

[rkawakami]

I never saw a T23 factory wireless so I do not know what IBM did on the original chassis that allowed it to work with an acceptable performace level.

Take a look at the first picture on my site:

http://www.rkawakami.net/ibm_t2x/t23_wireless/

The bottom T23 has the factory wireless support as indicated by the plastic "crosshatch" pattern near the corner. The antennas are positioned behind that area and are clear of any metal in the lid.

[holdenburg]

Hi R....

Yes, I reviewed your site when I was doing the feasability of attempting the wireless on the t23 chassis. I should have paid better attention to your setup. I will remod my setup again and see if your method will yield and better connection. I now see your comment at the beginning of your article specific to the compsiton of the cover. Per your comments it appears that the standard t30 antenna's modded to work in the t23 will not be effective as the lid will block the signal. This would explain why others, myself included, are not getting decent wireless performance.

I saw another site that indicated they were using the pcmcia area on the t23 and increased wireless performance by tying into one of the screws on the pcmcia cage. I am not sure if it was the wireless4laptop you indicated. There were no pictures so I am not sure exactly what they attempted other than tying into the screw near the pcmcia cage and were able to improve the wireless performance.

Thanks for the link....

Now, if someone would try the new Ralink 802.11n....

H.