Need help adding wireless to T30

[arizona]

I just grabbed a t30 that did not come equipped with wireless (per the seller). I don't have the laptop in my hands yet so I don't know exactly what I'm dealing with. Here's the details from the listing.

Processor Type: Intel Pentium 4 Type: Laptop/Notebook
Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz Screen Size: 14 inches
Processor Configuration: Single Core Operating System: Windows XP Home
Memory (RAM): 512 MB Primary Drive: DVD-ROM
Hard Drive Capacity: 40 GB

THIS IBM WORKS GOOD AND LOOKS VERY GOOD NICE SCREEN,KEYBOARD WORKS GOOD DVD WORKS,BATTERY WANT HOLD A CHARGE ,COME WITH A/C ADAPTER SELLING THIS AS IS NO RETURNS U.S SHIPPING ONLY.

Anyway, I want to add wireless as soon as possible. I started googling and it sounds like all the t30's came installed with antennas even if they didn't come with a card. Is this correct?

I did some further reading on this forum and it sounds like these are the preferred cards:

"Get yourself an Intel 2200BG MiniPCI wifi card, most people have excellent results with it. You will need the No-1802 hack."

"RBS prefers Intel wireless I prefer Atheros. Either will do the job fine. Dont worry about buying the brand name card. Most of my Atheros are from Toshibas. Run the Factory (Intel/Atheros) drivers and you get a cheap card and the best drivers (about $5.00 shipped)"

So, am I right to assume that any of these will work?

Atheros Search: http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=athero ... m270.l1313

Intel 2200BG Search: http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=intel+ ... m270.l1313

Any help or thoughts would be appreciated. If you have a few specific cards that you recommend, all the better.

Thank you for your help.

[RealBlackStuff]

AFAIK most (but not all) came wifi equipped or wifi upgradable.
When you get the machine, open up the wifi cover on the bottom. If you see 2 antenna wires, you're OK.
If not, get a (cheap) lid with antennas (e.g. with a broken LCD in it).
Or get a PCMCIA card to tide you over till you find the proper lid.
Either card as mentioned will work fine.

[arizona]

Thanks a lot for the reply. That should be very helpful.

I grabbed a Toshiba A55 A85 AR5BMB5 802.11BG WiFi Card AR5005G. Hopefully this will do the trick. I will keep my fingers crossed that my computer already has the antennas installed.

Thanks

[jronald]

I have probably put my hands on 12 or so T30 lids, I only remember one that did not have the antennas, but it was also missing the hinges. You actually quoted me earlier. I run the Intel cards only to run the Centrino software. Since most of my machines, including the T30s dont have the Centrino, Ill run the Atheros all day long. I have noticed the Intel in Centrino tend to heat up and slow down. That may be a function of the Centrino though.....not sure.
Anyway the card you have chosen is fine. I have found it better to run the installer program for the card, then install the card. It wont find the card once you install it, so you need to point the new installer to the unzipped file to load he bare minimum. This is if you want to use the windows wireless manager. It is very, very convenient for 99% of the people. If the signal is very weak you are better off running the Atheros program in its entirety.

Ron

[arizona]

Thanks Ron. What installer program are you speaking of. The installer program at the Atheros website or is there an installer program on the Thinkpad?

Thanks

[jronald]

PM your email address, Ill send you the 2 drivers files I use.

Ron

[arizona]

So I got rid of the 1802 error, got my card installed and unzipped the driver for my Atheros card that Ron sent me. What's next? I don't have a clue of how to connect to the internet using wifi on this machine. On my R61i and netbook it's a piece of cake.

Under "start" a Netgear WF111v2 Smart Wizard is there, but when I click it nothing happens....

[Harryc]

Simply unzipping the driver is not enough. You have to go into the driver folder and install it. It will be a subdirectory of c:\drivers

[arizona]

I ran the setup.exe file. Is that what you mean?

[Harryc]

Yes, I just reread this thread ... wait for Ron to stop by. I have no idea what he is telling you to do when he says "It wont find the card once you install it, so you need to point the new installer to the unzipped file to load he bare minimum." Unless the installer and the drivers are in seperate files ...

[arizona]

Thanks Harry. I'm not sure if this helps, but I get a code 39 in the device manager section for the adapter.

[Harryc]

The only thing I can think of is that you need to go into device manager, advanced properties for the adapter, then reinstall the driver and point the installer to the folder with the unzipped driver files.

[jronald]

Harryc is correct, sorry I got distracted in looking for a job.

Fire the unit up, it will say "new hardware found" once it does that, tell it to not connect to the internet, and to go find the drivers in the folder you unzipped. It will transfer 1 to 3 files, this is normal.
Make sure you have at least XP, SP2 installed and it should start the wireless setup for you. Follow the prompts and you should be in business.

Ron