Thinkpads Forum

I'd like to upgrade my home wireless network to 802.11"n". I will probably buy a new Apple Airport Extreme to do this.

So, is there a way to upgrade my X60s from the current "a/b/g" card to an "n" card? Alternatively, has anyone had good luck with a USB "n" WLAN adapter that I could plug into the X60s' UltraBase?

Also, my X60s did not come with EVDO capability, but now I wish I had it.

Can I retrofit this, for example are the EVDO card and driver/other software available separately and is it a do-it-yourself sort of install? I've opened up notebooks to replace hard drives, etc, in the past.

Thanks!

You should be able to replace the abg with the n, but I wouldn't count on the evdo. The evdo uses the mounted antenna on the side of the screen, and i dont know where the other antenna is. I'm sure its possible, but certainly not easy.

jyl wrote: Also, my X60s did not come with EVDO capability, but now I wish I had it.

Can I retrofit this, for example are the EVDO card and driver/other software available separately and is it a do-it-yourself sort of install? I've opened up notebooks to replace hard drives, etc, in the past.

In my X60s which I ordered without EVDO, there is only one mini PCI express socket soldered to the mainboard (occupied by the wireless lan card). The solder pads are there for a second socket, but you'd have to solder in the socket yourself, if you wanted to use two mini PCI express cards at once. However, if you removed the wlan card and used a usb wlan adapter, then you may be able to put in an EVDO card in its place. In my machine the antenna for the wwan card is not present, but I believe this is available as a field-maintenance part (specific to whether you want verizon or vodafone, and specific to whether you have a TMD or SPWG screen), and you'll have to dismantle the laptop pretty completely, to put it in there....

The "802.11 "N" cards use 3 antenna leads; your machine has 2 WiFi antenna leads. Leave the center connector on the "N" card disconnected.

The EV-DO card plugs into a Mini-PCI Express socket to the right of the 802.11 card socket. The sockets are under the right side of the palm rest.

However, some X60s motherboards do not have the second Mini-PCI Express socket. I suspect that yours does not because the LCD lid does not have the EV-DO antenna. Without that socket, you have two options for EV-DO:
1) use an external card, or
2) remove the internal 802.11 card so you can use its socket for an internal EV-DO card.

If you have the second socket, then you can use an internal EV-DO card, and adding the two EV-DO antennas is straight forward. One antenna is a stick-on under the palm rest, the other requires removal of the LCD bezel.

I'd forget about the internal EVDO card because it is the older EVDO Rev 0 and now the much better Verizon EVDO Rev A is released using the Verizon Sierra Wireless 595 Aircard. The built-in EVDO Rev A will not come out from Lenovo until the Santa Rosa platform/chipset sometime after April.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/stor ... oneId=2730

EOMtp wrote:The "802.11 "N" cards use 3 antenna leads; your machine has 2 WiFi antenna leads. Leave the center connector on the "N" card disconnected.

What are the other two used by?

I would for instance gladly exchange 802.11 A (never even seen it) for N if possible
But I guess that would be too good to be true.

brumwald wrote:What are the other two used by?

Let me clarify:
-- 802.11 a/b/g cards have 2 antenna connection points.
-- 802.11 n cards have 3 antenna connection points.
-- EV-DO cards have 2 antenna connection points.

The Thinkpad can have 2 antenna wires for 802.11 and 2 antenna wires for EV-DO.

If the EV-DO antennas are used for an internal EV-DO card, then the two 802.11 wires connect to only two of the three connectors on the 802.11 n card (the connectors on the sides, leaving the center connector open).

If there is no EV-DO card in the machine, then the primary EV-DO antenna can be replaced with an antenna to be connected to the third (center) connector of an 802.11 n card. This becomes the MIMO 3rd antenna cable, which is not a necessity.

Ah, thanks for the info.

EOMtp wrote:

brumwald wrote:What are the other two used by?

Let me clarify:
-- 802.11 a/b/g cards have 2 antenna connection points.
-- 802.11 n cards have 3 antenna connection points.
-- EV-DO cards have 2 antenna connection points.

The Thinkpad can have 2 antenna wires for 802.11 and 2 antenna wires for EV-DO.

If the EV-DO antennas are used for an internal EV-DO card, then the two 802.11 wires connect to only two of the three connectors on the 802.11 n card (the connectors on the sides, leaving the center connector open).

If there is no EV-DO card in the machine, then the primary EV-DO antenna can be replaced with an antenna to be connected to the third (center) connector of an 802.11 n card. This becomes the MIMO 3rd antenna cable, which is not a necessity.

You forgot about the bluetooth antenna - that's another 1 antenna.

dmdsoftware wrote:You forgot about the bluetooth antenna - that's another 1 antenna.

No, I did not. In the X60 and T60 series, the Bluetooth adapter attaches to a connector on the LCD cable. There is no separate discrete antenna for the Bluetooth adapter.