Intel M.2 form factor WiFi cards in T-520 - possible?

[wsalomon]

I'm finishing my build of 2 T-520s and the last thing to do is WiFi. I have already flashed the BIOS with a ver 1.49 no white-list version, so my question is whether there are later later Intel Cards (8260, 9260) in the M.2 form factor that will work with an M.2 to Mini PCIe adapter. Given that the original WiFi card slot is half height, this leaves the WWAN slot as the only possible location. It is clear that one would a set of the smaller contact leads to adapt the antenna wires.

Has anyone tried this? Was it successful?

An alternative seem to be Chinese version of the 8260 on a 1/2 height PCIe, but doesn't include a Bluetooth 5 adapter.

Thanks in advance.

[RealBlackStuff]

Get the 7260-AC, it is mini-PCIe and includes BT.
E.g. here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/254063993862

[wsalomon]

Thanks!

I actually switched over to the 7260 for all my T-61 and T-520 gear (except the really old T-42's which will take TP-Link TL-WN961N 300MBPS Mini PCI card with a patched BIOS to prevent the 1802 Error).

The question was whether the 8260 and/or 9260 might at any extra performance,

[Screamer]

The 8260AC or the 9260AC does not offer any extra performance gains over the 7260AC, as far as I know. The only difference that separates the 8260AC or the 9260AC from the 7260AC, is the Bluetooth standards that it supports.

The 8260AC supports the Bluetooth 4.1 and 4.2 standard, but the 7260AC does not. The 9260AC supports the Bluetooth 4.1, 4.2, and the 5.0 standard, but the 7260AC does not.

[wsalomon]

Thanks!!!! A perfect explanation, so will not waster my time further!

[wsalomon]

To answer my own question. No need to fool with this hack.

I eventually found a repackaged AX-200 module that was mounted on a half-height mini-PCIe card from China on aliexpress.com. it was about $25. Just know that aliexpress "standard shipping" can take "forever" (1 month) - most of those delays were waiting for the air carrier to precess it, and to get from Chicago after clearing Customs to the East Coast (10 days) There seem to be several shops that do that, the one I got was Toulineua. The 2 connectors mate with the stock antenna wires, so no adapters needed.

When installed, it self-identifies in Device Manager as an "Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160 MHz" device. It works just fine.

It works just fine.

[axur-delmeria]

To answer my own question. No need to fool with this hack.

I eventually found a repackaged AX-200 module that was mounted on a half-height mini-PCIe card from China on aliexpress.com. it was about $25. Just know that aliexpress "standard shipping" can take "forever" (1 month) - most of those delays were waiting for the air carrier to precess it, and to get from Chicago after clearing Customs to the East Coast (10 days) There seem to be several shops that do that, the one I got was Toulineua. The 2 connectors mate with the stock antenna wires, so no adapters needed.

When installed, it self-identifies in Device Manager as an "Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160 MHz" device. It works just fine.

It works just fine.

You got lucky. Some of those cards have only one antenna connected internally.