Thinkpads Forum

I am using a 8 GB T400 p8400 +SSD ....
The laptop has the wifi card it came with. I use it to connect with internet provided by a mobile phone
tethering which is kept within 1-2 feet of the laptop.The ISP provider assures that I will never get more than 10 mbps
download speed on their cellular network--(even in the next 2 years).
IS it useless to change the existing 5100 card?.
ps: I presume I never had a card to use a mobile data SIM though there is some white strip just below the power pack.

The T400's BIOS has a whitelist that prevents it from booting if there's a non-Thinkpad WiFi card installed.
You need to flash a modified BIOS that removes the whitelist so that you can install other cards.

That said, why not connect your phone to the computer and use its USB tethering function? I'm assuming you have an Android phone.

Ignorant wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 17, 2021 3:15 am

IS it useless to change the existing 5100 card?.

Yes, it seems so to me. What are you hoping to gain with a new wifi card?

uh..! Doesl USB give a better pull then wifi N from the mobile tether?. To explore i even got a expensive (Rs. 300!) usb 2.0 chinese wifi N dongle. --no speed gain noticed but i just keep it. The android fone is a recent purchase and I am exploring all pulls from that.If a better usb 3.0 can pull more ?. All ISPs in my area are faltu.. they assure that their broadband is also avaiable as a family add on?. Currently all of them warrnaty UPTo 10mbps max.

I don't think it makes any difference what kind of adapter one uses, none can alter the download limits provided by the ISP. Now if you are interested in file transfer speed within a LAN, then better adapters might make a difference.