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can the wires of the network card be replaced?

T400/T410/T420 and T500/T510/T520 Series
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thisway
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Joined: Fri Dec 29, 2023 10:49 am
Location: Sioux City, IA

can the wires of the network card be replaced?

#1 Post by thisway » Thu Jan 18, 2024 10:47 am

My T420 is now mostly useless at connecting to a network. While I was successfully replacing the screen, I noticed that the aux connector was disconnected and hanging free. So I tried to press it back down, but broke it. The white part (core, is it called?) popped out. The main wire is still connected so the computer can sort of still connect to a network with the internal card, but the network connection is very weak, and goes on and off.

I can of course get an external network adapter, but is there any possibility that I can replace the ruined aux wire?

TPFanatic
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Re: can the wires of the network card be replaced?

#2 Post by TPFanatic » Thu Jan 18, 2024 11:40 am

Does your t420 not have the white 3rd antenna wire? In a jiffy you could also use a wwan wire.

thisway
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Joined: Fri Dec 29, 2023 10:49 am
Location: Sioux City, IA

Re: can the wires of the network card be replaced?

#3 Post by thisway » Thu Jan 18, 2024 12:19 pm

TPFanatic wrote:
Thu Jan 18, 2024 11:40 am
Does your t420 not have the white 3rd antenna wire? In a jiffy you could also use a wwan wire.
Dunno, but I'll look. Thanks. I thought there were only two antenna wires. Is the spare (or spares?) one of those wires that goes down into the area where the RAM is, which seem to connect to nothing? I never knew what those were for.

RealBlackStuff
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Re: can the wires of the network card be replaced?

#4 Post by RealBlackStuff » Thu Jan 18, 2024 12:24 pm

If you are handy with a soldering iron, you could solder the antenna to the card.
Inner antenna-wire to the centre of the card-connector (or to the matching spot on the bottom of that card).
Metal shielding to the outer ring of that connector (or to the matching spot on the bottom of that card).
Just make sure neither wire makes false contact anywhere.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)

axur-delmeria
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Re: can the wires of the network card be replaced?

#5 Post by axur-delmeria » Thu Jan 18, 2024 1:02 pm

You can harvest the WiFi antennas (with attached cables) from another T420.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

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