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Wireless Card Upgrades for W520

W500/W510/W520 and W700/W701 Series
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IcarusFlies7
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 10:16 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Wireless Card Upgrades for W520

#1 Post by IcarusFlies7 » Mon Aug 13, 2018 10:21 am

Hey all,

Got a sweet deal on a W520 on ebay from a refurbisher, threw in an SSD, and I'm loving this thing. Great computer so far, can't imagine doing any better for what I've spent.

Only problem is I'm already spoiled by bluetooth audio, and the Intel 6205 card in this thing doesn't support BT. I'm looking to replace it with something that has at least BT 4.0 and AptX support and solid wifi performance; I don't do anything too intense; I play a little StarCraft and may install Overwatch some day.

If anyone has any recommendations for a solid wireless card, preferably not too expensive, I'd be eternally grateful.

...speaking of which, if anyone knows of a good graphics card for this thing that I can get on the cheap, would love any recommendations.

RealBlackStuff
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Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am
Location: Loch Garman, Éire

Re: Wireless Card Upgrades for W520

#2 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Aug 13, 2018 1:41 pm

Welcome to the Forum.

Find a modded BIOS with the wifi-whitelist removed.
Then find an Intel 7260-AC which includes BT4.0, such as this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/122955100065
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

ajkula66
SuperUserGeorge
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Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:28 am
Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Re: Wireless Card Upgrades for W520

#3 Post by ajkula66 » Mon Aug 13, 2018 2:49 pm

IcarusFlies7 wrote:
Mon Aug 13, 2018 10:21 am

...speaking of which, if anyone knows of a good graphics card for this thing that I can get on the cheap, would love any recommendations.
Graphic cards on most ThinkPads - including W520 - are soldered to the motherboard and not swappable.
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

One FlexView to rule them all: A31p

Abused daily: T520, X200s


PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

MikalE
ThinkPadder
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Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2015 9:51 pm
Location: Marissa, Illinois

Re: Wireless Card Upgrades for W520

#4 Post by MikalE » Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:47 pm

I have the Ultimate N 6300. Been doing great for over two years now. Also upgraded the BT to 4.0 with whatever was current for the T530 or T540.
A31p P-IV 2Ghz, 2MB, 2653-R6U
T500 T9600 2055-BE9
T510 i5 4384-DV7
T510 i7 4349-A64
T520 i7QM 4242-4UU Highly Modified
T16 i7 1260P 21BV000SUS

olex126
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Posts: 401
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 3:46 pm
Location: London, Ontario, CANADA

Re: Wireless Card Upgrades for W520

#5 Post by olex126 » Mon Aug 13, 2018 6:23 pm

Hi Gang!

AC 7260 with Bluetooth 4.0 in my W520.

https://imgur.com/a/UO94M4X

The 780 mbps is on the lower end of the scale of speeds that I usually see.. mostly runs between 850-950 mbps.

The laptop is twenty feet from the router, and the signal has to penetrate two plaster walls to get to the antenna.

Hope this helps.

Regards.

Dave
Previous & Collection Thinkpads: 701C A22m A30/A31p T23p x2 T30 T41 X31 various 750's 760's & 390's.

Test Benches: X41T, X60T & X61T's, various T42p-T43p's, x200 x201 x220T x230 T520 W530 T601F LED (X9000/8Gb/250SSD/W7 U)

DD: P50

"Life Is A Journey...Enjoy The Ride!"

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