Thinkpads Forum

Does anyone know if the stock wi-fi card can handle 5.0 GHz wireless n? My suspicion is that it can't since it doesn't support 802.11a. Since lenovo give you no option to change the wireless card, could I replace it with another (Lenovo branded) wireless card? Has anyone tried this?

Probably a little late, but just tested with a new wndr3700 and it does not connect to the 5.0ghz band. It's just mini pcie so I'm assuming you can replace it pretty easily but not sure. I do remember having to do a bios patch on my old T30 to have it accept 3rd party cards.

Also, testing it against my roommates 1st gen macbook pro with 5.0ghz n, my x100e actually has consistently faster transfer rates.

I actually found a cheap refurb netgear router on Newegg for $30. I slapped DD-WRT on that puppy and now I run 2.4 and 5 GHz on separate routers. I tried doing dual-band on my 5GHz router but there was a pretty big performance penalty, which I guess is on the router since there shouldn't be an interference.

There has been some good discussion, including what the official bios will allow, in terms of replacement wireless cards at the official Lenovo forums here: http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-Th ... 09FDE2CB69

If get any alternatives working, I'd like to know.

Since there's no way of patching the BIOS to remove the whitelist of allowed wifi cards, I tried some other options. One that worked was covering pin 20 of a Lenovo-branded Intel Wifi Link 5100 card into the WWAN slot and using the antenna cables for the WWAN device. This worked, but it's a kludge.

I did a search for Lenovo Wifi on ebay, and discovered that there was an option available for a half-length mini-PCI express card:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-IBM-Lenovo-43Y6 ... ViewItem&p...

I know that a Centrino 6200 card does work - I swapped it in while the laptop was asleep and it worked. However, it's hard to find places that have it in stock for under $150 - it's a field replaceable unit from IBM with the part number 60Y3231. The cheapest price I found for it is $88, available here:

http://www.sparepartswarehouse.com/part ... ype=Laptop

I personally have the Intel Wifi Link 5100 model mentioned above in my X100e, and it works flawlessly.

Skawt wrote:I know that a Centrino 6200 card does work - I swapped it in while the laptop was asleep and it worked. However, it's hard to find places that have it in stock for under $150 - it's a field replaceable unit from IBM with the part number 60Y3231. The cheapest price I found for it is $88, available here:

http://www.sparepartswarehouse.com/part ... ype=Laptop
.

Will the Centrino 6200 work in the WLAN slot? Will it work with FN+F5 and in Access Connections? Did you get Lenovo drivers or use the Intel ones? Sorry for so many questions, but I'm looking to find a working solution for 5.0Ghz 802.11n access. The other reason I ask is because the X100e HMM only lists the Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 (FRU 60Y3195) as an option, not the Centrino 6200.

Cheers,

Altough not officially listed in the X100's documentation, the 5100 works, is confirmed

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-Th ... d-p/228372

and, if I'm not wrong, is an a/b/g/n card.

Hopefully the 6200 will work also.

The Solutor wrote:Altough not officially listed in the X100's documentation, the 5100 works, is confirmed

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-Th ... d-p/228372

and, if I'm not wrong, is an a/b/g/n card.

Hopefully the 6200 will work also.

Yes, that was me posting on the other forum. The Lenovo-branded Intel Wifi Link 5100 and Centrino 6200 cards will work in the X100e. The Lenovo branding is recognized in the BIOS whitelist as a legitimate wifi adapter. The final goal, to have a 5GHz wifi adapter and still have the WWAN slot available for the Gobi 2000 card, is possible using one of the two wifi adapters I mentioned earlier in this thread.

Skawt wrote:Yes, that was me posting on the other forum. The Lenovo-branded Intel Wifi Link 5100 and Centrino 6200 cards will work in the X100e. The Lenovo branding is recognized in the BIOS whitelist as a legitimate wifi adapter. The final goal, to have a 5GHz wifi adapter and still have the WWAN slot available for the Gobi 2000 card, is possible using one of the two wifi adapters I mentioned earlier in this thread.

Thanks Skawt. I got it now. I've ordered the Lenovo branded Intel 5100 off the ebay link you posted. It's half the price of the Lenovo branded Intel 6200 in your other link.

Cheers,

I've found a Lenovo branded Centrino 6200 card (FRU part number 60Y3231) for US$45 shipped:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Centrino-Adva ... 0527352050

Cheers,

morkli wrote:I've found a Lenovo branded Centrino 6200 card (FRU part number 60Y3231) for US$45 shipped:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Centrino-Adva ... 0527352050

Cheers,

Good find - it's from the same vendor I got the 5100 card from. I would have bought the 6200 had I found the link you did. Either way, you'll have reliable 5GHz 802.11n connectivity. You can use the Lenovo Intel wifi drivers from the Lenovo support website.

morkli wrote:I've found a Lenovo branded Centrino 6200 card (FRU part number 60Y3231) for US$45 shipped:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Centrino-Adva ... 0527352050

Cheers,

I've actually just ordered one. I'm going to replace the 5100 in my X100e since the 5100 has 2 download channels and 1 upload: 300mbps download, 150mbps upload, and the 6200 has 2 wifi channels each way allowing 300mbps upload.

I plan on putting the 5100 into my other, single core X100e and resell it.

I received the 6200 N Centrino wifi card (IBM-branded) and unfortunately it generated an 1802 error on bootup. So it is not compatible with the X100e. Only the Wifi Link 5100 I mentioned earlier.

Skawt,

So if I read you correct, the 6200 works when you were swapping it in "while the laptop was asleep" but not when rebooting (I guess the BIOS checks and gives error, but Windows does not care?)

I bought the same ebay card you just received...

think2wice wrote:Skawt,

So if I read you correct, the 6200 works when you were swapping it in "while the laptop was asleep" but not when rebooting (I guess the BIOS checks and gives error, but Windows does not care?)

I bought the same ebay card you just received...

That is correct, Windows doesn't care. The IBM/Lenovo-branded 6200 N card is not compatible with the X100e BIOS whitelist, so it will give an 1802 error on bootup.