TP600--Will any Wireless PCMCIA card work?

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Grumpy · #1 Post by **Grumpy** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 1:19 pm

Seems like I've read some of the newer Thinkpads require an IBM proprietary Wireless Adapter card. How about the Thinkpad 600?

Can I use the 3Com Xjack 802.11b/g card? Will most any pcmcia wireless adapter card work well with my DLINK 524 wireless router?

Is there any other option available for the 600, like an internal mini-pci slot?

dudzke · #2 Post by **dudzke** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 1:35 pm

a mini-pci-wifi-card could work in a tp600x.

i have an tp600e and use an asus wl-110 which is a wireless cf card. to connect it to my pcmcia i bought some time ago a cf-to-pcmcia-adapter, was pretty unexpensive, only 5 Euro.

Everything works fine, my Accesspoint is from 3com (3CRWE454G72).

usually i use my cf-wifi-card with my pda so i thought it would be ok to use it with my notebook too and, the only thing i dont like about it is that the cf card only supports WEP, but as long as one changes the keys from time to time its ok.

the asus wlan card works also with other APs, so i dont think there is any limit you need the AP and other equipment from the same brand, also wifi says there is no need to.
just buy as you wish and look for the right specs !!!! i prefer 802.11b/g, dont like a *g*

whizkid · #3 Post by **whizkid** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:05 pm

Any PC Card or CardBus PCMCIA card will work.

MiniPCI wireless will NOT work in the 600X. The 600X has no internal antenna, so an internal MiniPCI card cannot connect to anything. The MiniPCI slot in your 600X accepts a modem, and you've probably already got one in there.

The newer ThinkPads do have an internal antenna, and the BIOS checks the PCI ID on the internal MiniPCI card (for no good reason) and refuses to boot if an unknown card is found. They will still accept any wireless PCMCIA card.

Now if you were really into hardware hacking, you'd put internal antennae into your 600X. Me, I just stick in my LinkSys WiFi PC Card.

Dominix · #4 Post by **Dominix** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:20 pm

I have several different wifi cards and they all work great for basic wireless networking.

I have a cheap rebranded Linksys (Network Everywhere), 2 commerical Symbol cards with dual external antennas and my beloved Orinoco Gold Classic. These are all pc cards (pcmcia).

Grumpy · #5 Post by **Grumpy** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:47 pm

Dominix wrote:I have several different wifi cards and they all work great for basic wireless networking.

Thanks guys. Anyone think I gain something by sticking with the same brand (D-LINK) as my router?

DS8user · #6 Post by **DS8user** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:31 pm

I've got a Thinkpad 600e with which I'm using a D-Link DWL-650+ to access the wireless network at my college. It has worked well. I think it's the older 802.11'b' and not the newer 'g' version, but it still transmits at 22 Mbps, which is plenty for me. I've also got a D-Link DI-514 wireless router that I have yet to try with it. The router went bad on me and I'm still waiting for the replacement unit to be sent out to me. I should get it in a few days. If you're interested in knowing how well it works, I can definitely post a comment after I get it hooked up.

Grumpy · #7 Post by **Grumpy** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:56 pm

You bet. I will be receiving the DI524 next week which is G so will probably go with the DWL G650 card if I go with D-Link. Not sure keeping the card and router the same brand is necessary.

Dominix · #8 Post by **Dominix** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 3:39 am

Grumpy wrote:You bet. I will be receiving the DI524 next week which is G so will probably go with the DWL G650 card if I go with D-Link. Not sure keeping the card and router the same brand is necessary.

No it's not. I connected all of mine with linksys b and g routers along with a seneo and d-link.

DS8user · #9 Post by **DS8user** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 1:19 am

Just wanted to post this update for Grumpy....

I got my router back from having it fixed/replaced and fired it up with my DWL-650+ wireless card. The router is also a D-Link brand....DI-514. It works great together. The card is easy to setup and love the added mobility of no wires. Only downer was the distance that I could go from the router before the signal degraded to where it wasn't working. I read somewhere that one of D-Links later model wireless cards allowed a distance of about 3 football fields. That would have been sweet. I'm not for certain on that, but I couldn't go beyond my neighbor's house before I lost the signal. At any rate, now I want to check on upgrading the CPU on my 600e. I've only got a 366 Mhz processor Pentium II in there now. I've heard of some people putting Celerons in the 600e that are upwards of 700 Mhz. I'd like to find out for sure if this is possible before shelling out the extra cash for one.

TP600--Will any Wireless PCMCIA card work?

TP600--Will any Wireless PCMCIA card work?

wireless card

DWL-650+ wireless card with a DI-514 router

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