Mini-PCI compatibility

[Bookworm]

Where can I get a copy of the BIOS list that tells if a mini PCI card will work in a ThinkPad?

Is there a specific combination WiFi & 56k modem known to work in the 240?

[ajkula66]

Well, the list of cards that are wireless/modem combo is pretty short to begin with. There's a couple of them that were used in A3x/R3x/X2x/T2x/T30, all pretty much the same - very limited today - "b" wireless with WEP support only.

As far as I recall, 240 does not throw any BIOS errors when messing with cards.

My question being, do you really need the modem? I'm dead certain that I've read about people throwing in Intel 2200BG into these machines which is light years away from the old combo cards...

[Bookworm]

> very limited today - "b" wireless with WEP support only.

How much of a problem would that be?

> As far as I recall, 240 does not throw any BIOS errors when messing with cards.

Good. Thank you.

> My question being, do you really need the modem?

Yes. I live in a small town where the phone lines haven't been upgraded since the 1940's. The phone company has the worst DSL in America and won't allow anyone else to use their rotten phone lines for high speed internet.

So I'm stuck with dial-up (I live two blocks from my ISP and am doing very well to get 40k) and wifi at one of the restaurants.

[ajkula66]

That being the case I'd suggest looking into the antennae setup for your 240. I'm fairly certain that I have a wireless/modem combo card from an A31p somewhere in one of my zillion piles...by the time you install the antennae, I'll find it...

One of my previous mid-level managers was from Oregon (I work in in the telecomm industry) and he had some stories to tell...things obviously haven't changed that much over the last five years. From what you're saying, it doesn't seem that anyone would want to invest into co-lo equipment to provide you with better DSL service if the copper is that bad...I could write a Ph. D thesis on this, but I really don't want you to get blue in the face...

I'll look for that card...

Good luck.

[Bookworm]

> That being the case I'd suggest looking into the antennae setup for your 240.

Like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... NA:US:1348

Or this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT


I'm not sure the first one would fit in the 240. Which one would be best?

[moronoxyd]

If you need modem and WiFi, I would suggest keeping the internal modem und using a PCMCIA WiFi card.
Such cards a dead cheap, reception is as good as that of an diy internal solution.
Finding a good combo card is just not worth it.


That said, if you really want an internal WiFi solution:

WiFi b is slow (yet still faster than an analog modem), WEP encryption is very easy to break nowadays, so more and more networks switch to the advanced WPA/WPA2 encryption.
So if you use a card that can only handle WEP, you might not be able to connect to those networks.

The 240(X) hast very little room for the MiniPCI card. So you need a card with a low profile.

I would suggest neither of the antennae you linked to. There ist definitely no room for the first one, and the second one is just a cable without the actual antenna.
You should look for something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-LAPTOP-NOTEBOOK- ... 20abead712 (I do not endorse this auction, it is merly an example what the antennae should look like)
You need two of those, they are usually sold as a pair (a black and a white cable). You should be able to get them for about 10 bucks (that's at lease the usual price here in Germany).

I installed them under the palmrest and keyboard of my 240x (now sold), reception was good enough.
Installing one or both antennae in the display may improve reception, but is a lot harder. The 240(x) is generally very tightly build.