Wireless upgrade (mini PCI)

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DaniWurf · #1 Post by **DaniWurf** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 10:14 am

I'm looking into upgrading my T40 wireless LAN adapter (mini PCI).
I don't want to spend a lot of money so I have to go with the "no-1802" hack and a normal intel mini PCI card.

Do you guys have any idea which one of these two cards is the better one?

Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Network Connection - NIC- mini PCI - 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g

or

Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection - NIC- mini PCI - 802.11b, 802.11g

The price difference is only about $3, with the 2200BG being the cheaper one, so the price is no big deal.

I wonder if the 2915ABG creates more heat and maybe require a special antenna (other than the built-in one for my current 2100B mini PCI)

Are there any general downsides to use a ABG-card in contrast to just a BG-card ?

Which one should I get for my lovely T40?

#2 Post by **K. Eng** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 10:36 am

Antennas should not be an issue. My T40 has the IBM a/b/g card installed. I doubt that the Intel a/b/g card dissipates more heat than the b/g card. If anything, the a/b/g should consumer less power since it is a more advanced design.

What I don't know is if the T40 BIOS will reject the Intel a/b/g card, but if you are using the hack that is a moot point.

I'd go with the Intel a/b/g just for flexibility. $3 isn't much of a price difference.

DaniWurf · #3 Post by **DaniWurf** » Mon May 30, 2005 2:37 pm

Has anyone got any numbers on power dissipation among different miniPCI wifi modules in general? At least intel doesn't seem to publish their cards power dissipation...

If you guys have used more than one miniPCI wlan module, which was the coolest running?

EDIT: If you don't have any problems with the fan running all the time I would like to know what wifi card you are using.

Thanks so much, really appreciate it!

Mike8 · #4 Post by **Mike8** » Mon May 30, 2005 4:01 pm

@ DaniWurf:

Do you think the T4* fan problem is caused by the wifi card?

DaniWurf · #5 Post by **DaniWurf** » Mon May 30, 2005 4:13 pm

all i know is that the second thermal sensor is located under the wifi card, and that the fan stops after some time when the wifi is disabled....

Mike8 · #6 Post by **Mike8** » Tue May 31, 2005 1:42 am

If you decide to chance the card, please post your experince. I'm very interrested, because I have the same problem.

Mike8 · #7 Post by **Mike8** » Tue May 31, 2005 1:56 am

I found out something interesting concerning the wifi-card. After the following procedure my fan stoped running:

1. i deactivatet the wiwi card (bios)

2. After i rebooted the TP i aktivated the card again.

3. Altough the card was aktivatetd windows could not find the card. So I had to install the driver again (I used driver version 1.2.3.14).

4. After another reboot the problem appeared again. I installed the driver again and rebooted the TP.

5. After the last reboot windows accepted the driver and: strange to say the fan is silent!

JHaislet · #8 Post by **JHaislet** » Tue May 31, 2005 2:01 am

Without messing with the activation, what happens if you completely power down the laptop, say for at least 15 minutes?

Does the fan still stay silent then?

Either way, this is encouraging, as this issue just might be correctable thru a bios update!

Mike8 · #9 Post by **Mike8** » Tue May 31, 2005 2:11 am

If i power down my TP and reboot again the fan keeps silent for a while. But after a fews minutes ist starts again.

DaniWurf · #10 Post by **DaniWurf** » Tue May 31, 2005 3:54 am

@Mike8: So the deactivation/reinstall didn't solve your fan problem, or did it?

I know 1.2.3.14 is not the latest release of wifi driver, is it possible to download older versions of the driver?

Mike8 · #11 Post by **Mike8** » Tue May 31, 2005 4:10 am

I think I solved my fan problem:

I believe the problem is caused by the wifi-card driver:

Try the following:

1. Use the IBM Software-Installer and deinstall the wifi-card driver and IBM-Access-Connection.

2. Reboot

3. Windows XP will find the wifi-card and install the driver (not the IBM one)

4. Use XP to configure your wlan-connection

My fan was silent after that! It starts at 44 C° and stops ant 42 C°!!!!

Please post your results!

DaniWurf · #12 Post by **DaniWurf** » Tue May 31, 2005 11:17 am

hmm... I tried what you suggested. At first it seemed to work as you said, but during a download (~127 Megs) the fan kicked in and hasn't stopped yet, that was an hour ago

because of the fan running my computer is now idling at 33-34 °C.

Way too low for the fan to run continously IMO

baraider · #13 Post by **baraider** » Tue May 31, 2005 1:02 pm

DaniWurf wrote:hmm... I tried what you suggested. At first it seemed to work as you said, but during a download (~127 Megs) the fan kicked in and hasn't stopped yet, that was an hour ago
because of the fan running my computer is now idling at 33-34 °C. Way too low for the fan to run continously IMO

Perhaps downloading 127mb is the problem...

gentoo · #14 Post by **gentoo** » Tue May 31, 2005 5:12 pm

Mike8 wrote:3. Windows XP will find the wifi-card and install the driver (not the IBM one)

I uninstalled my IBM Access Connections and the wifi-card driver using the IBM Software Installer. I rebooted my computer. When it turned back on, Windows detected the wifi-card but could not find a driver for it, even after connecting to Windows Update on the internet. Where am I supposed to find the driver for this that isn't the one provided by IBM?

I have a T43 with the Intel a/b/g wifi card.

DaniWurf · #15 Post by **DaniWurf** » Tue May 31, 2005 5:35 pm

intel has a generic driver http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/w ... 010623.htm But I don't know if that is the one Mike8 talks about....

And then IBM has a driver ver. 1.2.3.14 http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-50183

gentoo · #16 Post by **gentoo** » Tue May 31, 2005 5:38 pm

I'm pretty sure that the Intel driver is the one that was already installed in my system. When I uninstalled it a big Intel window popped up.

edit: Regardless, I am convinced now that it most definitely is the wifi-card that's causing the fan problem. I uninstalled the driver for my wifi-card and have been using my computer for about an hour since then, connected to the internet via wired ethernet, and my T43 is completely silent.

Wireless upgrade (mini PCI)

Wireless upgrade (mini PCI)

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