can a T42 be upgraded to wireless N?

[antelope]

If so, what is the recommended card and are there any tricks to doing so?

(thanks in advance - I did a decent TP search but didn't find the answer)

[Johan]

According to IBM Thinkpad T42 Wifi N 802.11N PCI mini Card 300M RARE this is claimed to be possible - it is mentioned in this thread.

Benefit if ugrading a T42 from 802.11g to 802.11n? See this post for a comment about a similar upgrade in a T60.

Johan

[Tim82]

According to IBM Thinkpad T42 Wifi N 802.11N PCI mini Card 300M RARE this is claimed to be possible - it is mentioned in this thread.

Seems this seller makes profit about selling unauthorized mini PCI 802.11N cards as branding them with the word "Thinkpad". (However, it is mentioned that the buyers need to use the "no-1802" utility to get the card working...)

I think a TP-Link TL-WN861N card (which is cheaper than the linked card) should do the job nicely with the no-1802 utility.

[Johan]

I think a TP-Link TL-WN861N card (which is cheaper than the linked card) should do the job nicely with the no-1802 utility.

Thanks for sharing this, Tim - and you're correct in that the TP-Link TL-WN861N mini-PCI adapter has indeed been reported to be used in several Thinkpad T4x/p's; see e.g. the threads Upgrading the ol' R50 or Wireless N in older TP's possible? (up to now only wifi G) or T42 wireless card upgrade... or see these numerous more hits if Googling for TL-WN861N on forum.thinkpads.com According to a few users both at Amazon and Newegg this card has received very good feedback; see --> here and here.

For normal browsing users of this "N" card seem to report that the card does not give any particular speed advantage compared to a standard e.g. Atheros-based "G" card. It could however be of interest if anybody have an Atheros-based "G" card and could compare the sensitivity (range) towards the above-mentioned TP-Link TL-WN861N card... will the TP-Link "N" card perhaps better pick up weak signals compared to the older "G" cards??

Johan

[nickbw]

Try a Belkin 'N' wireless card. I use them on two T40P which have a 250GB and a 128GB HDD and 1.7 GHz CPU (each with 2GB RAM). You can use either Belkin's software or Cisco NetWorkMagic. I have a 135mbps home network on a rooter with two pendrives acting as "network places". I can brows the net on multiple tabs and save files to the network or the HDD. I don't get droped connections. The speeds are almost as good as my Android smartphone Samsung Galaxy SII.