WIFI T20?

T2x/T3x series specific matters only
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proaudioguy
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WIFI T20?

#1 Post by proaudioguy » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:54 pm

There is already a card in the PCI slot on my T20. Can anyone tell me what it does? I did a search but only found info on the T23 with pictures and the bay is not the same. I do not want to lose Ethernet capability, but could sacrifice the modem without too much thought.

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#2 Post by rkawakami » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:58 pm

Most likely it's a combo modem/ethernet card. You can tell by:

- counting the number of connectors which plug into the card; a real tiny, 1/8" wide plug is the modem. If there's an ethernet connector it's about 1/2" wide and has many wires coming out of it.
- plug your laptop's model (product) number into here
- find the FRU on the card and/or read any printed description on it

BTW, you will have to install the WiFi antenna(s) somewhere in the system (base-better option; lid-less useful range). Also, and more importantly, you might be able to retain the modem capability by using the factory combo modem/wireless card, but as far as I know, there's no combo ethernet/wireless card available.

edit: DUH! If it's the T20 in your .sig, then you (are supposed to) have a 3Com combo card, i.e., modem and ethernet.
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#3 Post by joester » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:49 pm

FWIW, My T21 is really happy using the USB WIFI dongle I carry in the bag. I can connect any which way is available, the the dongle's are cheap if you look around a bit.
I think mine was about $15 with a 128MB flash drive in the same dongle.
Oh, don't forget a USB extension cord. the extra footage makes antenna positioning easier.

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#4 Post by proaudioguy » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:54 pm

I have several external WIFI devices. My wife was going to try to use this for business purposes and she is on WIFI 99% of the time so it would be really convenient if she didn't have to insert a card or USB dongle.

I bought a PCI card for my A31 and the range was still much better on my Orinoco card (both using the same external antenna) so I went back to that. I figured I'd stick the PCI card in the T20. Oh well, I cant afford to lose Ethernet access on that machine.

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#5 Post by rkawakami » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:06 pm

proaudioguy wrote:Oh well, I cant afford to lose Ethernet access on that machine.
See why I like T23s? :)
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#6 Post by cinemafia » Fri Jun 08, 2007 11:46 am

I use a 802.11b PCMCIA card with my T20. The only reason I didn't get a *g or better card was because this particular card is the only one flat enough to fit in the card bay underneath my USB 2.0 card!
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#7 Post by clickpoint » Fri Jun 08, 2007 1:05 pm

cinemafia wrote:I use a 802.11b PCMCIA card with my T20. The only reason I didn't get a *g or better card was because this particular card is the only one flat enough to fit in the card bay underneath my USB 2.0 card!
U have 2 cards plugged in there??

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#8 Post by nikki605 » Fri Jun 08, 2007 6:40 pm

I have 2 PCMCIA cards plugged into my T21, also. A Netgear WAG511 wireless a/b/g card (bottom) and a Belkin FSU222 dual USB 2.0 card (top).

Read this topic. I know the subject is about a/c adapters. . . but we got a little "off topic" further down.
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IBM: T21 (2647-47U) | PIII 1GHz | 512MB | 60GB 5400rpm | 3Com Mini PCI Ethernet/56K | DVD-RW | WinXP Pro SP3 | Full System Specs

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#9 Post by Timoti » Sat Jul 14, 2007 3:54 pm

I'm also thinking of swapping my minipci modem for a minipci wifi in my T20, since i don't really use it. As rkawakami says, the problem would be the antennas...
rkawakami wrote:BTW, you will have to install the WiFi antenna(s) somewhere in the system (base-better option; lid-less useful range).
Did anyone do this? If so, could you please post some suggestions/photos?

Or maybe i should just buy a modem/ethernet combo, so i could use the ethernet port on the port replicator (right now i use a cardbus ethernet card), and get a new cardbus wifi card with an external antenna connector (the current edimax works fine, just the signal with the printed circuit antenna is weak)...

Edit: looks like i'm just too dumb to use the search function properly...
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#10 Post by tfflivemb2 » Sun Jul 15, 2007 1:30 pm

clickpoint wrote:
cinemafia wrote:I use a 802.11b PCMCIA card with my T20. The only reason I didn't get a *g or better card was because this particular card is the only one flat enough to fit in the card bay underneath my USB 2.0 card!
U have 2 cards plugged in there??
Just to make sure that you read that right. cinemafia has two PCMCIA cards, not two Mini-PCI cards plugged in at the same time.

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