INSTALLING A WIRELESS A/B/G MINI PCI CARD IN A600X!

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HarryWild · #1 Post by **HarryWild** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 1:20 am

I am investigating if it is possible to install such a card in a 600X.

Two things I need to know is:

1) Does the 600X bios support the IBM a/b/g wireless mini pci card(s).

2) Do you have to place the antenna inside the frame of the lcd screen or can it be placed in the perimeter of the base of the 600X.

whizkid · #2 Post by **whizkid** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 8:36 am

I don't know of anyone who has done this, so you just might be on your own.

The newer machines and their BIOS check for specific MiniPCI cards. The 600X should be old enough so that it does no special check, and the card may well work. Then again, it may check what kind of card it is, and complain about it being a WLAN card, but I doubt it.

I would be sure to have QuickBoot turned ON so that the BIOS does not set resources for your devices. That leaves your OS to configure interrupts and I/O space. XP and Linux should do just fine with that.

As to the antennae, if I were trying this, I would try it first with all the pieces out just to get it working, then worry about where to hide them. You should be able to find some room for them in the base. When you put it together, see how much signal strength remains. The system board may generate interference when you assemble the machine.

Keep us posted!

Bob Collins · #3 Post by **Bob Collins** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 4:25 pm

I had asked this a while back about my T22 and got the answer to be no, it is not possible. So, from extrapolation, I would say no to the 600X doing it, but if you got the parts lying around, try it!

JHEM · #4 Post by **JHEM** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 7:54 pm

Bob,

IIRC the answer you got wasn't so much that it was impossible, it was the fact that you'd lose your ethernet connection if you replaced the existing card.

AFAIK there are no triple function mini-PCI cards, e.g. WiFi, Ethernet and modem. Ergo, substituting a combo WiFi/Modem card for your existing Ethernet/Modem card would result in the loss of wired Ethernet capability.

WRT the antennae being installed in the lower case, I would think the reception would be poor to miserable in the 600X. WRT your T22, there are 14.1" displays available on eBay for the early T series machines with the antennae installed. I just put one on my son's T21 and it works a treat with the Intel combo .11b card.

Something I'll have to try in one my 600X machines one of these days.

Regards,

James

whizkid · #5 Post by **whizkid** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 9:55 pm

No 600X has a network jack, so you'd really only need modem and WiFi, but I don't know of any of those. Then again, modem use on MY 600X is very rare, so a PC card modem could be OK.

tselling · #6 Post by **tselling** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 10:44 pm

The physical dimensions of the mini-pci door will not allow you to insert a wifi card. I tried with an IBM combo modem/wifi B card.

whizkid · #7 Post by **whizkid** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 1:22 pm

If there's room inside the case, it would HAVE to go through the door. I've take the case off a couple of times.

Do you think there's room in there for a WiFi card?

HarryWild · #8 Post by **HarryWild** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 5:18 pm

Just purchased a Belkin 54GB PCMCIA card! Wanted to buy the D-LINK card that goes along with my DLINK DL-624 router but the color of the antenna case is silver; so I had to go with Belkin which is black. Might just try to buy the IBM a/b/g PCMCIA too; and see which looks nicer and try to sell the one I don't want on Ebay!

Thanks again for your help!

HarryWild · #9 Post by **HarryWild** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 5:21 pm

Since the 600X does not have an ethernet card built-in; what do you think about removing the 56K modem card and swamp it with an 10/100 ethernet card?

whizkid · #10 Post by **whizkid** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 5:33 pm

Why bother?

If you're using 10/100, you're wired, so you might as well have a dock or something else hanging off the wire.

Bob Collins · #11 Post by **Bob Collins** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:16 pm

James,

Quite right. Sorry about the mis-typing, as it were. I do like the idea however of the T22 wireless. I'll have to look into it.

And of course with you on the case, for wireless internally on a 600X, I am sure if it can be accomplished, it shall.

JHEM · #12 Post by **JHEM** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:30 pm

HarryWild wrote:Since the 600X does not have an ethernet card built-in; what do you think about removing the 56K modem card and swamp it with an 10/100 ethernet card?

To what end Harry? The 600X doesn't have an Ethernet connector built into the case and the existing RJ11 (modem) connector won't take an RJ45 plug!

Regards,

James

JHEM · #13 Post by **JHEM** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:38 pm

whizkid wrote:No 600X has a network jack, so you'd really only need modem and WiFi, but I don't know of any of those.

Most, if not all, of the cheap combo cards you'll find on eBay are Ethernet/Modem cards.

However, the Intel 802.11b combo cards that came in the early T/A/X series machines that were equipped for WiFi are WiFi/Modem cards.

Regards,

James

HarryWild · #14 Post by **HarryWild** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:54 pm

James, Whizkid, Bob Collins, etc...,

I not sure what the answer is to my question; can you remove the 56K card and put in a 10/100 or WIFI/ethernet card?

Just curious to find out!

Harry

Bob Collins · #15 Post by **Bob Collins** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 8:04 am

James made a good point, there is no RJ45 port for the 10/100 connection. Even if you did get the 10/100 card in there, what/how would be done to link a network cable to the system?

And I guess you could put in the WiFi card, but again, as James pointed out, the antenna is your trouble. Perhaps put it in and mod you system to install an antenna. I think at that point you might be wildly off the map and into parts unknown.

Hopefully others with more/better knowledge can chime in!

Bob

dudzke · #16 Post by **dudzke** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 1:03 pm

@HarryWild

1) should be possible, however i read that one has to modify the bios since it checks for known cards or something like that.

2) lcd-frame is a nice spot, however somewhere in the case should work aswell ( you just lose some signal). so when you have a radius of 50m with the antenna in the lcd-lid, you might end up with only 20m with the antenna inside (seems fair enough).

3. i never thought about putting the wifi thing inside, i just use my pcmcia-card

INSTALLING A WIRELESS A/B/G MINI PCI CARD IN A600X!

INSTALLING A WIRELESS A/B/G MINI PCI CARD IN A600X!

After reading all of this - I am going the easy way!

HOW ABOUT REPLACING THE MODEM WITH EHTERNET CARD?

Re: HOW ABOUT REPLACING THE MODEM WITH EHTERNET CARD?

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