Wireless N in older TP's possible? (up to now only wifi G)

[jwege]

I've got some IBM TP's (R31, R40, R52, T42) which work quite well for me, so, I do not see a need for new PC's at this time.

The only thing I am missing is a fast WiFi. The wireless adaptors I am using at present do "only" support wirless G.

Any chance to get another adptor that supports G and N and can be used in the TP's (even if only in T42 would help).

Thanks for any hints.
jwege

[Microspeed]

I recently upgraded my wireless card in my T41. I installed a TpLink TL-WN861N. I bought it on ebay. I am in no way a TP expert, but with a little searching here, I have found a wealth of information. By installing a card that is not on the bios list I believe you will get an 1802 error. Basically, it says take the card out. The way around it is this.
Download the 1802 fix bootable disc image and burn a CD
I downloaded the latest drivers from the manufactures site before I installed the card and put them on my desktop.
Shut down the machine, read the TP manual and follow the steps taking it apart.
Install the new card and reassemble the TP.
Boot the machine, press F2 to go directly to the bios. Disable the wireless adaptor. Then go to the Boot section of the BIOS and remove everything from the boot list except the cd drive.
Once windows is up, put the bootable disc in the cd drive and then shut down.
Re-boot the machine. It takes a minute or 2 but the cd will boot your laptop. It will come up and ask "Do you want to install the 1802 fix" Pick yes, let it do its thing, then remove the disc from the drive. Shut down again.
Re-boot press F2, go to the bios, enable the wireless card, change the Boot device back to your hard drive, save and exit the bios, then let the system boot. When windows finds the new device point it to the folder on your desktop, let windows finish.
Install the utility that was made by the manufacture.
I was in business. Connected with my Netgear N router fine. I use it on the road and it connects with B and G routers also, no problems no complaints.

I want say again, I am by no means an expert, but it worked for me. It is my understanding that the same card should work in your T42. Best 25.00 I have spent.

Micro
T42 2gb ram 120gb XP Pro sp3

[jwege]

Great post, thanks a lot.

Only one question left: Where exactly did you get the boot-image for the 1802 erroro-correction? I only found the website of "Wayne", who, from my understanding, had an exe file or so?

Thanks again
jwege

[RealBlackStuff]

See also this: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=381841

You can do it a bit simpler than described above.
Install the no-1802 hack before you insert your new N-card, booting from either a floppy or CD.
This won't interfere with your current card.
Then swap the card, reboot and install the drivers. That's it.
Warning: if you ever update your BIOS or swap/disconnect the CMOS battery, you will need to take the N-card out, re-apply the no-1802 hack and put your card back in.

[Trixie]

Does the N card not require 3 antennas, compared to the 2 used by a/b/g? How did you deal with this?

[Microspeed]

Does the N card not require 3 antennas, compared to the 2 used by a/b/g? How did you deal with this?

That was my understanding too. However the card I installed only had 2. I seem to remember reading somewhere that if you have a card with 3 ant spots you can only hook up 2. Wish i could remember where I read it. Anyway, this one works with 2 and says it connects at 300mps.

Micro

[Microspeed]

Great post, thanks a lot.

Only one question left: Where exactly did you get the boot-image for the 1802 erroro-correction? I only found the website of "Wayne", who, from my understanding, had an exe file or so?

Thanks again
jwege

I got the image from here > http://www.command-tab.com/2006/02/26/t ... error-fix/
An IT friend of mine gave me the link.
However the link here does cover more problems you might encounter, the fourm members here are just scary smart about this stuff.

Micro

[Peak2Peak]

Does the N card not require 3 antennas, compared to the 2 used by a/b/g? How did you deal with this?

OxfordTEC sells several MiniPCI 802.11n draft cards that support 2/3 antenna connectors

[Trixie]

So, is the purpose of the third antenna to extend range, meaning if you have a good connection you'll still see the speed increase with just two antennas?

[IraSeigel]

I recently upgraded my wireless card in my T41. I installed a TpLink TL-WN861N. I bought it on ebay. I am in no way a TP expert, but with a little searching here, I have found a wealth of information. By installing a card that is not on the bios list I believe you will get an 1802 error. Basically, it says take the card out. The way around it is this.
Download the 1802 fix bootable disc image and burn a CD
I downloaded the latest drivers from the manufactures site before I installed the card and put them on my desktop.
Shut down the machine, read the TP manual and follow the steps taking it apart.
Install the new card and reassemble the TP.
Boot the machine, press F2 to go directly to the bios. Disable the wireless adaptor. Then go to the Boot section of the BIOS and remove everything from the boot list except the cd drive.
Once windows is up, put the bootable disc in the cd drive and then shut down.
Re-boot the machine. It takes a minute or 2 but the cd will boot your laptop. It will come up and ask "Do you want to install the 1802 fix" Pick yes, let it do its thing, then remove the disc from the drive. Shut down again.
Re-boot press F2, go to the bios, enable the wireless card, change the Boot device back to your hard drive, save and exit the bios, then let the system boot. When windows finds the new device point it to the folder on your desktop, let windows finish.
Install the utility that was made by the manufacture.
I was in business. Connected with my Netgear N router fine. I use it on the road and it connects with B and G routers also, no problems no complaints.

I want say again, I am by no means an expert, but it worked for me. It is my understanding that the same card should work in your T42. Best 25.00 I have spent.

Micro
T42 2gb ram 120gb XP Pro sp3

I know this is a very old thread, but I see that the topic is still very much alive in this forum.

Microspeed's instructions here were very helpful to me, and I did the install without too many problems. I saw in another set of posts that the wireless indicator on the laptop won't come on and you shouldn't expect it to. Fine.

My problem is that when I use Fn-F5 to turn the wireless on, an error message says that there is no wireless LAN or bluetooth device installed.

I tried the TP-Link utility QSS to make the connection to my D-Link DIR-655 router. The card "sees" the router, so I know it's functioning. However, I can't make any connection.

If this problem has been discussed previously, forgive my post. I've done many searches here but can't find the solution. Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
Ira

[ajkula66]

Welcome to the forum!

What ThinkPad and which wireless card exactly are we discussing here?

[bill bolton]

My problem is that when I use Fn-F5 to turn the wireless on, an error message says that there is no wireless LAN or bluetooth device installed.

In general you need IBM/Lenovo OEM firmware in the installed wireless devices to get Fn-F5 functionality and LED indicator functionality. While the various whitelist avoidance approaches will get you past the BIOS checks, they usually dont help with the other issues.

In terms of 802.11n connectivity, you must be using either no security at all (definitely not recommended) or WPA2 with AES encryption security, if you hope to establish a connection.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[IraSeigel]

...

In terms of 802.11n connectivity, you must be using either no security at all (definitely not recommended) or WPA2 with AES encryption security, if you hope to establish a connection.

Cheers,

Bill B.

Thanks very much Bill. I will try again with WPA2. I wasn't getting anywhere with NO security. The TP-Link utility, QSS, didn't really help much in that area.
Ira

[IraSeigel]

Welcome to the forum!

What ThinkPad and which wireless card exactly are we discussing here?

Thanks for the welcome. I'm encouraged by the generous spirit of the people here.

I have 2 of the TP-Link WN861N cards, that I got on the recommendation of Microspeed and others here.

I have a T40 and a T42p. The T42p is a non-Internet machine only. It is only being used as a "host" machine running music mixing software for concerts. The T40 is running a remote version of the software, so that I can sit in various locations in a concert venue and mix the sound for the PA. I'm using a D-Link DIR-655 Wireless N router.

It's been suggested that I only use MAC filtering for security, but Bill's post about WPA2 makes me think I'll need something more.

Unfortunately, I haven't found any user guide to the TP-Link QSS utility, which I believe is the utility that Microspeed was referring to in the post I quoted.

Thanks,
Ira

[bill bolton]

I'm using a D-Link DIR-655 Wireless N router.

That router operates only on the 2.4GHz band and so does the TP-Link WN861N card.

I'd be quite suprised if you dont have probelms with using 802.11n in the 2.4GHz band, for the application you describe, even if you can establish connectivity.

The IEEE 802.11n Working Group discovered from field experience with the inital draft 802.11n specification, that 802.11n operation in the 2.4GHz band was not sustainable due to interference with 802.11b/g traffic.

You really need to be on the 5GHz WiFi band for sustainable 802.11n operation, especially in relatively public spaces.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[IraSeigel]

That router operates only on the 2.4GHz band and so does the TP-Link WN861N card.

I'd be quite suprised if you dont have probelms with using 802.11n in the 2.4GHz band, for the application you describe, even if you can establish connectivity.

...
You really need to be on the 5GHz WiFi band for sustainable 802.11n operation, especially in relatively public spaces.

Cheers,

Bill B.

Perhaps I should have done my homework better...

Thanks for the warning Bill. Apparently I'll need to do some extensive field testing before I'm sure my rig is ready for "prime time".

BTW, I gave up on the TP-Link card after almost a full Sunday of trying to get it to work. Between the security hassles - mandatory WPA - the much slower speed (as compared to a PC Card N card), and the lack of being able to see the "antenna light" or other indicator that it's working in my T40, I'll use the D-Link PC Card DWA-652 that came with the router. A little less convenient than the internal solution, but much faster with less hassles.

Thanks,
Ira

[moronoxyd]

My problem is that when I use Fn-F5 to turn the wireless on, an error message says that there is no wireless LAN or bluetooth device installed.

In general you need IBM/Lenovo OEM firmware in the installed wireless devices to get Fn-F5 functionality and LED indicator functionality. While the various whitelist avoidance approaches will get you past the BIOS checks, they usually dont help with the other issues.

From my experience, that's not true.

To make Fn-F5 work, you need a wifi card with a product id that's identical to the id of one of the cards that are sold by IBM/Lenovo.
Alternatively, you can edit the fnf5.exe with a hex editor to exchange one of the ids against the id of your card.

Plus, you need to use the Lenovo drivers instead of the drivers from the manufacturer.

This way I got Fn-F5 working on my X32 first with a TP-Link Atheros G card and now a TP-Link Atheros N card.

[bill bolton]

From my experience, that's not true.

I'm glad your specific tweaks got it some of the functionality I mentioned working for you on a now quite old ThinkPad model , but I stand firmly by my general comment.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[tcone]

In general you need IBM/Lenovo OEM firmware in the installed wireless devices to get Fn-F5 functionality and LED indicator functionality. While the various whitelist avoidance approaches will get you past the BIOS checks, they usually dont help with the other issues.

I haven't seen any IBM/Lenovo specific firmwares on wifi cards (Intel/Atheros/Cisco, be it mini-PCI or miniPCIe) yet. Do you have any examples? All I have seen so far is that the operation of driver and software (Fn+F5/AC) only depends on the PCI information stored on the card. So you can either change this information on the card itself (works pretty well on lots of atheros cards) or hexedit the software.

[moronoxyd]

I'm glad your specific tweaks got it some of the functionality I mentioned working for you on a now quite old ThinkPad model , but I stand firmly by my general comment.

You have any right to your opinion, but so far I have not seen any indication that on any Thinkpad, the FnF5-Tool checks more than the pci id.

As to the wifi led, I never much cared about that, but I've read that some people had success with taping on of the pins and/or tweaking some registry keys.


Yes, these are all tweaks, but considering that wifi cards with fru often cost twice as much as the same card without fru, tweaking might be the way to go for quite a lot of people.
Plus one can this way add functionality that was never officially available from IBM/Lenovo, like draft-n wifi on a X32.

[3to4]

To make Fn-F5 work, you need a wifi card with a product id that's identical to the id of one of the cards that are sold by IBM/Lenovo.
Alternatively, you can edit the fnf5.exe with a hex editor to exchange one of the ids against the id of your card.

Plus, you need to use the Lenovo drivers instead of the drivers from the manufacturer.

This way I got Fn-F5 working on my X32 first with a TP-Link Atheros G card and now a TP-Link Atheros N card.

Hello,. I know this is a very old thread, but now I am trying to upgrade my T43p with TL-TW861N.

I have done a lot of searches, and it seems that this post is most relevant to my current problem.

Up to now, by doing the hardware modification (or trick) and by making the registry entries mentioned below.

http://xenomorph.net/misc/guides/wifi-led-thinkpad/

I have succeeded in making my wifi indicator light work, but I cannot find a way to turn on / off my wifi card with F5.

I installed the driver from IBM (7ywc54ww) and updated it with xp3264-9.2.0.104-whql from Atheros.

The card is shown as "AR922x wireless network adapter" in the device manger, and it connect to my NetGear WNR3500 at 300Mb.

I also added VEN_168C&DEV_0029 by replacing one of the intel card ID in the TpFnF5.exe with a hex editor.

But, for the moment, when I do F5, I get "unable to change power state of ...."

You say you used the driver from IBM, but which "N" driver did you use for your X32?

Any information will be appreciated. Thank you.

Update!!

I added VEN_168C&DEV_0029&SUBSYS2091168C in TpFnF5. (That is to say, including the subsys.)

and, FnF5 started to work!! Then, I updated the driver to 10.0.0.54 (xp3264-10.0.0.54-whql), and the card is show as Qualcomm Atheros AR922x Wireless Network Adapter, and everything (Activity LED and FnF5) works!! I am using Windows XP SP3.

[cogitordi]

Update!!

I added VEN_168C&DEV_0029&SUBSYS2091168C in TpFnF5. (That is to say, including the subsys.)

and, FnF5 started to work!! Then, I updated the driver to 10.0.0.54 (xp3264-10.0.0.54-whql), and the card is show as Qualcomm Atheros AR922x Wireless Network Adapter, and everything (Activity LED and FnF5) works!! I am using Windows XP SP3.

Thanks for this update, 3to4. I am going to try the same thing.