T40 Wireless card upgrade?

[jimgard]

Hi all, first timer here. I was offered a 802.11a/b/g Wireless Atheros MINI PCI Card out of a T43 for what seems to be pretty cheap. Is there any reason to upgrade? I have a T40 2373.
Along those same lines, I have a weird problem where my laptop will disconnect from WPA2 encrypted networks whenever the laptop is unplugged or plugged in. I have the latest drivers and BIOS, as far as I know. Thanks for any help.

[ajkula66]

Welcome to the forum!

What's the 7-character model number of your T40, 237?-???

Depending on what card you already have, the upgrade may be worth it, although it's hard to go wrong with IBM (Atheros) abg card...

[jimgard]

Thanks for the reply. Where can I find the full model number? It just says Type 2373 on the sticker on the bottom of the computer.
I think I read somewhere that upgrading the wireless card can be a pain, as the computer will often recognize a new card as an unauthorized one...

[ajkula66]

On the bottom of the machine, there's a sticker with serial number (don't post that) in the format of L3-xxxxx, production date (04/06) and complete model number, say 2373-75U.

[jimgard]

Huh. I must be looking right past it. Is it possible that my computer doesn't have that sticker? I didn't buy it from IBM, I got it through my university about 6 1/2 years ago...

[killer]

If you have PC Doctor for Windows on your machine you can use that to find all the system information including Machine Type and Model as well as Serial Number.

[RealBlackStuff]

Or boot up, press F1 immediately to go into BIOS.
On the first page you will find a line: System unit - serial number: 23735G5xxxxxxx
We want only the first 7 characters in RED as in the example.

[jimgard]

Ah cool. Okay, mine is 2373un1. I have the latest BIOS and EC, apparently, too.

[ajkula66]

Your card is a Cisco "b" card which is getting a little long in the tooth nowadays...upgrade would be a good idea IMHO...

[jimgard]

Okay great thanks. I'll give it a go. Any recommendations as to where to pick one up? Looks like eBay might be the best bet.

Is this the correct one? http://cgi.ebay.com/Atheros-802.11-A%2f ... 0356289851

[GACrabill]

Is this the correct one? http://cgi.ebay.com/Atheros-802.11-A%2f ... 0356289851

Getting a "non-IBM" wireless card can cause other issues.

This might be a better choice :
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-Mini-P ... 563652341e

[ajkula66]

Agreed, that's an excellent card and my preferred choice. If you want to save a few bucks, this is an alternative:

http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Mini-PCI-802-11 ... 3ef9167e05

[jimgard]

Thanks, you guys could not be more helpful. I was hoping not to have to order it from China, but it looks like that may be the best bet for getting one.

There's so many FRUs! I'm trying to find one that would get here sooner than the more expensive one from China, but I really can't figure out the compatibility.

[ajkula66]

A trusted U.S. seller on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-G41-T4 ... 2c514a6fe7

[jimgard]

Great, thanks! Just bought one.

I must say, I've had some experience on tech forums before, and you guys are easily the most helpful I've encountered. Really.

Is there anything I need to know about installing it? My BIOS and EC is up to date. I'll download the drivers while I still have my old card in...

[GACrabill]

Is there anything I need to know about installing it? My BIOS and EC is up to date. I'll download the drivers while I still have my old card in...

This is the driver package :
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-67214

Download and execute places the installation setup.exe in a separate folder ...
probably C:\DRIVERS\WIN\WLLANATH

After booting with the new card, run the setup.exe from the folder where the extracted files were placed.

If you are using Access Connections, you will need to modify or rebuild your Profiles for the new adapter.

[cellepo]

Hi all,

First-time poster here; I also have a type 2373 T40. It has the original Cisco 350 Series MiniPCI adapter Aironet Wireless 802.11b.

I am trying to decide which wireless card to upgrade to (that's how I found this thread). What do you think about this Intel PRO Wireless 2200BG Mini-PCI Adapter (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 2709wt_978)? I believe it is originally specified for a T43.

If that is the specific card I end up upgrading to, I will of course install the new driver, and then update the BIOS if necessary.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[ajkula66]

@cellepo:

Welcome to the forum!

That card will work just fine.

You may also want to place a WTB ad in the forum's Marketplace.

[richk]

I have some. PM if interested

[cellepo]

Thanks ajkula66 and richk for your replies. Sorry richk, I'm just more comfortable with Ebay (I'm not familiar with the forum's marketplace).

Has anyone that has already upgraded from the original T40 Cisco 350 Series MiniPCI adapter Aironet Wireless 802.11b encountered this problem?: The original Cisco driver/software will NOT remain un-installed; after I uninstall it (to prepare for installing a new card) and re-start T40 for changes to take effect, the original Cisco driver re-installs itself!

I realized this when testing 2 different USB wireless N card (I attempted these tests to give myself confidence that the old Cisco card was the source of my wireless non-connectivity, and that a new internal Intel 2200 b/g card could be expected to work if the USB cards did). I tried a Belkin N card, and then a TRENDNet N card, but neither worked! I installed their respective required software, but it seems that the old Cisco software/driver was getting in the way; so I un-installed the old useless driver (even deleted the Cisco folder). But after a re-start, the driver and folder re-installed themselves! I even tried this process over while disabling the Cisco process to automatically start with XP (using CCcleaner), but that changed nothing!

Anybody know how to permanently delete/uninstall the Cisco driver and its Aironet Client Utility? My new Intel 2200 b/g card has not arrived yet; have people found that when installing it (or similar card) and its new driver (possibly updating BIOS if necessary) , that the new card works regardless of the old Cisco crap remaining?

Thanks so much for your replies!

[ajkula66]

Since your new card will be an Intel one, Cisco software will not affect it whatsoever. Once you physically remove the old card, the driver will stay idle.