T21 and Intel 2200 b/g Mini PCI Card

[iann070]

I have a ThinkPad T21 and am thinking of removing the 3Com Modem/Ethernet Mini PCI card, and installing an Intel 2200 b/g Mini PCI card instead.
I have already downloaded the drivers from the Lenovo website with file name "1ywc54ww.exe" which is v9.0.4.8.

Do these drivers support WPA and WPA2 ?
Do you use something like Fn + F5 to enable and disable wireless LAN ?

I have also read many posts in this Forum regarding the fact that the T21 doesn't have any pre-installed antennas, and have read many suggestions of routing the antenna under the keyboard/palmrest, and end up near the battery.
So with the antenna installation being a bit tricky, do you need to install both "Main" and "Aux" antennas, or can you get away with just installing the "Main" antenna ?

If I do decide to install the Intel 2200 b/g Mini PCI card, along with the drivers, do I also need to install anything else, like the ThinkVantage Access Connection software or the ThinkPad Hotkey drivers ?
(Don't want to load the system too much, just want to install the least amount of software to get the thing working properly).

[RealBlackStuff]

The under-the-hood installation of antennas on a T2x is doubtful at best. You won't get more than perhaps 60% of the reception, compared to factory-installed wifi.
That's why you MUST install both antennas. With just one, you may as well forget it.
The latest Intel drivers support WPA and WPA2 no problem.
Fn-F5 may work, as long as you use a wifi card with IBM P/N or FRU on it.
Unless you are a masochist, I wouldn't install TVA, let Windows manage the connection(s) instead.
If you go this way, you will loose your LAN connection!

The easier solution would be to get a PCMCIA wifi card.
It'll stick out, but reception will be much better.

[George]

Hi Ian,

Today, I spent 2 hours accomplishing what you are asking about, except on my "Upgraded T21", I used a 2915ABG card ($6.95 on Ebay, shipping included). I followed the article by "rkawakami" which covered adding internal wifi on a T23. I gained some experience with these Intel cards when converting my A31 from the super slow "B" only card, to a 2915ABG card, and got rid of the PCMCIA BG card. The A31 was an easy job, just swapping cards and loading the correct driver, as it already had internal antennas.
The T21 needed an internal antenna. Again, Ebay to the rescue with a brand new Tyco brand dual antenna. Following the "rkawakami" article, I dismantled the T21 and placed the first antenna next to the battery compartment on the right side edge, under the hand-rest (Bezel ?). I used his routing suggestions, to a point next to the fan and USB rear jack (More on that to follow). Again, following his suggestion, I removed the LCD, and placed the 2nd antenna by the "Ultraport" connector. This connector simply slides upwards out of its' mounting. I put a slight "bend" in the "flat copper part" of the antenna and placed it "UNDER" the remounted ultraport connector (after taping the ultraport connector terminals. The antenna is held in place quite firmly. I routed the wire straight down and UNDER the flat ribbon cable from the LCD to the LCD jack, on the MB, then routed it to the left, passing by the rear USB jack. The T23 that "rkawakami" used had an "oval hole" mentioned in the article, for feeding the white and black antenna wires into the mini-pci compartment, but I failed to find it on my T21. I used a plastic cable-tie to "fish" a route from the "mini-pci" compartment to the cut-away area of the MB where the cooling fan fits. I was successful in routing these two small guage wires under the MB to the mini-pci compartment. Looking down at the cpu, look left to just where the MB is cut-away to allow for fan mounting. In the T21, there is room to pass the wires, without their being "crimped", at this "edge of MB, nearest the CPU, when the fan is mounted. I took this opportunity to replace the usual "goo" between the cpu and heat sink/fan, also. I use NHC" (notebook hardware control) to monitor temperatures of the cpu, but all were normal. I just had a nagging suspicion that running the wires that way, might have prevented a "close contact" between cpu and heatsink, and caused higher operating temperatures. A year ago I upgraded the cpu to 1 GHZ, from the original 800 mhz (or was it 850?) and have been very satisfied with the upgrade.

** I see NO Diminished Signal Strength, when used within my home, or just outside my home, when compared to the former PCMCIA Wifi Adapter. WXP_PRO reports signal strength as "excellent". I am very pleased with this update.

I hope this helps. Many Thanks to "rkawakami" for his very informative article!

George

570E (500 MHZ) (320 MB)
600X (650 MHZ) (576 MB)
T21 (1 GHZ) (512 MB)
A31 (2 GHZ) (2 GB)
T60 (1.83) (3 GB)

[iann070]

Thank you RealBlackStuff and George for your replies.

I am at present using a D-Link DWA-610 PCMCIA Wireless G card and have had no problems with it at all, it's been great.
The only negative thing about it is you have to plug it in when you want to use it, and it sticks out of the laptop.
It also obstructs access to a USB2.0 PCMCIA card that is in the other slot.

Installing the antennas is really the only thing stopping me from installing the Mini PCI card at the moment as it's a bit tricky to do.

George, do you have a link to the Tyco Antennas you bought on eBay ?
I've seen pictures of antennas with different ends, so want to make sure I buy the correct ones.
From what I've read, I should buy an antenna with a 22 inch (56cm) wire.

The Intel 2200 b/g card I am thinking of buying is this one

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 0372975818

There are quite a lot of Intel 2200 b/g Mini PCI cards on eBay, some with Dell part numbers, some with IBM part numbers.
The seller of this one says it is for IBM/Lenovo laptops only, so hopefully it won't result in the "1802 Unauthorized network card" error, if I install it in my T21.

Cheers

[RealBlackStuff]

Just in case, the NO-1802 hack is very easy to apply, and will allow for any miniPCI wifi card to function.
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_w ... twork_card

[George]

Iann,

Here is a Ebay link to the internal antenna, I used: Item image
TYCO Laptop Wireless Mini PCI PCI-E Internal Antenna....250651813758. It is a common antenna. The two wires are of differing length, and I left them at their original length. I simply coiled the excess into the mini-pci compartment, and closed the cover. $5.99 USD, including shipping.

I used a IntelPro card 2915ABG, instead of the 2200BG. I bought 3 of them for $6.99 USD each including shipping. I tend to buy mostly used USA stuff, versus knock-offs from China, if that is what they are, I don't know for sure.

On my A31 Thinkpad, I did have a "1802" error, when I replaced the older "B" only card. This is easily correctable, and really nothing to be overly concerned about. On the change to the T21, no "1802" error occurred. I SUSPECT that this is not a problem on a T21 unit, but am not sure.

This forum has everything you could want to know about accomplishing this mod. I hope this helps.

George