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WiFi for IBM Thinkpad T30

A friend just bought a used IBM Thinkpad T30 (2GHz processor). She's leaving for Europe in three weeks and needs to get it set up for WiFi, so she can connect to the internet in 'hotspots' (like cafes and libraries) which provide that service. She asked me to help her in this but I'm pretty clueless about wireless internet hookups. Can anyone give advice about what type of WiFi card or wireless LAN mini-PCI adaptor would be a good match for the T30 for wireless access to the web, and about what would be the cost? Is this all she would need - just a 'wifi card'?

Thanks in advance...

-g

Reply to
glenn
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Buy.com has the Intel 2200BG Mini-PCI card for $30, if she's got Mini-PCI and WiFi antennas that's going to be her best bet.

Reply to
William P.N. Smith

William P.N. Smith hath wroth:

I agree. 2200BG is a good card.

For the official IBM/Lenovo offerings see: |

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roughly twice the price. Do not purchase the "MiniPCI Express" cards as they will not fit in the T30.

Make sure that the MiniPCI card slot is available and that there are two tiny coax cables and connectors that go to antennas. Without the antennas, it won't work. Replacement antennas are available on eBay but are rather complex to install.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann
[POSTED TO alt.internet.wireless - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

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at roughly twice the price. Do not purchase the "MiniPCI Express"

Never hurts to check, but according to "T30 series model matrix" in the T30 Hardware Maintenance Manual , all T30 models have the wireless LAN antenna. That's confirmed by , which lists all non-wireless T30 models as "wireless upgradable".

Reply to
John Navas
[POSTED TO alt.internet.wireless - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

True, but many seem to feel that Atheros-based cards are the best bet.

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>at roughly twice the price. Do not purchase the "MiniPCI Express"

p.s. CAVEAT: The BIOS in the ThinkPad T30 checks for approved network cards, and will refuse to boot if a non-approved card is found. For more information and work-arounds, see "Problem with unauthorized MiniPCI network card" .

Reply to
John Navas

Thanks to all who responded. Your answers have been very helpful.

-glenn

Reply to
glenn
[POSTED TO alt.internet.wireless - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

FYI, I just installed an Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Mini PCI Wi-Fi card (Model WM382200BG, Dell P/N 0K3444) in a Thinkpad T30 Model 2366-88U. As expected, the T30 was "wireless ready" (i.e., it had an antenna installed). I ran into the 1802 won't boot problem (as expected), and solved it with the NO-1802.COM DOS utility as described in "Problem with unauthorized MiniPCI network card" . The Intel Mini PCI card is now working perfectly, and seems to be noticeably better than the NETGEAR WG511v1 802.11g PC Card it replaced.

Reply to
John Navas

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