swapping wireless NICs

[Niki Denev]

Dan Langille wrote:
> On 21 Sep 2005 at 9:56, Kevin Oberman wrote:
> 
> 
>>>From: "Dan Langille" <dan at langille.org>
>>>Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 09:35:40 -0400
>>>Sender: owner-freebsd-mobile at freebsd.org
>>>
>>>On 21 Sep 2005 at 15:15, Marcin Jessa wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 08:58:11 +0200
>>>>"anon anon" <anonymous_messiah at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Im currently looking to purchase a wireless card, preferably mini-pci for my 
>>>>>thinkpad R40.  Are there any well supported mpi/pcmcia cards for fbsd.  
>>>>>Please don_t mention the cisco mpi350 as this card has not worked for me 
>>>>>since 4.10.   This card only works for about 5 minutes or until it is placed 
>>>>>under reasonable load.  It then timeouts and cannot be brought up unless the 
>>>>>system is power cycled.  And yes, I have downgraded the firmware to 5.00.1 
>>>>>or whatever it is numerous times.  I need a card that is known to work 
>>>>>without problems under 5.x.
>>>>
>>>>Use an Atheros based card.
>>>
>>>This brings up something I have been thinking about.  Someone 
>>>mentioned that the ipw problems I've been having on my T41 could be 
>>>resolved by changing ton an Atheros based NIC.
>>>
>>>Question: have you replaced your wireless NIC?  On my T41 it is 
>>>internal. I'm told it's a matter of replacing it.  I understand, but 
>>>haven't looked into buying an Atheros NIC and putting it in my 
>>>Thinkpad, but seeing as I'm going to be in the US next week, I might 
>>>just pick one up while I'm there.
>>>
>>>Comments please.
>>
>>The physical swap is pretty easy. Just open the access door in the bottom
>>of the unit, unplug the antenna wires and pop out the mini-PCI
>>card. Then reverse to add the new card.
>>
>>In the past, ThinkPads have BIOS set to refuse to allow the system to
>>boot if any mini-PCI card not of a type sold by IBM was seen. I don't
>>know if the T43 still does this, but you can deal with this in a couple
>>of ways:
>>1. Get the Cisco card that Lenovo sells
>>2. Hack BIOS to not get upset about it. I've seen articles on this and I
>>   suspect that you can Google for it. (I don't take any responsibility
>>   for dead systems if you muck with the BIOS, though. Take care!)
> 
> 
> This looks like it's an IBM branded card at US$50:
> 
> http://www.netgate.com/product_info.php?products_id=219
> 
> And this one definintely is IBM at $90 including shipping:
> 
> http://www-
> 131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=-
> 840&storeId=10000001&langId=-
> 1&dualCurrId=1000073&categoryId=2581910&productId=8657707
> 
> OR http://tinyurl.com/dq42l
> 
> I may just buy IBM.

I'm not sure if it will work because it is dual band.
Someone with more radio frequency knowledge can
help here, but i think that it will need different/dual
antenna.
Maybe you should check this before ordering.

--niki