D610: Wireless Card Dead (I Think), Replace with...

[Running XP, Dell dw1370 internal wireless card]

I was tooling around on the net several days ago when I lost my wireless connection. Not only that, but in 'Network Connections', there was not even a wirelesss option/icon...just the Broadcom LAN connection (that had a line thru it...I don't use it normally). Nothing in Device Manager, either...it's like it just disappeared.

Removed/reinstalled driver, nothing...BIOS was fine, I just had no clue. So as it's a backup computer without a ton of 'stuff' on it, I wiped the drive & reformatted. Installed the drivers/utilities/etc, but still the same thing.

I googled the problem & saw someone mention the specific ORDER I should install all that stuff, so I wiped/reinstalled Windows AGAIN, and followed those instructions to a tee. Nothing.

I should mention that the back was cracked/broken/separating at both hinges & had actually just ordered a new complete back/screen from ebay. As I learned when I installed that (at this point of the process, actually), there are wires that attach directly to the mini-PCI Dell wireless card (must be an antenna in the case), so I was thinking 'gee, maybe the problem is in the back, and the new one will fix it!'. I removed/re-seated the card when installing the back, attached the new screen's wires properly, booted up, removed & reinstalled the driver, and STILL....nothing.

So now I'm thinking that the card must have just 'died', though I'm eager to hear if anyone has any options/suggestions I haven't tried.

So if I want to get wireless back on my D610, should I
-Replace the Dell dw1370 card with another one of those?
-Can/should I get a different mini-PCI wireless card, i.e. this
-Or should I get an old-school PCMCIA wireless card (I'm not using the slot for anything), figuring maybe there's something wrong with the mini-PCI bus/wiring or something?

Thanks for any advice/help!
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Are you able to test the WIFI card on a different machine? It could be a motherboard issue...

You should be able to use any mini-PCI (not mini-PCIe) WIFI card. If you want to be safe, you should use cards that were offered with the D610; Intel 2200, Intel 2915, etc.

 

Thanks!

I was kinda thinking that, so it makes me wary about putting another card in that spot. And, no, I don't have another laptop to try this card in.

But is the PCMCIA...the card-slot in the side..."tied-in" to the motherboard in partnership with the internal mini PCI connection? Would I run the risk of the same problem occuring?

I guess I can go USB, too, but that's a little spindly/breakable vs. the PCMCIA

Thanks again.

 

If you haven't dropped the laptop recently, it's probably not the motherboard. Coincidentally, I've dealt with several dead WLAN cards in the past couple weeks, so it's not as strange of a problem as I originally thought (never even heard of dead WLAN cards before January 2012...).

The good thing is that Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 and 2915 cards are cheap, so it won't hurt to try.

Dell Intel Pro Wireless 2915abg Mini PCI Adapter P/N 0H8162 Dell M70 D810 9300 | eBay