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    T61 - is upgrade to Intel Wifi Link 5300 possible

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by axelm, Aug 30, 2009.

  1. axelm

    axelm Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have a T61 with Lenovo a/b/g Atheros based wifi. When I bought my laptop, Lenovo wanted a small fortune for a lame 3965 card.

    Six months ago, I bought a Linksys WRT600N dual band router and a WRT150N client bridge. All my devices now support N, except for this T61. I would like to upgrade to a 5300 with 3 antennas.

    I know about the mini PCIe white list in the BIOS, but that can be bypassed with a bios mod.

    I have two more questions:
    1) Why do the ebay bids say that a PM45 chipset is necessary? Shouldn't it run on my PM965 chipset?

    2) What about the third antenna? I suppose the abg adapter only uses 2 antennas. Is it easy to install the third one?

    Thanks for any help
     
    axelm, Aug 30, 2009
    #1
  2. moral hazard

    moral hazard Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    don't the antennas go up into the screen?
    If they do then you would need to take apart the screen, not so easy.
     
    moral hazard, Aug 30, 2009
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  3. axelm

    axelm Notebook Enthusiast

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    I don't know if the third antenna goes up the display too. I read a post on a board in Spanish where the user was upgrading an X200 and the third antenna was added without touching the display.
     
    axelm, Aug 30, 2009
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  4. moral hazard

    moral hazard Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I would agree that it should work with the PM965 chipset. And that it shouldn't matter where you put the antenna as long as you have it connected.
     
    moral hazard, Aug 30, 2009
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  5. axelm

    axelm Notebook Enthusiast

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    This is where I read bout the PM45 issue:
    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290341065511

    The comment on PM45 is at the bottom of the bid. I also read the same on other sites, but I just don't understand why this is a requirement.

    I haven't read the same on Intel's site, though.
     
    axelm, Aug 30, 2009
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  6. NecessaryEvil

    NecessaryEvil Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm basing this off the 5100 rather than the 5300, but the 5100 works fine in a 945 chipset, and 965 as well. There's nothing that should prevent it from working so long as the BIOS allows for it.
     
    NecessaryEvil, Aug 30, 2009
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  7. axelm

    axelm Notebook Enthusiast

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    axelm, Aug 30, 2009
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  8. axelm

    axelm Notebook Enthusiast

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    axelm, Aug 30, 2009
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