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    T61p (middleton bios) what's the best wireless N I can put in it

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by jedisurfer1, May 9, 2012.

  1. jedisurfer1

    jedisurfer1 Notebook Deity

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    converting all my wireless devices to wireless N. Does the t61p us a full or half mini pcie. And what's the best price/performance ratio model I should get. From searching it seems like the intel 5300 or 6300. Does the t61p have 2 or 3 antennas? My t61p came with an atheros abg card.

    Also a model with some future proofing or a large community behind it so I can tweak/hack it (supposed atheros is the way?). Anyways all my routers are ddwrt or tomato variants with broadcom 4718 chips.

    Thanks
     
  2. PatchySan

    PatchySan Om Noms Kit Kat

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    Most likely the Atheros card uses 2 antenna's but you can check by removing the keyboard and see how many wires there is to the card. If you use Middleton's BIOS you're pretty much free to select any Intel card without OEM restrictions. I got a generic Intel Advanced-N 6205 card (2 antennas) for my T61 and it works great, though you will need a half-height bracket to mount the newer cards on to the T61 like this one for example.
     
  3. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    you can use Intel 6300 with two antennas.
     
  4. jimbob83

    jimbob83 Notebook Evangelist

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    Yours might have 3 antennas. My T61 (no p) which originally came with the Intel 4965ag card has 3.

    If you have 3 antennas but use just 2, wrap some tape around the 3rd antenna's connector so it won't accidentally short anything.
     
  5. miro_gt

    miro_gt Notebook Deity

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    I had 4965 in my prime T61 and I changed it to 5300 - last one full sized with 3 antennas.

    then the 4965 went to replace the 3945 in my other T61 which uses 2 antennas, but the 4965 seems to work just fine without the third antenna so no biggie :)