The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Upgrade to Wifi Link 5300?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by jones72, May 25, 2009.

  1. jones72

    jones72 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hi Everyone,
    I'm looking at a used Thinkpad T500 that has a "ThinkPad 11b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Express Adapter III"

    If I bought this and wanted to upgrade to the wifi link 5300 or some other n compatible wireless... would this be possible? Or is it built into the motherboard?

    Thanks!
     
  2. Bog

    Bog Losing it...

    Reputations:
    4,018
    Messages:
    6,046
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    206
    Mini-PCIe is a type of slot used for WLAN, Bluetooth, SSDs, and other devices. The ThinkPad wireless card is not, then, built-in to the motherboard. It can be upgraded.

    However, you might want to consider whether you'll really see performance increases; very few people have need of draft-n wireless as their internet connections don't really push the limit.
     
  3. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

    Reputations:
    6,668
    Messages:
    8,224
    Likes Received:
    231
    Trophy Points:
    231
    I would say it's not worth the trouble to replace the wireless card, unless you have a Draft-N network already in place.

    You may have a bit of trouble stringing all 3 antennas to the 5300, as some users have reported that the extra antennas are not in place if a lower wireless card is ordered.
     
  4. jones72

    jones72 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Thanks for the info guys.
     
  5. Thaenatos

    Thaenatos Zero Cool

    Reputations:
    1,581
    Messages:
    5,346
    Likes Received:
    126
    Trophy Points:
    231
    Or if you need to connect to 802.11a APs.