Upgrading wifi on T400 to a/g/n, which cards work?

Currently installed is b/g/n, and I want to upgrade to a/g/n. What's going to fit/work? I'm considering either:

Intel 6200 a/g/n (Puma Peak 2×2)
-or-
Intel 6205 a/g/n (Taylor Peak 2×2)

And I believe Lenovo whitelists wifi cards, correct? Will any of the two above fit/work with the T400 (If I get a Lenovo-branded one), or will I need to go for an older, full-sized model?
Secondly, do I need to worry about knockoffs when buying, or will they work anyway (drivers, etc)?

 

5300 is the best one you can put in there. Lenovo does whitelist and newer cards, even Lenovo branded ones will not work without a bios hack.

 

Really? That's disappointing. Gah, why make life difficult by blocking :/
Intel 5300 it is then, thanks.

 

NP, the 5300 is a fine performer. Note it is a 3x3 card so check to see if you have the necessary antenna connections. Otherwise the 5100 is a 2x2 but also a fine performer.

 

If you do remove the BIOS Whitelist, not only you can put non-branded versions of the same Intel card which makes it a bit easier to find but also you can go further and use the latest Intel 6000 cards such as the Ultimate 6300-N card if you team it up with a Mini PCI half height bracket.

I'm currently waiting for my bracket to come so I can put an Intel Advanced-N 6205 card inside my 5 year old T61 with a modified BIOS. I have temporarily used it without the bracket to test the card and sure enough it works absolutely fine.

 

I see. Is it against forum rules to ask for these modified BIOS files/instructions?
Why is a half-height bracket required? Does the half-height cards move around when installed?

 

Modified BIOS' have been available for other models without problem on this site such as the SATA II Uncap/Whitelist + Thermal Sensor Removal for the ThinkPad T61, R61 and X61 models ( source). Though for BIOS requests you can try the ThinkPads Forums or the MyDigitialLife forums to see if they can help you remove the whitelist from the current T400 BIOS.

The half height bracket will allow the half height mini-pci card to be securely screwed on to the motherboard where there are no mounting holes to securely screw the newer mini-pci cards. Though reading the hardware maintenance manual for the T400 it may already cater the half height cards without the need of this bracket since there are already holes to cater this newer half height format unlike my T61. So from the looks of things you just need the whitelist mod to be take advantage of the newer half height wi-fi cards.

 

While you are waiting for the bracket or you don't want to invest in one(2-4bucks) , taping it down usually cause no negative effect.

 

if true, than that really pisses me off

its messed up of lenovo to whitelist stuff in the bios to begin with

its even more messed up to have a forum such as this one support their unethical practice of whitelisting

 

Don't see how it's "unethical," but no, whitelist removed-Thinkpad BIOS discussion is fine here.

 

its unethical because the only thing it accomplishes is forcing consumer to purchase the parts from lenovo at ridiculous mark ups

 

In some sense, they are just trying to protect their own(their shareholder) interest, which is especially true for business level and warranty.

 

Kind of like what Apple does with their products, ie. iPhone/iPod w/o microSD card slot, having the consumer 'upgrade' to the larger size.

 

ya its all total BS

its my computer i should be able to put in w/e pci card i got no matter where i got it from

not have to pay $100 for a wifi card from lenovo that only costs $30

 

Back on topic, I just got my T400 today and it had the Intel 5100 a/g/n.
No need to upgrade wifi or deal with whitelist

 

Worse is when the vendor has whitelisted the WWAN/wifi slot to only work with technology from 3+ years ago. Means need to update the whole notebook to get that latest transmission speeds.

Eg:: HP have just released a set of BIOS for their Santa Rosa and Penryn series notebooks (F.20 or newer) that (i) prevents rollback to previous unwhitelisted bios (so need an eeprom burner to correct) and (ii) detects modifications. The update text only mentions it as a "secure bios update" that prevents rollback to previous versions.

It's had a big version number jump so as to look like something subtantial but internally has very little 'fixes'. HP have paid a bios engineer to sabotage efforts of users to be free to use whatever WWAN or wifi card they wish. We've had several victims on this forum already. It's an unsavory look at destructive strategies (a one-way trap) used to ensure they maintain their bottom line.

 

If I were HP, I wouldn't waste my time blocking BIOS mods on those 2008 laptops. Things like these only off the end user, especially business users.

 

It's called "stockholder value".

Why do you think Lenovo profits are roaring each quarter?

 

there are other ways to increase profits rather than opting for the option that tarnishes the public's perception of your company

 

A little update, I finally received my half height bracket and installed it along with the Intel Advanced-N 6205 Wi-Fi card inside my ThinkPad T61 and everything fits nicely. A bit crazy upgrading a 5 year old notebook but it just shows how fond I am of my T61. Since I can use it properly with the bracket I noticed my signal strength is stronger than before at the same spot and pleasantly saw an increase in speed compared to my old card when using Speedtest (Intel Wi-Fi 5100 = 30Mb/s, Advanced-N 6205 = 39/40Mb/s).



I bought the bracket from this eBay seller if anyone is interested installing the newer Wi-Fi cards in legacy ThinkPads.

 

39/40mbps for internet speed? That's bloody fast! My internet's no where near that speed so I don't think I'm going to upgrade at this point. But it's nice that It can be done if someone wanted to (with whitelisted bios removed).