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    wireless card

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by jackie2000, Aug 31, 2011.

  1. jackie2000

    jackie2000 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Does their basic wireless card work okay? I'm looking at the T420S but most prepackaged ones I'm looking at don't have the upgraded wireless. I wasn't planning on ordering directly from Lenova. I'm not sure how difficult it is to upgrade on your own--I've never done any parts replacement.
     
    jackie2000, Aug 31, 2011
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  2. fraushai

    fraushai Notebook Evangelist

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    Base wireless cards function well when you have a strong signal, but in a situation of a weak signal + multiple laptops fighting for a connection, a better card has an obvious advantage. So it all depends on where you usually use wifi.
     
    fraushai, Aug 31, 2011
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  3. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

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    The base Thinkpad B/G/N card is made by Realtek, and in my experience (my X120e has that card), it gets weaker signal and takes longer to connect than my T500's Intel WiFi Link 5300ABGN. Also, if it matters to you, the Intel cards have better Linux support. I would recommend going with at least the base Intel WiFi Link 1000, which should be sufficient. If it's not possible with the preconfigured models, though, it probably won't be a dealbreaker.
     
    MidnightSun, Aug 31, 2011
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  4. jashsu

    jashsu Notebook Geek

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    I think the T420s' that don't come with a 6300 from the factory also only have two antennas installed. Also note that Lenovo uses a BIOS minipci whitelist, so if you want to upgrade your wifi you'll either need to buy a lenovo part or hack the BIOS (Google for more infos).
     
    jashsu, Aug 31, 2011
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  5. rkj__

    rkj__ Notebook Consultant

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    I have the base ThinkPad 1x1 wireless card in my T520. Thus far, I've only been using it to surf the internet at home. For that, it has performed seamlessly. No issues dropping the connection to my wireless g router, or failing to connect after sleep / shutdown.

    I don't have much more to say at this point, but I'll be returning to university in a couple weeks, and will likely share my experiences if things go awry. I had an Intel card in my last laptop, and even with that, I found connecting the school's network a little troublesome at times.
     
    rkj__, Aug 31, 2011
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