how to find the antennas?

I need to know if I have 2 or 3 antennas in the x61s, but have no idea what they look like and where to look for them. Reason: Lenovo mistakenly put in an AG (N disabled) wifi instead of my ordered AGN. Need to know if there is the "3rd antenna" ready for replacing the AG with AGN card. Help appreciated

 

Why not let Lenovo figure that out?

Antenas are coils of wire found in the top with some celebration in the form of
plastic mounting. The are as many as five in the t61p.

Renee

 

Can they know for certain without seeing my laptop?

 

Does the display spec "12.1" XGA TFT, 2x2 UltraConnect II antenna" have to do with the wireless antenna? Does the "2x2" mean there are only 2 antennas?

Maybe this is a really dumb question

 

Its not exactly a dumb question but you do have to remember that mof parts lists are not made for getting usable information.

They can know what the antenna is. They can't tell if you've identified/diagnosed them correctly.

Renee

 

if your X61s was purchased as a CTO model then it will have all three antennas already.   wireless cards only needing gray and black antennas will have the white antenna covered in a plastic tube and tucked underneath the card.

if you want to verify having three antennas, simply remove your keyboard and look for them running through the center.   they'll be taped inside an aluminum tray.   the gray and white will run to the left hinge and the black will run to the right.

 

Does this information apply to the x200 as well?

I have a x200 Tablet (7448-CTO) with an Intel 5100 Wi-Fi card (and a webcam/WWAN). If I were to upgrade to a 5350 in the future (for WiMax), would I already have the 3 required antennas?

 

yes.   in the case of the X200, there's only one part number in the HMM for the antenna array.   lenovo moved to the "include all the antennas" model as it was much less expensive than customizing antenna arrays in every system.

the X200 include six antennas where the X200s includes four.

X200 hardware maintenance manual

 

Thanks a lot. I wonder what your basis is for saying CTO models include all 3 antennas? And again, what exactly does the "2x2" mean in the display spec? Some models have "2x3", I took it to mean the number of antennas

 

2x2 = ABGN WLAN
2x3 = ABGN WLAN + WWAN

 

Oh, I see. Thanks! (A relief )

 

I opened it. Can only see a black and a gray wire from the wifi card. No white one. I peeped underneath the card (didn't take it out) and it's empty, doesn't look like to have any white wire "tucked underneath" there.

Addendum:
If I get an AGN card and replace the AG by it, can I find out whether I have 3 antennas or not? If so, how?

 

if you don't see three antennas routed through the center then you only have two.   systems with three antennas have them pre-routed to the wireless card.   that's really odd as i haven't personally seen a CTO model built in 2008 or 2009 including only two antennas.   all have had three.

if your system truly doesn't have the white antenna and you absolutely need N then you'll need to send your entire system in for the change.   the antennas aren't a CRU (customer-replaceable unit) and technically cannot be done by the end-user per the warranty.

 

Good to know, I'll keep that in mind and upgrade to the 5350 if WiMax ever pans out nationwide.

 

Wow, thanks. This x61s CTO is brand new just received 4 days ago! I hope they didn't give me a refurbed one.

(There is another, thicker black wire, not from the wifi card but from the "modem daughter card" (how do I know? I searched its part number), which is bundled with the 2 antennas from the wifi. I suppose that's not the "3rd antenna"?)