CF-27 Mk4 Internal Wi-Fi Options?

I have been doing a lot of searching all over the intarwebs and have not really come up with a solution. There is lots of little bits of information but nothing really complete!

Basically I just want to know what I can do to get a Wi-Fi card mounted internally that will allow me to keep the integrity of the case intact while in use (ie. all covers closed and sealed). This is because it is going to be used in some rather rough (and quite likely wet) conditions. I am comfortable with doing modifications on the system so any and all solutions anyone can recommend would be appreciated....I would rather not go off experimenting if someone already has a solution!

Also on a sort of side note...can anyone recommend a solution to get ANY Sprint EVDO card set up internally? I am unsure if any of the ones they currently sell allow the built in antenna to be removed... (this one is secondary and is more of a 'it would be nice if we could' kind of thing)

I would like to express my appreciation in advance!

 

There's two possibilities I can see you trying. You could try to find the internal PCMCIA slot option card and put a PCMCIA wifi card in it. The chances are pretty good, I think, that this would work.. but the PCMCIA option cards aren't real easy to come by.

The other choice is the internal Mini-PCI option card. These are real easy to find, but for some odd reason they don't seem to recognize any mini PCI card other than the aztech modem that they come with.

Mounting antennas internally shouldn't be too hard, since the top cover on the CF27 is plastic, not metal..

 

What PCMCIA Wi-Fi card would you recommend for this?

I have not seen a lot of them lately that allow you to remove the built in antenna from the card....last one I have seen was an Aironet 350 an old 802.11B card...

Also, Wasn't there an external antenna Panasonic actually installed on these in the monitor frame? Or was that just intended for cellular modem use?

 

The 27 never had a factory wifi option, AFAIK. As for PCMCIA cards with antenna jacks, I have only seen cisco aironet and orinoco gold cards that have the ports ready for you to plug an antenna into. However, I have seen various writeups on the web about people cracking open the bump antenna of other PCMCIA wifi cards and grafting an external antenna onto the card, so I would guess that with a little hacking you could make use of most any card.

 

gravitar is correct, they never had a wifi option. The antenna was meant for either the SB555 modem or the Spider card, which used the pc slot option card. The antenna didn't go directly to the card though, it went to the pass-through jack which had a soldered cable going to the card.

 

I decided I was too lazy to do the simple modifications even to pull this one off so I searched and found a CF-28 with the built-in Wi-Fi module and antenna!

I also have a question about the CF-28...I know the processor is soldered to the mainboard so I was hoping to pick up a 1GHz mainboard but given how much Panasonic seems to change things between the different mark's I was not sure if the new mainboard would even fit properly in a system configured at 600MHz? (Looking at pictures of 600 mainboards and 800 mainboards it looks like that should be possible...but I can not find any 1GHz board shots...)

Also, if I remember correctly the CF-27 and CF-28 keyboards are interchangeable correct? because I have the backlit keyboard for the CF-27 and was hoping to swap them out...

 

The keyboard you can do for sure. the mobo on the other hand.. i think someone already tried an 800/1000 mobo in a 600 housing and it didn't fit right. the 800 & 1000 are almost the same but the 600 is a somewhat different beast.

 

I can not find anything about someone actually trying it...I have found one where someone was attempting to procure one to try an upgrade but then there was no update...

Can you remember what exactly made it not possible? All the pictures and diagrams and what not I have been able to find seem to make them look pretty much identical at least dimensionally speaking...but a picture is just a picture...

 

Modly is one of our more experienced hackers; he states that there are fundamental issues (connectors in the wrong place, bulkheads in the case are different, etc) in several areas which make the Mk1 to Mk2/Mk3 swap simply not a reasonable route. He's almost as cheap as I am - if it could be made to go, he'd have MADE it go.

I asked the same questions myself when i first joined - after talking to the more experienced hacks on here, I too decided it was time to simply suck it up & buy a Mk2 in mostly working condition (I got LUCKY - bid on a Mk2, GOT a Mk3) to have a decent foundation to build on. Do yourself a favor - if you can get the Mk1 up & running, sell it while you still can get something for it, or (like I did) save it for doors, screws, caddys, etc to finish out a Mk2 or Mk3. You WILL be time, money and headache ahead.

mnem
c0ck-a-doodle-don't!

 

Well I have already picked up the the Mk1 so I will probably harvest the antenna and wifi card from it and try and pick up an Mk2 in a few weeks. I will watch ebay and try and catch one on the cheap I guess.

That would work correct? I can not see why it would not, I am assuming they did not change the internal Wi-Fi antenna between the different marks correct?

(I am really not as stupid as I probably sound! I am an on call tech for a few large companies...most notably HP. Also I have worked as a network administrator for a mid-size school district. I am just new on this toughbook stuff!)

 

Well I guess I am glad I ordered the CF-28....my CF-27 sprung a leak when I was on-site and it started to storm....It has survived many rain storms before but it looks like one of the seals kind of dried and cracked apparently...

Opened it up to find a little water near the IrDA port and a silicon chip that was melted...

 

Yeah, you can install WiFi in a CF-28; but the antenna on a CF-28 is for RIM wireless, not WiFi. (I dunno if the antenna from a CF-27 is interchangeable with one from a CF-28) As such, it makes a pretty crappy WiFi antenna in stock form - BUT - you can do this hack:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=215522&page=2

to make a CF-28 RIM antenna into a passable WiFi antenna.

Good luck,

mnem
WiFi? WhyNotFi?

 

It is supposed to already have an internal wifi card and I did not see the PCMCIA door open with the card hanging in the wind so I assumed it was internal....and the only antenna I had seen was the one on the corner of the screen so I just assumed they had a different version for wi-fi instead of CDPD...

 

LOL... Yeah, well... ANYBODY can put a WiFi card in a CF-28 - all you have to do is pull out the MODEM or the NIC; the tricky part is to get signal to it once you close it up under the hard drive & magnesium housing. I believe there has been some discussion on the issue in this forum and the consensus was that they didn't do factory internal WIFI until the CF-29.

Most of the modders here prefer to use the CDPD antenna location for the Sarantel antenna or hack a screw-on WiFi antenna there, as there is already coax run to the bottom of the case so it's easy to hack into. I'm not into WarDriving, so GPS integration doesn't excite me much; but I wanted to keep the OEM durability intact.

mnem
Woot! there it ISN'T!

 

The CF-28 was widely available with factory WI-FI normally a Cisco AIR-LMC350 in the hidden slot and a WI-FI tuned retractable whip antenna in the top left. in some cases where the unit was equipped with both CDPD and WI-FI the CDPD got the whip antenna and the WIFI antenna was located in the plastic housing of the modem cover.

 

I would love to see an example of a CF28 with a WiFi antenna factory-mounted on the LCD panel. (I'm not challenging your assertion.. I've just never seen one, or any mention of it in any documentation!)

 

Well let me enlighten you, model number CF-28STJGVKM check it out at : http://www.config.toughbook.com/ this is just one example.

loker, you can go to that site referenced above and enter your full model number and it will tell you if your unit came from the factory with WIFI and the type of antenna it had.

 

Granted, there is an entry for it in the configurator. That doesn't fully convince me that anyone ever bought them that way though.. could have been vaporware. Have you ever seen one in real life?

 

The example I gave you is one that I have so I know they do exist. the antenna looks just like the RIM antenna but has different SMD components on the base that make it work with WIFI and no it was not hacked it was purchased directly from Panasonic a few years back.

 

Is it the short (RIM) or long (Sierra) antenna? I'm thinking I gotta get me one of those How well does it work?

 

Well, alrighty then!

I guess I've been proven wrong... my apologies for any confusion. I guess now I'd have to wonder if you can actually BUY this above mentioned WiFi antenna anymore...

Until we find it, I believe I'll just be content with my hacked version... it works well & I just wish I could figure out how to install its twin on the right without it LOOKING hacked. I tried a WiFi antenna mounted in the MODEM cover OEM style... it sucked at best with approx 30 meter range.

mnem
Go FARTHER! No... wait... too far. Look out for that waterfall...

 

Well it arrived today...Once I am all installed I will go through and check and see what I have actually got and give an update...

The Toughbook itself is in amazing condition....only one really noticeable mar on the side...

FYI....Installing XP without an internal CD/DVD drive is a PITA...

 

Looks like the guy lied about it having Wi-Fi....I am gonna see if I can get a partial refund or something...

Oh well I guess...I have a CF-28 now that I can install a wifi card in....

Looks like I have a Sierra CDPD SB300 with the long antenna...is that the antenna you hacked up mnementh?

 

Sho 'nuff... Just replace yer mini-pci MODEM & NIC cards with a cheap mini-PCI MODEM/NIC combo card (I believe Gravitar had some cheap in the BST Forum - otherwise, ask ToughBook), then you're good to go with your favorite mini-PCI WiFi card.

Happy hacking!

mnem
*ZZZZZT!*