Mini PCI Card: Wireless-G Bluetooth

I have seen some combo mini pci cards around so wanted to know if there will work in a cf-28,
also are there a certain type of mini-pci cards that will fit into a toughbook or will most fit?????
also is there a seperate section for where the wifi and bluetooth cards fit in the cf-28?????
just seen these on ebay can someone check out ebay item
230154582565
and
230154584535
the seller is selling wifi and bluetooth upgrade kits, does anyone know where there will fit???will there fit in the same section???meaning you can only have wifi built in or bluetooth not both?????
there are very expensive as most so could i go for a alternative rather then what he is selling????does anyone know what other brands are out there that will work with a cf-28??????
cheers for any help

 

Any mini-pci card should work. I have seen WiFi-BT combo cards but don't know if I like the combo idea. You may want to post in the wireless section of this forum...

The problem with adding wifi or BT to the CF-28 is getting a signal. I added an external WiFi antenna and posted the "how-to" somewhere around here. With BlueTooth... I don't think the magnesium case is as much of a problem. I temporarily installed the BlueTooth card in mine and got a great signal from across the room. I just haven't had a chance to install it permanently.

I recently tried to use the RIM antenna on mine as the sole signal reception and results were a little underwhelming. The external mod is the way to go. That way it gives you the capability of adding a small 9dB antenna to the side of the case or hooking up to a larger, better antenna so you could use a mag mount antenna for your car.

Post what you decide... Let's keep the info flowing!

 

i think that is perfect the way you mounted ur ariel on the side, but loving the idea of having a mount for ur car, currently my camper is abit of a mess but does have 2 gps reciever's hidden under the roof panel, one is for my hw6915 phone which i use for sat/nav around town and the other is for my sony laptop, but if am going camping it has always been my trusting firend the cf-28 that comes along with me, main reason i have gone through 2 laptops while being out camping, always a chance of down fall, droping ur laptops you name it most of it has happened to me, but since getting the cf-28 from my mates it be perfect, been left out in the rain by me once, drop afew times and hasnt ever given me problems apart from the fact that once in a while it tends to slow down mostly my fault for installing stupid games etc????
the only main thing i'd love to get is have wifi built in, i currently use a belkin wifi stick when i go camping but would perfer something built in,
i seen the pics and the way you describe it, it sounds easy to do, but will have to wait and see how it goes???
i wont be able to stick a ariel on the same side as you caus i have the gps section there....
i seen the same wifi card you have used going for sale on ebay so most likely buy that????
did you check those item numbers???????230154582565
and
230154584535
do you know anything more about them as to where there go????the bt one....

 

I'm new here. It seems like the 3COM pcmcia x-jack might be a simple solution. Its a wireless card that has a pull out antenna. I think the door should even close. I found places still selling them new for around 60.00 US.

 

With this one... 230154582565... You'd get NO signal as the antenna is wrapped around the card! You'd get a very poor, if any, signal having to get a signal through the magnesium case... (JUNK!)

I don't know about 230154584535 as they give no info... Always beware when they give no pictures and don't give a thorough explanation as to how it works, fits, etc.

There is no problem working around your GPS module. There is PLENTY of room for an RP-SMA connector for an externa antenna. Strangely enough... The antenna doesn't get in the way when you type. Also... depending on what angle you type from... you can just move the antenna a little out of the way.

It's quite easy to do even if you are not good with tools. It's a "No Brainer!"

I have a BT card with the pull-out antenna. You still have to hang it out the side. If you are talking about using the internal slot and drilling a hole in the side you defeat the purpose of having the Toughbook!

 

It doesn't sound like you are very familiar with the X-Jack card. At least go look at it before you comment. I have read several reviews that state that the card will work just fine short range with the antenna still inside the card. Worst case scenario you have to put a small slit in the door using the rubber already in the door as a gasket. There is no reason to compromise the seal of the door. Making the door seal up should not be as difficult as installing a internal wireless card. When I finish this project it will still be a toughbook, it might even be tougher!

 

Tpatching, toughbook was going on about the wifi card i said with the item numbers i asked him to check,
tpatching i will check out the card now,
toughbook ur right i phoned the seller to ask about the bt card and wifi card he was selling asking how easy where there to fit, but he wouldnt tell me a thing, saying he cant tell me where it is and will only tell me where it is once i have purchased the item off him?????
goes to show how hes gready for money, knowning if ppl find out what cards go in there will never buy them of him.....
also he said that to put thee bluetooth in once you have to remove to small screws and remove the plate which he tells me his very hard to find,
anyone seen this bit????

 

This is what I thought you were originally talking about...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Brand-New-MSI-C...ryZ44999QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It's a WiFi/BT combo card. It is easy to slip in. (Just as easy as a PCMCIA card!) I would imagine that just about any mini pci card would work. It would be an expensive experiment but I don't see how it couldn't wark as long as you make room for an external antenna. I posted above that I really don't like the idea of the combo card. (Just a personal thing.) Did you try posting in the wireless section to see if anyone had any experience with this type card?

Tpatching... I have one of the shortest PCMCIA cards known to man... The Billionton Bluetooth Card. Even with the antenna all the way in (Even if I broke the antenna off!) the card is still just a hair too long to fit in the slot and close the door. Post some measurements of the card you speak of... I couldn't find any...(Then again... I didn't look that hard.)

 

I found a combo card for 1/2 the price the guy is askig for on ebay!

http://www.jronsite.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=4446&idcategory=667

The power rating is not as good as the Atheros based card I have... You want 100mw for best reception. (My experience) But if you have good wifi in your area you may not need more power... Or if you do the external antenna mod.

 

i thought about it and just going to buy the same card as you have toughbook, main reason i aint ever checked them out before, if it were a dell laptop then maybe i would have know most of it, but when it comes to otughbooks am still in the dark only think i can help anyone is with setting up there gps and telling you which is the best navigation software you can install on there,
also if anyone did want i can always make a copy of a navigation software if you wanted and didnt want to waste any money buying them, we get alot in at work so am always checking out new software to see how it runs....
going to post now in the wireless section and see if anyone has had any info with the combo cards....

 

toughbook do you know about the place the seller was telling me where the bluetooth module goes,
he said you have to remove 2 little screws and remove a plate to get to it, and once you have inserted and switch on, and go into the bios the bluetooth option will come up and you will just need to enable it......
he says its afew minute job....
but wouldnt give me full details caus if i knew that i can buy a cheaper alternative and put that in.....

 

I think what he is talking about is the ethernet/phone jack cover. You still need to take the laptop apart to get to the screws. I've tried twice to take off the jack cover and can't seem to get it off. It seems that it would break if forced off/out. The back of the jacks are coated with a gray hard but pliable gel material. I presume that this is to dampen any vibration they might be subject to. Maybe if you peel it all off you might be able to remove the jack. The problem that I see is that the back of the jacks extend so far into the laptop case that there isn't enough room for the internal PCMCIA card. I bought the Billionton BT card because it was the shortest I could find. I haven't had a chance to take out the motherboard yet to see if it will fit. It will be close in any event!

 

it seems harder getting to it then i thought the guy over the phone told me its right in ur face,
best thing is order the manual of ebay which hopefuly will tell me exactly everything????
anyone know who to buy it off,
seen one seller 130134241735
but there are afew other doing it also with different prices

 

I'll PM you a link in a minute....

 

Toughbook,
Here are the dimensions for the 3com Xjack 86 X 54 X 5.0 (L x W x H) it should be a bit shorter than yours.
Your Dimensions: 91 x 54 x 4.6 mm (L x W x H)
I should get mine in the mail this week. Maybe the door will close.

 

The dimensions you posted for mine are for another model. Mine is in fact 86mm long and is too long for the side card rail with the door closed. Here's a shot of what I bought... It's an older version...



The antenna retracts within the card and only sticks out by about 2mm. Even without the antenna... It's a hair too long...

The measurements you took are for this one...



Either way... Keep us posted how your works.

 

not too sure about the msi combo after reading abit more up about them, i have found out that most laptops werent compatible with the msi combo cards main reason when you go onto the msi it is written in red only for msi products,
anyway thats a good card you bought will be perfect, much faster compared to the original ones that were shipped with the toughbooks,
am buying the same card as toughbook bought for his hack....

 

Hmmmmm... A mini PCI BT card. I thought about that and was about ready to yank out the 10/100 ethernet card but then stumbled onto a (what I thought was a short enough) BT PCMCIA card. I guess I could always keep the ethernet card handy in case it was needed and then put it back in if wireless isn't available. But come to think about it... I only have two wired PCs... the other 3 are all wireless.

Hmmmm... decisions, decisions. To tell the truth... I don't even use BT that much. It was just a cool mod I wanted to do.

 

I was looking into the shorter Mini SD wireless card placed in a pcmcia card reader. Does anyone know if this card will work on a cf-28 with windows 2000. I realize the door still may not close, however it should be very close. I am willing to modify the cover using a usb rubber cover off a scrap toughbook.

 

I cant see why not, it would just be a sofwear issue then you put it in.

 

i hardly use bluetooth much unless am conection my pda with the computer, but i can always do it through usb anyway,
today at work my mate gave me 2 mini-pci cards, she works in the it department, the floor under us, so i only ask her by chance about what am thinking of doing, and minutes later she gave me 2 cards, one is out of a dell laptop and the other is from a toshiba tera, so not too bad, also she said she might be able to get her hands on some 128mb ram for me if i wanted....
cant wait to get home and try it, if it all works i will start bringing the toughbook to work from now on, instead of my picturebook which does run great specialy after upgrading the ram and hard drive and really tweaking winxp pro as much as i could so it only ran on 96mb ram,
i do like the smaller laptops, my sony u1 was a great laptop but now and then did give me afew headaches, my mate ron couldnt use it as the buttons for that were too small compared to his fingers, anyway it died last year after i was running for the bus and tripped over landing on my bag...
R.I.P

 

oh nearly forgot anne said there is another combo card which came in once on a laptop which worked great so ask if it was by msi and she said no,
she going to check for me and let me know what model it was...
soon as i find out i will post about it..........

 

anyone know where i can get this one from???

http://www.bluetoothupgrades.de/smartm/pdf/SMARTWiFiMiniPCICardCSR.pdf#search='bluetooth%20mini%20pci'

http://www.bluetoothupgrades.de/smar...PCICardCSR.pdf

 

i saw some half size mini pci cards,
there should fit fine half the size...........

 

When I get my new CF-28 I plan on putting in a combo card. It won't be as good as the Atheros card I have now but with a 9dB exteranl antenna... I'm not sure I'd care!

If it doesn't work I'd switch back.

 

have you seen the atheros half size mini pci cards, abg wireless ones there look nice and should fit.........
you know anything about them.......

 

any chance you know which combo card you'll be using, i know there aint much,
main one around is the msi ones but will you risk it, by taking a chance on it, even though there website clearly says for msi **** models only

 

I'll try the MSI one... they have a few on ebay...

I haven't seen the half size cards... I'll take a gander...

 

similar to this card being sold--------

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Toshiba-Ather...5001QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

 

I'd probably buy something like this to try it out...

http://cgi.ebay.com/MSI-Combo-Mini-...ryZ51165QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

They also have an HP version on ebay but with no picture...

 

Well... After further review... The one above has been taken out of the running. Word has it that it has lousy reception for both WiFi and BT... I saw an HP model on ebay but it was cost prohibitive at $100+...

I'll keep looking or go back to the internal PCMCIA card...

 

thats the thing, the prices some are so high that no way i will be buying it, i rather do the shopping for the week instead(if you know what i mean),
do you have the model number of the hp one, so i can see if.......

 

Here's the auction....

http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-396331-001-M...ryZ11175QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

But when I try to cross-reference the mdel number it comes up as a plain WiFi card.

This is not a high priority item for me and gives me something to continue to hack. (Which is always good)

 

is this the same thing????????
http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-DV2000-Wirel...yZ140082QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

 

Nope! That is a PCI Express card... For a desktop unit.
(Plus... No BT)

 

OOPS sorry that me being DUMB!!!!

 

hey there!

I got my toughbook two weeks ago. Unfortunatly it has no (cable)Lan!
I put in a PCI W-Lan card, works good, but I need Lan, too.
As I want to keep the w-lan, my plan was to change the modem pci card for a combo modem/lan. I tried several combo cards (in a shop) but it didn't work.
What I wanted to tell you: got the impression, that the cf-28 doesn't like any combo cards.

Does anybody know, if the modem and Lan equipped models has two pci cards inside, one for each feature?

By the way: like DJACID I would prefer an internal bluetooth for using an external gps, the new things are much better and in the car you don't have to place the toughbook near the window....

I tried to use the internal pcmcia slot, but the cards I put in there are not recogniced...no Idea how to activate the slot.
Now I'm thinking abaut building in a lan and bluetooth solution under the battery, there is quite much space.

 

check these out -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Panasonic-Tou...QihZ006QQcategoryZ177QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Panasonic-Tou...QihZ006QQcategoryZ177QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

that should sort it out for you..........

 

Thanks for the links!

The site part with the two connectors is interesting for me but I'm not sure if I should buy it because the connectors panasonic uses ar not special water proof ones. They just took normal connectors and glued them with slikone. So I can save the 15 pounds, drill a hole for the network connector myself and glue it there. Of corse it will perhaps not look perfekt....perhaps I should buy it...hmmm....

The w-lan pci is not what i want, because I don't like to throw away neither my w-lan pci, nore the pci modem.
I´m searching for another solution. I wonder how TOUGHBOOK is going to solve his bluetooth idea....

 

why not offer him £15quid am sure he'll be ok about it,

i bought of this seller afew times now, most of the time its been for my uncles cf-29, but the more you buy the cheaper you'ill get it.........

 

i really like this card.....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Toshiba-Athero...ayphotohosting

main reason it is smaller then the other mini pci cards,
anyone know if it'll work with the cf-28
i have the intel card which my mate gave me at work havent tried it yet,
but its only 54mbps and i rather get a 108mbps card(am i being gready)

 

Linky no worky!

 

oops soz about that try this link-
or check ebay item number-300135823097

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Toshiba-Ather...hZ020QQcategoryZ45001QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

it look really nice but was on many newer toshiba laptop's, so should be good also made by Atheros meaning it is a universal type(fingerscrossed).....