What do you guys think about this combo card?

http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/detail.jsp?tab=features&sku=3CN3AC1556B&pathtype=support

I was just thinking, since the prevailing wisdom dictates that I should be using a mini-PCI card for WiFi, and I didn't want to leave the modem jack "dead", I'm thinking that a modem/LAN combo card might be the first mod I do to my 28. I just won a lot of 5 of these on ebay for $5/ea so I hope it works

 

Hmmmm... That's a thought. It will be interesting to see how you hook it up exactly. I don't think that the modem & LAN will work just because you plug the card in... Since both are wired in addition to the connections of the mini pci.

This could be an interesting experiment! I gave up my modem for the NIC... I wanted the LAN connection as sometimes wireless isn't available when I travel. I don't have a way to access dial up service since giving up the paid version of AOL. I thought about keeping it for a FAX if needed but decided that I pretty much email everything now anyway!

 

well, honestly, i don't even HAVE a home phone anymore so i'll have to go to someone else's house to test it. Heck, it didn't cost much, and like you said it'll be an interesting experiment. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

well, toughbook i thought you knew about these cards,
3com were the only ones to have combo cards that exactly did come withg certain toughbooks for a short period of time............
but do watch out if buying of ebay a 3com combo card made for dell or ibm isnt the same and wont work..........
i have the p/n some were will update later........

 

well these were dell cards i believe, guess i have some small paperweights

 

dont worry just check the model number and there are the right ones,
so dont worry, you got a good buy........
long as you didnt pay too much for them........
there cost around 10quid here in the uk.........

 

it looks like there are drivers on the 3Com website for it. so unless there is an "OEM lock" or something, I think I'll have a reasonable chance at getting it to work.

Funny you mention that panasonic sold some toughbooks with combo cards. I was just perusing the drivers on the .jp site and they mentioned a combo card for the 72. I hadn't seen that before!

I got them for $5/ea, with $8 shipping for all 5. In U.S. money that's cheap!

 

i might have the drivers for it........
will have to check, but even if i aint my mate must have as he has the card in his one........

 

Someone beat me to it. guess we can assume it works:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330167342622

 

got my combo cards today. the good new is it fits in the location of the stock LAN card and the connectors are the same. windows recognizes the card and installs the drivers just fine. BUT.. i can't connect to the ethernet. it keeps on saying cable unplugged. i even cut the little keying bumps off and plugged it in upside-down, still says unplugged. my cable/socket is good because i'm using the connection with the stock card to type this. i think i'm going to email the guy whose listing appears above and see if he'll offer me some advice!

 

you paid abit for that card,
go into deive manager click on the device you need to work for example ethernet and check the connection, it might need to be changed,
also did you unistall ur old drivers????????/

 

i paid $5/ea for mine, i think i did pretty well. as far as the drivers, everything looks A-OK. The problem is the connection to the external ethernet port. it keeps on saying that it is not connected. The guy that had it listed on ebay for use with the 28 said that he is using the same model of card as mine, and he reported having no problems at all. head-scratcher at this point for me.

 

go to 3com and download the drivers for it,
it might be a conflict with the driver,
also check in device manager and see if any device is causing a conflict with it..........
but unistalling it and installing drivers from the 3com site should work fine.........

 

So you still think the problem is on the PCI side? Device manager looks totally happy with it. No problems at all installing it, no reported conflicts. I was taking windows at its word when it said the network cable was unplugged I think what I want to do is figure out what notebooks came from the factory with that card, and ask on one of the other forums if someone has a picture of the connector where it plugs into the card. Too bad there isn't a technical manual for that card that gives the pinout of the connector

 

well i have one on my other toughbook and it works fine no problem at all,
only thing i had was a problem with the windows driver so i unistalled the driver and installed the one of 3com site and then it worked perfectly.........

also these cards came with dell,ibm and hp laptops apart from panasonic......

 

Hi! if it is still doesn't work try AMBIT combo.

 

i will keep my eyes open for an ambit card. doesn't look like there's any on ebay at the moment. i'm still dumbfounded about these blasted 3com cards, though. if you were any closer to detroit/windsor i would beg you let me come by and look at your setup

 

How are you trying to connect to the network?, hub, router, or PC-PC? There are diffeent cables depending on what you are connecting to.

 

just a straight-through cat5 (not crossover) back to the home router. I am confident in my cabling because the same connection works just fine with the stock intel card that came with my toughbook

 

Well I finally got it working. I guess this card is a little more particular about the cabling? I've got a cable running up to one of the bedrooms that I crimped myself.. it works, but on other cards I usually have to change it from auto-negotiate to 10BT. This one won't work at all on that cable. BUT, using a store-bought 6' cable plugged right into the router, it works like a champ. I guess I can live with that, I'll just have to remember not to expect results with this computer using crimped-it-myself cables

By the way, I found some more info on the combo cards here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-4JW65C

Now on to the next phase of the operation, seeing if I can squeeze the Billionton bluetooth card I just got into the third PCMCIA slot!

 

It could be your crimpers. I once cabled an entire office and had intermittent connection problems for weeks before I realized that my crimpers were just a little crooked, enough to not crimp straight. Bought new ratcheting crimpers, the $35 pair and replaced all the tips and voila, haven't had a single cable-related connection problem their for 2 1/2 years now.

~Doobi

 

Mission accomplished! I'll share the pics I took and the (minor) cutting needed to make it fit. I can't comment on its performance though, as I don't have any bluetooth devices

 

Take it to an internet cafe and see how many phones you can pick up

 

I would eventually like to get a bluetooth RS232 adapter but they're SOOOO expensive!

Just to test the functionality of the card in the 28, i might get one of those super-cheap USB dongles and see how far apart the computers can be.

But on the other hand, how can you really comment on the performance of the 28 when the capabilities of the other device are not known?

 

I was wondering the same thing if I ever put one in mine (The for sale book, not my daily use one). My phone doesn't have bluetooth capability. I suppose I could go to one end of my house and scan for my neighbours phones, but again it doesn't tell the real performance of it.

 

Do any of you want to try one (or more) of these 3CN3AC1556B combo cards? As it turns out, an ebay seller that had them listed for $2.25/ea is right in my area, and it looks like they'll let me pick them up. I plan on going over there tomorrow

 

It is late and I tried to read through the thread - the 3CN3AC1556B combo card is a
mini-pci modem and wired lan card?

My CF-28 came with both internal modem and lan connections. I haven't tried the
modem but the wired lan works fine. Is there a reason I'd want to do something
different there, please?

Thanks! doc

 

I think you would use that combo card if you want to free up the modem slot for a mini pci wireless card.

 

yup.. that is my reasoning behind using them

 

So... Do you end up using both connectors that plug into the LAN and modem? (The LAN card has the big connector and he modem has the little connector) or are all the connections you need made via the mini pci connections?

 

It plugs in just like the stock two cards do. I have been folding the modem cable over to bring it back to the outer card position. The only problem with this is, because the combo card is too big to fit in the inner, smaller card position, this limits our choices of add-on cards to ones that'll fit in the smaller slot.

 

Just got back with a bag of the cards. I still have yet to see if the 3CN3AC1556Bis any different from the 3CN3AC1556. A quick visual inspection showed that the circuit layout is SLIGHTLY different.

They've also got quantities of these wifi cards:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180172095650

Let me know if those look interesting, if I can buy several of them I'll be able to try to get a lower price. Unfortunately they didn't have any on-hand so I couldn't take one home to play with.

 

Have you run the FCC ID to discover the power output?

doc

 

Any idea what the antenna connection looks like??? hopefully it's not a proprietary IBM connector..

 

I'm pretty sure it is a 100mw card, and uses MMCX connectors. This page has good info on the product line:

http://www.ciscosystems.com/en/US/d.../windows/1.6/configuration/guide/incfg10.html

 

It is 100 mW max, but I'm wrong about the connectors. the specifications section says "Ultra-miniature SMT U.FL antenna connectors"

 

I thought I read here on the Forum of a 400mw mini-pci card, did that one not work out, is it no longer
available, or were these just too cost-effective to pass up?

doc

 

i'm not aware of the particulars of the 400mW card that has been mentioned. i just saw the opportunity to get these cards for cheap. i figured if nothing else, it would be a way to test out various antenna styles. I've read the messages on here about how an antenna not specifically designed for wifi can burn out the card, and I'd rather do that to a $15 card than a $50 (or more) one!

 

Pls. read the detail description on this link so that you will understand why we have to use this combo card. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330178607704&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=014



note: sorry i'm a bet late about the topic on the forum.

 

Do you think this one would work?? I like the fact that it's an 802.11g card...

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Intel-Pro-W...ryZ45003QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

that might be a good card to use. i just emailed the seller to see if they know the output power and type of connectors

 

It looks like it has the same "Ultra-miniature SMT U.FL antenna connectors" as the card you found..... I'll look again and see if I can find out about the power output.....

 

Yes, it works like a champ, as a matter of fact it is the one installed on my cf-28 but make sure the height must not exceed to 44mm if not, it will not be fitted on the slot.

 

Thanks for the link that explained the need for the combo card - I get it now!

Standing by for news of an affordable combo card.

doc

 

What antenna do you use with it???
The ebay link is for the 44mm ones......

 

the combo cards are affordable. I just picked up a bunch for the whopping price of $2.25/ea. Its the wifi cards that vary greatly in price and quality, not to mention the extra effort needed to make them function in a toughbook!

 

The ones you bought are the 44mm height and will fit? Or are you about to check that?

If they fit and work are you willing to part with one, please?

doc

 

Just to prevent confusion, this thread has gone in two separate directions. The modem/LAN combo cards are what I got for the bargain price. They are NOT 44mm and have to go in the slot closest to the ports. (you'd have to extend the LAN cable if you didn't put the cart there, too) I have tested these and they work.

I also mentioned a wifi card that were for sale at the same place. It is a Cisco Aironet 350. They didn't have any on-hand when i went there though, so i'm not sure if they'll fit or not. The next time I'm over on that side of town I'll have to see if they've got one i can try. They seem to deal in surplus thinkpad parts.. When I went there their racks were filled with thinkpad stuff. (we need to find a place like this with surplus toughbook parts!)

 

Response from seller:

"Hi Kevin,
I believe they are about 40 mW, but I?m not positive (it is
not a high power card). The connectors take a U.Fl connector
cable."

Maybe we're better off with the cisco card..

 

I picked one up to play with...we'll see in a cpl days when it gets here... I may be able to check with my frequency counter.....