Thinkpads & wireless n pcmcia cards

[J03]

I want to get a wireless n pcmcia card for my z61m Thinkpad but I read a review on Amazon stating:

after purchasing 3 different cards from tp link ,belkin,d link all of which were n series cards 300mbps no of them worked on 5 different ibm think pads. after several phone calls to the card manufactures and the a lenghty call to lenova,it turns out that ibm think pads dont like the new n series 300mbps system (Oh of course unless its ibm's own product)

I've done some searching but have found nothing else on this topic. Could somebody confirm or refute this for me please.

Any other helpful information in this area (like why this might be the case) would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

It sounds like fair warning, though I can't think why a PCMCIA wireless adapter wouldn't work with a particular brand of computer.

It may be an issue with the mode of PCMCIA card. Many laptops have two slots, one of which will work with cards of (I think) 32 bit (?) while the other slot won't.

To be safe I'd check with the retailer on returns policy -- or just buy a USB wireless adapter.

 

[J03]

Thanks for your reply.

After more searching and a very helpful talk with one of the guys at Oxfordtec, I believe that these were probably older models.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_with_unauthorized_MiniPCI_network_card

 

[Guest]

Is there some confusion here between mini-pci (which has caused problems for many users including myself) and PCMCIA which is generally not too problematic.

 

[J03]

I have recently been told that mini-pci cards must have a special firmware from Lenovo/IBM. You could have a card that fits the specs but if it doesn't have the firmware it won't work.

I don't know why certain pcmcia cards don't work. I have pretty much abandoned the idea of getting one in favour of an internal mini-pci upgrade.