802.11n upgrade for s10-2?

[ninjafox]

Hi,

There is another Topic about a 802.11n upgrade for the s10, but I don't know if those cards will work for the s10-2 too.
I'm trying to upgrade my s10-2 with a 802.11n card.

I've bought now 2 on ebay because I wasn't expecting to run into trouble... (the first didn't work... I thought that it's because it's azurewave, so I went for an Intel)
I work with Thinkpads at work and I'm aware of their bios lock thing, but I didn't expect to run into trouble with this...

So I got an Azurewave AW-NE766 and an Intel 4965AGN. Both don't work.
I just get the drivel about unautorized cards when trying to boot up the s10-2.

putting the card in the second mini pci-e slot doesn't work... the computer will boot, but windows won't find any hardware.

So does anyone know a minipci-e card which will work in the s10-2?

I ordered another 4965AGN for a few bucks on ebay from hongkong, but this time it's a lenovo version... so I hope that they won't blacklist their own hardware revision.

the intel 5100 also doesn't work...

this is total bull!@#$ why did those douches lock out like every card...

Thanks.

[cwingard]

If you can install driver software for these wireless adapters before you physically install them give that a shot. Second thing that comes to mind is that you might benefit from an updated chipset driver. Also, browse through the bios to make sure your pci devices are on/enabled. Good luck!

[ninjafox]

that won't work it will just say that the hardware is missing... in the bios there are like zero options to change.

I'm running windows 7, which means it downloads always the latest drivers by itself.

I can change the sata controller mode, set the time and date, change boot priority and set an admin/user/hdd password...

I'm waiting for the lenovo version of the 4965AGN to arrive from hongkong... I hope they didn't lock out their own product codes...
as far as I can tell that's the only lenovo 802.11n card atm... or are there any others?

[eliksir]

The second PCI-e slot is locked to only work with a specific 3g card. There's info about this on other forums but I forget where.

[ninjafox]

yeah I thought so... kinda sucks... what are they thinking...

[ninjafox]

great, even the lenovo 4965AGN FRU: 42T085 doesn't work... I hope the person responsible for this rots in hell.

why are they even locking out their own damn cards???

[ninjafox]

ok only after like 6 cards I have now found the one which works:

intel wifi link 5100.

Model: 512AN_MMW

this is the one which some of the s10-2 versions come with, the driver (wifi link 5100) was also listed on the lenovo support page.

for some reason the other one didn't work, but this one said in the ebay auction that it's for lenovo x300 and some other thinkpads.

[kostas-k]

Is there so much difference between the factory S10-2 WiFi card and with this 802.11n card? Is it worth changing?

[ninjafox]

I got ~1,5 mb with the factory card and ~7,5 mb/s with this 802.11n one.

I use a netgear wndr 3700 n-draft router and was wondering why I only got like 2,2 mb/s transfer speeds with the new n-card.

then I did some googling:

you have to set WPA2+AES, not TKIP or else it only will connect in g-mode

[gbullough]

First, thanks ninjafox for doing the legwork to find what works. The one you mention is $13.00 shipped on EBay.

I tried an Intel WiLan 1000 card, which has the advantage of being a single-chip Centrino product (think low power use) and got the silly message. Very anti-competative behavior on Lenovo's part--- maybe even illegal.

For those who care, the issue is indeed a whitelist; for many of the other IBM / Lenovo notebooks there is a hack which can change the CMOS (not the BIOS) to shut this silly checking off. The setting isn't externally accessible, but they have a bootable program to do the trick. If it ever becomes available for the S10-2, I'll run it. (It is just a setting, so if you have a problem you just pull all power including the CMOS battery to recover).

In the mean time, I'll run the card ninjafox mentioned.

One big reason to go with Draft-N is that many routers fall back to the slowest protocol of any system attached to them. This is true for the cheaper ones that aren't dual-radio. So if you have all N devices and one B or G, you fall back to the slowest of the three that's active on the WiFi LAN!

A bunch of us ought to get together and complain to the FTC and the EU Trace Commission about these anti-competitive practices. ASUS et. al. don't pull the same stuff.

I have a feeling that the same sort of restriction will keep us from using the other mini-PCI for "non approved" uses, such as supplemental SSDD, other than Lenovo's own 3G.