Jonathan Gray wrote:
Well some companies like Belkin make it hard to tell as they change things.
If you don't mind opening up your thinkpad you should be able to place
an internal Mini PCI card. These have the advantage of having the main
chip clearly visible so you can tell what you're getting. People like
wim sell them clearly marked as Ralink cards.
This is to the OP, but it's a good place to interject this comment:
If the Thinkpad was not shipped with a wireless card, make sure that
it's at least one of the "wireless ready" models with the antennas
already provisioned in the laptop lid.
The fastest way to check this is to pull the keyboard screws and the
palmrest screws (The ones marked with the keyboard symbols, then the
ones marked with symbols that look like a mini-PCI card), pulling the
keyboard first, then the other. There will be two antenna cables, one
marked "MAIN", the other marked "AUX". These will be next to or on top
of the Mini-PCI slot that the wireless NIC goes into. If you don't have
those, you don't have the antennas installed.
Install kits can be gotten from IBM or eBay or some such, but require
disassembly of the laptop lid as well, and can be really tricky.
FWIW, you might want to check for those first before you make any
buying decisions.
-Joe
--
Joseph C. Bender
jcbender at bendorius com
