Mini-PCI Wireless Cards from Desktop to Laptop?

phyrebyrd asks: "I have been known to pry things apart to see how they work now and then - Especially when I feel something is being deliberately hidden from me. I was rather amused to see that, inside my shiny new NetGear WG311 PCI card for my desktop, was actually a Mini-PCI card! The release clips were soldered onto the adapter, but otherwise extractable. Just for grins, I un-soldered the release tabs, popped it out of the adapter and put it into my Dell laptop, which was ready to receive a Mini-PCI wireless adapter already. This is where I ran into a problem. The drivers loaded, and the monitor popped up, just like it did on my desktop, but all of the configuration tabs had disappeared, even though the status screen showed that it was still scanning for an open network. The model number stamped on the card is T60H677, with a sticker next to it reading T60H677T04. Has anyone actually gotten one of these desktop PCI/MiniPCI cards to work in their laptop successfully?"

Comments

now that it's been removed..

[ksheff]

Does it still work when you put it back into the desktop machine?

This is quite common, but not always a good idea

[SchnauzerGuy]

This has been discussed to death on the DellTalk Forum.

Basically, it should work. It sounds like your problem is more of a Windows driver/installation problem. Try going to Device Manager and deleting/removing your 802.11 mini-PCI card. Then reboot and see if it works. If not, you might need to play around with installing/uninstalling the driver, and deleting the card from Device Manager until it works.

The longer answer is that unless the manufacturer prevents unknown mini-PCI adaptors (IBM Thinkpads prevent non-IBM 802.11 adaptors), any mini-PCI card should be compatable. There are some complications, however. Unless you want to do some soldering, you must insure that the mini-PCI card has an antenna jack that is compatable with your laptop's antenna. Even then, there can be problems - I installed the mini-PCI card from a D-Link DWL-G520 in my Dell Inspiron 4100 laptop. I had to do some soldering, since the G520 doesn't have antenna jacks, and even then, the reception is really bad. The 4100 antenna(s) are in a bad location to begin with, but I suspect that the G520 is tuned to the much larger antennas that D-Link provides.

So in conclusion, it is possible to save some money by removing the mini-PCI card from a desktop adaptor. But unless you have a really good reason (for example, you need a specific chipset for a non-Windows OS), it is best to stick with the mini-PCI adaptor that is designed for your laptop.

Heat Damage?

[caperry]

Is it possible that the desolder of the tabs may have damaged or dislodged one of the chips on the card.

If you want a miniPCI wifi card - I find that buying them alone instead of on a PCI adapter tends to be cheaper. Check out netgate.com - their cards are even supported by the ar5k or madwifi drivers.

The "Configuration" tab is missing...

[akejay]

... because Digital Restrictions Management has kicked in.

Since you have opted to change the hardware of your laptop (which wasn't in the manual), you have proven yourself to be a hacker! Therefore, you are not Trusted to Configure anything anymore.

Trusted Computing is still Trusted though. Relax, sit back, and let the Mini-PCI Wireless Network Setup Wizard take over.

For anyone wanting to try this with Apple hardware

[jo_ham]

An Airport Extreme base station is just a standard AirPort Extreme card fitted to a custom board.

If your base station breaks but the card is otherwise ok, you can pop it into an Apple laptop or desktop that supports it, or sell it on eBay.