I have a T42 and an R52 which use the Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG
board. The is an 802.11b/g MiniPCI type 3B adapter. Every once in a
while, I travel in areas that use the old 802.11a protocol. Is it
possible to replace the 2200BG board with the Intel PRO 2915ABG
board? The 2915ABG is compatible with all three protocols. The 2915
uses the same connector (MiniPCI type 3B), and is exactly the same
size as the 2200BG.

Of course, the driver may have to be updated.

Any comments on this would certainly be appreciated?

Thanks,
Don

Don,

The 2200BG and the 2915ABG use the same driver. However, you may find that the
BIOS will reject the 2915ABG. IIRC, there is a whole web site set up to provide
ways to work around this problem. Essentially, the BIOS has a "white list" of
allowable miniPCI wireless cards, and if the card is not on the white list, the
BIOS vomits on it. The white list is probably really short, like one or two
models. The workarounds either expand the white list or shortcircuit the BIOS
check of card vs white list, but they require a 3rd party BIOS update
unauthorized by IBM. At least, that is what I recall about the problem. I have
an X30, and have been contemplating the same miniPCI replacement, also to
improve range and reception... Ben Myers

On Fri, 30 May 2008 18:53:38 -0700 (PDT), Don <> wrote:

>I have a T42 and an R52 which use the Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG
>board. The is an 802.11b/g MiniPCI type 3B adapter. Every once in a
>while, I travel in areas that use the old 802.11a protocol. Is it
>possible to replace the 2200BG board with the Intel PRO 2915ABG
>board? The 2915ABG is compatible with all three protocols. The 2915
>uses the same connector (MiniPCI type 3B), and is exactly the same
>size as the 2200BG.
>
>Of course, the driver may have to be updated.
>
>Any comments on this would certainly be appreciated?
>
>Thanks,
>Don

Don <> wrote in news:5f574b04-450d-4a49-a009-
:

> I have a T42 and an R52 which use the Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG
> board. The is an 802.11b/g MiniPCI type 3B adapter. Every once in a
> while, I travel in areas that use the old 802.11a protocol. Is it
> possible to replace the 2200BG board with the Intel PRO 2915ABG
> board? The 2915ABG is compatible with all three protocols. The 2915
> uses the same connector (MiniPCI type 3B), and is exactly the same
> size as the 2200BG.
>
> Of course, the driver may have to be updated.
>
> Any comments on this would certainly be appreciated?
>

I had to replace the 2200BG in my R50e last winter and bought a cheap
2915 off EBay. It is working fine for me, although I have yet to run
across any 802.11A networks to try it on.

ONe thing.... I recall there may be a BIOS issue with this card, but
that there were a couple different ways to deal with this. I remember
looking them up on the web.... I believe I did the easier method I
found which was to run a small program that edited a line in BIOS. I
do not remember the specifics, but it was easy and worked for me.

Hope this works out well for you, too.


Ed