Hey guys, bit of a noob question. My laptops wireless adaptor has recently decided to shit itself and stop working. I've tried everything I can to fix it besides actually taking my laptop apart (not very good with hardware).
I was wondering what the best solution is. Can you get just a usb wireless dongle and it will work with my laptop? Any suggestions on what's good and reliable\doesn't cost too much?
Thanks
Hey, thanks for that tip. I was balking at adding a USB dongle to this old notebook due to the limited number of ports, but I see that a mini PCI adaptor is quite cheap and I think I can do the replacement.
The usb dongle is safer. Supposedly, a lot of laptop manufacturers like Dell, Compaq HP, and Lenovo do not allow you to use wifi cards that are not their own (approved). If you put in a wifi card that the BIOS does not have in it's whitelist, it will prevent the laptop from booting up.
Sounds ridiculous I know. You should read into what sort of wifi card that your laptop uses and see if you can buy the exact model from eBay or another specialised seller.
Ha, I did even better. I took a card from a notebook where I don't need it (battery dead, so non-portable) and substituted it for the faulty card. Saved $3 and a wait for one from a HK seller. Seems to boot and run fine in Linux and going to test XP in a moment. Might need to install a driver. Thanks again.
Original was an Intel 2200bg, replacement was an Atheros 5k.
All good now.
Actually in the case of my notebook it was quite safe to use a non-official card because replacements sold on eBay were advertised as suitable for my notebook model, among others. Maybe some notebook mfrs did the restriction thing, but I think that would be counterproductive as they sometimes switch parts providers even in the middle of production runs, then they'd have to rejig the BIOS.
What was the brand of your notebook? Just curious.
Dell 700m
Buy a really really long network cable hahah
Thanks for your help Scrimshaw, I appreciate it. A new dongle is on the way to me
The easy method is to just buy a USB based wifi adapter, but it takes up a USB port and the downside is that everytime you pack up your laptop into a bag, there's a risk of it going missing or breaking off. Unless you buy a very small one like this one.
In most, if not all laptops, the Wifi PCI card can be removed and replaced.
You can find replacement cards on eBay (for example, Intel 4965AGN card sells for $21 from a local Aussie seller).
Do take note there are 2 types of pci cards — half height and full height. Half height or Half-mini cards are smaller and squarish in shape while full height is a bit longer and oblong shaped. Make sure you get the correct one that fits your current laptop.
There are video tutorials demonstrating how the PCI card be can removed and replaced
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykBAFE1q3WI