Thinkpads Forum

Hello, i'm interested in replacing the wi-fi card on my x230 and maybe adding an external antenna as well. What is the best one i can get ?
I have to mention that i use linux and will flash skulls or heads on the machine so i'm afraid about driver incompatibility. If anyone has done this can i get some suggestion on card/adapters/antennas that work ?

Note that the stock BIOS for the X230 has a whitelist that prevents you from installing other WiFi cards. Read up on https://github.com/n4ru/1vyrain in order to remove it. After that, you can install newer cards like the mini-PCIe version of the Intel AX210 (not the AX201 or AX211 because those are incompatible)--most AX210's are M.2 cards, but it may be possible to use a Mini-PCIe to M.2 adapter.

axur-delmeria wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:45 pm

Note that the stock BIOS for the X230 has a whitelist that prevents you from installing other WiFi cards. Read up on https://github.com/n4ru/1vyrain in order to remove it. After that, you can install newer cards like the mini-PCIe version of the Intel AX210 (not the AX201 or AX211 because those are incompatible)--most AX210's are M.2 cards, but it may be possible to use a Mini-PCIe to M.2 adapter.

I've also heard people using the SATA ssd slot to instert a Wi-Fi board with antennas and use a mSATA instead, do you know an adapter that fits in x230 ?

My experience with X230 is that the built in antenna are sufficient. Lenovo spent $$$ engineering the OEM setup, no need to waste time and money reinventing the wheel.

What I'm not sure about is the existing antennas' performance in the 6GHz band, which is new to WiFi 6E.

TPFanatic wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 22, 2023 8:07 am

My experience with X230 is that the built in antenna are sufficient. Lenovo spent $$$ engineering the OEM setup, no need to waste time and money reinventing the wheel.

The X230 antennas are sub-optimal. Even with the Intel AX210 in there, the wireless reception is not as good as it is on other laptops I have access to. I'm not sure why though, as the antennas are surrounded by plastic on the front, top, and back. I think it might be that they are tuned for 2.4Ghz with little thought given to the 5Ghz band. When the X220 was released, which the X230 inherited the antenna design from, 5Ghz was not very common.

It's usually fine, but in environments with lackluster WiFi, it can be a problem. My 2015 Macbook Pro which I usually use alongside the X230 gets better reception with it's old ~2013 Broadcom wireless card, probably because it was designed with 5Ghz in mind.