Wi-Fi card recommendation for X61

[karotlopj]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a Wi-Fi card for an X61?

I'm hoping to upgrade to Middleton BIOS to avoid any blacklisting.

[axur-delmeria]

Intel Wireles AC 7260 at the very least. AX210 even better.

[TPFanatic]

If you go for ax210 or other modern cards you'll need to get the China-special "AX-3000" or whatever they call them that are soldered onto an MPCIE format card. An MPCIE to m2 converter board to use a legit AX210 becomes physically too tall to fit under X61 palmrest. This tight proximity is also the primary blame for the corner of the palmrest getting so hot to begin with. Even with newer half-height cards the palmrest still gets hot.

Thinkpad X200 improved the design by putting the MPCIE slots under the motherboard and intruding the cards deeper into the case, away from the palmrest. Ergo, m2 converters fit fine in X200.

[karotlopj]

Intel Wireles AC 7260 at the very least. AX210 even better.

Looking at pictures of the AC 7260 it looks too short for my X61. It looks as though the screws would not align with the holes on the motherboard.

[TPFanatic]

you can make a half-height to full-height bracket yourself or buy one/some. Sometimes they are included by sellers.

[axur-delmeria]

you can make a half-height to full-height bracket yourself or buy one/some. Sometimes they are included by sellers.

100% agree. Buy or build a bracket. That's what I did when I upgraded my X61's WiFi to an Intel 6205 taken from a malfunctioning X220.

[karotlopj]

Many thanks for information about an adapter. I didn't realise such a thing existed.

[karotlopj]

Intel Wireles AC 7260 at the very least. AX210 even better.

How does that compare with an Intel 4965AGN MM2?

[axur-delmeria]

4965 is limited to WiFi N dual-band 300Mbps

AC 7260 supports WiFi AC aka WiFi 5 up to 866Mbps.

AX210 supports WiFi 6E. I forgot its max speed, but it's over 1Gbps.

If your WiFi router/access point is newer, it probably has WiFi 5 at the very least.

[karotlopj]

4965 is limited to WiFi N dual-band 300Mbps

AC 7260 supports WiFi AC aka WiFi 5 up to 866Mbps.

AX210 supports WiFi 6E. I forgot its max speed, but it's over 1Gbps.

If your WiFi router/access point is newer, it probably has WiFi 5 at the very least.

How does the AX210NGW compare with the AX201NGW which someone else suggested?

[axur-delmeria]

Do not get the AX201. It's one of those cards with CNVi which only work on certain Intel processors because they literally put some parts of the WiFi and BT modules inside the processor itself/

In any case, the AX210 is WiFi 6E, which adds the 6GHz band. The AX201 (and AX200) is WiFi 6 which only have the 2.4 and 5GHz bands.

[karotlopj]

Do not get the AX201. It's one of those cards with CNVi which only work on certain Intel processors because they literally put some parts of the WiFi and BT modules inside the processor itself/

In any case, the AX210 is WiFi 6E, which adds the 6GHz band. The AX201 (and AX200) is WiFi 6 which only have the 2.4 and 5GHz bands.

Is this the sort of thing I should get:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313901571395

Is this more or less the same as an AX211 NGW?

[axur-delmeria]

That's an M.2 card, which is smaller and has a different (and incompatible) connector.

Side by side comparison photo:


There are adapters that allow you to plug M.2 WLAN cards to mPCIe slots but IIRC there's a post in another thread that says that it doesn't fit because the X61 doesn't have enough free space above the WiFi slot.

There are AX210 cards in mPCIe like this one:https://www.amazon.com/AX210HMW-Wireles ... B0C559XB9L.

[karotlopj]

I've seen some reasonable offers for an 8265, 9260 and 7265.

I don't know how to compare them. Which would you choose?

[axur-delmeria]

If it were me, I'd pick the 9260-- I have one in my current Thinkpad, and it seems to perform very well.
I've only had it for a little over half a year but have not encountered any weird issues with it.

[rakennus]

Hello,

as far as I know the old card has three antenna cables. The recommended replacement cards however have two atenna connectors. How do I connect the new card to the antennas? Which antenna is going to be left out?

[TPFanatic]

white antenna wire is for the third extra aerial if ufl connector is present. to be honest it does not matter which wire goes wire they are substantially functionally equivalent.

as an alternative there exist for sale ufl antenna joiners, possibly that could be of use to make the extra physical aerial do anything.

[rakennus]

white antenna wire is for the third extra aerial if ufl connector is present. to be honest it does not matter which wire goes wire they are substantially functionally equivalent.

as an alternative there exist for sale ufl antenna joiners, possibly that could be of use to make the extra physical aerial do anything.

Thank you so much You are amazing!

[RealBlackStuff]

Grey cable left(1), black right(2), white middle(3) if present.

[babblefish]

Late to the party, but just in case anyone is looking for an Wi-Fi card for their X61, this one from Amazon is suppose to work well and it fits:
https://www.amazon.com/MPE-AX3000H-802- ... hdGY&psc=1

Or cheaper here (I ordered this one): https://www.ebay.com/itm/263974887753

It's a MPE-AX3000H card with Wi-Fi 6E and 5.2 Bluetooth. Haven't received it yet so can't comment on how it works. I believe a Middleton BIOS upgrade is necessary to use it though.

Edit: Update
Sigh. The MPE-AX3000H card won't work if you're running an older OS. I'm using Windows 7 and it won't work with this card.