Fixing an older Dell Notebook

[TangoJuliet]

My brother has an old Dell Centrino notebook which no longer connects wirelessly to the internet. My guess is that the wireless card inside is dead - is there a way to replace it?

I'm pretty sure he is going to get rid of it since he said he plans to buy a macbook. I'd like to take it off his hands if I can get the wireless card fixed. I guess worst case scenario is that I can get a PCMCIA card and use that instead.

I'll have to get the exact model number and whatnot but from what I remember it was a Latitude with a P4 1.6ghz cpu - not sure on how much RAM.

 

[Rottie]

if the wireless card is dead then you can buy wireless usb if the noteobook has usb ports it cost less than 25.00 and the installation is very easy as breeze what OS is on the notebook?

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: Rottie
if the wireless card is dead then you can buy wireless usb if the noteobook has usb ports it cost less than 25.00 and the installation is very easy as breeze what OS is on the notebook?

Yeah its got some USB ports on it but I'd rather first try and fix it internally and then go the USB route.

The notebook has XP Pro on it, I believe.

 

[FleshLight]

Check first if the cables might be loose. Then check the dell/ebay websites to find out which model/socket card you need and buy it off ebay.

 

[hmsrolst]

Originally posted by: FleshLight
Check first if the cables might be loose. Then check the dell/ebay websites to find out which model/socket card you need and buy it off ebay.

Agreed and ebay ones should be very cheap. It's likely that after you determine the form factor of the card (very likely mini-pci), for that vintage of laptop, you can get one that's faster than what's in there now.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Thanks for the advice guys. Once I get my hands on it then I'll post some pictures of what I am dealing with and take it from there.

 

[WobbleWobble]

It should be accessible via a panel on the bottom of the laptop. As hmsrolst said, it very likely is mini-PCI and if you're going to buy a replacement, just make sure that you don't accidentally buy a mini-PCI Express card (in case you're looking for something faster).

Dell has step-by-step instructions on how to open up their laptops on their website. Easiest way to get there is to just search for "inspiron <model number> service manual"

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
It should be accessible via a panel on the bottom of the laptop. As hmsrolst said, it very likely is mini-PCI and if you're going to buy a replacement, just make sure that you don't accidentally buy a mini-PCI Express card (in case you're looking for something faster).

Dell has step-by-step instructions on how to open up their laptops on their website. Easiest way to get there is to just search for "inspiron <model number> service manual"

Excellent. I will post back if/when I get the laptop