Help with 802.11b (wifi) mini pci card (antennas soldered onto card).....w/ Pics!

[iamme]

I have a Thinkpad with built in WiFi. However, it's been giving me troubles, so I decided to try out an Orinoco mini pci wifi card (I've had good experiences with their PC Card client cards).

Anyways, once I got the mini pci card, I realized that the antennas are soldered onto the card itself! The mini pci card that came with my Thinkpad had connectors where the antennas would attach.

Will I damage the Orinoco card if I forcefully take the antennas off?

I took pics to better describe my problem, but alas, Comcast's web hosting is down 🙁

 

[iamme]

Pics:

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/iamme/wifi_001.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/iamme/wifi_002.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/iamme/wifi_003.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/iamme/wifi_004.jpg

 

[iamme]

ttt

 

[iamme]

?

 

[DSE]

They don't look soldered on to me, you sure those caps on the card don't come off? Not the obvious soldered part on the antenna cards, but the caps that look like they swivel on the mini pci card itself.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

1) Why do you want to take the antenna off the card? Space constraints? Just leave it on.
2) What you doing with the old MiniPCI WiFi card? I have an SFF box with an mPCI slot that needs to become a "one-wire server" 😀

- M4H

 

[Spicedaddy]

Originally posted by: DSE
They don't look soldered on to me, you sure those caps on the card don't come off? Not the obvious soldered part on the antenna cards, but the caps that look like they swivel on the mini pci card itself.

Yeah, I remember the antenna connectors were hard to clip into place on my Orinoco Mini-PCI. If they swivel, then I think they should come off. Just pull hard...

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: Spicedaddy

Originally posted by: DSE
They don't look soldered on to me, you sure those caps on the card don't come off? Not the obvious soldered part on the antenna cards, but the caps that look like they swivel on the mini pci card itself.

Yeah, I remember the antenna connectors were hard to clip into place on my Orinoco Mini-PCI. If they swivel, then I think they should come off. Just pull hard...

They definitely don't swivel. The 802.11b mini pci card originally in my Thinkpad has connectors that swivel. The Orinoco card has connectors that swivel and can be easily disconnected (like the snap on jeans).

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
1) Why do you want to take the antenna off the card? Space constraints? Just leave it on.
2) What you doing with the old MiniPCI WiFi card? I have an SFF box with an mPCI slot that needs to become a "one-wire server" 😀

- M4H

1. Mostly space constraints. There's no room for the antennas, unless i take apart the entire laptop and see if i can fit them in.

2. i'll PM you if i sell my old one 🙂