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Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems

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Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> 
> I tried this some years ago with a mobile card in a Dell Precision 
> M4300, and never got the card to work.  A replacement WiFi card probably 
> will be somewhat different and hopefully easier, nevertheless the OP may 
> care to note what I wrote at the time about attempting to install a 
> mobile card:

WWAN is indeed quite different from wifi:

> First, was the laptop built for the UK, the US, or elsewhere, and are 
> you still in the same country?  Don't buy a card built for a laptop from 
> another country  -  IME, just doesn't work.

Wifi cards are international - they get told their 'regulatory domain' as
part of setup which tells them which bands to use, but there is no
difference in network standards like there is with GSM v CDMA v
NTT v China-whatever like there used to be with mobiles.

> Second, ensure you can get Dell drivers for it, that is genuine Dell 
> from the Dell site.  Even though they are buying in external hardware 
> from OEM chip firms such as Sierra, Dell and some other manufacturers 
> implement their own hardware IDs, and other drivers, even from the OEM 
> manufacturer, may not work as expected.

If the card has previously shipped in a laptop, then Windows should find
drivers for it, as if you had reinstalled Windows on that laptop.  Just
give the machine ethernet so it can talk to Windows update.  You don't need
a 'driver CD' like the bad old days.

If the machine doesn't also have its own ethernet, or the ethernet itself
has driver problems, a USB ethernet dongle is a useful thing to have on hand
to get you out of that particular hole.  It is indeed useful to have the
drivers for that on a USB stick, but USB ethernet is a standard and Windows
probably won't need them.

> Third, ensure that the PCB connector fitting is the same.  The laptop 
> PCB probably expects a Mini PCI-E Express, while some modern cards have 
> M2 fittings  -  confusingly described as M.2 PCIe but this is not the 
> same, worse there are several variants in the M2 standard with the 
> number and positions of the gaps in the connectors being different. Get 
> it wrong, and you'll end up having to buy an adaptor cradle.

I specifically pointed out M.2 A+E keying, which is what the OP's laptop has
and roughly any laptop made in the last 10 years has.

> Fourth, ensure that the aerial connections are the same.  This is an 
> equally confusing area, as the fittings are very small, and those that I 
> would call male and female respectively, based on their actual shape, 
> are often referred to by the opposite terms in much, perhaps most, of 
> the product technical literature.  Even worse, there are at least two 
> different sizes in use, and the difference between them is not obvious 
> unless and until you see them side by side under a magnifying glass, 
> it's impossible just from photos, and the actual fitting size may not 
> even be included in technical product data.

I think the antenna connections are standardised for wifi nowadays.

Some card and machines have 2 antennas, some 3.  Connect them to antenna
inputs 1,2,3 in order - if you don't have a socket for the last antenna just
wrap it in electrical tape and tuck it out of the way.

> The connections are so small that even if you are certain that you have 
> the right ones, I would advise wearing watchmaker-style magnifying 
> glasses to make the connections, otherwise you could end up damaging one 
> or other or both.

They are indeed tiny - I recommend tweezers and perhaps using your phone
camera on macro mode as a microscope to be able to see where you are aiming. 

(I'd also recommend taking antistatic precautions if you're going to be
touching sensitive antenna inputs with metal tweezers - just keeping an
earthed metal electrical appliance on your table and touching it regularly
is probably good enough if you don't have a proper wrist strap)

I did one wifi card replacement blind by feel recently, and it did indeed
take several goes to get it right.

> Even if you get all this right, it still may not work.
> 
> A minefield, stay clear.

Not really, I've done quite a number over the years.

Theo

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Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> - 2026-06-02 16:04 +0100
  Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> - 2026-06-02 15:23 +0000
    Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> - 2026-06-02 15:28 +0000
  Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-06-02 16:26 +0100
    Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> - 2026-06-02 17:07 +0100
      Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> - 2026-06-03 23:34 +0100
    Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> - 2026-06-02 18:56 +0100
      Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2026-06-03 14:25 +0100
        Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> - 2026-06-04 00:11 +0100
          Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> - 2026-06-04 03:34 +0100
            Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2026-06-04 11:21 +0100
          Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-06-04 07:38 +0100
    Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Bob Pullen <me@privacy.net> - 2026-06-08 08:24 +0100
      Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> - 2026-06-13 09:56 +0100
        Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> - 2026-06-13 09:34 +0000
          Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> - 2026-06-14 11:44 +0100
            Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> - 2026-06-14 10:50 +0000
              Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> - 2026-06-14 14:56 +0100
                Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> - 2026-06-14 14:54 +0000
  Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> - 2026-06-23 12:11 +0100
    Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> - 2026-06-23 18:26 +0100
      Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> - 2026-06-23 19:04 +0100
        Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-06-23 19:26 +0100
    Re: Plusnet ==> EE brings WPA problems Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> - 2026-06-29 15:09 +0100

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