Finding a new wireless card for a Thinkpad T460
February 1, 2020 12:59 PM   Subscribe

I have a Lenovo Thinkpad T460 with a failing wireless card (Intel AC 8260). More details on that within if needed. I would like to replace it, but am not sure which wireless card to choose. I tried this M.2 AX200 but after installing it my computer wouldn't boot up--it started booting up again when I re-installed the old one. How do I find a card that will work?

More details on the failing card: Basically, periodically the card stops being detected by my system. It's not that it doesn't detect any networks, it's that the computer doesn't register a wireless card exists at all. Also, when it craps out my computer won't shut down, it hits the "Shutting Down" screen, hangs for a while, then throws up a blue screen with a driver power failure message and restarts. All drivers are up to date, and ethernet is OK. I figure this means the card needs replacement.

More details on the attempt at replacement: After installing it the computer would get to the initialization screen (where you hit F1 to go to the BIOS) but after that screen goes away it turns itself off and restarts. I can go into the BIOS settings for what it's worth. Once I installed the old wireless card it booted up fine again.

Everything else in the computer works fine so I'd rather not replace the whole thing. How do I pick a card that will work?
posted by anonymous to Technology (3 answers total)
 
The Thinkpad T460 has a "white list" in BIOS which allows only certain wireless cards to work. If your card isn't in the white list, then the machine won't boot.

Your best bet is to go to Lenovo's website and determine what shipped with the laptop, and what possible replacements could be.

I'll warn you that Amazon in particular is a cesspool of dishonest vendors of wireless cards. Use Fake Spot to get at least some assurance that the vendor is selling you working product.
posted by blob at 1:10 PM on February 1, 2020 [2 favorites]


If you're installing your own WiFi card, it is possible that you're also confident enough to re-flash the UEFI to get rid of the permitted cards list. I have successfully done that on a ThinkPad I've owned (I think there was something weird about my product license key for Windows when I needed to re-install without using the recovery disk), and it was a bit nerve-wracking, but manageable.

So that might be easier, and allow you to use the card you have in hand.
posted by ambrosen at 2:00 PM on February 1, 2020 [4 favorites]


If you have a spare USB port and don't need a ton of range, you might just consider using a small USB wifi adapter. I have one that's barely larger than the really tiny USB adapters you can get that gets quite decent signal and was pretty cheap.
posted by Candleman at 5:54 PM on February 1, 2020


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