"none" <nospam@bogusaddress.com> writes:
>Thanks Steve, looked at the manual and sure enough, the hole I see is
>called a security keyhole ... which leaves a question; where does the
>cable for the WIFI external go? IS there a port for an external antenna
>somewhere?

Probably not. Many laptops have *two* WiFi antennas connected to the
two jacks on the card. This provides what's called "space diversity".
When you are using a WiFi card and an access point indoors, there are
lots of reflections, and sometimes those reflections add up in such a
way as to almost entirely cancel. When this happens, the computer and
the access point cannot "hear" each other, even if they are otherwise
well within range. The wavelength of the WiFi signal is so short that
when you do get signal cancellation like this, moving the antenna just a
few inches is likely to restore communications.

That's where diversity comes in. By having two antennas a few inches
from each other connected to two receiver frontends, the WiFi card can
continuously compare signal strength from the two antennas during
receive and switch to whichever one provides the better signal at that
moment. If your laptop is stationary, it's likely to pick one antenna
for long periods, but if you're walking around with the laptop it's
likely to be switching antennas very frequently.

Dave