I have a used HP Pavilion ZE4610 with an internal IBM High Rate LAN
Wireless Combo Card. The problem was that I was experiencing some
problems with range. With help from Jeff Liebermann it was discovered
to be disconnected antennae. However from what I can see (by only
removing the 3"x3" panel on the bottom) there are no antennae at all. I
want to see how likely it is to install these myself or learn how to
dismantle in order to see if they are there but held up somewhere. Any
help would be appreciated. Basically, I am seeing if it is worth the
effort of dissection or if I should take the external card route.

This is a REALLY DIFFICULT installation. A laptop without a built-in
antenna should not have an internal WiFi card. Did someone add the card
into a laptop that originally didn't have one? If there is no antenna
present, I would recommend that you just disable the WiFi card and use a
PC-Card or USB WiFi adapter.

Adding an antenna usually requires (in addition to getting the antenna
parts, which may by itself be almost impossible) total disassembly of
both the lid and the base, and usually separating them from each other.
As the WiFi card is usually installed below the motherboard, you may
have to remove the motherboard to install the antenna wiring. A coax
cable has to be snaked all through the laptop base and through one of
the hinges into the lid, which often requires disassembly of the lid
hinges. then you have to remove the LCD from the lid to snake the wires
and install the antenna behind the LCD panel. It's not absolutely
impossible, but it's a difficult installation, and compared to just
using a PC Card or USB WiFi adapter, it's hard to justify the trouble
and expense (and risk of doing tremendous damage if you screw up).


Rory Deol wrote:
> I have a used HP Pavilion ZE4610 with an internal IBM High Rate LAN
> Wireless Combo Card. The problem was that I was experiencing some
> problems with range. With help from Jeff Liebermann it was discovered
> to be disconnected antennae. However from what I can see (by only
> removing the 3"x3" panel on the bottom) there are no antennae at all. I
> want to see how likely it is to install these myself or learn how to
> dismantle in order to see if they are there but held up somewhere. Any
> help would be appreciated. Basically, I am seeing if it is worth the
> effort of dissection or if I should take the external card route.
>

Well that answers that. I think I will go the external route. Thanks
for the warning!