# Enable WPA on t30



## yanqui (Nov 14, 2005)

Our company uses IBM thinkpads. The notebook in question is a T30 model. With all the XP updates and the firmware update and the driver updates, I am still unable to enable WPA on the wireless adapter. Anyone got a fix for this?


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

Is the wireless device in here integrated or is it a PCMCIA card? What OS? WPA can be enabled on any network hardware that supports it, and almost every network device supports it!


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## yanqui (Nov 14, 2005)

ebackhus said:


> Is the wireless device in here integrated or is it a PCMCIA card?


integrated


> What OS?


XP SP2


> WPA can be enabled on any network hardware that supports it, and almost every network device supports it!


These T30's are several years old; As a matter of fact, one of the updates I had to run on this one was SP2. I'm trying to find out if, in fact, this hardware supports it.


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

If you use Windows to manage the wi-fi connection you can go through that to configure your wireless security settings directly.

edit: Since I'm at work I can't toy with any wireless devices because I don't have any handy! I'll try to pop online from home tonight with a more detailed response.


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## yanqui (Nov 14, 2005)

ebackhus said:


> If you use Windows to manage the wi-fi connection you can go through that to configure your wireless security settings directly.
> 
> edit: Since I'm at work I can't toy with any wireless devices because I don't have any handy! I'll try to pop online from home tonight with a more detailed response.


That's where I was working with it, but when I go to set the encryption, the only options available are Disabled and WEP. So I know that as things are right now, WPA is not an option. However, what I'm trying to find out is if there's something I've missed getting downloaded and installed.


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## Terrister (Apr 18, 2005)

Check for updated drivers for the wireless adapter. If that does not add WPA then I guess your only option is to use a pcmcia adapter.


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## nstrom (Jul 18, 2008)

Sorry to chip in on an older thread, but I just managed to get WPA working on my friend's T30 and wanted to get the info out there on google etc.

The working driver is available here:
http://www.pretaktovanie.sk/download/wireless intersil wpa win2k-xp.3.0105.zip

Tested and verified with Windows XP SP3. Originally (with stock Windows drivers and those available on IBM's site) the card was detected as "IBM High Rate Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Adapter with Modem II". The card is now detected as "Intersil PRISM Wireless LAN PCI Card", using driver PRISMNDS.sys v3.01.05.0040 dated Nov 2 2004 from Intersil Corporation.

Hope this helps somebody out there.


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## shedemand (Dec 1, 2008)

Just like to post a loud THANK YOU to NStrom for the solution to WPA on Thinkpad T30 !!
We live on the inland waterways of europe every summer and depend on WiFi, but more and more accespoints are using WPA (understandable) and I have been reluctant to dump my trusty old T30 just because of that.
Nowhere have I up till now found a solution to upgrade the built-in "Intel High rate wireless LAN Mini PCI", and I find it shamefull, that neither IBM/Lenovo or Intel has bothered to publish a WPA-compliant driver.
Thanks again NStrom! How you found your way to an obsolete product from an obsolete company puzzles me, but it works!!
Rgds
S. Hedemand


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## moff28 (Jan 18, 2009)

I have managed to enable WPA on my refurbished IBM T30 (running XP SP2) with just the standard IBM-supplied software. The hardware device manager shows it is a High Rate Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Adapter with Modem II. There is nothing to indicate that my T30 is anything other than stock standard.

I started by downloading from IBM and installing the latest network driver (3.04.0205) and NIC firmware (1.07.04.00). I noticed during the firmware flash process that it uses a DOS Intersil Prism utility. It reports the NIC as an ISL 3874 PCI.

When I tried configuring the network connections my options were still WEP.

I tried installing the software mentioned above. The installer appears to hang at 30% when loading the driver. Then it displays a finished dialog box. When I run the software it displays a dialog box saying it cannot find the network card, was it installed? 

Next I found this site to flash the NIC to 1.08:
http://linux.junsun.net/intersil-prism/
The Intersil tool from this site for some reason cannot read my card correctly, and tries to use the wrong ISL PCI code. So no help there either.

After fiddling for some hours, I suddenly discovered that I now had WPA enabled. I had no idea how I did it. Then at one point I reconfigured the network connection to use another wireless access point and clumsily lost WPA. I then had to tinker for a few more hours until I managed to re-enable WPA. 

Here is what I think is the sequence of events. I am not about to fiddle with my settings again to prove it - unless I have to! 

1. Update the driver
2. Update the firmware
3. Delete the High Rate Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Adapter with Modem II from the System Device Manager list
4. Reboot and let the system find and install the drivers for the card
5. Open the wireless network connection and bring up its properties
6. On the Wireless Network tab, enable the Use Windows to configure my wireless network card checkbox

Check WPA is enabled (and can be configured) by adding a new network. The Network Authentication dropdown list should now include two WPA options. I suspect the first two steps do not have to be repeated. The crucial steps appear to re-establish the driver and to let Windows configure the NIC. I think using the IBM-supplied Intel utility somehow hides the WPA options even if Windows is then used.


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