IBM Thinkpad Lan Setup

AZNBoiOnFIYA · Oct 15, 2004

recently i have been really frustrated trying to setup an internet connection for my really old ibm thinkpad iseries 1400 model 2611 running win98. i read that the pcmcia that came with the notebook does not work for any of the notebook in this series. i bought a usb network adapter to use but cant use it because it doesnt have a mac address and i need one to register in order to get online at my school. i wanted to get a pcmcia card but was not sure if it was compatable with my old system. if anyone has setup a lan connection on one of these thinkpads, can you please help me with this.

bchur83 · Oct 15, 2004

That USB one should have a MAC addy, every piece of network equipment has to have one.

AZNBoiOnFIYA · Oct 15, 2004

the usb adapter is a point to point to point device and therefore has a ppp address. my school needs a physical mac address and therefore i think a PCMCIA card would work but i just dont know if my system will support it. the card im looking into right now is the Wireless Notebook PCMCIA Network Card, 802.11b Mfg Part #: F5D6020 from Belkin. I've heard that certain newer PCMCIA cards are 32 bit and wont work for older notebooks. i dont know if thats the case here so im asking for help.

Smokeys · Oct 15, 2004

Are we talking about just wireless products here?

What is the name and manufacturer of this USB adapter? Like bchur83 said, every network device has a MAC address, there is no such thing as a "ppp address".

Also what OS are you running on this?

Spion · Oct 15, 2004

yes, EVERY piece of networking equipment has a mac address burned into it(burned meaning unable to change). plug your adaptor into your laptop and open command prompt and type in "ipconfig /all" this will show the mac addresses and any active ip addresses.

AZNBoiOnFIYA · Oct 15, 2004

thats what i did and all it comes up with is the physical address, which is the mac address, which is the ppp address and the network at my school doesnt accept that address as a registered mac address. my os is 98, which is a pain to configure a lan on. i am just looking at wireless because currently that is the cheapest wireless card i can find. the usb network adapter, which is falling apart even though i got it yesterday, is made by hawking tech.

Smokeys · Oct 15, 2004

Spion said:
yes, EVERY piece of networking equipment has a mac address burned into it(burned meaning unable to change). plug your adaptor into your laptop and open command prompt and type in "ipconfig /all" this will show the mac addresses and any active ip addresses.

While you can't (iirc) change the burned in address on a network device it is simple to tell the drivers to use another MAC address.

AZNBoiOnFIYA said:
thats what i did and all it comes up with is the physical address, which is the mac address, which is the ppp address and the network at my school doesnt accept that address as a registered mac address. my os is 98, which is a pain to configure a lan on. i am just looking at wireless because currently that is the cheapest wireless card i can find. the usb network adapter, which is falling apart even though i got it yesterday, is made by hawking tech.

Wait, First the correct term is physical address or mac address, again there is no such thing as a ppp address in this context. Next, is the school rejecting the mac address you are giving them or are you trying to dupe a mac address you know that works on the wireless network?

Spion · Oct 15, 2004

Smokeys said:
While you can't (iirc) change the burned in address on a network device it is simple to tell the drivers to use another MAC address.

thats not actually changeing the mac address, thats called "spoofing" the mac address.

[edit] PPP means point to point protocol.(FYI)

Smokeys · Oct 15, 2004

True but for all intense and purposes the card reports the new mac address. I was just correcting where you said there was no possible way to change it which could be read as it was impossibe lt make a network device report a different mac address.

Spion · Oct 15, 2004

ahhh. i didn't mean for it to come off like that. i just ment you can't change the burned in mac address.

AZNBoiOnFIYA · Oct 15, 2004

ok, so it rejected my mac address, but it shouldnt have. its the address i found on my ethernet adapter so it should work. i guess what im asking right now is why it rejected my address when thats the only address i have.

Spion · Oct 15, 2004

you talked to the system administrator?

AZNBoiOnFIYA · Oct 15, 2004

alright, my adapter has a ppp address and will not work on the network so now i have to find a pcmcia card. as stated in my previous post, im not sure if the card will be compatible with my notebook, so now can anyone help me on this?

Spion · Oct 15, 2004

yea, the pcmcia should work fine

AZNBoiOnFIYA · Oct 15, 2004

even the newer pcmcia cards will work with my old thinkpad? so the bit difference wont matter on them?

Spion · Oct 15, 2004

here's one that should work fine http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=33-147-108&depa=0

[edit] this is the cheapest one i could find

Spion · Oct 15, 2004

well most laptops support type2 at least. type 1 is for like super ancient ones. also if you have USB then you more than likely have pcmcia type 2

Spion · Oct 15, 2004

if these are the specs on your laptop then have no worries about type2 not being compatable

Notebook SubCategory Intel Notebooks
Average Battery Life 3 h
Battery Type Lithium Ion
Bus Speed 66 MHz
Color Black
Color Resolution 24-Bit (16.7M Colors)
Connectors Microphone In
Diagonal Screen Size 14.1 in
Drive Type DVD-ROM
DVD Read Speed 4 X
Floppy Drive Type 3.5" HD
Hard Drive Capacity 4.8 GB
Hard Drive Enclosure Type Portable
Hard Drive Interface Type IDE / EIDE
Input Device Type Keyboard
Installed Memory 64 MB
Level 2 Cache 128 KB
Maximum Resolution 1024 x 768 Pixels
Maximum Supported RAM 256 MB
Maximum Video Resolution 1280 x 1024 Pixels
Model 1400
Modem Speed 56 Kbps
Modem Type Analog Modem
Networking Type None
Operating System Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
Operating System Compatibility PC
Processor Manufacturer Intel
Processor Speed 433 MHz
Processor Type Celeron
Product Line ThinkPad i Series
RAM Type SDRAM
Screen Type LCD Active Matrix
Specs 433 MHz Celeron, 4.8 GB HD, 64 MB RAM, 4 X DVD-ROM
Video Memory 4 MB
Weight 7.715968750000001 lbs

AZNBoiOnFIYA · Oct 16, 2004

actually, i think my computer has a type 3 pcmcia slot

Spion · Oct 16, 2004

even better. that means you probly dont have to worry about what kinda pcmcia card to get. all the pcmcia's are backwards compatable, so you can get type2 and 1 cards and they'll work fine.

IBM Thinkpad Lan Setup

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