ThinkPad 11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini Express Adapter

This is a WiFi Adapter that is installed in a Mini-PCI Express slot

Features

Chipset: Atheros AR5008
Integrated Mac Processor and Radio Chip: Atheros, unknown model
IEEE Standards: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n (draft)
PCI ID: 168c:0024

IBM Partnumbers

42T0825 [1]

Linux WiFi driver

There's now (04.04.07) added experimental support for the AR5008 chipset to a new branch in MadWifi. I have compiled this driver successfully, but it's still at an experimental stage, so no promises are given. Howto

There is an old ticket for this card at madwifi, #1001.

There is an new ticket for this card at madwifi-branch, #1243.

To install this driver, just checkout the branch madwifi-hal-0.9.30.13.

Until the madwifi driver stabilizes you might want to get the Windows driver from Lenovo's support site and use a recent version of ndiswrapper (>= 1.29). I've compiled a Howto for this card.

Hardware switch

Some ThinkPads have a hardware switch that must be in the on position for the radio to work, regardless of driver state:

ThinkPad 11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini Express Adapter