IBM 802.11a/b/g card finally arrives

Some time ago, I posted about my misadventure in ordering a T40 without wireless connectivity. Shortly after I wrote that entry, I ordered one of IBM’s tri-mode cards from CDW, since they were expected to ship in early September. September came and went without a card. So did October and November. Finally, last week, I got four cards (one for each T40) and eagerly installed it. However, I forgot the crucial step of attaching the leads for the built-in antenna, so after I put everything back together, I found that my signal reception was really poor. At first I fumed. “Stupid IBM,” I muttered. “All this time and they ship me a card that doesn’t work.” Once I discovered my error, I was still fuming (at myself), but I have to admit to being impressed that the card got a signal at all with no antenna. It works great now, and it’s nice to have both PC Card slots back (since one of them is more-or-less permanently occupied by my smartcard reader). However, IBM’s Access Connections software still doesn’t work right; every time it launches, it tells me that my wireless driver is bad. So it goes.