NetworkManager has problem differentiating between two wireless modems
 

I have a Lenovo laptop with a built-in Intel Pro/Wireless 3945 ABG modem. I firmly believe that this modem has hardware problems which are beyond my capabilities to fix. (It has problems under both linux and DOS).

I bought a Trendnet USB modem which internally shows up as a RealTek RTL8187B modem. It works fine.

The problem is that when the computer boots, the NetworkManager connects to both modems. With both modems on, communications is very slow and unreliable. After every boot, I have to manually click on the NetworkManager and disconnect from the Intel (internal) modem. This is a pain, and somewhat beyond the capabilities of my 9-year old daughter, who also browses the web from this computer.

Can I get linux (ie the NetworkManager) to ignore the Intel (internal) modem? The easy answer would be to throw the mostly hidden modem power toggle switch on the outside of the computer, but this disconnects both modems.

FYI, I'm running Ubuntu 10.04LTS

Thanks in advance.

Craig

tried to disable internall wifi modem in BIOS or by checking for pci slot under laptop from where you should be able to remove pci modem easily?

Hi yooy,

I tried disabling the modem in BIOS and it didn't work. I also haven't figured out which removable panel on the underside of my laptop is the pci slot, but I believe the modem lives on the motherboard.

Not sure why the BIOS disabling didn't work. It sounded like a good idea.

Is it a Thinkpad, or one of the 'other' Lenovo's?

All the Thinkpads I've ever seen have the modem / wireless card on a mini-pci or mini-pcie card. Also, with all the Thinkpads, you can get hardware manuals in PDF format from the Lenovo web site - I've just used the one for my T61 to work out the steps necessary to replace the keyboard. I've not worked on any of the non-Thinkpad Lenovos, so I'm not sure if the same applies to them.

Paul.

Right-click on the networkmanager symbol as root(!). You'll get a menu with something like "manage connection(s)". Click on that and either disable the faulty modem or create entries for both modems and disable as appropriate. A restart of networkmanager is necessary.