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Swap WiFi card for M.2 SSD in old laptop

Hi all..

 

Can we simply remove a WiFi card inside an old laptop and install a small M.2 SSD on that slot?

If so, is it limited only for SATA M.2 SSD or NVMe can be used there also?

 

The laptop is Lenovo Thinkpad X250 5th gen intel i5.

 

I have a USB WiFi dongle so I can sacrifice that WiFi card inside it for additional storage.

My system specs:

Spoiler

CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K, 5GHz Delidded LM || CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14S w/ NF-A15 & NF-A14 Chromax fans in push-pull cofiguration || Motherboard: MSI Z370i Gaming Pro Carbon AC || RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2x8Gb 2666 || GPU: EVGA GTX 1060 6Gb FTW2+ DT || Storage: Samsung 860 Evo M.2 SATA SSD 250Gb, 2x 2.5" HDDs 1Tb & 500Gb || ODD: 9mm Slim DVD RW || PSU: Corsair SF600 80+ Platinum || Case: Cougar QBX + 1x Noctua NF-R8 front intake + 2x Noctua NF-F12 iPPC top exhaust + Cougar stock 92mm DC fan rear exhaust || Monitor: ASUS VG248QE || Keyboard: Ducky One 2 Mini Cherry MX Red || Mouse: Logitech G703 || Audio: Corsair HS70 Wireless || Other: XBox One S Controler

My build logs:

 

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2 minutes ago, _Hustler_One_ said:

Hi all..

 

Can we simply remove a WiFi card inside an old laptop and install a small M.2 SSD on that slot?

If so, is it limited only for SATA M.2 SSD or NVMe can be used there also?

 

The laptop is Lenovo Thinkpad X250 5th gen intel i5.

 

I have a USB WiFi dongle so I can sacrifice that WiFi card inside it for additional storage.

Mini PCIe WiFi card slots usually DO NOT accept even M.2 SATA cards. The slot size can be the same, but they're usually keyed differently. I would check the manual for your laptop to be sure, otherwise you risk shorting things out.

Desktop: KiRaShi-Intel-2022 (i5-12600K, RTX2060) Mobile: OnePlus 5T | Koodo - 75GB Data + Data Rollover for $45/month
Laptop: Dell XPS 15 9560 (the real 15" MacBook Pro that Apple didn't make) Tablet: iPad Mini 5 | Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 10.1
Camera: Canon M6 Mark II | Canon Rebel T1i (500D) | Canon SX280 | Panasonic TS20D Music: Spotify Premium (CIRCA '08)

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Wifi M.2 slots are Key E which provides PCIe 2x and USB, and afaik, there isn't any Key E SSDs.

Google found some M.2 key E to miniPCIe adapters which could maybe work with PV170.

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@kirashi @Zagna then I think it's better avoid to put a mini M.2 SSD on that slot?

My system specs:

Spoiler

CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K, 5GHz Delidded LM || CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14S w/ NF-A15 & NF-A14 Chromax fans in push-pull cofiguration || Motherboard: MSI Z370i Gaming Pro Carbon AC || RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2x8Gb 2666 || GPU: EVGA GTX 1060 6Gb FTW2+ DT || Storage: Samsung 860 Evo M.2 SATA SSD 250Gb, 2x 2.5" HDDs 1Tb & 500Gb || ODD: 9mm Slim DVD RW || PSU: Corsair SF600 80+ Platinum || Case: Cougar QBX + 1x Noctua NF-R8 front intake + 2x Noctua NF-F12 iPPC top exhaust + Cougar stock 92mm DC fan rear exhaust || Monitor: ASUS VG248QE || Keyboard: Ducky One 2 Mini Cherry MX Red || Mouse: Logitech G703 || Audio: Corsair HS70 Wireless || Other: XBox One S Controler

My build logs:

 

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