WiFi 6 in the X220 with LED status light!

Intro

You can add any NGFF WiFi card into the X220 with a NGFF to mini PCIe adapter & antenna adapater from [your favourite online store]. Unfortunately all of these adapters for some reason do not connect the LED signal from the card.

Fortunately it is fairly simple to the connect the LED signal - you can have your cake and eat it too!

Details

The LED status output on the NGFF card is pin 6. On my adapter this is broken out to a component pad.

The LED status input on the mini PCIe is pin 44 (for WiFi LED).

Simply solder a thin wire between these two pins as shown below.

Be sure to double check which pins are which on your adapter.

Third from the right pin on top row (pin 6)

Fifth from the left, pin 44

Results

AX200 showing up under lspci

Woo! LEDs!

Geeky Stuff

The output from the NGFF card is an open drain. The input at the mini PCIe slot is also an open drain with the gate connected to 3.3V. Since we are only pulling signals to ground there is no risk of voltage mismatches. If the input signal is low, the WiFi LED turns on.