I have a public non-branded version of Intel 7260AC Wi-Fi module and used it for 2 years with a patched BIOS v2.19 on my Lenovo T440s (flashed by an external tool with desoldering the chip). Recently I've decided to upgrade the BIOS and prepared to patch v2.36, but was surprised by the fact that it works fine without any patch. I thought Lenovo eventually stopped the whitelisting, but yesterday I've installed v2.37 and my laptop stop booting with the well-known message about unauthorized Wi-Fi module. Then I've flashed back original v2.36 and everything is fine again.
I've unpacked several last BIOS versions for T440/T440s. In the range 2.32-2.36 there is the same LenovoWmaPolicyDxe.efi module of 4.2kb. Before 2.32 and after 2.36 there is another LenovoWmaPolicyDxe.efi module of 4.8kb, but also the same. To make things more clear I've digged into the LenovoWmaPolicyDxe.efi from 2.32-2.36 and I can say the whitelisting code looks like a sort of mess, but not a valid code. Also this mess looks unreferenced anywhere. So, most probably all of v2.32-v2.36 allow to install unbranded Wi-Fi modules (not just v2.36).
So if you have Lenovo T440 or T440s and BIOS v2.36, then you probably may install any Wi-Fi module. This is a good chance if you not familiar with soldering/patching.
To give it a try here is original v2.36 BIOS for T440/T440s
https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/gjuj23us.txt
https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/gjuj23us.exe
If your BIOS is newer, then you will need to disable the Secure rollback prevention feature in the Setup to be able to downgrade.
Here is info for v2.37. We can see that 2.37 fixes several serious bugs. So be aware of them if you decide to stay on v2.36.
https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/gjuj24us.txt
It would be nice if somebody can confirm this with other Wi-Fi modules and also discover this bug on other Lenovo models.
I've unpacked several last BIOS versions for T440/T440s. In the range 2.32-2.36 there is the same LenovoWmaPolicyDxe.efi module of 4.2kb. Before 2.32 and after 2.36 there is another LenovoWmaPolicyDxe.efi module of 4.8kb, but also the same. To make things more clear I've digged into the LenovoWmaPolicyDxe.efi from 2.32-2.36 and I can say the whitelisting code looks like a sort of mess, but not a valid code. Also this mess looks unreferenced anywhere. So, most probably all of v2.32-v2.36 allow to install unbranded Wi-Fi modules (not just v2.36).
So if you have Lenovo T440 or T440s and BIOS v2.36, then you probably may install any Wi-Fi module. This is a good chance if you not familiar with soldering/patching.
To give it a try here is original v2.36 BIOS for T440/T440s
https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/gjuj23us.txt
https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/gjuj23us.exe
If your BIOS is newer, then you will need to disable the Secure rollback prevention feature in the Setup to be able to downgrade.
Here is info for v2.37. We can see that 2.37 fixes several serious bugs. So be aware of them if you decide to stay on v2.36.
https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/gjuj24us.txt
It would be nice if somebody can confirm this with other Wi-Fi modules and also discover this bug on other Lenovo models.