General advice concerning WWAN

[mikemex]

Hi guys. I was wondering if you can give some advice concerning WWAN in general. All my current machines (T420, X220 and X200) are WWAN upgradable but I don't really see much need for it now.

The issue I see is that I have Internet in the phone and I can easily share it with the laptop turning it into a WIFI hotspot. So having the actual radio inside the laptop feels a bit redundant. Also, I'm not sure if I can get a separate SIM from my carrier just to use data on the laptop and I don't feel like splitting costs between two separate lines.

Also, a big issue at this point is LTE. I'd love to have LTE built into the machine to get decent speed and price for mobile Internet in the future, but from what I've read, antennas built in in current models aren't good for the frequencies used in LTE. Has anyone tried it?

Also, is there a way to use the SIM reader built into the machine to read the contacts from a discarded SIM? My father is upgrading to a smartphone soon from a very basic phone and all contacts are in the SIM and I would like to avoid transfering them by hand.

[Puppy]

There is no way to have LTE in x20 series unless you use a BIOS hack (it will void the warranty and might brick the motherboard) that would unblock blacklisted Sierra Wireless AirPrime cards. See this http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=104656

[GomJabbar]

I have a Sierra Wireless mobil hotspot, and that is the way to go IMO. You can place the hotspot where it receives a good signal, then connect to it via WiFi. This hotspot battery is supposed to last for 5 hours or so while in use (usually my laptop battery dies before the hotspot battery). It supports LTE, HSPA, EDGE, and GPRS. It is also possible to connect to the hotspot via USB.

Much of the time I have my laptop and hotspot plugged into the mains, so battery life is not an issue. If my hotspot battery did run out of charge, I still have my cell phone (separate device and service) for receiving calls.

[mikemex]

There is no way to have LTE in x20 series unless you use a BIOS hack (it will void the warranty and might brick the motherboard) that would unblock blacklisted Sierra Wireless AirPrime cards. See this http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=104656

I'm skeptic to be honest, those are usually standard MiniPCI-E modules.

I have a Sierra Wireless mobil hotspot, and that is the way to go IMO. You can place the hotspot where it receives a good signal, then connect to it via WiFi. This hotspot battery is supposed to last for 5 hours or so while in use (usually my laptop battery dies before the hotspot battery). It supports LTE, HSPA, EDGE, and GPRS. It is also possible to connect to the hotspot via USB.

Much of the time I have my laptop and hotspot plugged into the mains, so battery life is not an issue. If my hotspot battery did run out of charge, I still have my cell phone (separate device and service) for receiving calls.

It seems like WWAN is still a corporate feature because as an end user, it seems such a big waste to have two different services. Unless you can get a separate, data-only SIM for the laptop using the same line as the phone. But that is not possible, is it?

[GomJabbar]

Separate SIM, separate number. However, tethering costs almost as much as having a separate line if I'm not mistaken.

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/dataplans.html

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/data-p ... M75g8Nhcck_

[mikemex]

Yeah, it seems like you still have to spend big bucks to have Internet in the go. Myself, I pay like $15 a month for about 200 minutes of talk time and 200 MB. It's not much but you can do the truly important stuff on the go such as checking e-mail, instant messaging, etc.

Really, if you are going to do heavy browsing and such you better find a local WIFI connection. Tendency is for Internet to be universal and free but we're still far from it.