Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

Ive just received my MC8775 WWAN card and have a few questions in regard to the installation.

Although Ive read that the WWAN Shield Kit is not necessary I purchased it anyway since it was only $10. Can anyone advise how to install the shield kit?

Also, Ive installed the WWAN/WLAN antennas into my T61 and the WWAN antenna has a red MAIN cable and a blue AUX cable. The MC8775 card only has a red MAIN connector and no connector for the blue AUX cable. Is the blue AUX cable provided for EVDO cards only and not for the WCDMA HSPDA cards?

The blurry pic, linked below, taken by my cell phone details the WWAN shield kit and MC8775 connector.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p26/ ... 15_092.jpg

Thanks

Admin Edit: Please read the Rules of the Road about posting images, and stick to the indicated maximum size. The ~80K image has been converted to a link.

Not really of much help to you, but my t60 doesn't have a shield of any sort, and it also has only one antenna cable. (red one)

As I have written recently in topic trying to know about antennas for WWAN cards, I've learned that both MC8755 and MC8775 don't have antenna diversity, so they cannot use more than one antenna at once. There are, however, newer cards from Sierra Wireless, which do, but these are pretty pricey as of now
Card comparison table. Receive diversity is needed for the possibility to use two antennas.

thanks for the responses.

the sierra wireless comparison page along with Zender's explanation explains a lot.

firstly receive diversity is not available on the MC8775 hence no second connector.

secondly it seems that all the embedded sierra wireless cards have electro magnetic shielding, so theres no need for the WWAN shield kit.

has receive diversity got to do with the ability to handle faster uploads? those cards that have diversity seem to be capable of uploads in excess of 1.8Mbs while the MC8775 can only upload at 384kbs.

Receive diversity seems, by name, to only improve download speeds. The higher upload speeds are enabled by newer technology, which also your carrier would have to support (HSUPA).
Also there's a typo for MC8785V, which has max upload 2Mbps.

Notice you can hover mouse over underlined terms on the comparison page to get an explanation

Rambler76: Where did you get your Sierra Wireless MC8775 WWAN card from? Is it a Lenovo branded item? and Sim-Locked to a mobile operator? Apparently IBM UK Service parts have not received any stock of the un-locked MC8775 (42T0901) and do not have any price quotes.

I have just been speaking to a Sierra Wireless sales tech (+44 20 8 622 3206) regarding where to purchase their embedded modules - he says that Joe-public can not usually purchase them as a single item, but pointed me to their European distributor HY-LINE in Germany. He also stated that Lenovo only support certain Sierra Wireless modules like the MC8775 with dedicated firmware, and also pointed out that the newer modules (MC8785/MC8780/8781) with Receive Diversity reception is a totally different ball game as one of the MAIN requirements is dedicated specialist antenna support. He could not say for sure whether Lenovo would be supporting these modules right now, as they have just been recently launched (suggested to contact Lenovo direct), but expects the next generation of notebooks vendors to support Receive Diversity reception sooner rather than later. (Nice sales pitch - don't you think!)

Zender: Great work on re-composing the BIOS program post so we can at least try out new WWAN & WLAN PCI-e modules - A big thankyou -

Peak2Peak: And what about asking for unlock code of a locked card? There were rumours it's possible, I think I've read such stories on some Australian and German forums.

Also when verifying that Sierra Wireless 875U USB modem does in fact contain MC8775 miniPCIe module, I've found this page, where you can buy 880U modem, which is very likely to contain the MC8780. Though €360 excl. VAT

As for the antenna... we'll see. Hopefully the MAIN from European models is suitable and if new models are introduced, one can always tape the AUX from newer model somewhere around the card

And no problem with the BIOS, I've done it for myself too

Zender wrote: And what about asking for unlock code of a locked card? There were rumours it's possible, I think I've read such stories on some Australian and German forums.

Sierra Wireless state on their site RE: unlocking:

Mobile Equipment Personalization (MEP) is a GSM feature that restricts the use of mobile equipment to specific SIMs. Some modems are configured for use by a specific carrier during the factory calibration process. When this is done, the modem only works with SIMs of that carrier.

The MEP code is used to de-activate the mechanism that restricts the modem to certain SIMs, enabling the modem to work with the SIMs of any carriers.

AirCard users who would like to use a modem purchased from one carrier, with a SIM from a different carrier, must obtain the modem’s MEP code from the carrier that sold them the AirCard modem.

NOTE: Sierra Wireless can not provide you with the modem’s MEP code

I had an Orange Sierra Wireless AC850 card (Sim-locked) early last year, I approached them to obtain the un-locking code they referred straight away to Orange UK who supplied the card. On speaking to Orange UK, they weren't aware these cards could be unlocked even though I pointed them to liaise with Sierra Wireless! (I got fed up chasing them up and sold the card to someone who got it unlocked a late last year on ebay).

Their is a USB dongle and dedicated software available to unlock most 3G Data cards (USB & PCMCIA and lately the MC8755(V) enbedded modules - just added a week or so ago! - which I didn't know about till today!) produced by DC-unlocker, so I at least now their is an option to get a cheap 875U remove the embedded 8775(V) and apply your BIOS update - (The DC-unlocker USB dongle costs approx £180). I don't think it will be long before the MC8780/MC8781 once freely available will be added to their data card unlocking repertoire

Thanks for the pointer to vendor Multicap who supply Sierra Wireless embedded modules

The 875U (MC8775) is easily unlocked on ebay (around 20$) but I've contacted those persons/shops with an IMEI form Lenovo MC8775 and they couldn't get an unlock code ... it will be the same with the "expensive" dongle !

Thanks Switchcorp and duly noted

And afterall ... the 875U unlocked is available round 160-190 $ There is no need to unlock it !

And it works very well thanks to the work of Zender

On german forums it seems that they can get an unlocked official Lenovo Wwan for 260 € !!! It's very expensive too ...

Peak2Peak wrote:Rambler76: Where did you get your Sierra Wireless MC8775 WWAN card from? Is it a Lenovo branded item? and Sim-Locked to a mobile operator? Apparently IBM UK Service parts have not received any stock of the un-locked MC8775 (42T0901) and do not have any price quotes.

I bought it from Lenovo spare parts in Australia.
Its advertised as a vodafone card but its not locked.
I was told by spare parts that the unlocked FRU is no longer availiable and that the vodafone FRU is unlocked.

Peak2Peak wrote:I have just been speaking to a Sierra Wireless sales tech (+44 20 8 622 3206) regarding where to purchase their embedded modules - he says that Joe-public can not usually purchase them as a single item, but pointed me to their European distributor HY-LINE in Germany. He also stated that Lenovo only support certain Sierra Wireless modules like the MC8775 with dedicated firmware, and also pointed out that the newer modules (MC8785/MC8780/8781) with Receive Diversity reception is a totally different ball game as one of the MAIN requirements is dedicated specialist antenna support. He could not say for sure whether Lenovo would be supporting these modules right now, as they have just been recently launched (suggested to contact Lenovo direct), but expects the next generation of notebooks vendors to support Receive Diversity reception sooner rather than later. (Nice sales pitch - don't you think!)

I had the same issue when i looked at buying a MC8780. I found a distributor who was nice enough to sell me a single unit. I bailed on this though when i found out about the bios issue.

The lenovo WWAN/WLAN kit i bought and fitted to my T61 contains two antenna's and two connectors, a red MAIN and a blue AUX so lenovo must be supporting it.

Rambler76 wrote: I bought it from Lenovo spare parts in Australia.
Its advertised as a vodafone card but its not locked.
I was told by spare parts that the unlocked FRU is no longer availiable and that the vodafone FRU is unlocked.

How much did it cost to you ?

It's exactly the same "case" than in germany ...the latest wwan cards are no more locked (for the voda i was shure but for the cingular... don't really know).

But the price is still high (In belgium they ask me 277 euros for the card -> +- 448 AUD or 406 USD)

Switchcorp wrote:How much did it cost to you ?

It's exactly the same "case" than in germany ...the latest wwan cards are no more locked (for the voda i was shure but for the cingular... don't really know).

But the price is still high (In belgium they ask me 277 euros for the card -> +- 448 AUD or 406 USD)

you forgot the IBM 'screwing you over tax'.

I can buy a MC8780 here in Sydney for about AUD$400 from various retailers but of course it wont work due to the BIOS restrictions so I had to settle for the MC8775.

Lenovo charged me AUD$760 for this card.

ive got a question about the sierra wireless watcher application.

Lenovo have drivers for the MC8775 card but dont provide the watcher application.

my service provider (3 Aus) isnt listed as one of the networks when selecting software on sierra's page.

Ive downloaded the generic 875 pcmcia and 875U usb applications but these still have network profiles in the application that i cant delete.

what are people using for the wireless watcher application seeing that that MC8775 isn't listed on the download page?

Rambler76 wrote:my service provider (3 Aus) isnt listed as one of the networks when selecting software on sierra's page.

The Watcher software I'm using is 2.3.0.1.1540 (Sierra's current version for Windows) for use with an 875 PCMCIA - Your correct 3 Aus is not shown as one of the Carriers - when downloading the software select the following:
Carrier: Others
Product AirCard 875
Language: English
Platform: Windows OS (I assume your using a Windows OS platform)

3 Aus is not shown as one pre-defined profiles in the Profile name drop down box - look for Three Austrailia -

{Tools > Options > Profiles > Add new profile Icon (third icon from bottom left of window) > Select WWAN profile or Dial up profile (try WWAN first) > Select Three Austrailia from the Profile name drop down box > Apply > OK} - If Three Austrailia is not shown in the right hand side of the 3G Watcher window select it from the drop down box and Connect

Peak2Peak wrote:

Rambler76 wrote:

Ive download that exact version of the 3g watcher application and the only profile it had in there was a Telstra one.

I had to manually configure a 3 Australia one which wasnt a big deal.

I cant seem to delete the Telstra one though.

Sorry for a foolish question, do that means if I get a 875U usb hsdpa model (unlocked), take it apart and put it into my t61p (with horizon mc5775 take away), reconnect the main antenna, install the 3G watcher, then I can use oversea?? Many thanks.
Steven

bomix_chan wrote:Sorry for a foolish question, do that means if I get a 875U usb hsdpa model (unlocked), take it apart and put it into my t61p (with horizon mc5775 take away), reconnect the main antenna, install the 3G watcher, then I can use oversea?? Many thanks.

Will someone please confirm or refute this?
Can I really buy one of those 875U unlocked module, disassemble it myself and have the unlocked MC8775 card to put inside of the notebook? I haven't done things like this before and this 3G is very new to me so I'd like to be sure.

You can, I have one in my t60p, but you need the modified bios as you'll get a 1804 error otherwise. You also need to tape over one of the pins. See the 1804 thread started by Zender.

Are all the sierra wireless usb cards like this?

Such as the 890U or 595U?

if so, which modules do those contain?