Installed WWAN into an X61t
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:57 am
I have the system listed below in my sig. I've really been stressing over installing WWAN into my system, since it seems the tablet isn't as accessible as other X6 models in adding such things. The top lid doesn't have any cut outs, there isn't any room in the wiring harness, and adding antennas looked almost impossible. It seemed that if you didn't buy exactly the right tablet, you wouldn't ever be able to upgrade it to have WWAN.
Well, it's never stopped me before.
Found an old laptop in our pile here at work and pulled the 5530 HSPDA card and 802.11 antennae out of it. Took my tablet apart, and slapped them in! First off, taped pin 20, as instructed in all other manuals. Even with the really old BIOS I had, the card was recognized.
Cracked the case, and put the Aux under the palmrest, next to the speaker. It's resting on a piece of closed cell foam with double sided tape. I also placed a piece of tape over it to prevent any shorting.
Here's the main antennae. The cable wasn't very long, and I wasn't really sure about threading it through the swivel hinge on the tablet.
So I put it up by the power plug. There was plenty of room up there, but I worried about it crossing some wires. To prevent this, I gave it a single wrap of electrical tape. Dunno if it mattered or not, but I also switched the main and aux wires.
Installed the drivers found here, and we're up and running!
Things to perhaps improve reception:
Maybe move the main antennae away from the largest source of EMI in the chassis?
Try and find a longer cable to wire the antennae up in the LCD lid?
Would swapping the main and aux wires help anything?
In any case, it works for now. That's better than what could have happened I suppose!
Well, it's never stopped me before.
Found an old laptop in our pile here at work and pulled the 5530 HSPDA card and 802.11 antennae out of it. Took my tablet apart, and slapped them in! First off, taped pin 20, as instructed in all other manuals. Even with the really old BIOS I had, the card was recognized.
Cracked the case, and put the Aux under the palmrest, next to the speaker. It's resting on a piece of closed cell foam with double sided tape. I also placed a piece of tape over it to prevent any shorting.
Here's the main antennae. The cable wasn't very long, and I wasn't really sure about threading it through the swivel hinge on the tablet.
So I put it up by the power plug. There was plenty of room up there, but I worried about it crossing some wires. To prevent this, I gave it a single wrap of electrical tape. Dunno if it mattered or not, but I also switched the main and aux wires.
Installed the drivers found here, and we're up and running!
Things to perhaps improve reception:
Maybe move the main antennae away from the largest source of EMI in the chassis?
Try and find a longer cable to wire the antennae up in the LCD lid?
Would swapping the main and aux wires help anything?
In any case, it works for now. That's better than what could have happened I suppose!