Thinkpads Forum

Hello all,

My X61s has the expandable antenna on the right hand-side of the screen. I run Win 7 Ultimate and comes with a Verizon-locked Sierra MC5725 which only works in US (I am based in UK.....)

After much research, I 've opted to replace the MC5725 with a Lenovo unlocked MC8775 so I can make it work with O2 here in UK.

However, this version of the MC8775 comes only with one connector for the MAIN antenna; there is NO connector on the card for the Aux antenna (why?....), and my X61s has TWO WWAN antennas connected to the MC5725...

So:

1. Is there any way to connect the internal laptop's AUX antenna to this MC8775?

2. If not, should I return this WWAN card and get another one with TWO connector which can also run to 7.2 Mbps and DOESN'T require taping pin 20 or modifying BIOS ? If yes, then which Card?

3. If the solution is to "only connect the Main antenna and leave the Aux antenna out of use", is it going to have a negative effect on performance?

4. If I can only use the Main antenna, am I ever going to see download speeds of 7.2Mbps (after I upgrade the firmware to the latest 2.0.8.19)?

Many thanks for your help !!!

Best,
Christos

1) No. (Although MC8775 units with two antenna connectors are supposed to exist, I do not know anyone who has seen one!)

2) There is no other card for the X61/s which does not required taping Pin-20. If you don't mind taping Pin-20 AND using a modified BIOS, then you can use an MC8875, or F3507g, or more exotic units.

3) You are unlikely to reach 7.2Mbps, unless you are "on top" of a base station.

4) I suspect you will see maximum approximately 5.0-5.5Mbps in "normal" conditions ... although I would not be surprised if you told me that the max. you can reach is only 4.0Mbps..

EOMtp wrote:... (Although MC8775 units with two antenna connectors are supposed to exist, I do not know anyone who has seen one!)

Thay are usually MC8775V's - I suspect that the AUX antenna connection is probably for GPS - which according to the MC8775V spec sheet is supported - this maybe similar to the Option GTM378's (which also shares the same Qualcomm MSM6280 chipset as the MC8775V).