Thinkpads Forum

I have just succeeded in upgrading my X300 to have WWAN capability (something I thought it was supposed to come with when I read the 'wireless broadband ready' bit of the spec).
The steps were:

• Buy a Sierra MC8775 WWAN card on eBay $AUD110 and while waiting for delivery:
  Download and install HP WWAN drivers (the MC8775 is sold as a HP card) - free
  Download Sierra's generic 3G watcher sofware and install it - free
  Ask Zender for his magic BIOS upgrade for my X300 and download it as an iso image file - free
  Burn the iso onto a CD, use the Lenovo support site to roll back my 1.08 BIOS to 1.06
  Use Zender's CD to flash the BIOS back to 1.08
  Visit Telstra and get a SIM for a casual plan with 150MB data pack ($AUD30/month can be cancelled at any time)
  Download the X300 hardware maintenance manual and study how to remove and replace a WWAN card (pointy nose tweezers are a definite advantage)
  Install the card and the SIM
  Boot up the X300 and watch the HP drivers load (there are a lot of them - card, ports, modem)
  Watch the Sierra watcher program find the Telstra 3G network and click connect - voila!

I have left out a few things (like how to replace a key cap that came off in my dismantling and reassembly efforts). Total cost: $AUD110.00 plus the ISP plan - which I have now upgraded to the $59/month 1GB casual plan while I experiment further.

Success at last