W500 and Vodafone Broadband

[speedster2008]

Has anyone set up vodafone broadband using the SIM slot above the battery? I am trying to set it up using the pay as you go broadband however the software can't detect the SIM. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[dsps]

I've got a W500, which seems to have a SIM card slot in the battery bay, complete with contacts within the slot, but like you, mine doesn't seem to recognise the presence of a SIM card (though in my case, it's a T-Mobile 3G SIM).
Have you discovered anything about this?

[speedster2008]

Finally figured it all out, I checked the laptop specs on the Lenovo site, it was WWAN upgradable which meant the WWAN module wasn’t installed. I ordered the F3507g card and installed it using the manual. I then had to install the drivers from the following location

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-70000

After that i have to use the Lenovo connections in order to connect via mobile broadband, its all sorted now.

[dsps]

Does anyone visiting here know if the F3507g is SIM locked to one network provider?
I see a lot of stuff about Vodafone being supplied with ThinkPads, but my 3G data contract is with T-Mobile.
I'd like to know, or at least get a reasonable guide before I spend the money on a card.
Any advice gratefully accepted, and won't be quoted.

Thanks in advance.

Really pleased with my new W500, but I'd like to have it working without the big T-Mobile PCMCIA card sticking out of the side of it, especially when I'm sitting on a busy train trying to work.

[bojangles]

Next question for me is:
Does this card support 3G connections? if not there must be one out there that does? anybody know?

[DavidVF]

I have the F3507g in my W500 (I bought it seperately from Lenovo & installed it myself).

Whilst the Mobile Connection Manager is "locked" to Vodafone, I can use both Windows Connection Manager (the F3507g is also recognised as a modem) and better yet, also use ThinkVantage Access Connections 5.12 (the latest version 5.20, has a bug that does not allow you to power on the WWAN module) to connect to Telstra's network (it's G3 and HSPA) in Australia.

Access Connections provides a nice interface for the mobile broadband connection (frankly I could do without the rest of the non-mobile broadband features) and keeps track of your usage; both per session & total over time. All in all I'm very happy with the outcome & love not having to fish around in my case for the express card & then have it sticking out ready for someone to walk by and catch themselves on it.

Good luck

David

[bojangles]

any idea what connection speed you get?
I can use my bluetooth 3G phone now to connect anywhere, and is faster than double ISDN .... so not bad. I wonder what advantage I might have with the WWAN?
thanks for the response it is appreciated.

[DavidVF]

I get between 3.5 - 5.5Mb down and 1.0 - 1.2Mb up

[bojangles]

soory to keep going on about this.. but can you try this speedtest site please..
http://infospeed.verizon.net/speedtest/ ... st500k.asp it is simple and straightforward.

I dont get 3M at home with a cable modem,,,, your number seems high. Let me know please.

Bruce

[nxman]

The card it self is not locked however Lenovo software is I’m using the same card with both my T500 + X301 here in Kuwait the card says its connected at 7.2 however I doubt it when I download using my WWAN card I get 450 Kbps transfers however when I use my USB dongle I get 750-900 Kbps transfers! Anyhow it’s better than nothing but it’s not 7.2 like they claim.