Will EV-DO card work with Sprint

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darrenf · #1 Post by **darrenf** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 12:47 am

I am contemplating the purchase of a T60 (once available) and it is available with a Verizon EV-DO card like the one available in the Z- series.

Unfortunately Sprint has, in the blink of an eye (4 months), turned on enough towers to eclipse Verizon's coverage territory (and it's a bit faster on average) so it would be my preference to go with Sprint.

Has anyone gotten Sprint EV-DO working with the integrated EV-DO modem in the Z-series? Is this even possible?

Thanks for any feedback!

-darren

#2 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 5:47 am

While I may be wrong, the Verizon EV-DO in the ThinkPad is probably "locked" to Verizon. I know that cell phones and PC cards are locked to the carrier, so why should a laptop be any different? Perhaps if you could get the unlocking code you may be able to change carriers. This is assuming that it is possible to unlock the laptop as you can a cell phone or PC card.

christopher_wolf · #3 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 1:37 pm

I am thinking it is locking, as I saw a similar post about it awhile back. Unlocking Code? Unlikely, the carrier will want you to to stick with them, any unlock code might have to be a user hack.

darrenf · #4 Post by **darrenf** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 2:20 pm

Bummer. Is this a Lenovo/IBM card or is it made by a third party? If it's a third party, perhaps they make another Mini-PCI card that's unlocked or supports Sprint specifically.

Wishful thinking?

-darren

#5 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 8:07 pm

darrenf wrote:Bummer. Is this a Lenovo/IBM card or is it made by a third party? If it's a third party, perhaps they make another Mini-PCI card that's unlocked or supports Sprint specifically.

Wishful thinking?

-darren

Good point! Actually I think it quite likely that EV-DO is on a mini PCI card (I haven't actually checked though). The card is probably supplied to Lenovo by a third party such as Novatel. The question is, would Sprint offer one, or rather will Lenovo offer a Sprint version? There may be someone on e-bay that offers the service to unlock a Verizon mini PCI card in the future.

darrenf · #6 Post by **darrenf** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:29 pm

I found this card:

http://www.evdoinfo.com/The_News/Latest ... 051220652/

but I can't imagine that it would fit in a ThinkPad. Has anyone taken apart a Z to see how big the Verizon EV-DO card is?

-darren

#7 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 11:11 pm

The other problem is if you use a non-IBM/Lenovo card, the ThinkPad likely will not boot up without the 1802 hack or something simular. For more info, search on this site for 1802.

Will EV-DO card work with Sprint

Will EV-DO card work with Sprint

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