WWAN UK & USA

[andrewb]

I have a T60 with a WWAN "lump" on the side of the screen.

Am I right in thinking that WWAN is pretty much confined to the US ? In the UK, I can find next to nothing about WWAN, and ceratainly nothing which is practical.

I use a T-Mobile HSDPA (UMTS/3G) data card which fits into the PCMICA slot on the machine and I am wondering whether there might be some "connection" between this wireless facility and the WWAN lump.

My resaon for asking is that, if I can put the WWAN lump to use, I will do. Otherwise, the aesthetics of it are ghastly and I am going to get a replacement bezel without the lump.

I was hoping someone who is familiar with the jargon might be able to translate for me please ?

[GomJabbar]

Basically most of the cards are "locked" to a carrier and cannot be changed, or at least not easily changed. Lenovo markets Vodaphone internal cards that you might be able to use. I believe there is even an unlocked version of the card, but I don't know where you could buy it.

See following service parts list to get an idea of what is available.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 62906.html

FYI, there are two basic 3G technologies out there, EV-DO and HSDPA/UTMS. Also, depending upon the country of use, only some frequency bands are available and can be used. Here is an old article that will give you a primer on some of today's technology.
RFI: Wireless Data Carriers | Survival of the Fittest | October 14, 2004 | Network Computing

Here are a couple of more articles...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_band
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EV-DO

AFAIK, EV-DO is not used in Europe. Could be wrong though.

[andrewb]

Thanks, I think the clue to me understanding this is found in "internal". Could I trouble you to explain what you mean by this ?

I have a data account with my provider, who gives me a SIM card which I place in the data card and, in turn, the data card goes in the PCMCIA slot. I can use this SIM & data card combination (with the provider supplied software) to get a 3G/HSDPA/UMTS reception in any location where there there is a signal and when using any of my TPs (my X41 and T43 do not obviously have anything which performs the same function as the WWAN lump on my T60 (nor do they have anything which looks so ugly !).

I believe that some other manufacturers (Samsung, Sony ?) make machines that have a small slot for just the SIM card, thereby presumably dispensing with the need for a data card (which might, in turn, explain why some of these machines no longer comes with a PCMCIA slot). But, unless it is internal and requires me to open up the back of the machine, I can see no such slot available on my T60.

Looking at it a different way, what does WWAN do, that my existing SIM and data card combination does not. If WWAN allows me to dispesne with the use of the data card, that would be a good thing as the card is fiddly and, protrudes a fair way out of the slot, thereby making it prone to breakage.

This link shows my current set up (it is for the UK Vodafone data card, but the UK T-Mobile version is the same).

http://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatch/P ... ID=BS_0035

[SHoTTa35]

your WWAN does the samething as your card you use now, only difference it is built in and you can't move it from PC to PC like the card you currently use.

With WWAN you slide in your SIM into the bottom or somewhere on the machine and you connect just like you do now.

[andrewb]

Thanks. I have found the SIM slot and now I know why the technical support line for Vodafone ventured that the WWAN was a "worthless conceit" on TPs.

One only has to remove a mere 10 FRUs, and pretty much disassemble the whole machine, in order to be able to reach the SIM card holder.

I can only assume that some machines come with the facility pre-loaded because, otherwise, this must be the most bizarre bit of design going.

Wouldn't it have been just a tad easier to do as all the other manufacturers are doing and provide access to the SIM card slot externally via the base of the machine ?

[bill bolton]

Am I right in thinking that WWAN is pretty much confined to the US ?

No. In Australia a 3G HSDPA card is available in some T61s. See the 7664-1AM, 7664-I2M and 6460-73M configurations.

The card is (a version of) the Sierra Wireless MC8775 PCI Express MiniCard, and I think it is enabled for Vodaphone connection (but there are several 3G networks here so it might be one of the others).

Wireless Speed - 3.6 Mbps, 384 Kbps
Wireless Standard - WCDMA, HSDPA
Wireless Type - WAN
Antenna - UltraConnect II
Description - Sierra Wireless MC8775 PCI Express MiniCard
Frequency - 850MHz/900MHz/1800MHz/1900MHz/2100MHz
Wireless Implementation (Form Factor) - Mini-PCIe


Cheers,

Bill B.

[rek]

I got a small booklet with my X60s that had SIM installation instructions for the T60 and X60 series. It appears that on these instructions, the SIM card slot on the T60 series is rather easily accessible from a small hole inside the battery bay, just underneath the battery connector?

The T60/X60 with WWAN comes with the Sierra MC8755 card; the T61/X61 has the MC8775. (No, I don't know what the difference is)

The Australian market WWAN card is HSDPA and locked to Vodafone; a Voda data SIM works, but Virgin Mobile (Optus) or Telstra 3G SIMs don't. (As far as unlocking goes, the IBM support people knew what I was talking about, but referred me to Vodafone as they didn't have the answer. The local Vodafone data support people were beyond useless, and didn't even understand my question. Hooray for outsourced support! )