HSDPA AT&T WAN PCI cards same for T60 & T61?

[jgrobertson]

I see that Sierra Wireless is offering two different built in PCI cards for AT&T HSDPA data connect.

One for T61 is MC8775 with FRU 42T0931 (3.6 mb/s max)
One for T60 is MC8765 with FRU 42T0804 (1,8 mb/s max)

Is there any hardware reason I could not use the faster one listed for the T61 in a T60? My T60 currently has the Verizon card and would rather have the AT&T.

[SHoTTa35]

i think you can use it but you might need the Zender's BIOS hack to get it to work.

[Zender]

Agreed.
There's no hardware reason, but a software one residing in BIOS whitelist of allowed cards.
Solution is either a BIOS patch (PM me) or maybe also swapping wifi and wwan card slots, but that would require routing cables to places which they're not designed to.
Also, you'll possibly need to add SIM card slot, if you don't have one.

What more, you might want to use MC8781, not yet offered by Lenovo, which can be found inside of 881U USB modems. This one has better reception (antenna diversity - makes use of two antennas) and supports 7.2Mbps down / 2.0Mbps up (depends on network support). Chances are though you won't be able to control such card with wireless switch on front of the machine and/or AccessConnections (despite the fact it worked for X300 users).

[jgrobertson]

Where do I find the SIM card slot? I thought I would have to open it up to get to it.

[Zender]

Can be ordered as a spare part from Lenovo. In my 14" T60 is installed to the right of wifi card, where it connects to the mainboard and is held in place with one screw (included in the spare part, at least in my case).
After that you can insert/remove SIM card 'just' after taking out the battery, no disassembly.

Just one more maybe unrelated information: you can use the T61's EV-DO Rev.A card for Verizon, which would also speed up your connection, if coverage is present. (BIOS patch again required)