Vodafone SIM and Dell E6400 Laptop

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KiwiRes

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#30747 19-Feb-2009 23:50

3 Questions for the forum.

1. I inserted my phone SIM card into the slot under the battery. When I boot into Windows, it doesn't find the device under Phones & Modems in Control Panel. Is it supposed to? I don't get the alert that Windows has found new hardware either.

2. If I do get this to work, is it possible to get a 'clone' SIM card from Vodafone to insert into the laptop?
My cellphone comes with a data plan and I don't want to have to use a cable connection unless there is no other option.

3. While my phone has HSDPA, what will be the bandwidth on the laptop?

johnr

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#196840 20-Feb-2009 07:39

You can not get a cloned sim how would the network know what sim to route incoming calls and sms to, and what do you mean what is the bandwidth of my laptop?

John

freitasm

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#196846 20-Feb-2009 08:10

He probably wants to know if he gets GPRS, WCDMA, HSDPA.

Is this a New Zealand laptop or imported? Is this the original OS or have you reinstalled? Are all drivers installed?

dolsen

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#196871 20-Feb-2009 10:44

Do you know if you have a built in "Modem" - it would be a pci-e device. I haven't seen them available in NZ for dell computers, but, I haven't looked recently.

dolsen

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#196880 20-Feb-2009 11:29

dolsen: Do you know if you have a built in "Modem" - it would be a pci-e device. I haven't seen them available in NZ for dell computers, but, I haven't looked recently.

Something like this.
Note - I haven't checked if this is the correct one for your computer, don't buy one based on this.
If I was going to pay mobile data rates, I would prefer to have everything internal to the laptop. Much tidier.

scottjpalmer

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#196902 20-Feb-2009 13:08

As mentioned above, you need to have the WWAN module inside your machine for it to work. While you have a SIM slot and probably antennas up the inside of your screen bezel, if you open the flaps on the bottom side of your notebook you will probably find an empty slot labelled "WWAN".

Having been through this exercise previously, I suggest you don't buy a module (if required) from anywhere but Dell, the BIOS on mine is locked to only take the module they supply.

Dell haven't to date supplied the NZ market with a module :-(

KiwiRes

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#197038 20-Feb-2009 21:43

In reply to freitasm:
1. The laptop is provided by Dell to our company under a global partnership
2. Windows XP has been installed by HP under another global partnership deal, although Vista Business DVDs have been supplied by Dell
3. All drivers have been installed, as far as I am aware. There are no unknown devices listed in the Hardware list.

Yes, my question about bandwidth did refer to GPRS, 3G or HSDPA.

What's different about a WWAN module?

From the replies so far, I gather that it's not feasible to use my phone SIM card in the laptop?

scottjpalmer

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#197090 21-Feb-2009 11:08

The WWAN module is a 3G/GSM modem. They aren't normally supplied in notebooks they are an optional extra. If you don't have one, your SIM card isn't connected to anything and your computer can't "talk" to the cellphone network.

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KiwiRes

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#197612 23-Feb-2009 23:18

Cheers, Scottpalmer and all.
I think I understand now. While it looks like a SIM slot, it is actually for a WWAN module?
The only reference I could find on the Dell website is for this
Dell Wireless 5720 VZW Mobile Broadband (EVDO Rev-A) MiniCard

In essence, a SIM card won't work. OK, back to the phone and USB cable then.

richms

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#197619 24-Feb-2009 00:27

No, the sim slot is a sim slot, it just connects to a mini pci card that is not installed in your computer as it is not an available option in NZ.

You would need to put the mini pcie card into the slot, and then install drivers for it to get it to work with the mobile broadband, also on a friends laptop there were no antennas in the screen either, so its not something that was able to be added later despite having 3 mini pcie slots available and only one in use.

Richard rich.ms

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#197643 24-Feb-2009 07:09

KiwiRes: I think I understand now. While it looks like a SIM slot, it is actually for a WWAN module?

WLAN = Wireless LAN (WiFi)
WWAN = Wireless WAN (cellular data).

As said your laptop doesn't have the WWAN module (either CDMA or WCDMA/HSDPA) so the SIM slot is no use really.