Does the M11x Have 3G

As the subject says, is it standard in this model?

 

in the US its an extra cost option, its called Gobi.

In other territories you can buy the WWAN card and add it. I've done this.

Neil.

 

Thanx for taking the time to answer

 

how did you add it? I thought the antenna was missing?

 

As i understood.. the antennas are not included in a European systems..

i like to add it myself also to my M11X (i did not opened it up yet, to check it)

 

It could be the card atnt or other phone companys are talking about that external. That plugs into a USB port.

 

If I have an unlimited data plan through my iphone and I had the Gobi Broadband installed, could I use my Sim Card to connect online without being charged for data usage?

 

In the US, yes you can connect with your SIM card for both AT&T and Verizon so long as you get the corresponding Gobi WWAN card ($125) on purchase without any extra service fees.

If you do not get the M11x with the Gobi WWAN card on purchase, Dell will not have the antenna installed for it. I have not heard anyone who has installed one as the antenna would run through the LCD lid.

 

Hi all, I thought you'd like to know that as I type this on my M11x (UK-spec) I am running on a Vodafone 3G connection over a Dell 5520 card (Novatel EU870D) I installed myself.

The UK version has no antennae so what I did was remove the white AUX antenna from the WiFi card and hooked it up to the MAIN socket on the WWAN card (read this from somewhere else on the forums). It's not perfect but my signal doesn't seem to have been badly affected and I get a good fast connection.

Drivers-wise, it was a pain, but I used the Dell ConnectPoint software (400MB+ download) for the driver file which you have to manually MSI-unpack (because the M11x fails the platform check) and then VMC from Vodafone direct.

Hope this helps - anything else, ask away, as I looked for this info for ages.

 

Supposedly unhooking one of the antennas makes the wifi card lose the ability to connect to n signals.

ATM I usb tether my TMobile G1 for 3G service (costs me nothing) but I want to try a WiMAX service.

I read someone got a Intel 5150 to work. I am debating whether I should buy a card and try myself.

 

Another option for iPhone users (if you're willing to jailbreak) is a program called PDANet, and tether the phone to the laptop. You can either use Wifi or USB (I would think USB would be a little bit faster, but takes up a slot) and it works just like a 3G card.

 

I hadn't heard that, just that removed an antenna slows down the transfer and range slightly - do you have a link to this?

I removed the AUX not the MAIN so I should be ok. To be honest all the networks I connect to are G-based and even before I added the 3G card I was having WiFi connectivity issues (might need to call Dell about that).

Alternatively I'll buy a WiFi antenna (rather than an expensive 3G one) and wire that in so both cards have two antennae. The reason I want it like this is for built-in simplicity, I have a Huawei E5830 WiFi pocket router and USB dongles but internal is so much better.

 

I read that somewhere on these boards. The only way to test it would be to try to connect to a wireless n router.

 

I haven't seen many Wireless-N routers around because most off-the-shelf/giveaway home routers are G-based, unless you get the Pro-packages. If I connect to an N-router and have issue surely it will just fallback to G?

The other option is I replace the Dell DW1520 card with an Intel WiFi Link 5100 - which I was thinking about doing anyway as I prefer Intel components.

 

Ok, maybe I ought to take back what I said before. It does seem that removing one of the antennae onto the 3G card is playing havoc with my WiFi reception, even for non-N routers, so I put it back on and everything is well now.

Logically I don't quite understand why if I can see the network I can't connect but anyway...

I think I'm left to adding extra antennae in, using an external dongle (probably the MiFi device) or switching to the Intel WiFi Link 5100 (and see if this is any less fussy with only 1 antenna).

Watch this space!

 

Hi, could you tell me where did you get the Dell ConnectPoint sofware and how did you install the drivers for the card?, do you think it would work with a Dell 5530 card? because I can´t make it to work.

Thanks

 

Hello Neil, could you tell me how did you do it?, because I did the steps you mention in a previous post and I it does´t work, I install the driver, the wireless manager won´t see the card, then I look in hardware and there it is the card in different places like USB, COM/LPT, but there it is also where it says smartcard reader is this correct?, please help me out because I can´t find a solution for this.

Thanks

 

Yeah, it should default back to wireless G speed if it cannot connect at N speeds.

 

Here:

Dell - Search - All Dell.com

Third one down - the file is called R198803.EXE, weighing in at over 400MB.

Yes, it should work with the 5530 too but I can't be sure, while I have a 5530 it's installed in my XPS and that didn't have the platform check issue so I just used the normal driver.

 

I got a 5520 card and met the same problem. then I followed your instructions and succeeded to unpack the msi file and got the documents: Ansi, CommonAppData, program files, system, system32, and some other files. I used the device manager to search the driver but still failed. What can I do next to install the driver? Can you tell me the steps in details? Thank u!

 

Hey guys, I installed a Dell 5520 WWAN in my M11XR1, everything worked, except, it didn't recognize the Sim Card Port and the Diagnostic posrt, that I was told it should recognize, the modem and the Status Port, it worked fine.

Here is a picture I was told of the 4 devices it should recognize, but it only recognized 2, so the result, it recognizes the modem, but it says that the sim card slot is empty, even tho it isn't, i checked the bios, rebooted like 20x times, uninstalled and reinstalled, and nothing so far, any help would be appreciated.

PS: It is a north-american M11xR1.



I did that following Mart's Guide: Adding Dell 5520 Internal WWAN Card To Alienware M11x The Singaporean Gamer

 

Hm, Did you buy an unlocked card?

I'm planning to install a 5530 and changing my wifi card but from what I understand you need to unlock a card to use any sim card with the notebook.

 

Yes, it is a Dell 5520 EU860D Mobile Broadband 3G Mini card, unlocked, but even if it was locked, the normal behavior, would be to detect the other operator sim card and ask for an unlock code, but it isn't detecting not even the sim card port.

 

Hm try re downloading the drivers and installing as well as checking to see if the black and white cables are connected properly. But pretty much thats all I can suggest. probably won't be too helpful, but i suggest give it a shot.

Edit: http://support.dell.com/support/top...&s=gen&docid=393D8D3A84B122EBE040A68F5B287C80 This might help

so yeah, try uninstalling and reinstalling the driver manually not through windows, and install a firmware update. It might have something to do with your SIM card.

 

Thanks man, I saw this Dell link yesterday, and I tried to manual update, the program froze and I`m pretty sure it bricked the card, it seems I wasn`t the only one with this problem, US$30-40 and the worst 1-month of waiting till it arrived from ebay, lost.

5520 Mobile Broadband Card - Firmware Upgrade Error - Networking, Internet, Wireless Forum - Networking, Internet, Wireless - Dell Community

 

hehe.. There seems to be alot of problem with Dell cards.. I might not get a 5530 card then, Time to look for another card.

 

One thing tho, most of the old stocked bios are hardwired to block non-dell WWAN cards, but the new bios update, allow it, so if you gonna buy a non-dell wwan card, you need to update your bios 1st.