M11x WWAN card info thread?

Alright so I installed the Sierra MC8775 card and installed the drivers from HP because apparently the card was meant for an HP. Now what software do I use to connect to the internet? I heard someone telling me about Sierra Wireless Watcher but on their website they don't give you a download link. I tried connecting from the software in windows but they don't give you a place to put in the APN and such. When I try to connect it gives me this error message.

 

I use Wireless-Watcher generic with MC8775, here is the link: Watcher_Generic_2010.msi I uploaded myself.

let me know if it solved your problem, btw what is your network ?

 

Wow, a lot of things going on. First thanks a ton! The software works, I can connect to the internet (after making a new profile and changing some settings) getting a full HSDPA signal but I could only upload and not download so something is still going on. I can't seem to change the number it is suppose to dial. How do you change that?

Also after I connected my white wifi antenna to the WWAN card my wifi took a big hit. It's hard to connect (I have to go right next to my router but after that I can go back to my room) and there are huge lag spikes.

Sorry, what do you mean by network?

Edit: Ok, changed up some more settings and got it to work perfectly now. Wifi is still weak as hell and when I turn off wifi (Fn + F3) it disconnects me from my WWAN connection and I can't reconnect (Airplane mode and then it just says no device found). Again thanks a bunch man if I could only fix these problems it would be perfect.

 

The wireless fn+f3 hotkey disables ALL wireless connections, WiFi, WLAN, and BT (found that last one out the hard way, )

Try switching the sole wifi antenna from one to the other?

 

Ah that sucks, I was hoping to be able to save some power as I was pretty sure my USB dongle would take more then the WWAN but I'm not sure if I have to keep Wifi on.

I put the white antenna back into the Wifi card and used the black antenna instead and it seems to be a lot better now. Thanks a lot! Still kind of want to try and get another antenna though..

Thanks a ton everyone!

 

2 questions, can anyone show an ebay slot for WWAN card which is not locked for specific cell operator.

and anyone with wwan card, can you show where you install sim card?

 

Sim card slot is just above SD card slot. Standard, and wired, on every m11x, R1 or R2.

Slot is locked in R1 A05 BIOS. A04 is not locked. Any wireless PC card is unlocked, generally.

 

So I got my new WWAN card but it seems to not recognize the SIM when inserted.. So I dug around and found out the A04 could and A05 couldn't. So how would I exactly Flash it back to A04? I tried manually using winphlash didnt work.. I downloaded A04 from dell Doesnt even run showing me a message saying "Incorrect Size. Actual size is 65271 bytes, but should be 2435869 bytes. Download the setup again."

So. Anyone know how to Flash it back to A04 ;P

 

I used the black wire for antenna, check which colour is master or extension, for me black was extension. you loose Wifi-N of course...

btw you don't need to change any dialling number, when you create a connection( profile in watcher) just choose your Country and your Mobile-network and it should automatically creates the required settings.

Edit: Fn+F3 turns off all your wireless devices this includes (wifi, blue-tooth and wwan) there is nothing wrong with your wwan, with Fn+F3 you just turned it off and system can't find it (no device found error on watcher)

good luck

 

Well my R1 came without WWAN antenna. I've just bought a Sierra MC8781 WWAN card like the image below:

What should I do to get it to work, like how to connect the antennas and what is the use of the including antenna-like?
BTW, Im using A05 bios, wanna downgrade to A04 but i couldnt find it on Dell driver download pages

 

Hi Everyone,

Just sorting through this thread. So I just had my screen replaced, and got a Samsung SEC screen, and it has 4 wires coming from it therefore I think i have a 3g antena in my screen and I'd like to purchase a WWAN card from Ebay.

I'm using bios A05. can i buy an unlocked Sierra MC8775 and have it just plug and play work?

Edit: whats the score with the Dell 5520's and 5530s?

 

Downgrade your bios to AO4 and everything should be fine.

 

I'd rather not limit myself from Bios upgrades.

Is the only reason to go with A04 for the Sierra card? If I purchased a 5520 or 5530 would I not need to worry about Bios versions?

I also see the 5530 has GPS therefore I'd like to use that one..

 

as far as I know Sierra performs better than Dell wwan cards but yeah you don't need to downgrade to A04, if you use a Dell card

 

I would just want to confirm with someone that the Dell 5530 card works before placing my order

 

call Dell tech support!

 

Bump, Anyone got any ideas or have done anything like it to downgrade the BIOS?

Any Dell Cards apparently work, with any currently released BIOS versions, however any other foreign WWAN Cards are blocked with the exception of A04 BIOS.

If Anyone Has an A04 BIOS Please help me, by posting your ROM file
How to: press start and search a file called WINPHLASH after, I need the following files BIOS.ROM, and BIOS.bak, if you have an A04 BIOS please post those two files. Would help Greatly.

 

Hi you can get it from here i think
ftp://ftp.dell.com/bios/

 

Nvm, after hours of stupidity found out my browser, google chrome wasn't downloading the entire file from Dell thus, the install file never ran... used internet explorer and downgraded to A04... god.. I feel so stupid ughhhhhh. hours wasted ..... Anyhow.. my wwan still doesnt seem to be working.. hm..

 

are you using the 5530?

I've ordered one on ebay and I hope it works. I think the driver situation requires you to download DELL_5530_GPS.zip (google it) and the WirelessManager from SonyEriccson.

 

Where did you find this information? There is not one report of a WWAN conflict with A05 in the A05 BIOS sticky. Can you provide a couple of links?

 

Just so it is centralized in a post, if you were to buy a Dell 5530 or 5520 WWAN Card it will work with any BIOS revision of the M11x because it is a Dell Branded card.

However if you use a sierra or other brand WWAN card you must use bios A04 because with bios A05 the M11x is "locked" to only allow Dell branded WWAN cards.

Therefore if you have a non dell WWAN card downgrade from M11x BIOS A05 to A04. its the only way to use a non - Dell WWAN card.

For the 5530 you need to download extracted drivers because for whatever reason the Dell one's don't authenticate or install right on the M11x.

The below is based on research I have done and I've seen a few people successfully use this, I can't say for sure as I'm still waiting for my 5530.

Download DELL_5530_GPS.zip and this should be extracted and installed to your PC via device manager and manually selecting the WWAN card. found: http://usapilot.com/tmp/Dell_5530_GPS.zip
and then install the sony ericson Wireless Manager http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/down....2.2056.12.zip

I am still waiting for my 5530 card. However I have done extensive research and in the absence of any centralized information about the card i hope this can help some people out.

Note: if you use the 5530 or 5520 you SHOULD be able to upgrade to the latest bios without the WWAN card restrictions. this was the primary reason i chose the dell card over the sierra.

 

Interesting - thanks for the update nick. So if the WWAN card is not a Dell card it just will not show up in Device Manager under A05 - only under A04? Can someone confirm the behavior after installing the card to the system under A05?

Is it visible to the OS?

 

I'm not sure - from what I've read it won't work, so I'm assuming the bios will not allow the card to show up in the device manager via the PCI-E slot.

 

Thanks nick. I've been looking over the other posts here in the WWAN thread. More info on the A04 to A05 issue would be helpful - I know Brian's replacement has been trolling around. Might be good to put some data out there so its visible.

 

Haven't been on the forums much lately, but from what I've read somewhere that A04 Recognizes the SIM or was it the card? Something along those lines but the other BIOS versions do not, the exception is the 5530/5520 or any Dell cards are compatible with any BIOS version.

Hm, I've got the WirelessManager, + 3507g driver. I'll install Dell_5530 gps and install it and see if it works. Will edit this post later with the results.

Also I have the ericsson 3507g not the dell 5530, or is it the dell 5530? I bought this : http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...096924&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_1709wt_905

Edit: lol can't seem to find it, how big is the file size? I see one here with 1,888 mbites but I don't think this is the one your talking about.

 

BIOS locks out non Dell cards.

Remember we have two BIOS versions. R1 and R2

Any Dell card will work.

I managed tomget a Sierra Wireless card working with One BIOS on R2. I'll dig out which.

a02 on r2 works with any card.

just one piece of advice. if you are going to buy wwan card I STRONGLY recommend the GOBI card (2000). 52/300 software is flakey. But the gobi is top dollar and even works wiTh Windows 7 Mobile Broadband!

 

thats the right one I think.. you just have to go into device manager and properties on your WWAN card and update driver pointing it to that directory.

 

I'm assuming your referring to Dell 5530 GPS - Download from rapidshare.com - Filestube.com, there is no executable file.. Am I missing something?

 

Technically, R2 uses EFI, not CMOS BIOS as we know it R1 uses the old BIOS tech.


Makes it harder to mod

Though A03 has been no trouble for me (except for the USB traces on the mPCIe WWAN slot not activating properly... maybe it's just the card I have ).

 

Yeah, but people are still going to find it, the same as I did, and yet they probably won't know any better when they read supposedly conclusive answers from people who should know (those claiming to build for Dell, those claiming to have first-hand confirmation from Dell, etc).

Thanks for all the info, regardless.

 

someone can create a new thread and I will close this one... bottom line, most people check the date of the post and usually start with the last page of the thread.

I dont recall any of these posts with the exception of erawneila's (who does work for Dell). Please keep in mind, the date of posts. PM me links and I will investigate and remove if misrepresented or in error.

Thanks.

 

Yes, you're missing everything that I just typed.

You go into the device manager and manually point the device to the folder you've extracted. You dont need an executable file.

Edit: I don't know how I can be any more specific but in case theres any ambiguity and you dont know where the device manager is you right click my computer and click manage, then click on device manager, find the WWAN under network devices or whatever and double click driver, update driver, point to the folder you extracted to.

 

No.. I fully understand how to get to the device manager, no need to go that far. Either ways the 3507g Ericsson does NOT work on the M11x.. Damn too bad I wasted $40.

 

Ill start a new one.

 

Continue here -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/533585-m11x-wwan-card-info.html

No more multiple threads please. Thanks for making a new one.