Dell Wireless 5720 EVDO Rev A Mini Card

Does anyone have any experience with this internal broadband card that Dell is offering in it's new models.

I was wondering if it performs just as good and fast as the external cards available through Verizon Wireless. If I decide to spend the monthly fee, I want the fastest card with the best reception.

 

this'll perform better than verizons cards, more than anything because of the antenna going through the body of the laptop!
i really hope the lapps come with the antenas wired so i can buy one in the future and just stick it in! i work for verizon + sprint..just workin on getting a deal (free service )

 

Thanks, it definately sounds better to go with the internal card. How limiting is the 5gb bandwith limit per month. I hear that Verizon is known for limiting the actual usage of their broadband accounts.

 

from what i understand that limit is more like if your tethering and not paying for it, however if you have an actual aircard, you damn well better be in the clear, for $60/month!

 

Sprint limits tethering... VZW still cancels your account for "excessive usage" of their network no matter what you have... cell phone, aircard, etc.

 

Just be glad you're not in Canada... where 'unlimited' actually means 250MB and for $100/month at that.

 

That sucks ... and I'm assuming your actually talking about land-line broadband? I heard about Canada's broadband troubles and feel sorry for you guys up there.

Its unfortunate that a lot of companies are ditching the "unlimited" idea for something more "limited"....

 

Nah, I'm talking about WWAN, fortunately.

Land-line broadband's typically okay up here - a little pricey for the speed (typically ~5mbps for $45/month) but many providers put in soft caps for bandwidth as well.

 

oh your right my bad!

 

When has sprint limited tethering?

 

on NAI-enabled phones...

 

Their are registry hacks for that big guy.

I've been tethering with my htc mogul for a couple weeks now. No additional charges, same goes for a couple others that i know.

Now of course this may not be forever with every new phone release but its working for right now.

 

Yes... but I didn't expect anyone to be that techy in here ;-). Also depends on the phone. The PPC-6700 doesn't need it at all...

I heard the Mogul has NAI enabled and people recommended using internet sharing programs like PDAnet (I forget the other one though)... of course ... I don't think I'm gonna upgrade to the Mogul just yet

 

I've used Verizon and I've used Sprint pretty extensively for the past year...Sprint is the hands down winner on performance/speed, at least in the large metro areas I travel to a lot. Plus, Sprint has free data roaming in Canada, which Verizon doesn't (I travel to Toronto and Montreal on occasion). The 5720, which I've been using for the past month now almost daily in my Latitude D830 is a godsend...excellent performance, great power profile, and the reception is a good 20% better than the PCMCIA version I was using before.

I do have a question for everyone else using the 5720 though...the 5720 is supposed to have a GPS builtin to it, but I don't see that option in the Dell Mobile Broadband Utility...though the help clearly says it should be there. Anyone have any thoughts? I'm wondering if the functionality is not available in Vista yet...can someone confirm they have the GPS options at least in XP or Vista?

Thanks.

 

I just got the 5720 internal card and it works fine in town, @ home etc, but I just got out to work, rural location, I get full bars on my verizon cell phone but NO SIGNAL on the card. ahhhhh I took it out side and got a couple bars for a few seconds but that was it... I pulled the card and reinstalled it but that didnt do anything.

There are a few other guys here and the have the card type and usb type broadband cards and they work out here. they get 3 bars and conect @ 150k @ home I was conecting @ 3.1m

I guess I will have to send it back to dell and get a refund, then go to the verizon store and get the broadband card.

There is no way to hook up an exteral antenna is there?

 

Do the other guys who get their external cards working also have Verizon?

I went from the 5750 PCMCIA to the 5720 mini pci with the thougt that
the internal antenna would be better from the mini card.

Well ... now you have me curious.

Maybe I should have tried the external antennas available to the 5750 .... but I much prefer the stealth of the internal mini .... oh well .... time to test for a while.

 

MacGyver: I checked the documentation and I do not see any mention at all of GPS functions with the Dell Wireless 5720 minicard (internal) for either the Sprint or Verizon versions.

Mr.Pat: You might want to double check that you have the correct antennae connected to the WWAN card. Checking the teardown instructions for the Inspiron 1520, there are 5 antennae total; 3 for the WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n, the 3rd antenna is for Wireless-n) card, and 2 for the WWAN card. While I don't think there is a difference between the antennae used on the two types of cards, having the wrong ones connected to the WWAN card might be causing problems for you.

As for a performance difference between the internal and external card, in my experience the internal cards tend to work better because the mini-card (or mini-PCI card on older systems) get more power than the ExpressCard or PCMCIA card slots do. More power means better transmit/receive ability.

If you guys have more questions on this for me I'll be happy to answer them.

Larry
Dell Customer Advocate

 

Can you tether if you have the built-in evdo antenna with sprint?
In other words, I have free sprint powervision on the phone but now want to use the built-in evdo antenna in the dell 1420 but don't want to pay a cent more.

 

You can use Sprint DUN via Treo for free. Only problem is the phone software version has to be prior to 1.15. (Sprint caught up with free tethering)

Mine is 1.13, and I can use the DUN via Treo vis USB or Bluethtooth for free.

If you do get one w/ recent updated version of Treo, all you have to do is buy PDANET which will enable DUN at one time fee of 35 bucks.

BTW I pay 42 bucks a month for my Sprint (treo 700WX). Same o nights weekends free/450 voice min/unlimited data/insurance.

Speed test as of last night.



slow, and it's not something you can play game with, but it's free.

 

I'm not sure what documentation you checked but the 5720 DOES in fact have GPS functionality. Although it only works sometimes..

 

Help, installed and activated dell's Sprint 5720 EVDO rev A mini Card, used the Dell installation CD, works great 4 bars, access Internet NP... but there's no GPS options? double checked the Dell description it states GPS enabled with addtional GPS Nav Software, but what software do I use? I call Dell wireless Support group and was told that GPS doesn't work with a I1721 laptop? (didn't make any sense to me) also I called Sprint to see about using Sprint connection manager (which has a GPS option and Maps lastest rev, and I was told the Sprint Connection Manager doesn't work with Internal Dell Sprint card? So what is the real deal.

 

With the Verizon or Sprint, internal cards can you use the GPS feature when you are not connected to the Verizon or Sprint network? Also can you use the GPS function with out even having service with Verizon or Sprint? I know that Verizon typically disables the GPS in their devices for third party applicaitons - is this true with the Dell internal card. I would be putting this into a M1330. Thanks for any feed back.

 

Anyone have an update for this? I have a Lattitude D430 with this card and I also cannot access the GPS features?! Dell support is stating that this feature is only available on the 60x series with this card, and the Dell Sprint Software is designed to detect this during install, and disable GPS on other devices. It's ironic since Sprint has released new software which enables this on all of thier devices.

 

I am using the Novatel U720 which I believe is the same thing inside, it is a PCIe MiniCard inside a plastic case with USB connection. The actual MiniCard is the same, but this one is for another carrier. I am VERY impressed with this. I do not have any other internet connection. I have an unlimited data plan with fixed rate nation wide service. The speed is very good. I believe it is possible to remove this PCIe card from the USB case and install it in M1530, but I have read that it adds some noise, so there is some advantage to having external card. The U720 (USB) can be positioned away from the computer and oriented for best antenna direction. I will probably try installing it in a MiniCard slot and connecting to internal antenna to see how much of a difference it makes. It will be a lot more convenient having it installed inside. As long as its not a huge difference in speed or connection reliability I will probably leave it inside.

Regarding "limited tethering" that is for using phone as modem. We're talking mobile broadband here. There are different plans for this. You should be able to get unlimited plan. Tethering is altogether different pricing with most carriers.

 

if the dell connection utility isn't showing gps options, see this post:

http://www.sarcasm.com/it/index.php...-on-the-dell-5720-sprint-evdo-broadband-card/

 

I mentioned earlier that the Novatel U720 appears to be the same at the 5720 but in USB format. I opened the U720 and its a pci express minicard on a carrier board with usb connector. I pulled out the minicard and put it in my 1530, fits perfectly, one screw holds it in place, and the antenna wires were already there. The 1530 manual told me which way to hook up the wires. It works flawlessly, in fact it works better than it did in usb form factor. I found that as external usb device sometimes it would not be detected properly and I had to unplug it and plug it in again to be detected. This never happens anymore with the card inside the laptop. It works reliably every time, and I seem to get better signal, the internal antenna is much better than the tiny antenna on the U720. The data plan is unlimited and I'm very pleased with it. I had a bad feeling of maybe destroying my only internet connection but I am glad I took the leap. I would have bought a 5720 instead but I wanted the Bell Mobility unlimited data plan which is not offered by Telus (Canada). Last time I checked they did not have unlimited data.

 

thats interesting is the u727 like also?

 

From my reading of their website Telus offers unlimited for $75 ( promotional price).

Lately I have been using the free wireless offered by a local pub, but it is very unreliable. So I am trying to decide whether to go with Telus plan, or lean on the owner of the pub to fix his wireless. Aside from the cost, I wonder if I will find the speed to be up to my needs and expectations.

As for the 5720, I was thinking of getting the Sierra 595 USB modem (which seems a bit faster) but I guess the 5720 would give me better connectivity in fringe areas...

Any advice appreciated.

 

I tried taking the minicard from the Sierra Wireless 595U, after having already used the 595U with Sprint Connection Manager.

Installed the card per the instructions in the manual, everything fits fine... BUT, nothing comes up when I start the machine. There's no sign of the card in software anywhere.

Sprint Connection Manager doesn't see it. Device Manager doesn't see it.

The Sierra Wireless number on the minicard is 5725.

 

Hi Guys,

My company recently got an Dell E6400 with an Dell Wireless 5720 EVDO Rev A Mini Card embedded in it. i believe it was bought from the US.
I think it is Verizon branded as when I do an "Query Modem" operation from the device manager, the Model returned is E725 VERIZON.

I just wanted to know if the WWAN device which is embedded into the laptop will work only with an Verizon network(service provider?).

I stay in India and we dont have Verizon network. I believe Verizon doesnot have any tieup with any of the local CDMA service providers either.

So will the device work only in US where Verizon network is available?

Thanks & Regards