T400 GPS capabilities

Does anyone have any info about the GPS capabilities of the T400? The T400/500 spec sheet lists GPS on WWAN equipped notebooks. Does the GPS run through the cellular network as A-GPS? Will it work without cellular service, will it require a regular data plan, or will it require a navigation service plan, like AT&T Navigator.

I ordered a T400 with the AT&T WWAN option, but I am not planning always being connected. I'm probably only going to throw a gophone SIM in when I travel with my laptop, about 3 times a year. So I'm wondering if I will need to sign up for service to use the GPS.

 

You just made me change my order.

I just found out about the go phone data plan thanks to you. Are you certain that the SIM works with the PCIe cards in the Thinkpads?

 

It won't work without a compatible plan from AT&T.

 

So a Go Phone SIM w/ Media Net Unlimited (unlimited data). Would it work?

 

That is my plan, I'll let you know when I get mine.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say with the right tools you should be able to unlock the GPS and WWAN card. It's a Ericsson F3507 Module, which has a deticated GPS chip.


Also I'm not even sure if it will be AT&T branded, but we'll have to wait and see.

 

http://www.ericsson.com/solutions/mobile_broadband_modules/docs/MBM_datasheet_print.pdf

Link to specs of card

 

I have no idea. Its AT&T so it should use a SIM

Whats a compatible plan? Data only or does it need a subscription to AT&T Navigator

That F3507 spec sheet doesnt list anything about GPS that I can see, unless its the F3507g (warning: PDF). The F3507g spec states that it "Supports stand alone and assisted GPS", but that doesn't clarify if it needs a service plan or not. I have used phones that specify a standalone GPS reciever, but still require a fee to use them because of software lockouts.

 

This is the line item on my order for the card:

42X6331 SBB ERICS. F3507GUSA-WIWANCARD

 

Well that looks promising, now lets hope stand alone GPS receiver means just that

 

When are your guys' ship dates? Mine's not 'til September. Hopefully one of you get it much sooner and can give us word on how it works.

 

Mine has shipped, ETA is 9/2/08 according to UPS. I placed my order on 8/20.

My original ship date was 9/2, but it shipped on 8/24.

 

It seems more people have gotten their T400s. Anyone try the SIMs or GPS?

 

Man, im waiting on mine, ill let you guys know if it works. Mine got shipped to kentucky, then alaska, then back to kentucky, and its now being held for customs or something. I hope it gets through before the weekend

 

I believe that's just paperwork time stamps, not the notebook itself zipping back and forth.

And they all go through customs. Perfectly normal.

 

Get▼ did you get your Thinkpad? Still wondering about the SIM card and GPS.

 

I have an iphone so I frequently use its sim card with my Sierra Aircard(3G pc card). It's been working great, so if you have any data plan for you cell phone(like media net unlimited or iphone plans) should work. Although I heard somewhere that the "unannounced cap" for their smart phone unlimited plan is 4GB/month. so don't use it to download large amount of data, otherwise at&t will probably cancel your service.

Anyway, i'll find it out for sure since I ordered my t400 with att broadband built-in, it's coming this Tuesday. I do not know that there is a GPS built-in though. that'll be awesome! is it true? can anyone confirm?

 

According to my confirmation e-mail and the brochure for the F3507G, yes it's true. Now whether or not it's usable without the AT&T navigator service is a different matter. Hopefully it is.

 

If there is a true GPS chip built-in, then it doesn't matter whether you have the service or not. That's what I'm curious to find out about. I'll check out the manual & brochure

 

just got mine. it comes with a att 3g sim card. havent gotten the gps to work yet, but im still playing with my new baby. ill let you guys know what i find out

 

GPS navigation without att service is...............


























Affirmative!!!
Got Google Maps to read my location. Sensitivity is pretty good as im currently inside in a room with one window and the curtains closed

 

yeah! just got HSDPA working on my T400. And it does have a REAL GPS built-in! It gives accurate GPS locaion even when I'm indoor. cool.

 

dang! I don't even have AT&T service, but I want internal gps... anyone know how I could purchase the card...? My T400 already shipped.

 

ya it is quite convenient, just one click and it'll show you exactly where you are on google map, kinda like an iphone 3G on steroid...
However, I just did some testing. Although there is a true GPS receiver in it, somehow it does not work without the sim card. so you'll still need to put sim in before you can use the GPS feature. It'll be interesting if someone can find a work around for this, I'll look into it.

 

Wow! Great news guys! JamesTBrewer said it worked without AT&T service, I wonder if it still had the default SIM in the slot. The brochure said that it has both standalone and assisted (using cell towers) GPS.

So how's that Go Phone SIM working out? I'm now twice as excited to get my T400.

 

Shinew, how's the reception indoors and the speed? Without an external antenna, I've been wondering what the sensitivity would be like. I live about 100 yards from the AT&T 3G coverage area and I'm wondering if I'll get HSDPA speeds.

 

it's not bad. I got 2 bars on HSDPA with download around 1.4Mb & upload around 350kb.
btw I'm not using gophone, just sticked my iphone sim in it 'cause I only use the 3G feature about 4-5 times a month or during emergency.

JamesTBrewer, how did you get the GPS working without the any ATT service?

 

I just used the thinkvantage gps software that came installed on my t400. Works with and without the sim card in the slot.

Ive been home all day playing with my new toy, but the gps seems to work very well. I pick up at least 4 satellites from a room with one window.

I get practically no att service at my house, 3g or edge, so i havent tried the gophone service yet, but i should be getting a prepaid sim in the mail soon so ill update when it comes. I havent installed any map software yet, so ive only tried it with google maps that launches through the thinkvantage utility. But it definately works.

 

hmmm... I think you do need a sim card in the notebook for the GPS to function(at least for me, because i could not activate the WWAN radio without any sim), but the sim card does not need to be activated, so any blank sim should work.

the signal was pretty good. I was indoor on the 3rd floor(in a 3-floor house), about 8 feet from the nearest windows and I get 7 satellites. The initial startup was less than 30sec in the 'standalone' mode, not 'assisted'. The consecutive satellite acquisition was less than 5sec. below is a screen shot of my t400 running iguidance v4, an invalid sim was in it.

 

ahhh... I want this so bad. Probably won't be able to buy a WAN card separately for so long though, **** lenovo and their lack of T400 parts.

 

in canada we don't even have the option to choose WWAN card. Does anyone know where i can grab one in Canada... maybe a used one or a defective one (but still functional enough to use gps).

Shinew thanks for the screenshot =)

 

+1 to AznRacerNSX's comment!

 

Just to be clear, I used the gps without a sim card in the slot. It gave me the same result as using it with an unactivated sim card. I should be getting an att prepaid gophone sim card soon, but for now I dont have an activated att sim card.

 

Ordered a Go Phone and my T400 is on its way. Been reading some bad news about the Go Phone APN limiting D/L speeds to dial-up.

 

can you provide any links about ATT limiting the speeds? Last I read there was no problems with running at full HSDPA speeds

 

Seen it here among other places:
http://www.pocketables.net/2008/06/how-to-get-att.html

Search the comments for dial-up

 

Used the GoPhone + Unlimited MediaNet today and it works fine. Haven't tried gps yet.

 

Are you getting HSDPA speeds?

 

I just got my sim and cant get it to work at all. I can get it to connect over edge, but cant open any web pages. It could be location, only getting about 20% signal quality

 

yeah when it drops to 20% on edge, it sucks.

Im in edge atm, ill be in a 3g area this weekend to see how it works.

 

Sorry if I am misreading this thread, but is the GPS card only working with the AT&T option? Is the Verizon option also working? If only AT&T, how would I activate the GPS function within the card? Is there a specific COM port that I should select for say, iGuidance, to use? Also is this only T400 specific or does it also apply to the T500?
Thanks!

 

No idea about the verizon version, but I have the att version. There is a gps utility included with the laptop which allows you to turn on the gps hardware. The gps will be assigned a com port, dont know if its the same on every computer but the gps utility will tell you which port its on. You can configure the port for your gps application to read from that port or auto discover.

I use mappoint 09 and it auto discovers. The gps utility doesnt need to run while you run other gps apps, but it is required to turn on the hardware.

 

This is definitely interesting. Do you have to insert any sort of SIM card into it before you can use the GPS utility? If not, were you able to just use it on default settings?
This is excellent as the ATT card is actually cheaper than the Verizon one!
Would you mind giving me a screenshot of the GPS util?
Thanks.

 

verizon & sprint do not use sim card.

A warming for people who do a clean OS install on their T400/T500
Lenovo currently does not have the GPS software for t400/t500 on their website for download. As far as I know, there is no way you can get it for now. I had to use a 3rd party software to have my GPS & 3G working. 3G speed is great though.

 

I believe the ThinkVantage GPS software also supports the Verizon card, but I think I will go with the AT&T one since that one is cheaper...

 

which 3rd party software did you use? can you post a link to it?
thanks

 

Try this:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-70376

 

thanks for the link. So the gps only works as long as you have the mobile broadband card plugged in?

 

Yes. No card, no GPS, as the system retrieves that data from the onboard GPS.

 

anyone found cards for sale yet? I already have my T400.

 

This is the best I can find:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...?category-id=E10B2590E68F41CAABA58A5B4FAE5D95