3G/4G LTE minicard? Is there such a thing?

I'm wondering if there's such thing as a minicard that would let me put say, a straighttalk sim into my laptop, or even my ipad sim to use the Data. Did some searching and I havent come up with anything. Definitely would be awesome to use a Straighttalk sim for the unlimited data though. Any input on this?

 

If that minicard means mPCIE, then answer is yes. It's the most common format.

 

Not really sure what your reply means! Any input on if they make minicards that will do this would be great, thanks. Cant find anything for the life of me.

 

mPCIE


half-mPCIE with an adapter to fit normal mPCIE slot


Expresscard34 in a pcmcia adapter


I still don't know what exactly is a "minicard" but it could be a less known synonym for one of those form factors.

 

When it comes to straight talk, they are 'unlimited' but depending on your location, and how lucky you get, they WILL eventually throttle you.

I rooted my straight talk phone, which was a non sim phone, using the Sprint network. I track my data usage, and I transfered 10-15gB a month for several months, around 5-6 months, before I finally got throttled lol...

What I've read on forums though, 'many' people report being throttled after 2-3gB of usage! Although some people say they get 5-10gB.. I feel I did well at 10-15 a month for 5-6 months for $45/month

edit: what kind of laptop do you have? What model number?

 

There are many 3G and/or 4G Mini or Half Mini Cards. Most popular brands are Huawei, Sierra Wireless, Option, Ericsson.
You will also need additional antennas, SIM holder & cable.

 

Laptops in my signature, might end up going with just a 4G base station.

 

I googled service manual for your laptop, it doesn't seem to have sim card reader nor wwan antennas built in. Therefore either Expresscard or base station are the best choises.

Also noted, in the service manual they apparently call mini pci express (mPCIE) as Full Mini-Card and half-mPCIE as Half Mini-Card. Never, ever have I heard those terms used before I wonder what mini PCI was called, small card?

 

Laptop has a WLAN card (Bluetooth) installed with a single antenna hooked to it. That wouldnt work I assume for the 3g/4g? Would be really cool to have 4G built into it, and be able to use sim cards from phones to get mobile broad band. I hate having to plug even a usb dongle for a mouse into laptops.

 

Okay so heres what I am looking at buying.

Sim card reader with vertical extender for modem card.

MM3U DB3U V1 1 DB3U to Minicard Vertical Extender with Sim Card Slot | eBay

And modem card that my WLAN antenna will plug into.

Huawei EM820U Mini PCI E 3G WCDMA GSM WLAN Wireless WiFi Card HSPA 21MB GPS | eBay

Think this can work?

I noticed other card says its 3g, this one says 4g? I would like to use 4G LTE.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HuaWei-EM82...US_Internal_Network_Cards&hash=item2321902422

 

It'll help if you tell us what slot and space you have available. PCIe Mini? PCIe Half mini? ExpressCard34? The latter be the the easiest to realize as it comes with antennas and SIM holder included. (ExpressCard is dying though, and I doubt you'll find 4G models)

Are you planing to replace your WiFi/Bluetooth card or do you have an additional slot available? WiFi / Bluetooth antennas use different frequencies, so you 'll need special WWAN antennas which support the frequencies of the modem.

Going by the picture, that card you linked has no 4G and no WiFi support. Also make sure that there is enough space for that daughter board.. Alternatively use SIM Extender / Cables / Slots like shown here SIM Flexible Adapter

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO DO LIST:
Check slot available
Check operating mode & frequency of your desired carrier(s)
select card matching that criterias
select antennas matching frequencies
find convenient SIM solution

Hope to not get a headache

 

I have the standard full size MPCIe. I see some cards come with antennas, so I can just route the cable through my case I'm guessing and should be fine on signal? I should definitely have plenty of room for that riser card with the sim adapter, otherwise what card do you recommend? The SIM card size I want to use is the MicroSim, otherwise nanosim if possible.

 

As long as they're not too shielded by metal parts... Usually antennas are placed in the display bezel.

If possible I'd rather use extension cables and cut an opening in the chassis to be able to swap SIM cards (see parts in the link of my last post)

The modem you should select by support for the operating mode (EV-DO, WCDMA, LTE) and frequencies of your carrier(s).

 

Only takes me about 2 minutes to tear the laptop down to where the card is, so no need to cut the case up. Thanks for the help! This will probably be my next upgrade, working on building up a m15x I just bought for 200$.

 

Sorry to bother you a year later but was curious as to your solution to the Broadband 4G card, as in what port are you using.