Sierra Gobi wireless WWLAN mini pcie cards, help needed choosing the right one to install in CF-52 Toughbook

Hello,
Can anyone tell me which Sierra Gobi mini pcie card will work in my CF-52 MK1L Toughbook or if any unlocked card would be picked up by the laptop and work with the Panasonic drivers.
I have just had a long journey updating the BIOS in my CF-52 MK1L to recognize the Mini pcie slot (picture below) that takes the Gobi WWAN card, you can see the complete story by going to the Post the link is below. I think I have been successful but not sure as I now have to move on to the next step of working out which Gobi card to install, obviously you can download the drivers for Gobi 1000,2000,3000 from Panasonic but but which unlocked card to choose? has anyone any advice? or maybe a picture of the one they have installed in their Toughbook?
There are so many on Ebay.

View attachment 100958

Panasonic CF-52 updating the BIOS link below
http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/724182-cf-52-toughbook-phoenix-bios-update-help-needed-6.html#post9331662

 

It will read Gobi 1000 and 2000 cards but ONLY PANASONIC BRAND!!!

I tried with HP Gobi 2000 card, no luck!

 

Hello
Thanks for your reply, I am trying to find out if it would work with a Sierra Gobi card manufactured for no particular laptop brand there are quite a few available from your comment your card sounds like it was manufactured for HP laptops

 

you may have better luck with a Fujitsu branded Gobi Card, as I did. Their drivers install application doesn't restrict usage to Fujitsu computers, so they will install on a Panasonic.

 

I think that you might be right. I have bought a unlocked Gobi 2000 card and waiting for it to arrive somebody else suggested that I use Fujitsu software rather than Panasonic with it, if the card that I bought does not work I will go with your suggestion and track down a Fujitsu card

 

Just bought an CF-52 mk1L and we had one 3G card from an HP EliteBook 8460p lying around. I switched the jumper to HSPA, installed the card and the option appeared in the BIOS.
Afterwards it appeared as a new network connection and I was in (after bying a data SIM card of course )

So HP WWAN card seems to be ok - you might be OK with any WWAN mini-PCIe card...

As for drivers - I haven't looked for any - Linux Mint 15 just displays a new network connection option.

 

Thanks for the heads up...

 

I can get a HP Gobi 2000 to show up in a CF-19 Mk1 I have but I still have problems with the drivers installing. Just never got back to playing with it. I was only going to use it for GPS.

 

Thank you for this, I will give it one last go and try a HP WWAN have you got the model number of the HP PCIe card? I have all but given up with this as after everything that I did and after buying a PCIe card it did not work, I am pretty sure that the PCIe slot is now picked up after updating the BIOS as when I installed the card it was picked up but not as it should have been so I think it was the wrong card

 

I did a bit more testing now, as the HP WWAN 3G card that initially worked was Sierra Wireless MC8355 with HP model number:
- HP un2430 Mobile Broadband Module - this was from the EliteBook 8460p and worked

Now as my hands were itchy I bought off eBay the following adapters:
- HP HS2340 HSPA+ 21Mbps WWAN Wireless Mobile Broadband Module F5521GW 632155-001 | eBay - model HP hs2340 with chipset Ericsson f5521qw
- 2 pieces of Sierra Wireless MC8755 3G/HSDPA 1.8Mbps Wwan Card | eBay - these are a bit slower and are taken from Lenovo laptops.

And here are the tests with some pictures - first I have the HP module close-up:

Dip switch 2 is ON and 1 is off (HSDPA). I tried to have both dip swithches on ON, which is Reserved mode - it doesn't work with that. So I suggest you leave this on either EVDO or HSDPA.

The Ericsson HP card worked well and this is what I have left inside the Toughbook- here it is with IP address from Mtel assigned:


And as well I tested the older Lenovo WWAN 3G cards - they are with only one antenna connector for the MAIN:

But they DO NOT work - probably a whitelist in the BIOS. We managed to fire one of those on the HP EliteBook 8460p though, so in the end I have only one unused 3G card left

 

I can promise that most likely a G3000 card won't work... Shoot for a 2000 card!

 

hi
want to know if HP un2430 MC8355 module work with panasonic FZ-G1 ?

 

Highly doubtful that you can get a HP card to work. The easiest card is from a Toughbook..Any other brand requires a lot of work. WWAN cards are pretty much locked to the laptop brand they came in.

 

ok, thanks for your feedback, So, have other card Qualcomm FCC ID: J9CGobi2000-l Gobi2000, want you think my friend?

 

I think the FZ-G1 came with a Gobi 2000.
Do you want 3G or 4G..Does the speed matter?

The id code you are looking for is
IC: 2417C

I am sure someone else can give you more information...But I "think" this card will work....Wait for someone to confirm...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SIERRA-WIRE...693?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item33a1850215

 

Panasonic chips load Panasonic package. The only other one that works "so far" is Fujitsu.
No mix and match though. Match the software to the hardware.
I have run Fujitsu package in CF-52, CF-30 and for fun in a CF-29 sled one time. Oh....and a CF-19 Mark 4. It had the best reception.
All for fun and all VZAM. No 4G here yet.

I wrote this before Shawn 's reply re:FZ-G1? I'm not arguing in other words.

 

Just wondered,how do you identify which carrier a Gobi 2000 card uses? I have a bunch of them and honestly don't know.

 

As far as i know with a gobi, the software drivers flash the gobi to match whatever carrier the software is for..

 

Hi friends
An mail was sent to panasonic support, the answar was that only MC8305 or MC7710 work fine with panasonic FZ-G1, So my question is which WWAN ID should be used in bios ?

 

I disable WWAN in the cf-52's that I build. I dont use them. Have one laying around GOBI 2000. Guess I should start removing them for gas money. Anybody interested pm me.

 

Do you still believe this? By using MC7710 software on a MC7700, are you Flashing it to a MC7710? Can you go back?

 

LTE:
MC7700: 2100(B1), AWS(B4), 700(B17)
MC7710: 2100(B1), 1800(B3), 2600(B7), 900(B8), 800(B20)
MC7750: 700(B13)
WCDMA:
MC7700: 2100(B1), 1900(B2), 850(B5)
MC7710: 2100(B1), 900(B8)
CDMA Rev.A:
MC7750: 800(BC0), 1900(BC1)
GSM:
Quad-Band

MC7700: AT&T, NTT Docomo, Bell, Telus, Roger
MC7710: T-Mobile
MC7750: Verizon

These cards support different frequencies, so you can't flash MC7700 to MC7710, but MC7700 to one of the carriers it supports. And MC7750 between CDMA and GSM. At least it worked that way with Gobi 1000 and Gobi 2000. I find 1000 and 2000 more universal (CDMA 3G and WCDMA 3G), lacking LTE, of course.

P.S. For 1000 and 2000 there are files in \\CSA\CSAPack. SetFirm.exe for 1000 and SetFirm2.exe for 2000. Easy way to check and switch carriers.

 

from the wiki..

Products
The main feature of the Gobi modems is their support of multiple wireless standards such as GSM and CDMA. Newer modems also have support for 4G wireless standards such as HSPA+ and LTE, with a notable omission of WiMax. [8] [9] The extensive support of wireless standards allows consumers to choose between multiple carriers based on the modem present in their device. What standard the modem supports and at what rates depends on the chip being used.

Below is a list of Gobi-enabled modem chipsets released by Qualcomm and their features:

MDM1000™: [5]

• Multi-mode modem
• EV-DO Rev. A support (CDMA)
  • 800, 1900 MHz
• HSPA support with full backward compatibility with GSM, GPRS and EDGE
  • 850, 1900, 2100 MHz for HSPA
  • 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz for GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Simultaneous GPS functionality

MDM2000™: [6]

• All the features of the MDM1000™
• Support for HSPA at 800 and 900 MHz
• Improved upload speeds for HSPA
• Improved GPS functionality, including support for Assisted GPS

MDM6200™: [8] [10]

• Single-mode modem
• Only supports HSPA+ with data rates of up to 14.4 Mbit/s
• GPS functionality, including support for Assisted GPS

MDM6600™:

• Multi-mode modem
• HSPA+ with data rates of up to 14.4 Mbit/s
• CDMA2000® 1xEV-DO Rev. A/Rev. B support
• GPS functionality, including support for Assisted GPS

MDM8200A™:

• Single-mode modem
• Only supports HSPA+ with data rates of up to 28 Mbit/s
• GPS functionality, including support for Assisted GPS

MDM8220™:

• Single-mode modem
• Only supports Dual-Carrier HSPA+ with data rates of up to 42 Mbit/s
• GPS functionality, including support for Assisted GPS

MDM9200™:

• Single-mode modem
• 4G(LTE) data rates of up to 100 Mbit/s with full backward compatibility to Dual-Carrier HSPA+
• GPS functionality, including support for Assisted GPS

MDM9600™:

• Multi-mode modem
• 4G (LTE) data rates of up to 100 Mbit/s with full backward compatibility to Dual-Carrier HSPA+
• EV-DO Rev. A/Rev. B support
• GPS functionality, including support for Assisted GPS

Model Names and Real World Names
Gobi Model Manufacturer Manufacturer Name
Gobi 1000 Sierra MC ?
Gobi 1000 Dell DW5600
Gobi 1000 HP un2400
Gobi 2000 Dell DW5620
Gobi 2000 Sierra MC ?
Gobi 2000 HP un2420
Gobi 3000 Sierra MC8355
Gobi 3000 Dell DW5630
Gobi 3000 HP un2430

 

Is the CF-52 MK2 as friendly to different WWAN cards as is the MK1? I was thinking of getting a Quectel E20 WWAN card for LTE and GSM Voice since it has it's own software and is Linux friendly. It would be my dream to have a Toughbook that can also be a phone and not just have data.

 

I have seen these advertized on eBay for as low as $80. They are interesting, and use the same chipset as the MC77XX, but are they Toughbook compatible? Let us know!

 

OK, I think that I have my Sierra Wireless Airprime MC7700 working with a T-Mo SIM. I just installed the drivers and have no idea what the "Watcher" software is far, plus I don't like being watched... so I did not install it!

But I see T-Mo in the list of available networks I can connect to I am pretty stroked!
As this card is optimize for AT&T I doubt that I will get much faster then EVDO speeds, I did not have my Name, Password, an other info with me. However, I am pretty sure that it will connect with this information.

To get LTE speeds, I could issue one of the AT commands (Thanks Shawn) to it to open the T-Mo LTE Band, BUT, that requires the "OEMPassword." Anyone know it for Sierra Wireless????
​

 

I have a Sierra Wireless MC7700 (GOBI 4000) running in my CF-31.

The MC7700 should also work, they are the same unit as the MC7710, with different bands enabled. This can be changed with the right commands.