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    Global 4G/LTE Modem for P650HS-G

    Discussion in 'Sager and Clevo' started by gunemalli, Jun 27, 2018.

  1. gunemalli

    gunemalli Notebook Geek

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    Hi All,

    Just wondering what's the best place to get a 4G/LTE Modem for this laptop. If anyone is using one, would love to hear your thoughts.

    Within the next 3-4 years, I'll be in Sri Lanka, Australia and Canada. So if I could get a model that would cover LTE bands on these countries, that would be great.

    Regards,

    Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
     
    gunemalli, Jun 27, 2018
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  2. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Is your slot populated (the actual slot itself), does it have antennae fitted?
     
    Meaker@Sager, Jun 28, 2018
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  3. gunemalli

    gunemalli Notebook Geek

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    There's nothing in the slot right now, but I can see the antennae cables there.

    Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
     
    gunemalli, Jun 28, 2018
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  4. gunemalli

    gunemalli Notebook Geek

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    gunemalli, Jun 28, 2018
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  5. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    That's the kind of module yes.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Jun 28, 2018
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  6. Dennismungai

    Dennismungai Notebook Deity

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    I use two of these on the Clevos I own, a Eurocom Q6 and the P751DM2-G.

    The part numbers in use are branded as the Qualcomm Snapdragon X5 LTE (in Windows, appears as the HP lt4120 Snapdragon X5).

    Experiences:
    I was able to source both locally (in Nairobi) from a computer repair shop, each sold at about ~35 USD. The best offer I could get for them online (a reseller on ebay) was about ~60 USD, so I never pursued that option.

    On roaming:

    The modules appear to be unlocked, and work fine even when I travel. They've worked well in Kenya, Algeria, Nigeria, Japan, Argentina and the Netherlands.

    Extra bonus: Thus module also supports the Band 28 (700M MHz) on LTE, which may be useful in some regions (such as Faiba 4G in Kenya GLO Nigeria, and virtually all carriers in Latin America, among others).
    Your mileage on acquisition may vary.

    Operating system compatibility:

    The module works out of the box on Windows 10.

    On Linux, you'll need an appropriate udev rule. If you dual boot with Windows, you won't have to worry about firmware issues.

    Feature parity between Windows & Linux:

    On Windows, you'll also get access to GNSS (installed as HP GNSS sensor).
    On Linux, GNSS is unavailable due to a limitation in libqmi, and tools such as modem-manager will not load location data from the LTE module on Linux.

    However, its' only on Linux (through modem-manager) where you'll be able to read and reply to the SMSes sent to the SIM card. This may be useful for functions such as alerts for subscription renewal, etc.
    I was not able to retrieve these SMSes on Windows 10, not even through the messaging app which claims support for embedded LTE modules. Should this change, I'll definitely document it.
     
    Dennismungai, Jun 29, 2018
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  7. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    I suppose you will need a sim for each? Those are some quite diverse places, I guess roaming plans across even a couple of them are unlikely?
     
    Meaker@Sager, Jun 30, 2018
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  8. Dennismungai

    Dennismungai Notebook Deity

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    Never roam.

    Get a SIM card (at the port of entry) and discard it when you leave.

    Roaming is prohibitively expensive especially when all you need is data.
     
    Dennismungai, Jun 30, 2018
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  9. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Guess it's different here then, when I was in the states I got 30GB of data and normal plan minutes when calling home (not US numbers, just UK which is a restriction).
     
    Meaker@Sager, Jun 30, 2018
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  10. Dennismungai

    Dennismungai Notebook Deity

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    Most likely because that SIM card was re-purposed for general use, such as in your phone.

    In my case, what's in the SIM trays on both modules is for data only, and the mobile providers here allow for top ups via online portals, ie you don't need to insert the SIM into a phone for that.
     
    Dennismungai, Jun 30, 2018
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  11. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    It applies to data only SIMs here too, it applies to most of the EU plus:

    Australia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica
    El Salvador Guatemala Hong Kong Indonesia Israel
    Macau New Zealand Nicaragua Panama Peru
    Puerto Rico Singapore Sri Lanka Uruguay USA
    US Virgin Islands Vietnam

    I guess in other places you do need SIM only.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Jun 30, 2018
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  12. gunemalli

    gunemalli Notebook Geek

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    Thank you for sharing your experiences. I will look into finding more about this model.
     
    gunemalli, Jun 30, 2018
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  13. gunemalli

    gunemalli Notebook Geek

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    Yeah, that's the plan. Roaming is expensive plus I'll be living in each of these places at least a few months. So getting a data SIM is best bet. Currently I lug a 4G WiFi router between the two places I live. So having to ditch it is a very good plus for me.
     
    gunemalli, Jun 30, 2018
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  14. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Sounds good, that module should be plug and play.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Jun 30, 2018
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  15. gunemalli

    gunemalli Notebook Geek

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    So I finally received this module and it doesn't seem to work. I managed to find a driver for Lenovo as well as HP, but none of them seems to work.

    This is what I have under my device manager. Any idea how I could get this to work?

    Capture2.PNG
     
    gunemalli, Sep 11, 2018
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  16. Dennismungai

    Dennismungai Notebook Deity

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    If I may ask: Have you ever used DDU before?

    And specifically, did you check the DDU setting for "prevent Windows update from automatically installing new drivers"?

    Just check and confirm.
     
    Dennismungai, Sep 11, 2018
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  17. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    What happens if you manually point windows at the driver files?
     
    Meaker@Sager, Sep 12, 2018
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  18. gunemalli

    gunemalli Notebook Geek

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    Hi,

    I've never used DDU. Does DDU stands for " Display Driver Uninstaller"?
     
    gunemalli, Sep 13, 2018
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  19. Dennismungai

    Dennismungai Notebook Deity

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    Yes, it does.

    Also, what are your hardware installation settings?

    Under System Properties, click on the hardware tab and check the status of Device Installation Settings.
     
    Dennismungai, Sep 13, 2018
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  20. gunemalli

    gunemalli Notebook Geek

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    Hi Meaker,

    Unfortunately windows says it's not able to install the selected driver software. When I load VM via VMware, it is able to detect the 4G card and shows "Intel Modem + 2 CDC-ACM + 3 CDC-NCM + SS"

    Regards
     
    gunemalli, Sep 13, 2018
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  21. Dennismungai

    Dennismungai Notebook Deity

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    What module did you use?

    Can you point to its' product page?
     
    Dennismungai, Sep 13, 2018
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  22. gunemalli

    gunemalli Notebook Geek

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    Hi @Dennismungai

    I have it on default settings. i.e to automatically download drivers.

    Capture.PNG
     
    gunemalli, Sep 13, 2018
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  23. gunemalli

    gunemalli Notebook Geek

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    gunemalli, Sep 13, 2018
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  24. Dennismungai

    Dennismungai Notebook Deity

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    I see, that's the MBIM-based L850-GL SKU.

    There's an entire Reddit thread describing issues with the device failing to initialize in some specific conditions, notably after resume and suspend.

    For device drivers, these are the results I have from Lenovo, you may have come across them already:

    1. https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/ca/en/...bon-6th-gen-type-20kh-20kg/downloads/ds503062

    Also, do you have a SIM card installed into the device's tray?
     
    Dennismungai, Sep 13, 2018
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  25. gunemalli

    gunemalli Notebook Geek

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    @Dennismungai, thanks for all the help here. I have tried all of those to no avail :(

    What i think is that this maybe a BIOS related issue. L850-GL can operate in two modes, USB or PICE. This needs to be set at the BIOS level from the information I have read. The drivers supplied for the Lenovo as well as HP are for PCIE mode operations. I've reached out to Fibocom from all their listed email addresses to see if they can help me with this.

    Thanks a lot for your help here.

    Regards
     
    gunemalli, Sep 13, 2018
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  26. Dennismungai

    Dennismungai Notebook Deity

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    Sure, do share their response with us. Hoping they can resolve this as they indicate Windows 10 as a supported OS.

    Unfortunately my knowledge and experience with MBIM-based devices is limited, having only dealt with QMI-based parts such as the Snapdragon X5.
     
    Dennismungai, Sep 13, 2018
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  27. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Can you try if a fresh install picks it up? Good luck with the drivers if that's the issue.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Sep 13, 2018
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