Looking for Z-Series IFX-498 HSDPA Board

thanks, i will try to check if this good for Israel.

 

Hello Ron123,

BINGO......I just finish to install your board and I did the configuration.......
the new device is installell and working properly !

BUT now I have a problem with the "SMART WI CONNECTION UTILITYwith verizon" software I have in my
VGN-Z790DLX .............
every time I put ON the wwan it work for only 20 seconds ,
first- it find the device ,
second- search for the network ,
and after the SMART WI CONNECTION UTILITY put automatically OFF the wwan,


what do you suggest?

kind regards

 

ron123, i checked board it's will work 3G, but it's will not work as 2G with my Orange Israel. so i will try to find other one that will work both modes.

thepinkpanter, congradulation! bingo!
could you please write detailed instruction how to install the card? which drivers to use..?

 

I did the upgrading thanks to Ron123 for the board and Rachel for the manual ,
please see the below link,
http://www.4shared.com/file/80881144...3/Vgn_z_e.html
the driver depend by the minicard you buy.......Ron123 has a good one the Option GTM378 and you can get the driver directly by www.Option.com

I suggest you to use a photo camera when you take a part your laptop,
also you can read the previous pages from this forum ......you can find many important details .

 

GTM378 is capable of Worldwide 2G(EDGE or GPRS)

these are all israeli networks:
Cellcom Israel Ltd


GSM 1800


Live

Network Information | Roaming Partners | Services | Coverage Map

Cellcom Israel Ltd


3G 2100


Live

Network Information | Roaming Partners | Services | Coverage Map

Partner Communications Company Ltd (Orange)


GSM 900/1800


Live

Network Information | Roaming Partners | Services | Coverage Map

Partner Communications Company Ltd


3G 2100


Live

Network Information | Roaming Partners | Services | Coverage Map

Pelephone Communications Ltd.


3G 850/2100


Live

Network Information | Roaming Partners | Services | Coverage Map

Country/Area index

 

ron123,

GTM382 E MO0401: 900/ 2100 MHz

Partner Communications Company Ltd (Orange)
GSM 900/1800 3G 2100

GTM 378 MO 0201: 850 / 1900 / 2100 ( Rx diversity) MHz

luck of 900Mhz...

 

GTM378 is

HSDPA / UMTS
. Multi-bands variants (bands with Rx diversity are underlined)
› MO 0201: 850 / 1900 / 2100 ( Rx diversity) MHz

• EDGE
. 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz


3G in europe is 2100, in USA 1900/850 and 1700(T-mobile)

as of today I don't know who is using 900 for 3G?

 

Selling and trading on this forum normally happens through the marketplace forum. This has been quite ongoing. Ron123 if you want to trade i suggest you and anyone that may wish to trade with you continue this now through PM.

 

Ok I am sorry

 

I bought Sony Z750DB and found that it has WWAN module(Qualcomm FCC ID: J9CUNDP-1). It is universal WWAN module(GSM/EV-DO/UMTS), but I haven't sim slot on my IFX-498. Somebody to solder sim slot to IFX-498? Any success?

 

do you open the notebook to read FCC ID?

 

Hello donbobka,
on page 3 I placed one photo where you can see what to weld....
you can see 2 wings placed on each sim slot side
and 8 pins on the back part of the sim slot,
you need one precision welder machine + one simslot,

you can't make mistake .

 

you have to have very good and precise soldering iron, the pins are very small. if it is not your first time to use soldering iron you will be OK

 

I forgot to tell you to use one magnifying glass,
it is very important.....

 

Hi!
I saw something about a 2.4GHz antenna that's inside the latch in the manual... Is that the WWAN antenna?
I bought a vaio Z-55TG on a trip in taipei, but it has no WWAN builtin. it has no extra coaxial cables, and no IFX board. i can put in the ifx board and pci-e card, but opening the screen is out of the question for me. That's why I'm asking about the antenna in the latch.

 

thepinkpanter, so i can just solder simcard reader onto board in my Z750 and i'll get 3g? am i right?
if there's any photo with this mod done?

 

nfnity that sounds like the wifi card antenna. The wifi antenna and the wwan antenna (if your model came with WWAN) are located in the bezel. Putting the antenna in the bezel will give you the best reception by far.
I got someone to do this complete job for me in the UK for a nominal fee. Not the soldering part as i got a IFX card with sim card holder for my TT.

TLN if your Z750 came with Verizon etc you will need to unlock it or replace the card to use 3G.
ron123 posted some photos a few pages back.
This is a picture of the item though also.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390098754393

 

And if there's any way to unlock US model??

 

^
Keep an eye out for an unlock code by DC-unlocker. They are meant to be working on this.
Also, check the links in this post below. Some owners have got the Vaio P to work with 3G without replacing the card. It was not a true unlock in that sense but it is solution for some people. The Vaio P might have the same wwan card.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=368724
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5368094&postcount=8

 

Hi Donbobka, I do have the same Modem, did you had any luck soldering the sim slot to the IFX-498 and put it to work with a GSM Company?

 

Does anyone have a contact for Ron123 I would like to purchase one of his amazing modded adapters with the sim slot

 

I have an IFX-498 board without a sim holder. What type of sim slot adapter should I solder on it? I've found that some of them have different number of pins(6,8 or even 10) and sometimes the pins are not identical(for example the first and the second pins are reversed).

 

I am still trying to make this mod. It is a real challenge for me. And it is almost done I have soldered a sim reader to the ifx card. At moment I'am looking for screws to fasten an IFX card in the laptop and I have bought some on ebay. I think I will make some photos of installation process in the future.

It seems that the thread is almost dead, but may be somebody still reading it. Thus I have one more stupid question. Why do I need the thermal sheet(wan) and could I manage without it? It seems that it is only a plastic frame on the top of the wwan card.

 

Most likely to isolate from metal base of keyboard so that there is no additional/false ground. It's just a hunch though.

 

First of, I'd like to Thank everyone for all the work they put into it, I'm a fellow Z owner attempting this upgrade.

ZugZug, I'd agree about the Thermal Sheet.

I've got another question that hopefully someone can help with.

I went ahead and ordered the SIM Reader off eBay, and have already successfully (at least I hope) soldered it to the WWAN Board. However, I'm not able to get the card recognized by the system. Can someone confirm which of the WWAN cables is AUX and which is MAIN??. The colors are Black and White.

Thanks!

 

^The antennae wires have nothing to do with the card being recognized. Is nothing showing up in device manager? Does the sony smartwi utility have it turned off?

 

Nothing it all. I figured it would at least show an unrecognized device, but nothing shows up at all. I don't have the SmartWi utility installed right now. Any ideas?

 

Perhaps you need the smart wi utility installed for power to be sent to the card? I would definitely start there, but I am not an expert on this.

 

Yes, I bought sim-slot on eBay and successfully solder it.
It's work with my GSM provider: MTS.

P.S.: I use Ubuntu 10.04 and it's work fine.
P.P.S.: Sony VAIO VGN-Z750D(USA version)

 

Дорогой друг, земляк! Я вот все никак не решусь разобрать свой Z890, сим-слот уже купил, но все таки страшновато, я неуклюж, боюсь что-нибудь сломать. Не мог бы ты вкратце (но с подробностями описать свой подвиг по впаиванию слота. Особенно интересует, как ты снял рамку, под которой модем, и зачем тебе жидкая резина нужна была? И вообще, как оно, стрёмно?

For English speaking users, i have just asked Donbobka some questions in Russian. If he will provide me some additional information, i'll make detailed how-to with step-by-step instruction in pictures.

 

I made it! Finally I have made this mod and now my vaio Z have WWAN module too. The most difficult part was installing antennas into the screen and all process have taken about 3-4 hours (may be because it was the first time I disassembled my vaio z). I have used sierra MC8780 card with GPS. 3G part works fine and GPS I will test tomorrow. I have made some photos of the installing process and later I will upload them somewhere. Without this thread I'd never have made it so thank you all for posting here

The only problem I have at the moment is that if I disable WWAN via vaio smart network utility I couldn't enable it back later. I have to use the hardware switcher on the notebook to disable wireless and enable it again. It looks like a software issue so I hope to solve it in the future.

upd:
GPS works fine. I am happy now.

upd2:
Some pictures here

 

Hi, thanks for useful pistures of instalink 3g modem. I have somu qustions on you. Wher you boughht wan originals vaio z antenas. What parts you must bought to do this uprage. Can you past here links on eshops wher you order each parts?
tahak you for reply.
BTW i have NB VGN-Z21XN

George

 

Thank you for the very nice pictures. I'm going to install WWAN on my VAIO Z as well. I can find the IFX board from ebay, but still seeking for SIM card holder. Could you please tell me detail of the holder and where can I get it. Thanks a lot.

 

If you go back a page you'll see that someone purchased this sim card holder to do this mod and was successful.
Sim Slot Adapter for Acer Aspire One Asus EEEPC 901 9G on eBay (end time 08-Mar-11 23:23:53 GMT)

edited to add:
a VGN-Z wwan board with a sim card holder is on ebay now.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-VAIO-VGN...aptopMotherboards_CPUs_CA&hash=item3cb3775a04

 

Nicely done sir!

Where did you get the antenna from?

I'm so going to do this mod, been dying to have an internal GPS.

 

They used the original VGN Z antenna. Well apart from Ebay purchasing them from Sony direct or sparepartswarehouse is going to be your best bet.

Sony Vaio VGN-Z-Series (VGN-Z790) Laptop Parts and Repair for Notebook Computers

1-754-582-11

1-754-581-11

https://servicesales.sel.sony.com/ecom/accessories/web/index.jsp

I would try contacting sellers that sell the VGN board and asking them if they have the antenna also. This is how i purchased the antenna for my Sony TT.

 

If you are from USA probably the best way to use the links provided by Rachel. I live in Europe, so I couldn't use it. Try to check the parts on ebay. Personally I bought the antennas on this site in the NBR marketplace section - a man had sold his vaio for parts.

By the way the card I installed has been working flawlessly up until now. The only problem that I can't control it from VAIO smart network utility(it allows only to switch it off, but to enable it again I have to use hardware switch).

upd:
Was not realy hard to find
vaio vgn-z wwan antennas on ebay