Dell XPS 15 L501x wwan?

I'm trying to look for the wwan card used for this laptop but dell website no longer seems to sell them when I try to customize it as I don't see the wireless mobile section and I'm having a hard time looking for it on the parts and upgrade link, it is like they don't sell wwan cards, so can someone tell me which wwan card is compatible with this laptop.

Also I will like to say I don't live in the United States and was wondering if this card allow to use a sim card(GSM) or it is only CDMA.

What I really want is to have some type of GPS tracking built in on it, if having a wwan card is not the way then what options should I be looking?

Thanks.

 

Do you have the computer already? if not make sure you order it with the rear panel that has the TV tuner antennae. These double as the WWAN antenna (go to the dell aus store, and configure one up - put in the Dell 5540 wwan card, and the next option or 2 will be the TV tuner - putting that in pops up a message stating "the tv tuner is not compatible with the wwan - please remove the wwan".) this shows they both use the same slot, and same antenna (or antenna rear panel). So you'll need to add the TV tuner back panel when you order (makes no difference in price). You dont have to order the TV tuner though. ($+44 AUD)

BTW as mentioned the card is a Dell 5540 HSPA card.

FWIW I have a dell studio 15 which is getting a bit old now, and intend to upgrade to the XPS 15, and take out my corsair force 240 SSD and Sierra Wireless WWAN card and put them in the XPS. The Studio will get the 500Gb HDD from the XPS, and a 1Tb drive in the optical bay and become my permenant desktop PC (still has heaps of grunt for facebook, forums and IRC chat/youtube

The XPS will get a 1Tb drive in the optical bay, as I have an external esata DVD burner (how often do you use DVD's on the go?)

So basically all you need to do is track down a 5540 and make sure you order the computer with the TV tuner lid panel so you have the antennae. The laptop should already have a sim card slot under the battery.

 

I'm not sure what you're looking for, but I have these in my system

DW5540 Internal Mobile broadband card for ATT(this is supposedly the sim card)
Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250, 802.11 a/g/n
Metalloid Anodized Aluminum (WWAN) L401X(is this even relevant?)

 

Yes, it is relevant, Like the ipad 3G, it has an area of non aluminium for the antannae to get a signal through. A full aluminium back would severly restrict the 3G/TV signal.

 

Thanks for the help, I was looking for card and finally found it with that name 5540 HSPA I also found this ones 5620 Multi-Mode Gobi and 5520 AT&T

So if I buy the 5540 HSPA card will I still need to buy the antenna and other cables, or everything comes with the card? Also does anyone knows what does "Supports standalone GPS functionality" means or have an idea of how it works. Does that means I could search the laptop somehow without having a sim card on it or I still need some type of data plan hooked to it.

I already bought the laptop so that is why I'm trying to buy it separately, I didn't bought the tv tuner either.

Thanks again.

 

Check with dell to see if they sell it separately, if so, ask them if they will send you the required equips to make it work.

If you buy it from AT&T or whatever service provider, they would probably give you the card and an USB antannae.

Well, just online chat/call dell first, should have your answer in minutes.

 

If you configure an xps15 from Standard it'd have the mobile broadband selection(as of now).

Does anyone know what exactly you get from opting this card with your system? I got it for free since I ordered during signature event(originally costs $125), but have yet to activate it. I'm wondering if I still have to pay for monthly fee or is it prepaid for a certain amount of time?

 

Ah another exciting bit about some of the WWAN cards.

When you install one of these cards (with the correct firmware and drivers), they support ouputting a standard NMEA protocol data stream on a seperate serial port (it shows up in device manager as "Sierra Wireless Serial port (NMEA)" for my one.

Using garmin mobile pc, and the correct australian maps, i can take the laptop outside into my courtyard, and in a few minutes it will lock onto some satellites, and provide my location. This has come in useful on some recent roadtrips to help me and a buddy find out where our accomodation and other things were. Provided you use software that has offline maps (hint: it'll be a BIG installation for the us of a - around 4 gigs for the maps alone), it wont use any 3G data).

Try to get a stock card, not one branded AT&T or Bell or Vodafone (to name a few). Some of the carriers lock the cards to the network (I had one from Telstra here in australia and had to get it unlocked to use with my Optus sim).

If you want to go for prepaid with the card for data, just buy a sim card from the same company that is on the sim card included with the wireless card, of a prepaid type. Most, if not all of these wireless cards dont care what type of plan you are on, the only drawback of the provider issued cards is they are usually locked to the provider - but any of that providers sims will work, so you can use an AT&T Pay as you go sim, provided you can get data on that pay as you go sim.

 

Personally I far prefer the Sierra cards to the Dell/Ericsson ones. They seem to be more sensitive on the GPS side, and reliable when coming out of hibernation.

 

Agreed Paul-home

The one in my dell studio 15 will be transferred across to my XPS 15 or 17 (havent decided, but lugging a 17 is no problem for me - bigger backpack - can fit more junk into it LOL). Then again I might upgrade to a better, faster card.

A great way to get one of these cards CHEAP is to research your local providers USB stick models (e.g. wireless 3g broadband on a stick offers). These often contain no more than a HSDPA card with a usb to Mini PCI-e bridge. Yes often they are locked to the carrier, but if choose wisely, you'll end up with a good prepaid dataplan anyway, good signal etc. The bridge is no more than 4 wires to run to the usb port for data and power, and 2 or 3 lanes for the antenna, plus the 6 or 8 lanes wired up to a sim card slot. More advanced models also have lanes wired up to accept a transflash/microSD mini card, so you can use the stick as a removable thumb drive.

Once you have got the stick and verified it works, and am satisfied with the service provided, you rip the guts out of the usb stick, take out the Mini PCI-e card (which is often socketed!), put it in your laptop and then you dont have to carry a usb stick around / worry about it getting bumped and snapped off / leaving it behind somewhere. You then just visit sierre wireless (assuming its a sierra wireless brand card), and download the generic drivers for it.

I myself ripped open a telstra turbo 7 stick for the minipcie card, used DC-Unlocker to remove the lock (15 Euro) (telstra wasnt as good value when I got the card; as it is now) and installed it into the laptop (REALLY easy to do on a studio 15!).

The XPS 15 (L501x and L502x) both use the same chassis (edit: no not the same as the studio 15!), so its a bit trickier - you'll need to remove the battery, bottom cover, palmrest and keyboard to fit it. Expect to remove about 14 screws. I would order the TV tuner if you dont get the option to fit the aluminium TV/WWAN back, just to ensure Dell fits the antannae. You can always sell the TV tuner on ebay

Its worth the effort though - the card can be powered off when your not connected so it doesnt drain the battery any when your not using 3G; and then you have the added bonus of the GPS

 

Hmm - this sounds interesting.
A few questions if you please You mention ripping the USB stick apart to get the mini pci-e card. I've got an Unlocked Huawei E160 stick (not great but works fine). Is there a way to tell BEFORE ripping the stick up if it contains a compatible mini pci-e card?

Assuming it does, we get to the point of 'putting it in the laptop'. Now that sounds easy, but I'm sure there's more to it! Can you point me in the direction of any further information on how to do this? I'm comfortable opening up my Laptop XPS l502x to fit cards etc - just not sure about any wiring or soldering that needs to be done.

Does the sim card get installed at the same location as the mini pci-e card, or is there a separate slot for that?

Drivers - how do you know which drivers to install?

I'll be doing a bit of research on this and report back here with my findings, hope this is going to be possible.

Regards,

 

I dont think the e160 contains the minipci-e

Mostly ericsson, or seirra wireless are the ones that contain the minipci-e. IF the usb is less than 1.5 in wide, it will contain a usb dongle, and not a mini-pci-e on a converter card.

There is no soldering involved. The card just slips in like a wifi card, the hardest part is getting the blasted mmcx antennae connectors on