Home Brew WWAN Adapter install

[graye]

When I originally ordered my LE1700, I had intended to get it with the WWAN option (the cell phone-based wireless internet adapter). But I ended up getting an LE1700 without it... thinking that I would add that option later.

Little did I know that adding the WWAN card was not an after-market option... and that I'd have to send my unit in to get that option installed.

So, I did a little research and discovered that the WWAN option used by Motion Computing for the LE1700 is a "mini-PCIe" card (same form factor as the 802.11 wireless LAN card), and is made by Qualcomm and sold by Novatel (with Sprint as the provider). The Novatel part number is ESX-720. So, I thought I'd buy the WWAN card from an internet vendor and do a "self install" anyway. Well, that didn't work, as the WWAN card is not sold to end users.

Here's where it gets strange... remember I mentioned that the WWAN card is only sold to OEMs? So, I found that the mini-PCIe ESX-720 card is used *inside* a USB-based modem sold by Novatel. The part number for the USB modem is "Novatel Wireless Ovation U720". Obviously, they *do* sell the USB modem to end users.

So, you guessed it... I purchased a U720 through a Sprint authorized vendor, took it apart, removed th ESX-720 card that wasinside, and put that card in my LE1700. I now have built-in WWAN capability in my LE1700... and I'm loving it.

The cool part is that if you purchase the U720 through a on-line vendor, you can get it for about $50 (or perhaps even for free) when you sign up for a 2-year contract. Compare that to the $200 that Motion would have charged!

The vendor I used was 3GStore.com. They "provisioned" the modem for me, updated the firmware, provided a Vista driver disk... all for $7.20. I used the provisioning and disk option because I was already running Vista on my LE1700 and Sprint doesn't provide Vista drivers on their website.

There are a few "gotcha's" along the way

<UL>
<LI>Obviously I've voided the warranty on the U720
<LI>Disassembly requires a "star" T6 Torx screwdriver
<LI>Getting the two halves of the U720 apart was noteasy
<LI>The antenna leads were hard to get on
<LI>The initial "provisioning" of the modem must be done on a WinXP machine (although I had mine done by the vendor) </LI>[/list]
So, let's get started!

Here is what you get with a U720



The modem itself is quite large:



I did hook it up via the USB port to install the software and verify that it worked before taking it apart.

To make sure that the device receives sufficent power, it uses a "hydra head" USB cable... one providing signal and power, the other just power. (I didn't try it with just one cable ... or just plugged in directly)



OK, now that I've installed the software and verify that it works, it's time to take it apart! Disassembly requires a T6 Torx screw driver



OK, I'll admit that getting to two halves of the case apart wasn't easy. I had to use a kitchen knife along the seams with a "bumping action" using the palm of my hand. I think it came apart sufficiently clean enough that it could be reassembled if required.

There are two more T6 Torx screws holding the mini-PCIe card. Also, note the clearly marked antenna leads. The antenna leads come off by pulling on them straight up (using just your finger nails).




Finally we get to the toy inside



OK, so now it's time to put this mini-PCIe card into the LE1700. You should always completely shut down the tablet and remove the battery before doing anything like this.

The cover for where the WWAN adapter goes is shown below. The cover is secured with 2 normal "cross" phillips screws.



Once open, you'll see the location where the WWAN card will go (the upper card is the WLAN card). The antenna leads are taped down and have a little plastic tube to protect them.



The card is easy to install.. it goes in at a slight angle and is secured with 2 of the Torx screws used during the disassembly.

The markings on the LE1700 indicate that the grey/white lead is the "Main" and the grey/black lead in the "Aux" antenna. The connectors on the ESX-720 are clearly marked.

OK, I'll admit... I had a wee bit of trouble getting the antenna leads on. They snap on using just finger pressue (it's just that they are so darn tiny!)



Holding my breath... I turned on my LE1700, and was greeted with the Vista "Found new Hardware" notification. (Whew!)

Notice that it appears as "modem #2" since I had previously installed it under its USB form.



So, now I've got an EVDO "Rev A" WWAN card in my LE1700! Everything works as expected and I get about 650 kb/s download, 70 kb/s upload and about 150 ms Ping time. That's not bad for a WWAN adapter! BTW: I used www.speedtest.net for the speed testing.

I plan to do some more testing and report my findings... I'm kinda curious as to the effect on battery life, etc.
Edited by: graye

[Steve S]

Emmet: Great job and great posting!

[dpeters8445]

Awesome job! You can be my PC Doctor anytime!


Take care, Doug

[graye]

UPDATE

The WinXP-version of the Dashboard doesn't control turning on/off the power to the WWAN adapter. I wonder if the Vista version will work (whenever it's released by Motion)

[Northern_Rebel]

You could always disable/enable the WWAN adapter through Network Connections.

[cfcassidy]

When you say the WinXP version of Dashboard, do you mean Dashboard V5? Because I've got Dashboard V5 running on Vista and it shows the status of the WWAN on the wireless tab. I don't know if it will control it, since my current status is WWAN not found.

[graye]

cfcassidy: Yeah, that's what I get... the Dashboard v5 can't detect the WWAN card. Therefore it can't control the power to it.

[cfcassidy]

Maybe the new Bios will fix that??

[graye]

Nope, the new BIOS didn't change anything (Darn!)

I suspect we'll have to wait until the vista version of the dashboard

[graye]

Just a note... the new 5.0.1 (XP) version of the dashboard didn't fix the problem