Will Integrated Mobile Broadband (Ericsson F5521gw) on Lenovo X220 work?

[veriton]

I have an 18 month contract for Vodafone mobile broadband and am buying a new Lenovo laptop (preferred supplier, probably an X220). It has an integrated "Ericsson F5521gw" option and will run Windows 7 64-bit.

Does anyone know if this will work with my Vodafone SIM? It's quite a new card and I can't find any references to it on the eForum. The Lenovo has some bundled utility software called Think Vantage Access Connections which is supposed to support the card. After my experiences with VMC/VMB I'm kind of thinking it can't be much worse (famous last words!).

<fantasy>I would like to think I can plug my SIM into the laptop, it would recognise the Vodafone network and would just work</fantasy>

Anyone had any experiences of this type of set up (good, bad or ugly!)? TIA!

Simon

[veriton]

Well, it looks as though Lenovo and Vodafone launched bundled package in 2008 - there's a support page here:

http://help.vodafone.co.uk/system/selfservice.controller?CMD=BROWSE_TOPIC&PARTITION_ID=1&CONFIGURATI...

This page suggests you use the Access Connections too:

http://help.vodafone.co.uk/system/selfservice.controller?CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&PARTITION_ID=1&CONFIGURATI...

The main eForum post in this area appears to be:

http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Mobile-Broadband/Built-in-Broadband-W-Lenovo-X200/td-p/299988/highlig...

There seems to be a lot of woe on that post a year ago but around the free 30-day trial activation rather than the technology. The offer has finished, e.g. adding the built-in mobile broadband adaptor to a Lenovo now costs you £95.

It would be nice to hear if anyone has had good experiences of mobile broadband on Lenovo though...

[veriton · Accepted solution]

Here's an update for anyone considering an Lenovo laptop with built-in 3G (or WWAN as it's sometimes called):

I recently bought an X220 with Ericsson F5521gw and Windows 7 64 bit. Vodafone mobile broadband works well on it:

• The broadband reception seems much better than when I used to use my K3805-Z (or before that E172) dongle, presumably due to having a larger antenna in the lid.
• I didn't need to install VMC or VMB (hurray!) - the Lenovo Access Connections has a Setup Wizard which has an "Other" dropdown list but Vodafone isn't on it - that doens't seem to matter as Windows 7 found a "vodafone UK" connection fine.
• If your account doesn't have administrator rights to the PC that's not a problem after the initial configuration (i.e. it asks you for an admin account when you first set it up but not in day to day use).
• The X220 user manual shows the SIM card the wrong way up! In fact the cut-off corner has to be visible and the card doesn't push right in - it sticks out about 3mm into the battery compartment (not the greatest design but once you know it's fine).
• Windows7 has integrated the mobile broadband stuff which means some software that hasn't been updated doesn't work. In particular even the latest version of Cisco VPN Client (5.0.07.0440 at the time of writing this) WON'T WORK with 3G. There are workarounds though I'm waiting for Cisco to do an update. For an excellent explanation see http://www.customsoftwareframeworks.com/blog/fix-vpn-problems-cellular-win7

Overall I'm delighted with the Lenovo X220 - as a business laptop it's pretty near perfect and having built-in 3G is very convenient. A few other X220 pointers for anyone interested: you can't have an mSATA SSD with the built-in 3G as it uses the same slot, you can only have a webcam with a 2x2 (not 3x3 wireless antenna) due to space constraints and the SATA-III disk drive has to be 7mm high which is currently hard to find as SSD (probably changing over the next 6 months - there are various posts about squeezing a 9.5mm SSD in online).

[mbloch]

Hi There,

Thanks for the helpful input.  I have the X220i Thinkpad and the Ericsson F5521GW within.  I have tried 2 different Vodafone cards and a BT card all of which I have used previously with a USB dongle without any problems.  Now when trying the cards within the Lenovo it goes through the process as you described and when you submit with 'other' in the drop down menu it then says it will take 24 hours to 48 hours to activate and nothing further happens. Any ideas?

thank you

mark

[veriton]

I can't quite remember but I think this "Other" bit is actually irrelevant. With Win7 and the Lenovo stuff it just started working (shortly afterwards) - it just shows up as "vodafone 3G" or "vodafone GPRS" under the Networking task bar icon and you can right click to connect. Note: I may have gone into Lenovo Access Connections as an administrator user too, though it just found Vodafone - I didn't have to put in my SIM number or anything like that.

Note: I'm assuming if you've got this far your SIM has been recognised (inserting it the right way was not obvious).

[mbloch]

Thanks for responding so quickly.  I initially had had the same problem of putting the sim card in the wrong way but managed to work that one out by trial and error.  Still does not recognise it as Vodafone though.  The only other thing that may be influencing it though is that both my Vodafone and BT sim cards are pay as you go and not on a monthly tarrif (not sure if this could be a reason)?

thanks

mark

[veriton]

I don't know - I'm on a monthly (business) tariff.

Given that your latop is definitely recognising the SIM, and that Windows7 has mobile broadband built-in (i.e. no need for VMC/VMB which adds another layer of complexity) I would have hoped that someone from Vodafone will chip in here, or else try calling their technical support. Hopefully they can at least tell you for sure whether it *should* work with your package, and then see what is happening to your account when your PC is running.

Good luck

Simon

[mbloch]

thanks Simon, appreciate your help.

All the best

Mark

[mbloch]

Sorry Simon

Was meaning to ask you.  With your 3G card and SIM working fine, does it switch between them automatically if you move out of wifi range and need 3G or do you manually need to switch between the 2.

all the best

mark

[veriton]

Errm - to be honest I'm not quite sure!

I think whenever it sees a wifi AP it recognises it switches to that (if wireless radio is on), presumably something to do with Access Connections, but generally I switch off the radio I don't need, to save power (though the current version of the Lenovo utilities seem to do that automatically if you don't connect using a certain radio).

On my X40 I disabled the Access Connections/location stuff as I found it confusing. I generally know what network I want & switch to it manually. That said I haven't disabled it on my X220 and don't really notice it's there - should probably look into setting it up properly sometime. I think you need to have admin rights to add in new locations.

Not sure that helped much...

Simon