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Njemtc

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Njemtc

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February 5th, 2019 13:00

Adding WLAN?

I have a 5290 2-in-1 but it does not have the sim card slot, and I assume no WLAN card inside. Could I buy a WLAN card (ebay or something) and install it (I have no problem with working in a laptop or tablet)? Then I guess it would need to read a sim. Can the sim slot be added or install the sim internally or some other way to get it on my verizon service? Thanks.

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  • jphughan

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    Posted February 5th, 2019 13:00

    First, just because it may create confusion later, WLAN is Wi-Fi. Cellular service from Verizon would be WWAN. To answer your question, looking at the Owner’s Manual for that system on support.dell.com, there’s a section for removing and replacing the “antenna module”, which appears to be what you’d need, in addition to the SIM slot. However, getting to that requires disassembling quite a bit of the system, and it also assumes that you already have antennas routed to the module, and if your system didn’t come with a module installed, you might not have antennas. If you’re sure you want to attempt disassembling all of the components indicated in the manual to get to the antenna module. However, I’ve been tinkering around in PCs for about 20 years now, and having worked in today’s varieties of extremely thin and light systems and hated it, I personally would probably prefer to just tether to my phone instead of attempting everything described in the manual. The potential for breaking something is just very high these days.

    Of course all of that doesn’t even address getting a SIM slot that you would also need. If your system doesn’t even have that slot, my guess is there’s no cost-effective way to add one. The manual specifically notes that SIMs can only be installed with systems that shipped with WWAN. And even after all that, it actually isn’t even clear to me that the antenna module is actually the WWAN card itself. It might literally just be an antenna setup, but in that case, since there’s no mention of a separate WWAN card in the manual, chances are that the WWAN card would be embedded onto the motherboard, in which case you’re stuck.

  • nyc10036

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    Posted February 5th, 2019 14:00


    @Njemtc wrote:

    I have a 5290 2-in-1 but it does not have the sim card slot, and I assume no WLAN card inside. Could I buy a WLAN card (ebay or something) and install it (I have no problem with working in a laptop or tablet)? Then I guess it would need to read a sim. Can the sim slot be added or install the sim internally or some other way to get it on my verizon service? Thanks.


    https://www.verizonwireless.com/internet-devices/verizon-global-modem-usb730l/?sku=sku2540056

  • Njemtc

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    Posted February 5th, 2019 17:00

    You're right I was using the wrong term. I'm wanting to add Wireless WAN not WIreless LAN. I was hoping the WWAN capability was just an add-in card that just wasn't present in ones sold without it. Doesn't sound likely to be the case.

     

  • Njemtc

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    Posted February 5th, 2019 17:00

    Thanks for the link but I'd rather just use a hot spot. My target here was to get it into the system.

     

  • Njemtc

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    Posted February 5th, 2019 18:00

    You're right I said WLAN when I meant WWAN. I was hoping it was just an addable module. Doesn't really sound like it. Thanks.