Manual Mobile Broadband Activation Assistance

Summary: This article provides information about how to obtain the mobile broadband card International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number for activation.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

No symptom information is available.

Cause

No cause information is available.

Resolution

IMEI Number

To manually activate, Mobile Broadband (MMB) or Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) cards you must obtain the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number for the card. Below are instructions to obtain the IMEI number with the use of the Command Prompt.

  1. For Windows 10, press the Windows + X keys. Click Command Prompt (Admin) to open in Administrator mode.

    Command Prompt Options
    Windows 10 Command Prompt Options
     
  2. To find the device information for a device on your local system, use the following command in the Command Prompt: netsh mbn show interface
    Press the Enter key.

    netsh mbn show interface Command.
    Windows 10 Command Line netsh mbn Command
     
  3. The device id is the IMEI number.

    Command Prompt Device ID.
    Windows 10 Command Line Network Information, Device ID
     

If the WWAN Service is disabled, a message displays in the Command Prompt: "Mobile Broadband Service (wwansvc) is not running."

(wwansvc) Not Running
Windows 10 Command Line WWANSVC Not Running
 

Option 1 to start the service:

  • Activate the service with a Command Prompt command.
  • Open Command Prompt again and type: net start wwanSvc
    Press the Enter key.

Option 2 to start the service:

  • Activate the service in the Services menu.
  • Open Command Prompt again and type: services.msc
    Press the Enter key.
  • Find "WWAN AutoConfig."

    WWAN AutoConfig Service
    Windows 10 Services Information
     
  • Double-click the WWAN Service entry and it should open the WWAN Service general tab.

    WWAN Service General Tab
    Windows 10 Device Service General
     
  • Change the Startup Type to: Automatic.
  • Click the Start Button.
  • Once the service successfully starts, retry the "netsh mbn show interface" from the command prompt to capture the IMEI number.
Note: Without the IMEI number, the activation cannot occur. The next option (not recommended as it may introduce further complications) is to open the battery and system cover to find the IMEI number sticker.

You can now contact your carrier (Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, so forth) to activate the card.

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Affected Products

Dell Wireless 5505-Vodafone Mobile Broadband (3G HSDPA) Mini-Card, Dell Wireless 55XX-Cingular Mobile Broadband (3G HSDPA) Mini-Card, Dell Wireless 57XX-Sprint Mobile Broadband (CDMA EV-DO) Mini-Card , Dell Wireless 57XX-TELUS Mobile Broadband (CDMA EV-DO) Mini-Card, Dell Wireless 57XX-Verizon Mobile Broadband (CDMA EV-DO) Mini-Card ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000130127
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 11 Nov 2025
Version:  7
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