Aftermarket 3G mini PCIe

Can anyone tell me if there is a connector slot on the linux 8gb SSD one for mini-PCIe to connect to a 3g wan card if purchased aftermarket i found a 3g card i'd like to put in but if there is no connector on the mobo for it ...



Thanks in advance

 

what i see is no slot...
but there is spaces for placing the module,just missing the slot..
CMIIW,slot for wifi on motherboard is the same like 3g module have..

 

My bad I am not looking for a slot but rather a connect for a mini-PCIe cable to connect to the 3g WAN module as the early ONE's have the space but no cable connect i want to know if we get a cable if there is a connect on the mobo

 

I'm not sure what you are meaning here.

A mini PCIe card fits into a Mini PCIe slot, not connected via a cable.

There is a slot on the One's motherboard, but that is being used by the wifi card. There is a place on the motherboard where it looks like a slot could be soldered on, and there is space in the case for a card.

Once you have the hardware sorted out, you would still have to deal with getting the software configured.

 

Upon further view maybe it is a slot on the board which us early adopters dont have :cry:

 

Yup, the slot isn't there on mine. There are pads on the motherboard in place to solder the white slot housing to, and the plastic bits in the enclosure to support a card are there. It's annoying, as I was expecting the slot to be fully functional before I bought it.

 

Hum.. is there any USB data signals in the pinout of the board's pads (? This could be used for an internal USB port for installing an USB 3G stick inside the computer case, or a bluetooth adapter...

acording to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express_Mini_Card
and:
http://www.interfacebus.com/Mini_PCI_Express_Bus.html

it looks like we have usb 2.0 in there also

The problem would be to remove the SIM from inside the computer.

 

You and me both man I am really upset acer would do this like "punish the early adopters" I wont buy another Acer

 

Yup, there should be. USB Data is part of the MiniPCIe spec. The only issue is that USB power is 5V but Mini PCIe only provides 3.3V power lines. You need to wire in a small voltage step-up.

Considering my electronics knowledge only goes so far as making a circuit and reading pin-outs and voltage labels and that my soldering skills are non-existant, I'm going to put in a bit of practise before dropping huge blobs of molten solder across the main-board. It is definately a project I intend to do at some point though.

These things are clearly designed to be made as cheaply as possible - if they can save a few pennies by not providing a slot on devices that don't have a gsm modem, then so be it. They have not been designed for expansion (nowhere on any spec sheet or ACER marketing did it say 'empty mini PCIe slot) - they are what they are but crucially, they have not been designed to keep people out. It is possible for manufacturers to go out of their way to make things difficult to customise (look at Apple) but Acer have not done this. They haven't put in stairs to help us climb the mountain, but equally, they haven't greased the surface either.

Besides, all early adopters take a leap of faith and rarely get a device that is exactly as imagined.

 

I just checked I do not have a white connection block on mine. I was wondering I have a A110 from Hong Kong and the white connection block is there is that because there is no 3g internet there? as said before the A110 and A150 slight differences but I was wondering if all A150's had that white connection block there.

Darren

 

The main problem I see with this at the moment is the high price of the mini PCI HSDPA modems.

The only ones I could find on eBay were about £170. This is very expensive compared to USB modems which can be bought for less than £30.

If anyone knows of a source of cheap mini PCI HSDPA modems, please let us know.

 

Ebay search returned this

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Dell-5520-AT-T-Mobil ... dZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DELL-Wireless-552 ... 0271737147

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DELL-Wireless-552 ... 0253094906

Enjoy

 

Thanks, I clearly wasn't using the right search terms when I searched on eBay. This is still not that cheap but may well be worth it compared to the risk of making a mess of a hardware hack.

Is the SIM holder that is built into the One externally accessible? I already have a HSDPA account with T-Mobile, but they (in common with all the UK mobile telcos I have asked) won't give duplicate SIMs so I shall have to go through the tedious process of swapping my SIM from machine to machine on a regular basis :x .

 

Well as for the sim slot yes it accessible via slot behind the battery, problem is no connector soldered to the motherboard you'd have to solder one yourself.

 

I have the mini-PCI E connector - does anyone want to use it to attach/solder it to the main board?

 

I know tnkgrl (see tnkgrl.wordpress.org) is planning to do this but she hasn't actually done so yet.

I expect she'll put up a video when she does - she has put up some useful ones so far. I'm particularly interested in her forthcoming 3G mod.

 

I have an A150 picked up from BestBuy last week that shows an MFG date of 0808 and mine does not have the white connector, just a space where it should be.

 

It's not only miniPCI connector. Also SIM card holder is missing. Picture below showing empty space for "something" but it's corresponding with slot behind battery - I believe it's missing SIM card holder...

http://picasaweb.google.it/FFurcas/AA1# ... 4086801506

 

Does any one know the exact Part number to order
for the miniPCI-E and the SIM card holder ?
With right height and spacing ?

Also does anyonw know if the other parts of the motherbaord are still present ?
aka controller and other smts, will the miniPCIE and Sim Holder work ones reatached ?

 

http://www.imperial-connect.com/products/sim/SIMS60.pdf
This is the only sim holder I found that is suitable but imperial only sells them 600pc / order.

The mini pci-e doesn't seem that difficult to find.
http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?qs=ql1K%2bkDau3r92%2b6uml49TA==
this one seems to be a good candidate since it has a 5.9mm height. From what a measured off mine a 6.5mm height would be good but 1/2 a mm can't be that bad.

I have not ordered mine yet as I'm still trying to find a sim holder. So I can't tell you for sure if it will work or not.