4G Solderless SIM

Guest

Messing around with pfSense 3G and 4 G card and have migrated off specialty hardware with the help of these. Can be found on ebay as well. Very unique solution for older boxes without SIM support.

http://www.amazon.com/Solderless-Sim-Socket-Holder-PCI-E/dp/B00MURU94I

Guest

What is really sad is that i offered some co-workers -whose personal machines i maintain- an cheap Cell modem upgrade, Out of 5 poeples devices I checked only one had and empty mini pci-e slot. The rest the manufacture has the solder pads for the socket but non-WWAN owners got no socket. How much could the mini-pci-e socket cost the manufacturer. I would seem just the cost of two separate inventories would make that ineffective. Heck IBM just BIOS whitelists what they want to run on their laptops. Reminds me of the good old MCA slot days…If things are working too good throw a monkey wrench into it.

A Former User

Phishfry,

I am looking to add a WWAN card to my build on (most likely) the T-mobile (USA) network. My motherboard (and the one I am looking to upgrade too) does not have a SIM slot on the board. Are you suggesting the link above solves that problem? How has your experience been?

My goal is a highly available system that can fail over to the WWAN link for VoIP.

When I look up the compatible PCIe cards from the list, some sites show a SIM slot on the card, where the actual photo on eBay does not. Do any of them actually come with a SIM slot built in? Aside from the Netgate APU and some specialty boards, do any mainstream motherboards for an Intel based system have a SIM slot? I was really hoping to use a Supermicro Atom board.

Guest

No i have not seen alot of mainstream boards with SIM slots. I may have offered bad advice to another user so I want to watch what I say. There are so many hardware variables it makes it hard to offer advice.
Computers that i know work with pfSense Sierra Wireless MC7700 with Native SIM support and a Mini-PCIe slot:

Advantech Ark1388V
Nexcom VTC6110
Commell LS-574
Habey BIS-6624
Vyatta 600 aka Lanner FW7535

Boards i used the above two sided tape SIM adapter with: Various laptops in Windows

In pfSense:
Aopen DE5100 - No SIM -2 mini-pci-e
Used this SIM adapter here:MM3U-DB3U
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321630468105

If your using a desktop board consider the Routerboard RB14eu.
http://routerboard.com/RB14eU

Guest

Found an ATOM board for you. Only board on Newegg with a SIM. Not guaranteed to work but i see the specifications looks correct and Habey BIS-6625 does work with Sierra wireless modules..Only drawback for me is the other Mini slot is mSATA.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813499002

Realtek onboard and only x1 PCIe slot make this a no go for me.

I like how Habeys spec's makes it clear what works here unlike other manufacturers.
1x mini-PCIe with USB + SIM

This means it will probably work with Sierra modules and others(especially older supported 3G modules).

Please don't run out and buy one on my advice. I was just trying to show the rareness of these boards. Please contact Habey and see if they have recommended 34/4G modules before investing in anything. I don't even know if pfSense would run on it. I suspect it would.

A Former User

Thanks for the info and research!

For my build, I think I might try the RouterBoard + Sierra Wireless MC7700.

I am a few weeks from committing to it so I'll keep researching and will post details about my build.

Guest

With the Routerboard rb14eu there are 2 usb headers. Each with 2 usb interfaces. Each slot used for 3G/4G on RB14eu requires a usb interface for the Sierra's cards i know.(cables and both LP and regular backplates included). I have not tried tried dual WWAN yet. I did have dual Atheros on one side and a MC7700 on the other on a mini-itx board. Had to move some of the rp-sma pigtails off to another backplate. Only room for 5 pigtails on rb14. More holes but they interfere with removal of card.

Guest

Found another SIM adapter with SD card as well… Untested but should work. Wish these guys made X86 hardware. Only 4 miniPCI-e slot boards i have found.

http://shop.gateworks.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=70&product_id=146

Guest

Have a desktop adapter on the way. Sim slot onboard.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291288795115

Complete with usb interface for Sierra MC7700 and other usb/serial modems

Update: This seller took 2 weeks to get a tracking number. Avoid and pay a few dollars more from other sellers. This was the cheapest seller and it shows.

Guest

I also wanted to state this fact. If your MiniPCIe slot does not have "USBtype"-MiniPCIe interface -some of these adapters will not work… They use the same physical interface but with different electrical signaling. Also these SIM adapters will not work in M-SATA type Mini-PCIe slots either. So really they work best in laptops where manufacturer left out sim slot on thier non-WWAN models.