In alt.windows7.general, on Wed, 23 Aug 2017 11:38:50 +0100, Java Jive
wrote:

On Wed, 23 Aug 2017 00:50:24 -0400, Paul
wrote:

micky wrote:

Thanks for a great answer.

Didn't respond to your posts as I didn't see them directly, perhaps
I've plonked you in the past. Be that as it may, as it happens I've
just been through all this with a used Dell Precision M4300, and FWIW

That was one of the ones that both of the first two cards fit.

my advice is not to bother, and just get an appropriate 4G USB dongle
instead ...

You convinced me. I see that one says the internal antenna is enough
and another one of them in a question says it can take an external
antenna. Is that usually worth it?

One has a slot for an SD card, but it seems to me, everything can be
stored on the laptop, which also has an SD slot.



The rest is just fyi, since you've convinced me.

First, was the laptop built for the UK, the US, or elsewhere, and are
you still in the same country? Don't buy a card built for a laptop
from another country - IME, just doesn't work.

Laptop probably built in the US but I haven't looked. How they can have
eight hundred used 5530 cards in China, I don't know, but if they are r
really second-hand, I suspect none have ever been to the US.

Second, ensure you can get Dell drivers for it, that is genuine Dell
from the Dell site. Even though they are buying in external hardware
from OEM chip firms such as Sierra, Dell and some other manufacturers
implement their own hardware IDs, and other drivers, even from the OEM
manufacturer, may not work as expected.

I found Dell driver and dashboard for both the 5530 and 5600.

Third, ensure that the PCB connector fitting is the same. The laptop
PCB probably expects a Mini PCI-E Express, while some modern cards
have M2 fittings - confusingly described as M.2 PCIe but this is not
the same, worse there are several variants in the M2 standard with the
number and positions of the gaps in the connectors being different.
Get it wrong, and you'll end up having to buy an adaptor cradle.

I did notice that two similar cards did't have the same numbers of gold
fingers. I tried to count the positions in my sockets but I should have
more light and a pointer. Nonetheless, 5530's are said to be
compatible.

Fourth, ensure that the aerial connections are the same. This is an
equally confusing area, as the fittings are very small, and those that
I would call male and female respectively, based on their actual
shape, are often referred to by the opposite terms in much, perhaps
most, of the product technical literature. Even worse, there are at
least two different sizes in use, and the difference between them is
not obvious unless and until you see them side by side under a
magnifying glass, let alone from photos, and the actual fitting size
may not even be included in technical product data.

Wow.

The aerials in the lid of a Precision M4300 are IPX U.FL while those
on, say, a Sierra EM73xx are MHF4.

Wow. How could I ever know that without you.

The connections are so small that even if you are certain that you
have the right ones, I would advise wearing watchmaker-style
magnifying glasses to make the connections, otherwise you could end up
damaging one or other or both.

Wow.

Even if you get all this right, it still may not work.

LOL

A minefield, stay clear.

I'm convinced. And I can transfer it from one laptop to the next.


As for your other questions, I disagree with other advice you have
received. While there is certainly merit in the attitude "If it ain't
broke, don't fix it", especially if starting out with a new build, as
far as hardware is concerned install the latest drivers from the
manufacturer's site. The likely problems a

! What order is best to install them - Dell's site commonly has
advice on that.

I'll look. I haven't used the laptop much. Still have to install my
software. Maybe when I use it I'll find something lacking.

! Their site is not very good at displaying ALL the drivers that may
be required, even when you enter the Service Tag, you may still have
to search to find some of them.

I think I noticed that.

Thanks. I almost ordered one fo them today (yesterday. I was sick last
night) but was busy with other stuff. You've saved me.