It would be great if such a module would be available! I am also forced to use the mobile network every day; and I tried using my phone as a hotspot, I lasted for two weeks before I bought a dongle, and now carry that around all the time. Having it built in would be a lifesaver.
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Absolutely.
Iād prefer a space for an internal modem with wiring to antennae in the display bezel.
There are two reasons for this:
These new 5G modems draw quite a lot of power when the cell signal is poor and thus need better thermal dissipation.
It will be hard to put a decent 2x2 MIMO antenna in the expansion card housing.
I would definitely pay the addional $$ for a 5G WWAN card ENGINEERED for the machine (antenna in the Bezel, sufficient space and connectors internal to the device, etc.).
This feature is one of the reasons that, in my small business, weāve stayed with Lenovo for so long.
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Is there any interest in a low-cost LTE CAT1 modem that fits entirely within an expansion module? CAT1 is limited to 10mbps down, but small modem modules are available that will actually fit inside the expansion bay without sticking out. For me this would be very useful, even at the limited speeds. Yeah, Iād love 5G, but there just isnāt anything that will fit that Iāve found. To do a project like this, Iād need to have assured minimum orders, so would probably do a kickstarter.
Making something totally internal is also very difficult, as there just isnāt space for anything plug-and-play unless you ditch Wifi. The antennas are also a big issue with the aluminum chassis.
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Hereās a size comparison between the LTE Cat 1 module and the expansion module. Thereās enough room for the module, a Micro SIM slot and a small strip antenna:
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I would be very interested in a cellular card. Being tethered to my phone is fine if I am just working on my laptop. However, I often need to be both on my phone and laptop at the same time. When that occurs, tethering to my phone is not pleasant experience.
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Thanks, but sadly I donāt think I can afford to build it without at least several hundred sales to get the economy of scale up to the level where itās affordable. Not having an internal or expansion card modem has been my biggest complaint coming from Lenovo. Iām sure this is hurting sales from a lot of corporate IT depts.
I make do with a plug-in USB modem now, but itās annoying, and I often donāt have it with me when I suddenly need it. Even a Cat1 modem that can live in an expansion bay would be a lifesaver!
If a card already fits within the footprint, even if slightly longer then the slot depth, it mightbe convenient to design a 3D printed shell for it to give it stability and protection. Then you can get away with only printing one for yourself and sharing what card and components its designed for. No economy of scale issues there.