Does anyone know if Linux can use a SIM in a Lenovo T430?

[Chris Green]

I have a Lenovo T430 with Ubuntu 16.04, it's an excellent little laptop.

Does anyone know if Linux can use the SIM slot in this laptop for data
and/or for making calls? If so what software might I need to install?

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Chris Green
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[Chris Whelan]

Have you checked for the presence of a WWAN card? (The SIM slot is present
in all T430's, but the card needs to be there so you can utilise it.)

You can check by removing the RAM cover - two screws on the underside.

If there is a card there, the chances are fair to middling that it will be
supported in Linux. Setting these up seems to be a bit hot-or-miss, but
support is pretty good now.

Chris

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Remove prejudice to reply.

[Chris Elvidge]

Get a 50p SIM from ASDA and try it?


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Chris Elvidge, England

[Daniel James]

In article <16cqpd-...@esprimo.zbmc.eu>, Chris Green wrote:
> Does anyone know if Linux can use the SIM slot in this laptop for
> data and/or for making calls? If so what software might I need to
> install?

You can't generally make voice calls (apart from VOIP, etc) with a
laptop, but if you have the hardware installed you should be able to use
it to get online.

The SIM slot is wired to the expansion card bay, where there may or may
not be a mini-PCIe cellular modem card. I'm not sure what card you'd
find ... various models were fitted, usually Ericsson or Sierra, I
think. It may be 3G or 4G/LTE depending on the model.

These are pretty well supported by Linux, and should work out of the
box. You might need to download a firmware file. It depends on the card
you have.

If there is no card there, you can probably get a second-hand one fairly
cheaply. The wiring should all be present -- just plug it in and attache
the two wires from the antenna that will be evident in the card bay (the
antenna is installed around the screen). Be aware, though, that you'll
have to get a modem that is certified for use with that model of
Thinkpad, otherwise the BIOS may reject it.

I've used internal cellular modems (though not the models that the T430
probably works with) with Ubuntu 16.04 without any difficulty (except
that the Huawei cellular card in my T460p doesn't recognize one
particular '3' SIM card, for reasons that it is beyond my ability to
debug).

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Cheers,
Daniel.

[Chris Green]

Thanks, lots of useful information. I guess it's suck it and see
time! :-)

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Chris Green
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