Whoops! Sorry, Dell (somewhat)
Sooo .... that SIM-locked Dell 5530 HSPA Mini-PCI-E card?
It's not SIM-locked. It (actually a rebranded Ericsson F307G) is just incompatible with a HUGE variety of SIM cards. It appears to be deeply confused by anything with a voice service attached, and by some data-only SIMs as well.
Ericsson REALLY need to release a firmware update for this card. The older Dell 5520 (internally a Sierra Wireless HSDPA modem of some flavour) is compatible with every SIM I've ever tried it with, and "just works", so I know the SIMs _can_ be made to work.
I'm still well and truly steamed that I spent two days being call-dumped, transfered randomly to the wrong people without explanation or warning, and generally screwed around. That's a separate issue, though; the hardware is OK, and I *know* that Dell's call centre is a screaming hell-hole, just like most other OEMs.
(I actually give Apple a little credit here - they're marginally less crap than most of the others. However, the technical knowledge of their service reps tends to range from poor to abominable, so while you can easily get to talk to someone, they tend to be frickin' useless).
Soo.... I have a working cellular broadband card, and two days of wasted time. Sigh. I have an XPS support rep by the name of Angel Ibarra to thank for keeping me sane, though, since she actually took the issue on and stuck with it rather than dismissing/ignoring it or ditching me. It's great to run into good people in otherwise poor environments.
It's not SIM-locked. It (actually a rebranded Ericsson F307G) is just incompatible with a HUGE variety of SIM cards. It appears to be deeply confused by anything with a voice service attached, and by some data-only SIMs as well.
Ericsson REALLY need to release a firmware update for this card. The older Dell 5520 (internally a Sierra Wireless HSDPA modem of some flavour) is compatible with every SIM I've ever tried it with, and "just works", so I know the SIMs _can_ be made to work.
I'm still well and truly steamed that I spent two days being call-dumped, transfered randomly to the wrong people without explanation or warning, and generally screwed around. That's a separate issue, though; the hardware is OK, and I *know* that Dell's call centre is a screaming hell-hole, just like most other OEMs.
(I actually give Apple a little credit here - they're marginally less crap than most of the others. However, the technical knowledge of their service reps tends to range from poor to abominable, so while you can easily get to talk to someone, they tend to be frickin' useless).
Soo.... I have a working cellular broadband card, and two days of wasted time. Sigh. I have an XPS support rep by the name of Angel Ibarra to thank for keeping me sane, though, since she actually took the issue on and stuck with it rather than dismissing/ignoring it or ditching me. It's great to run into good people in otherwise poor environments.