To make regular GSM/2G-voice calls (Not voice over IP), texts(sms) and 3G/4G-surfing with the Chuwi minibook I’m planning the following set-up:
1. VOICE SUPPORTED WWAN-CARD:
Installing an (expencive) ‘Voice supported’ unlocked Huawei ME909u-521 - 4G/LTE- 3G/HSPA DC LGA WWAN-card in the free M.2-2242 slot of the Chuwi-minibook.(see: https://techship.com/products/huawei-me909e/) Including some antenna’s.
2. CALLING SOFTWARE:
Installing the downloadable software ‘Mobile partner’ for Huawei-products wich supports the possibility to make and recieve regular phone calls on the Minibook.
3. SIM-CARD-reading
Unlucky there are not many WWAN cards with Voice support enabled. And there are no Voice support enabled WWAN cards with a SIM-card slot directly on the pcie-card available for the consumer maket at this time.
I have two possible options to explore:
3A. Putting the Huawei ME909u-521 WWAN card in a PCI-E Adapter with SIM Card-slot
Photo: mini-PCIE WWAN-card in mini PCIE-adaptor with SIM-card-slot (www.aliexpress.com/item/33042042400.html)
I’m sadly not sure if there is enough fysical room for the thickness of the adapter + de WWAN-card in the M.2-2242 slot bay of the Chuwi Minibook.
3B. Try making it possible to read the nano/micro SIM card through the TF/MicroSD-slot of the Chuwi Minibook.
So before possibly ordering a Chuwi Minibook I have these 4 questions:
Is the voice supported unlocked Huawei ME909u-521 WWAN card compatable with the Chuwi Minibook’s M.2-2242 slot, BIOS and chipset?
Is the Chuwi-Minibook’s M.2-2242-slot bay space large enough to fit the Huawei ME909u-521 WWAN-card AND the PCIE adapter with SIM-card slot?
Would it be possible to leave the PCIE adapter with SIM-card slot away and somehow use the TF/MicroSD-slot of the Chuwi Minibook to read a nano or micro SIM-card?
Are solutions like this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5KZALb_1oc or this www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIwHLOCFV2E only for hybrid TFcard slots or is the TF/MicroSD-slot of the Chuwi Minibook also a hybrid slot?
I would not like to have a permant external USB-device on my Chuwi Minibook for reading a sim-card/dongle.
Because this is unhandy and it would not take long before it would damage the ChuwiMinibooks-USB-slot because of the stress that comes from constant back and forth wriggling of the USB-device during transport and everyday use. Are there any other possibilities to install/implement a nano/micro-SIMcard reader into the Chuwi Minibook internaly or hidden away into a slot?
@Biosham Isn’t that just becaus you didn’t flip the PCIE-adapter with the SIM-slot to the bottom.
Are you saying that mini-PCIE-cards would not fit M.2-2242 slots?
This is more info about the M.2-slot form-factor I just found:
All M.2 drives use the same width determined by the connection. The “size” is expressed in the following format; check for compatibility with your laptop or motherboard when picking one out:
* **M.2 2230:** 22 millimeters wide by 30 millimeters long.
* **M.2 2242:** 22 millimeters wide by 42 millimeters long.
* **M.2 2260:** 22 millimeters wide by 60 millimeters long.
* **M.2 2280:** 22 millimeters wide by 80 millimeters long.
* **M.2 2210:** 22 millimeters wide by 110 millimeters long.
Some motherboards are flexible, offering mounting holes for the retention screw at some or all of these intervals.
### M.2 Key
While the M.2 standard uses the same 22 millimeter-wide slot for all cards, it’s not necessarily the exact same slot. Since M.2 is designed to be used with so many different kinds of devices, it has some frustratingly similar-looking ports.
* **B Key:** uses a gap in the right side of the card (left side of the host controller), with six pins to the right of the gap. This configuration supports PCIe x2 bus connections.
* **M Key:** uses a gap in the left side of the card (right side of the host controller), with five pins to the left of the gap. This configuration supports PCIe x4 bus connections for twice the data throughput.
* **B+M Key:** uses both of the above gaps, with five pins on the left side of the card and six on the right. Because of the physical design, B+M Key cards are limited to PCIe x2 speeds.
M.2 cards with a B Key interface can only fit into a B Key host slot, and likewise for M Key. But cards with a B+M Key design can fit in either a B or an M host slot, since they have gaps for both.
Check your laptop or motherboard specification to see which one is supported. We recommend seeing the documentation instead of “eyeballing” the slot, since the two key standards can be easily confused.
This is an other smaller pcie adapter-card with the SIM-card holder and WWAN-slot NOT on the same side. Wich I think would more likely fit in the M.2-2242
It seems you have a M.2 nvme-connector form factor and a M.2 ngff-connector form factor.
The Chuwi Minibook has a M.2 NVME-slot and the WWAN-cards and SIM adapters would need a M.2 NGFF or mini-PCIE slot to fit.
And there are no M.2 NVME to M.2 NGFF adapters but this would putting a WWAN card in a SIM-card holder adapter in a NVME to NGFF adapter. An adapter in a adapter would become to complex and not possible because there would be no physical space for it.
So the only possibility would be an outside voice supported USB WWAN dongle?
I now already use a 3G dongle with text(SMS), 3G-surfing and wifi-router capabilities in a 17 inch laptop. But it misses voice call support. The mobile operater is not the problem.
But bad drivers/software, COM-port problems and are also often an issue
Well lets hope CHUWI would put a voice supported WWAN+WLAN and simcard slot in a next version of the CHUWI Minibook.
