WWAN module for ProBook4340s (un2430 or hs2350?)

[TheClaus]

Dear all,

I'd like to upgrade my old ProBook4340s with a WWAN-card for a travel.

On ebay are some used modules for little money available but I'm confused which one would be appropriate.

'Partsurfer.hp.com' lists both of them but 'HP quick-specs mobile broadband modules' (and an ebay vendor) list only the 2430 for my ProBook.

Can anybody please give me an advice on this?

Thank you

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

According to chapter 3 of the first edition service manual (May 2012), it lists these 2 cards as supported:

c03332148.pdf (hp.com)

Ericsson F5321 HSPA+ with GPS  668969-001 (HP hs2350)

Sierra MC8355 (Gobi3000) HSPA/CDMA   634400-001 (HP un2430)

And there is a second service manual (revised 1st edition from October 2012) that adds this card as supported:

c03531672.pdf (hp.com)

HP un2430 EV-DO/HSPA Mini Card 702080-001 (HP un2430 with a different part number).

I assume that you have already checked the WWAN compartment to confirm the antenna wires are there to connect to the card?

If so, then the only other thing that you must make sure you do is to only buy one of those cards with the HP part number showing on the 'Replace with HP Spare' label.

Since the notebook has a BIOS whitelist that would block the installation of any unsupported WWAN cards from working, you have to make sure the card has the HP part number on it.

Also note that none of the above cards have driver support for W10, so you will have to hope that the W8/W8.1 drivers from your notebook's support page will allow the cards to work.

[TheClaus]

Hi Paul_Tikkanen and thank you so much for your super-quick and super-detailed reply to my post!

Yes, I've checked the compartment and found the unconnected antenna wires.

I'll make sure to buy only a module with the proper HP number on it. Very good hint with the BIOS.whitelist, I didn't think of that.

And I'll risk it with the possible driver problem. After all it would be only a few dollars wasted.

Even if all soft- and hardware on my ProBook works it'll still be questionable if a local Sri Lankan SIM card uses the supported bands, right?

Keep up the good work 😉

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I believe that if you manually install the W8.1 driver (if the auto install method doesn't work), the driver will install, and the card should work.

I just can't remember.  I've helped a few folks get their older WWAN adapter drivers to work on W10 in the past.

As far as whether or not a specific carrier's sim card will work that I do not know.

I know here in the USA, I had an old Nokia 3G smartphone from 2012, and my cellular provider (AT&T) indicated that my phone would no longer work as of a certain date in 2022.  Had to be 4G capable or newer.  So, I had to upgrade the equipment.

[TheClaus]

Hi,

so I ordered, received and connected an Ericsson hs2350 with the part number 668969 printed on it.

- Automatically, no driver was installed by Win10pro.
- Manually, by Windows update I was offered a driver for such device but with the appendix "USB". I was hesitant because ist is actually not a USB device, right?, but installed that anyway to see what happens.
- Result was that in the device manager two yellow triangles remain for the 'Ericsson WWAN device' at the top but at the bottom under 'USB devices' an entry appeared which claimed that the device would function properly.
Is that possible? And would I need separate software for using the device or should all be included in the driver?
(please note: at the moment there is no SIM-card inserted)

In a further attempt to make the device manager look better I downloaded and installed the Win8.1 driver (sp66584) but when ordering Windows to search for this 'locally installed' driver from the corresponding path it still did not find a 'suitable' driver.

I checked the BIOS for any hints and encountered ticked checkboxes for 'integrated WWAN device' and 'WWAN quick-connect' (english translation may vary, I'm running a non-english system). I think these entries were not there before installation of the module so I assume that the BIOS and laptop have correctly recognized the module. So the module itself should not be the problem, I guess.

It's a long time ago I installed new hardware (obviously) so I'd appreciate any advice that points me in the right direction. Thanks! 🙂

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

I believe that you need to run this driver at the link below (sp63292) and then manually install any uninstalled devices if the auto install method doesn't work.

This driver installer package contains the drivers for the Ericsson HP hs2350 Mobile Broadband module for Microsoft Windows 8. This package is available for supported notebook models that are running a supported operating system.

HP ProBook 4340s Notebook PC Software and Driver Details

The driver you installed (sp66584) does not indicate that it provides driver support for the Ericsson hs2350 WWAN adapter.

This driver installer package contains the drivers for the Ericsson HP hs2320/hs2330/lc2000/lc2010/hs2340 Mobile Broadband modules.

HP EliteBook 2570p Notebook PC Software and Driver Details

Perhaps that will make a difference, and then when you insert the SIM card in the slot, you will be good to go.

[TheClaus]

Thanks again for your quick response Paul,

I'll try what you recommend tomorrow,

but my hopes are getting low because the driver (sp66584) I installed was indeed said to be for the hs2350 (see below link)

https://support.hp.com/soar-attachment/420/col32007-ob-135523-1-ob-135523-1_sp66584.html

(The said model is stated as well in the description as in the section of 'supported devices', but ok, they don't speak of my laptop model)

Anyway, I don't give up yet

If all fails I still can install Windows 8 on a spare SSD and change to it before I start the travel :-))

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I guess that you will have to hope for the best.

Did you try the forced install by selecting the 'Let me pick from a list of drivers on my computer,' click on Have Disk and browse to the specific setup information file that may have support for the hardware ID's that aren't installing?

If you aren't aware of what I am referring to, see this link for how to find the hardware ID for a device.

How to Find Drivers for Unknown Devices in the Device Manager (howtogeek.com)

Every device has a unique hardware ID and the only chance a driver has for installing is if the setup information file has driver support for that ID.

Sometimes, just browsing to the driver folder doesn't always work.

[TheClaus]

It works!

After inserting a SIM card I noticed the new button for 'mobile connection'. (I'm sure it was there already after the first driver installation but I didn't check properly)
Unlocking the SIM by entering the PIN and it was ready to run...eh, I mean...ready to crawl 🙂 The speed it showed was E (Edge) which is REALLY slow. It should be capable of HSPA+ though. The very same SIM-card put in my router delivered more than 100 times the speed of the Ericsson module 🙂
I'll continue to check what is the reason but this is no longer a topic for this HP forum, I guess. Overall, technically, it works.

Thanks also for your advice on how to pay attention to the Hardware-ID when installing wayward devices. I'll make use of this knowledge against another long term yellow triangle in my device manager 🙂

best regards!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.

That is great news the WWAN card you bought works on W10.

Yes, unfortunately I don't know a thing about mobile broadband or how it works, etc., as far as improving speed.

I always figured that the stronger the signal strength the better the speed is, just like Wi-Fi.

You could certainly start a new discussion on this forum regarding the slow speed issue.

Maybe there's a chance someone has some ideas you can try.

Cheers,

Paul