Dell sells this card and it’s supposed to have GPS in it. Only, it doesn’t seem to. The help in the Dell Mobile Broadband Card Utility tells you how to use the GPS option in the tools menu, and/or the GPS Status button in the card manager. So here’s the card manager:
I don’t see me no GPS Status button. I contacted Dell tech support a few times over the last few months, and they eventually refer me to Sprint, which is ludicrous since Sprint a> sucks, b> doesn’t have customer support to speak of c> doesn’t support this card. I tried once.
So lo and behold on my final chat session with tech support tonight, the one where I’m planning on getting mad and demanding 40% of my purchase price refunded for false advertising, the man in India types these magic words: “The Dell Mobile Broadband Card Utility (DMBCU) determines the presence of GPS software when the software is installed.” Aha. Aha!! Registry.
So I fire up the process monitor. I run the DMBCU and capture events. I search for GPS and I find on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Novatel Wireless\NextGenCommon a key called GPSHWStatus:
…and it’s set to 0 or not there…
I’m running Vista x64 – this key would be different on 32 bit windows machines, should be the same but without the Wow6432Node\ part. So, on to registry editor:
Indeed, it is there and set to 0. So ah sets it to 1:
And the next time I run the DMBCU, it installs a driver(!) for … the GPS!
and would ya lookie here:
It seems to work. I’m inside and I haven’t checked it out yet, but when I hit that button it finds the GPS on COM6 and starts to search for satellites.
I did all this while the Dell tech support guy was connected to my machine remotely. He tried to pull down the Tools menu to look for the GPS entry, moused over all icons in my tray, and then told me I would have to contact Sprint. [sarcasm]I’m SO glad I allowed the remote connection.[/sarcasm] When I got angry about that, he spent 3 minutes looking up information and then mentioned the bit about the install. I did the rest and then near the end when I said “Did you see that? It installed a driver!” he says to me “Great. Glad we could fix your trouble.” Uh huh.
I hope this helps someone. I have seen many posts on the Dell Community forums about this with no solution.
Thank you! It works.
I made the registry change on my Dell Latitude D630 with the Verizon 5720. Restarted the DMBCU and the GPS drivers were installed an the icon popped up on the toolbar.
I got a timeout when searching for satellites. I was inside the office so I figured I would need to go outside. I had it running in the car while driving home and it found 8 satellites.
Originally I thought it may not work since my card has not been activated with Verzion for broadband access. When I ordered the D630 I added the 5720 just in case I may use it down the road. At $60/month I’m not in need of mobile broadband.
I installed iGuidance 4.0 and set the GPS port to Comm 9 which the DMBCU was reporting. As soon as I started the iGuidance program zoomed to my location. I’m heading out for a ride to see it in action!
Thank you! Got mine working now!
PS: I have Windows XP Pro, so I just searched the registry for GPSHWStatus.
Thank you so much for this, I added this card to my XPS M1330 with Win XP Pro. I did a search in my registry for GPSHWStatus, changed the option from 0 to 1. It worked like a champ, thank you for taking the time to write this!
Ryan,
I have the same problem as you with my Dell D420 with an original 5720 card and XP installed. I can launch the GPS screen in the DMBCU but it does “searching” and does not find satellites. I am on Verizon.
In Device Manager under Ports, I see “Dell Wireless 5720 VZW Mobile Broadband (EVDO Rev-A) Minicard GPS Port (COM8), which would indicate that the driver installed. It is a Novatel Wireless Driver v3.0.3.0 dated 2/8/2008.
Anyone else get this working? Which driver are you using?
I have another hard drive (new) and I’m thinking of re-installing XP from scratch to see if that might have something to do with it… but I probably won’t get around to that until next month.
You need to be outside or in a room full of windows for the satellite search to work. It worked for me once I went outside.
Minimalist
I have tried outside with no luck.
Hi There!!!
Thanks a lot man! Thanks. I need another favor. Do you know how to re program the card. Curently I am outside USA and I want to configure the card according to a local CDMA operator. Is this possible? Please mail me with your kind heart. I’ll be grateful to you!
Regards,
Nirjhar
Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Thanks a million! Worked for me for the first time today. Now if I could just figure out how to get Sprint SmartView to work with the card… Then again… do I really need to…?
Yeah, Sprint SmartView works about 1 billion times better like when coming out of sleep, having auto-connect actually connect, etc.
How did you get Smartview to find the card and how did you configure it?
Ah, sorry, my bad. I didn’t get it to find this card, I have another card that sprint sells that is fine coming out of sleep etc, it’s an expresscard. Also I complained at Dell long and hard and they couldn’t help me with that. I think it’s possible though, I just haven’t had time to work on it.
I have the 5520 (Cingular) card. This procedure also works for this card. It is the same key, in my case it’s in HKLM\Software\Novatel Wireless\NextGenCommon, as he said because I’m using a 32 bit OS.
Thanks Kurt!
I figured out how to install the Sprint Smartview software on xp 64. It is a matter of altering the setup.msi file. Download the smartview software from sprint and run it. It will decompress the setup files to a temp folder, then begin the setup routine, at which point it will immediately display an error message saying that you have to have Windows XP service pack 2 or windows vista. At that point, locate the folder that the documents have been uncompressed to in your “c:\documents and settings\\local settings\temp” folder. In my case it was named “WZSE0.TMP”. Copy this folder to another location somewhere on your hard drive BEFORE pressing the “OK” button on that error message window, because when you press ok, the temporary install files are deleted. Then install ORCA from Microsoft. In the WZSE0.TMP folder, right click on setup.msi and open with orca. Locate the “LaunchCondition” variable and delete its os check condition. Save the file and run it. It’ll work then.
Eric,
Right, but does it work with the Dell device?
New update for Verizon cards:
http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R185648&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=253566
Nothing yet for Sprint, etc.
Fascinating stuff. Thank you.
Running Windows XP SP2, try as I might, I can’t get this to work. (Oh, is the “1″ value decimal or hexadecimal?).
Several versions of Dell’s Broadband Utility will not install if it’s not a Dell system. The one that I have that does install is 2.05.31.26 with a driver version 3.0.0.3
I have spent a good part of today trying to discover if there is an updated DB utility that will work on a non-Dell machine and would give me the GPS option.
I’m on ATT/Cingular, btw.
Thanks for a fascinating and helpful read, in any case!
Right, I would LOVE to get a bugfixed version for Sprint. Whenever I come out of sleep it’s a bear to reconnect, the only way to guaranty is to remove the network device (if it’s there) and the modem device in device manager and then scan for hardware changes.
It sucks to come out of sleep and then while you’re on batter spend 4-5 minutes screwing around getting the thing back online. The bugfix list shows bugfixes that look like they might take care of this. Only problem is, Verizon only at the moment.
I had the same problem with mine I found out my card was using the wrong phone number and got help from believe it or not Sprint. After years of connection problems it now works great!
I have a very similiar problem with my dell mobile broadband card utility (Verizon). Dell continues to log on to my brand new laptop remotely and tell me that I need to contact Verizon. I have tried everything including looking for updates, reinstalling the software, etc with no luck. After stumpling upon this site I tried searching the registry with all of the key workds I could think of but haven’t been able to find it. Any suggestions?
Worked for me, thanks all for the information.
This works Great!!! Thanks for the legwork.
Thnx
But I have a question : what can i do to manage, mean, copy the contacts from my SIM card to an Excel file ?
any one ?
mail me to
tarikom@hotmail.com
thnx for all
I spent hours trying to install this card after the initial factory build. Thank you for the information. Because there is still very little information about this product and HORRIBLE tech support as mentioned I wanted to contribute. My laptop is a Dell Latitude E6400.
If you are adding this card after the initial system build delete the computer and start from scratch! You do not need to worry about any registry hacks.
Install
Dell Wireless 5720 Sprint Mobile Broadband (EVDO Rev-A) MiniCard, Driver – 08-22-2008 – R194239
You have to launch the Mobile Broadband Card Utility and you will see the GPS icon appear. Open the GPS panel and Start the service and configure it to auto start so that you do not need to launch the utility each time that you reboot.
DO NOT INSTALL!!!
Dell ControlPoint Connection Manager, Application – 10-22-2008 – R198802
================================================
Now I need help. I only bought this card for GPS laptop tracking.
I want a hidden background application that is in the startup and relays the GPS coordinates to a server. 3dtracking.net is almost exactly what I am looking for but they do not have an application that will install on a PC, only mobile phones.
Surprisingly I cannot find any applications. I have configured my HTC Mogul and Touch Pro to live track on a Google Map (very cool), but I cannot find a similar application that will run on my PC. The phone app link is http://free.3dtracking.net
I would also like to clairify a few of the lies that Dell Tech support told me.
An active Sprint Data Subscription is NOT required.
The GPS signal is NOT obtained from cell phone towers.
A “GPS only account” does not exist at Sprint.
Do not call Sprint unless it’s to buy a data plan.
The Latitude E6400 ATG is NOT the only Dell laptop with an LCD GPS antenna.
You do not need ANY of the Dell ControlPoint applications.
No registry hack is required on Latitude E6400.
The GPS signal is NOT obtained from cell phone towers. This is true. The Dell software requires you to be online to check that the device is currently active, but the GPS is GPS.
Took 2 minutes to install the drivers, another 10 to get the card activated, 2 more to realize no out of box gps functionality, 15 sec’s to locate modify and restart the dell broadband wireless connection utility and verify all was working the way I wanted it to be. NOT the way dell designed it NOT to work! F&*( the corporate world!!!
Hi
I found the registry key, got the icon and functionality in Dell application, however no drivers for GPS were installed – therefore I think I can;t get any fix (even when it says it is searching).
Do you know what should I do to install the drivers either manually or automatically? Restarting the application and WinXP did not help though…
I have the card installed in Windows 7 but am unable to connect to any satellites, and no I’m not indoors. I’m standing in an open field. Anyone else using Windows 7 with this card?
I have the same problem. I have to wait hours to get my card to find enough satellites no matter where I am. I think this is the reason Dell does not support the GPS function on this card.
Tried the registry hack – sweet ! My GPS popped right up next time I opened the program. I have a Dell M1530, I’m indoors and my GPS had me located in about a minute. I’m guessing the built-in antenna helped.
I have a DELL XPS1530
I did not purchase the Dell Wireless 5720 pci card when I ordere the laptop
can I intall the card still
does it need an antenna or the antenna is built in to the card ??
Thank’s
Has anyone found a way to make this card work on a non Dell computer or with Sprint’s SmartView?
You can purchase the card after, if you like, and install it yourself. There are internal antennae built into the laptop that you need to hook up to the card.
I just got it working in Windows 7 x64 Beta. Has anyone been able to get it working with Windows 7 Location Detection feature? I guess it natively supports GPS location services.
Fantastic! I have Verizon Wireless and the MN624 version of the Dell 5720, and it works like a charm. I actually didn’t even need to make the registry modification. It turned out I bought this card not even knowing I have GPS. Tested it in the front yard and acquired right away.
I have the XPS M1730 and after this registry edit I aquired 4 satellites in under a minute. Thank you!
Tried to look it up in the registry, it’s not there. I have the dell 5700 mini card with TELUS in Canada. Did anyone try this version?
Trying as well to use my broadband card as a Voice gateway… testing some pbx scenarios… did anyone try this as well?
I know this is an outdated thread (even though these are still being sold on ebay and through dell), but can anyone answer the following questions:
1. Will this card, and the subsequent dell gps drivers, work with any computer (acer aspire one d250 in this instance) that has a mini PCI express slot?
2. Does the card have a dedicated uf-l connection for the gps antenna?
3. Does anyone know what gps chip this is using (sirf, u-blox, etc.)?
4. can the card be shut off (to reduce power consumption) through the driver utility?
Thank you so much for your reply
hi all
i got it work
but i need help to unlock my wwan card with other carrier i have dell wwan 5720 verizon bordband and it is locked on verizon . does any one know how to unlocl this chip and mak it work with any network
thanks for your help
me and my wife purchased this phone june 4th and first and foremost the best handsets i have had the goodwill of using. There were crowds of people at Sprint when i picked up my evo 4g. so rapid and responsive. The Snapdragon chip makes things speedier compared to my hero. you can check out a good click here!!! the rep at my local store said that 4G was going to be in my city by the end of the year. I can only hope! until then i am loving my new EVO.
I have a non-dell EXPEDITE ES720 version of this card (functionally identical) that will work in any laptop with a PCI-E slot, not just Dell. Let me know if you’re interested by replying to this thread. Thanks.
P.S. I can let it go really cheap.