1 00:00:06,810 --> 00:00:08,760 - [Instructor] We'll begin with communications, 2 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:11,130 starting with cellular cards, 3 00:00:11,130 --> 00:00:15,810 better known as wireless WAN cards or WWAN. 4 00:00:17,430 --> 00:00:19,800 Some laptops and other mobile devices 5 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,740 come with cellular access built in. 6 00:00:22,740 --> 00:00:26,160 Others might need it as an add-on. 7 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:31,160 In order to connect to 3G, 4G, LTE, 5G, and other networks, 8 00:00:34,830 --> 00:00:38,400 a laptop would need to either have an internal device 9 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:40,413 or an external device. 10 00:00:41,910 --> 00:00:45,990 Though you might see many PCI Express, 11 00:00:45,990 --> 00:00:50,010 M.2 is the preferred form factor 12 00:00:50,010 --> 00:00:53,430 as of the recording of this video in 2018. 13 00:00:53,430 --> 00:00:58,047 Here, we have an M.2 card that allows for 4G access. 14 00:00:59,850 --> 00:01:02,490 Sometimes you'll find these pre-installed 15 00:01:02,490 --> 00:01:04,770 on business laptops. 16 00:01:04,770 --> 00:01:08,100 In other cases, you might need to add one. 17 00:01:08,100 --> 00:01:13,023 This particular type of M.2 is a 2230, 18 00:01:14,340 --> 00:01:18,630 meaning it's 22 millimeters wide 19 00:01:18,630 --> 00:01:21,393 by 30 millimeters long. 20 00:01:23,610 --> 00:01:25,560 This is common for laptops, 21 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,220 but it's still important to check the type of slot 22 00:01:29,220 --> 00:01:32,670 in the system and make sure that the card you wish to use 23 00:01:32,670 --> 00:01:37,490 is compatible because you might also encounter 2242, 2262, 24 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,930 or even 2280 in laptops. 25 00:01:42,930 --> 00:01:46,230 And 2280 is usually the standard in PCs, 26 00:01:46,230 --> 00:01:49,143 but you'll find that on some high-end laptops as well. 27 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,393 And by the way, M.2 used to be called NGFF, 28 00:01:55,710 --> 00:01:58,650 next generation form factor. 29 00:01:58,650 --> 00:02:01,980 But because there's always something new coming out, 30 00:02:01,980 --> 00:02:05,430 the term next generation is relative 31 00:02:05,430 --> 00:02:10,170 and it becomes quickly obsolete, so it was changed to M.2. 32 00:02:10,170 --> 00:02:13,140 Sometimes you might need a combo card 33 00:02:13,140 --> 00:02:18,140 that can handle WWAN and WLAN, handle both of those, 34 00:02:19,650 --> 00:02:24,270 especially if there's only one M.2 slot in the laptop, 35 00:02:24,270 --> 00:02:27,483 which is common for laptops as well as PCs. 36 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:31,530 However, if you're not allowed to remove 37 00:02:31,530 --> 00:02:36,510 a current WLAN card, local area network, 38 00:02:36,510 --> 00:02:39,213 then an external solution will have to be found. 39 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:44,640 For example, we could use something USB-based like this. 40 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:47,430 Here, we have a device that not only acts 41 00:02:47,430 --> 00:02:51,420 as a cellular gateway for a laptop, 42 00:02:51,420 --> 00:02:54,660 but can also act as a mobile hotspot 43 00:02:54,660 --> 00:02:59,660 for other mobile devices, quite often as many as 10. 44 00:03:00,630 --> 00:03:02,940 Or if you have an older laptop, 45 00:03:02,940 --> 00:03:07,940 one that was manufactured before say 2005 or so, 46 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:10,350 then you might have to go 47 00:03:10,350 --> 00:03:12,690 with one of the credit card-sized devices. 48 00:03:12,690 --> 00:03:17,340 ExpressCard is one option if the laptop is actually equipped 49 00:03:17,340 --> 00:03:21,480 with an ExpressCard slot and that comes in two sizes. 50 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:26,460 You've got /34, which is 34 millimeters wide, 51 00:03:26,460 --> 00:03:30,393 and /54, which is 54 millimeters wide. 52 00:03:31,230 --> 00:03:36,230 Before that was the PCMCIA standard, also known as PC Card. 53 00:03:38,370 --> 00:03:43,350 It's unlikely that you'll see or use these technologies, 54 00:03:43,350 --> 00:03:45,660 but on older laptops, 55 00:03:45,660 --> 00:03:49,920 check the side for a credit card-sized slot 56 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,320 and you might have to go with that option. 57 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:55,620 But generally, you're gonna wanna go with the USB 58 00:03:55,620 --> 00:03:57,800 or internally the M.2. 59 00:03:58,980 --> 00:04:00,930 And here's a tech tip for you. 60 00:04:00,930 --> 00:04:05,930 Watch out for older technologies and their devices. 61 00:04:06,300 --> 00:04:10,350 The trend, as of the recording of this video, 62 00:04:10,350 --> 00:04:13,830 is for companies to charge a fortune 63 00:04:13,830 --> 00:04:17,190 for these legacy cellular devices. 64 00:04:17,190 --> 00:04:20,730 It's often better to upgrade the laptop 65 00:04:20,730 --> 00:04:23,130 or upgrade to a new laptop 66 00:04:23,130 --> 00:04:27,360 as opposed to paying these exorbitant fees 67 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,050 that usually result in poor performance anyway, 68 00:04:31,050 --> 00:04:34,740 something that's gonna run like this on USB 3.0 or higher 69 00:04:34,740 --> 00:04:39,243 is gonna be light-years ahead of something like this. 70 00:04:40,590 --> 00:04:41,700 So watch out for that 71 00:04:41,700 --> 00:04:43,830 because companies will charge a lot of money 72 00:04:43,830 --> 00:04:47,160 for those older devices and it really isn't worth it. 73 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,650 Okay, so there's a little bit about cellular cards 74 00:04:49,650 --> 00:04:52,473 and WWAN connectivity.