Could There Be An LTE Module For the Pinebook Pro?

[Arwen]

If trying to use the NVMe slot for LTE / Cell module, it will still need to follow the hardware critieria;
- Power limits, (the Wiki has guidelines)
- Probably needs to take over the antenna from WiFi, meaning you disconnect the antenna wire from WiFI and use it for LTE / Cell.
- Can't be too thick of a M.2 device
- Must have ARM drivers, (32 or 64 bit depending on your kernel)
- Must be a PCIe type LTE / Cell M.2 device

I am going to assume that repurposing the PineTab's external LTE module for the PineBook Pro will not be possible, right? It would suck having to find another LTE modem that can be installed inside the PineBook Pro.

From the December 2019 Pine blog update, the board shown for the PineTab's LTE / SSD expansion would not work in the Pinebook Pro.

In fact, that reminded me most LTE / Cell MODEMs don't have a SIM slot. So perhaps the Pinebook Pro's NVMe expansion board won't work at all.

For the last, most of the LTE / Cell M.2 devices I found in a quick web search, were using USB interfaces. Note that some versions of M.2 can support a SATA device and USB, as well as 2 lanes of PCIe. But, Pinebook Pro only supports PCIe, no USB or SATA. So, do some research on LTE / Cell M2. PCIe devices, and see if any have Linux support. Preferably ARM64.

How do you tell if an M.2 device uses USB? I found this device, but the third party driver seems to switch it to USB mode...

Honestly, it sounds like I should just buy the PineTab instead. I just hope the specs are very close to the PineBook Pro.

That was good information in the second link. I don't know an easy way to tell if a LTE / Cell MODEM M.2 device uses PCIe or USB.

As for using a PineTab instead, your choice. The PineTab is definantly lower spec'ed than the Pinebook Pro. How much so, and will it affect your use? I don't know.


That said, it's possible a new, Pinebook Pro PCIe card could be made;
- PCIe to USB converter chip
- PCIe 3.3 volt to 5v converter, (don't know if this is needed, but external USB devices use 5 volts)
- M.2 short slot, (30 & 42?)
- SIM slot

Such a card would not be very expensive. It's just at present, low volume and still very early days for the Pinebook Pro. You would need ARM32 or AMR64 Linux drivers for what every PCIe to USB converter chip was used. But, careful selection of the chip would mean they already exist.

It may even be possible to make this board support either PCIe LTE / Cell MODEMs, or USB ones.