Dec 27, 2007 10:00 PM
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Hardware hacking genius and electromagician JKK has published a video tutorial showing how to add an internal 3G HSDPA card to the Asus Eee PC, allowing you to connect at high speeds to the internet from anywhere in the world with 3G cellphone coverage. We talked with JKK, and according to him "it works great" and "the hack is doable by any amateur with a soldering iron." Indeed, it looks easy enough for our sausage fingers in the video:
(UPDATE 2 DEC 28 10:20 EDT: New information with all the answers about connectivity and supported networks after the jump)
JKK told us that the "signal is super," saying that it is amazing how good it works: "it was big suprise to discover that those antennas are so good." He added that the total cost of the hack is $291 (200 euros), not including your own time doing the soldering. Not bad at all for the features you gain.
JKK is the same genius who hacked his Asus Eee PC with a touchscreen. His mini-wonder is now $850, which includes the 3G modem and his touch panel display.
Be sure to check if your Asus Eee PC has an internal PCIe connector, however. According to site Eeeuser, there's a batch of the 4GB models (named 7B) that don't have this connector inside. UPDATE: JKK says that this hack works in every currently shipping Asus Eee PC 2G/4G/4G Surf models. No PCIe connector required. Awesome indeed. In fact, he told Gizmodo that it works in all models except the old 7A: "It works in all but the first ones... on those models (7A) you would have to desolder the PCIe connector away to make enough room for the 3G module. Either that or you have to cut 20 millimeters from the modded PCB [printed circuit board.]"
After talking again with JKK, he told us that the card used works with all networks. According to him, he typically achieves about "60kbps in GPRS, 200kbps in EDGE, 350kbps in 3G (UMTS) and 2,000kbps in 3.5G (HSDPA)" data transfer rates. Not bad at all. [jkkmobile]
Send an email to Jesus Diaz, the author of this post, at jesus@gizmodo.com.
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
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