"B003" Kindle 2 -- Questions about 3G

[ShapeShifter499]

I just got a really good condition Kindle 2 with the serial prefix of "B003". After looking at the Kindle 2 iFixit teardown, it looks like there is a full mini pci-e card slot inside. I have two questions about this.

Can the 3G modem be moved to another device like a laptop and still give 3G usage?

Can the 3G modem be swapped out for a Wifi one? Would be nice to use this e-ink display for displaying after the possibility of Amazon turning off 3G.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by ShapeShifter499

I just got a really good condition Kindle 2 with the serial prefix of "B003". After looking at the Kindle 2 iFixit teardown, it looks like there is a full mini pci-e card slot inside. I have two questions about this.

Can the 3G modem be moved to another device like a laptop and still give 3G usage?

Can the 3G modem be swapped out for a Wifi one? Would be nice to use this e-ink display for displaying after the possibility of Amazon turning off 3G.

The series 3 devices (K3) used a plug-in modem/radio also.
It used an external (somewhere else on board) SIM card.
I think the series 2 devices where the same.

I.E: it isn't a complete unit by itself.
Your laptop is unlikely to have the antenna and antenna connections required nor the connections to an external SIM card holder.

Your answer: Yes, but not practical.

- - - - -

Amazon 'turning off 3G' ??
Where did you hear that? Link please.

If you are writing about the proposed discontinuance of 3G by some large carriers;
Keep in mind this bit of trivia: 87% of the cell phones in the WORLD are 3G (only) devices.

I worked in the telecommunications industry for many years;
I have seen some of those companies cut their own throat in the past;
But don't go betting that they will do that in the case of 3G cell 'phone support.

Another thing to keep in mind -
In general, telecommunications companies are still paying for their Wifi equipment -
Do you really think any of them have their 3G equipment paid for?

- - - -

If telecommunications company 'plant' was an individual's house or car, they would be described as being 'upside down' on their purchase loans.

Unplug themselves from 87% of the customer base while still making payments on equipment that now might be worth only 10% of the remaining pay-off on their loans?
Not even the dumbest corporate executive is going to consider doing that. (At least we can hope they are not that dumb if we happen to be shareholders).

[ShapeShifter499]

@knc1 right ok so I don't have to worry about the 3G going away anytime soon then. But say I want to use this kindle as a neat hacky display or maybe run some program using the keyboard without sending everything over the net via 3G. Is there anything hardware wise that would prevent me from swapping the 3G modem for a WiFi one? I know most of the code is open source so I'd just need to get a correct WiFi driver running on the Linux part of the Kindle.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by ShapeShifter499

@knc1 right ok so I don't have to worry about the 3G going away anytime soon then. But say I want to use this kindle as a neat hacky display or maybe run some program using the keyboard without sending everything over the net via 3G. Is there anything hardware wise that would prevent me from swapping the 3G modem for a WiFi one? I know most of the code is open source so I'd just need to get a correct WiFi driver running on the Linux part of the Kindle.

For those uses, it would not be an inconvenience to have the USB cable connected (to the thing that is the source of what you want to display).

*) Install our USBnetworking package
*) Install our VNC viewer on the Kindle
*) Install a (your choice) VNC server on the machine you want to display.
Done and you didn't even have to open up the device.

In fact, there are several write-ups here on doing exactly the above (what I wrote is only the "Cliff's Notes" version).