Lumia 950 to get cellular connectivity - still using it?

3 min. read

Published on April 12, 2019

published on April 12, 2019

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During the last few months, many third-party developers tried hard to run Windows 10 on ARM on a Microsoft Lumia 950 or 950 XL. Even though the functionality is limited, the project attracted more and more users.

Some of you might not know what Windows 10 on ARM is. It helps us to leverage the benefits of PC computing on mobile phones.

It brings extended battery life and portability. As far as the mobile devices are concerned, Windows 10 for ARM actually transforms a smartphone into a full-fledged PC platform.

It seems like we are getting close to see Windows 10 ARM for Lumia 950 handsets. The project is now fully usable as a result of a major breakthrough.

Recently, one of the developers working on the project, Gustave Monce tweeted about a working driver for a cellular modem on a Windows 10 ARM-powered Lumia 950 XL.

meme v2 pic.twitter.com/724hiPxMQI

— Gustave Monce 🦉 (@gus33000) April 10, 2019

The system was correctly recognizing the mobile modem in another screenshot of the device manager.

Gustave explains the SIM slot is now readable on Windows 10 ARM-powered Lumia 950 XL. Additionally, you can also turn on or off the radio. However, as of now call and internet connectivity does not work.

Here's a short update on Cellular for 950 XL:

We got a Mobile Broadband Driver running. It is able to read the SIM slot, turn on the Modem, read the SIM card, start the Modem firmware, turn on or off the radios at will (I've checked), communicate w/ OS, but no Data working yet. pic.twitter.com/9pkr971Gn7

— Gustave Monce 🦉 (@gus33000) April 11, 2019

How did users respond to the news?

Microsoft already announced its plans to kill off the platform by the end of this year. Windows 10 ARM support can be considered as a major milestone for the Windows 10 powered Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL devices.

Reddit users are already speculating about its impacts as a lifeline for the dying Lumia 950/950 XL family.

I know what I’m gonna do with my 950XL once support ends. God bless the devs, this is gonna breathe a new life into my phone.

Other Reddit users are wondering why Microsoft didn’t come up with a similar solution for its 6-inch devices.

Why hasn’t MS been able to put Windows 10 on sub 6-inch devices yet?

Others are taking this news as an opportunity to get another Lumia 950 XL and wondering if wireless charging still work.

Looks like a great time to score myself another Lumia 950 XL… or probably I’ll buy the smaller 950 and use my current XL instead to install W10ARM.

Let’s wait and see either this project has the potential to grab the attention of smartphone users around the world.

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Milan Stanojevic

Windows Toubleshooting Expert

Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He's a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology. Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he's one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.