[MadMax]

Last week I received an AT&T Option GT Ultra wireless aircard as a free upgrade. It's 3G, GSM, capable. PCMCIA slot 32 bit etc. Well, it's been a real nightmare trying to get it to work. AT&T sent me a second one thinking the card was defective, same problems. I've downloaded all current software from AT&T and the manufacturer. It still won't set up due to an inability to find driver software for it. Anyone else have this kind of set-up? What have been your experiences?

 

[jonas1022]

The only person I know with the aircards have Verizon. They seem happy, but I wouldn't throw myself out to the great wi-fi. That's just me being paranoid.

 

[Surfscape]

We use Sprint cards and they are great but I have had some software issues. Sometimes it gives me an error the first attempt to connect and then works fine on the next attempt. If you travel much with a laptop they are really cool. No worry about hot spots and so far it has worked everywhere. They are like a cell phone in that depending on your plan they can incure roaming charges etc if out of your area.

 

[Squishy]

What OS are you running? Have you tried installing directly from Device Manager?

Oh, and you DO have a PCMCIA/CardBus slot, right? A PCMCIA card will push into an ExpressCard slot, but will leave half the card hanging out.

 

[jpark]

That card IS an ExpressCard device.

What's your laptop make and model, big bro?

 

[MadMax]

Thanks for every one's interest. I have an HP Pavilion dv6236us running Vista business service pak 1. The card is an Option GT Ultra thru AT&T servce I've tried looking for the drivers in Device manager but can't seem to find them. I do have the PCMCIA slot. It even has AT&T tech support baffled. I can connect to the WiFi network thru my built in Intel network adapter, but not the card.

 

[Squishy]

Is your card one of the following?

http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone- ... sku1190105

http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscen ... ongtultra/

Hopefully it isn't the second one, because your laptop is too new for it. You no longer have a PCMCIA/CardBus slot - just one ExpressCard slot. When you take the blank dummy card out, it looks like the top right corner is missing, right?

You will need something like the first link, which is an ExpressCard/34 card (34 mm wide). An ExpressCard/54 ("L-shaped") card would also work in your laptop, if such a thing exists.

 

[Charles]

Personally, I would exchange the card for a USB based version.

I had issues with the Verizon wireless card. I had a PC Card wireless card and a PC Express slot in my laptop. They fixed me up with a PC Express wireless card (for a nominal fee).

Your mileage may vary.

Good luck to you on your quest.

 

[MadMax]

Is your card one of the following?

http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone- ... sku1190105

http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscen ... ongtultra/

Hopefully it isn't the second one, because your laptop is too new for it. You no longer have a PCMCIA/CardBus slot - just one ExpressCard slot. When you take the blank dummy card out, it looks like the top right corner is missing, right?

You will need something like the first link, which is an ExpressCard/34 card (34 mm wide). An ExpressCard/54 ("L-shaped") card would also work in your laptop, if such a thing exists.

Thanks, Squish, just wish i would have read this before spending hours on the phone with AT&T. Finally got a tech who checked to make sure I had the correct card. Turns out I didn't. You'd think the 10 people before him might have checked to see if I got the right card. Oh, well the Option GT Express will by here
Monday.

 

[Scooter Scott]

As a former Verizon Wireless employee that was going to be my first question...do you have the right card? Which you apparently did not lol. I'm glad you figured it out. If anyone has cellular technology questions feel free to ask! I love learning more about this stuff and then teaching it to everyone

 

[Colleen]

I must call and inquire about this free upgrade. I too have Bellsouth / AT&T and that aircard would sure make life much easier, especially when travelling !!!

 

[jpark]

Our cell phones are AT&T as well. Our contract is up next month, so I'm going to look into this as well.

Vista asks me 1,753 questions every time it finds Wi-Fi somewhere.

:lol:

 

[Colleen]

Vista asks me 1,753 questions every time it finds Wi-Fi somewhere.

:lol:

OMG, I have Vista on my laptop too. Oh well, I have been known to go to great lengths in order to get connected when travelling. Gotta get that internet/ E-C fix !! :lol:

 

[Scooter Scott]

I personally like the USB cards myself because it allows things to be more universal. You can take it to any laptop generally and use it as long as you have the drivers/software and keep it on a USB drive or something that is handy for you. I currently have my phone, the LG Dare through Verizon, tethered as a modem for my laptop. It works great for me. I actually have it setup so that I can use the Bluetooth. As long as my laptop is near my phone I can get on the network using the Bluetooth connection. Works great!

 

[jpark]

Doesn't Verizon then charge you $465.23 per hour when you do that?

:lol:

And isn't it a lot slower than mobile broadband?

 

[Scooter Scott]

I have Verizon's Premium plan which gives me Unlimited text/pix/flix, unlimited data usage, and email blah blah blah...

Anyways the tethering is normally $15 per month but I bypassed that charge by changing a setting in the phone. My monthly bill for my phone is around $71 after my corporate discount through them.

 

[jpark]

Without a discount, $99/month (and even more after the $85,234 in "fees") is almost car payment.

:lol:

When I saw the ad for Sprint where the new CEO was telling everyone what a great deal $99/month was, I sort of thought to myself "No, $49/month for unlimited is a good deal. $99/month is a rip-off."

 

[Scooter Scott]

Mine is only $79.99 a month i think...

 

[jpark]

...one-third of the cost of a montly lease on a new Escape.

:shock:

 

[Scooter Scott]

Man this $500 a month payment is killing me!!!