Sierra Wireless Aircard 875 Modem from Cingular Wireless
Written: Jan 05 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Work from anywhere.
Cons: Price, tech support issues.
The Bottom Line: For access from anywhere this is the way to surf.
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| pkmom's Full Review: |
We bought a Sierra Wireless 875 Aircard for my laptop just about two weeks ago. Since then, we've traveled from Tennessee through North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky and back home to Tennessee.
The card itself is the latest from Sierra Wireless. Designed for 3G networks, it is a type II pc card with a fixed internal antenna. With theoretical data rates of up to 3.6 Mpbs, the card can be used worldwide with HSDPA/UMTS and quad-band Class 12 EDGE/GPRS connectivity.
Card features include:
* High performance antenna in rugged housing
* Simultaneous voice and data capabilities
* Supports HSDPA and UMTS on the 2100, 1900, 850 Mhz band
* Supported by Sierra Wireless developer tools for third party user interface and applications
* Windows XP, 2000
* Field firmware upgradeable
When using this there have been a few glitches but by and large I'm very happy with the product and wireless internet service.
The card itself cost $150.00 from Cingular with agreeing to a 2-year contract. (Although you can buy the card itself for just under $300.00) There is a $100.00 mail-rebate to file which will bring the cost to $50.00. The rebate comes to you in the form of a prepaid Visa card. I'm less than thrilled about that but at least it is a rebate.
Getting set up for new service took about an hour. I had to set up another phone line in order to activate the Internet service. The sales clerk didn't tell me that when he originally quoted the $59.99 unlimited rate. That added another $10.00 per month onto the bill.
It's definitely pricier than dial-up at the $10.95 rate I'd been paying but not much more than the $59.99 price I'd been quoted by the cable company. The sales clerk assured me I would have 30 days in which to try the service. If I didn't like the service I could bring the aircard back for a refund minus applicable restocking fees.
That sounded too good not to try.
Getting the laptop set up only took a few minutes. There was a CD-ROM of software to load. Then, I just popped the aircard into the slot on the side of the laptop and I was surfing away. Installation was quick and painless - even for a tech challenged person like me.
I used the wireless at home, at work inside a brick building and on a trip. By and large it's been great. It does seem to be that if I can talk on my cell phone I can use the wireless internet.
Most of the time it seems to run a little faster than dial-up. Earlier today, I was on the top of a mountain with an excellent signal and was able to surf with what seemed to be broadband speed.
There have been a couple of glitches which required help from tech support to resolve.
I had to make the first call when we left Tennessee and traveled into North Carolina. We were connected then all of a sudden we lost the signal and could not sign on again.It seemed an update hadn't been delivered to the card. My husband called, got tech support and we were back to surfing in about 5 minutes.
Our daughters were able to surf almost constantly until we reached our destination.
The next day, we were back on the road. Initially, all was fine. Then, we crossed into South Carolina and were back at square one.
This time the call to support took almost two hours and three employees. Finally, the third person I spoke with figured out what was going on and walked me through the fix. It turns out that my computer was confusing itself by trying to self-assign two different IP addresses.
Then I got confused, but the third guy from tech support straightened everything out.
Since then we've had no problems. We surfed our way across South Carolina and back into Tennessee. Then, we had to take my daughter back to college in Kentucky. She surfed all the way there.
We've tried this service in just about every situation we can think of. I surfed from the Appalachian mountains to the beach in South Carolina and (after the glitches were worked through) had no problems staying connected.
The bottom line is that for versatility this product is going to be almost impossible to beat.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
pkmom
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Reviews written: 96
Trusted by: 6 members
About Me:
Married Mom of two teens.
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