sierra wireless card

[david_r]

i used to have dial up. a couple of months ago i went to broadband thing that goes into the usb port...nothing but probs.

my other comp (lap top)i usually use had windows xp and it worked pretty well after i had to get another card thing (spent 2hrs on the phone with att to find out what i already suspected), then my comp crashed (a month later) so i borrowed my moms it has windows vista and sometimes i have internet for 5mins sometimes for 5hrs.....it just quits reading the card and sometimes i have to restart the comp to get it to read again.

does anyone else have probs like this?
if so what did you do to fix it?

its aggravating to have to pull the card or restart the comp when trying to get/give help....great site though, my wife thinks im addicted but im an auto mech and like to talk motors and love my boats.

thanks for any help or advice!

 

[ehenry]

Re: sierra wireless card

What software are you using to access the air card? are you using what your cell company provided you or are you using Sierra's software?

We can go offline with this if you want.

 

[gbb]

Re: sierra wireless card

I just got it also and I am haveing the same problem. On my desk top I get an error message 651. Same thing re-boot, and sometimes it says no wireless device attached.

I have a dell and last night I reformatted it, (vista) Hope this is going to work, will see tonight.

My lap top with xp seems to do great.

 

[ehenry]

Re: sierra wireless card

We just put 15 laptops out with Sierra air cards using AT&T's latest access software. It did the same thing you are discribing. I went to Sierra's web site and down loaded their software for the particular card we're using and it works way better than AT&Ts. Also if there is a firmware upgrade for your card I'd down load it as well.

 

[ehenry]

Re: sierra wireless card

http://www.sierrawireless.com/support/

 

[Rotorfixer]

Re: sierra wireless card

We have the same card, but we use it with our new Imac, same problem, goes offline, used to restart computer, but now we just unplug it and plug it back in. Maybe happens every 10 times we use it.

 

[david_r]

Re: sierra wireless card

We just put 15 laptops out with Sierra air cards using AT&T's latest access software. It did the same thing you are discribing. I went to Sierra's web site and down loaded their software for the particular card we're using and it works way better than AT&Ts. Also if there is a firmware upgrade for your card I'd down load it as well.

ok i went to the link you provided and dont know exactly how to tell if im using att or sierra access. how can i tell?

i downloaded the firmware.should i also download the "3g watcher"?
or the "internal scan tool"?

thanks for the help!

p.s. im not glad that you guys had the same prob but im glad yall could help me. im practically comp illiterate, my teenagers help me a lot:redface:

 

[david_r]

Re: sierra wireless card

ok apparently the " 3g watcher" is the access.

ehenry i tried to im you but didnt have an account set up and couldnt because it kept kicking me off.

i did however manage to download the watcher finally and its been on now for about 15mins and no probs so far.

ill let yall know if it keeps working.

wow what a great site you can get help with anything not just boats!

thanks again ehenry!

and everyone who has shown intrest!

 

[david_r]

Re: sierra wireless card

ehenry you are my new hero!

i hope i dont jinx myself but the kids the wife and myself have all tried everything that we could think of that could have caused the kick off before and its still on........i even had 7 tabs goin at once and all of them refreshing at once, before you would be lucky to run 2 tabs at a time and refreshing them one at a time was difficult.

im wondering why the att techs didnt advise this. i spent 2hrs on the phone with them and the guy told me some of the units had a glitch and fried themselves so they sent me another one and it would not work worth a crap with this comp (although it worked just fine with my other comp).....until now.


thank you so much!

 

[gbb]

Re: sierra wireless card

Guess I will download the gwatcher tonight, glad you got yours going!

 

[ehenry]

Re: sierra wireless card

David_R, sorry i'm late getting back to you on this. The 3G Watcher is Sierra's software for their cards. The updating the firmware helps as well.

Theres another issue you may run into with your air card and you may already be aware of this. Should you go anywhere with your laptop like a motel or courthouse that has a public access unsecured WiFi network you will need to use either the aircard or the WiFi connection. Your system will not know which connection to use to internet access if both are active and connected.

Let me know if i can help.

 

[david_r]

Re: sierra wireless card

thanks for the heads-up ehenry, i havent been in this situation yet but will keep your advice in mind.

just wanted to give yall an update:

this is the best my internet connection has ever worked. right now ike is making its way into my area and i expected to at least drop a little signal like my tv......nothing doing.

my internet has not kicked me off not one time since i downloaded the new software.

to anyone out there who has the "error 651" or if your computer just stops reading your card but its still connected USE THE SITE PROVIDED ABOVE FROM EHENRY it really works.

i am a little disappointed that the techs at at&t didnt suggest this.....and i just found out from my wife that she took the computer to a tech store ( a few days before i posted this question) and they fiddled with it and said theres nothing wrong with it......of course im a auto mech and i know how this works- your prob never occurs when someone who can fix it is watching.

thank you ehenry!!!!!!