Sprint Mac EVDO - Which Connection Card |
| Monday, 05 December 2005 | |
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When you purchase a Sprint Connection Card, you get the Sprint Connection Manager that only works with Windows. So, any card will work great with a Windows laptop. For the latest info, see the following:
So, lets say you already have a Sprint cell phone and you don't want to consider going with Verizon, which card should you get for your PowerBook 15 or PowerBook 17 inch (only models with PC Slots - sorry PowerBook 12 or iBooks - you don't have a PC Slot). MacBook Pro and EVDO Page - has the latest info for getting the latest Mac working with EVDO. There are currently (as of 2/5/2005), three EVDO Cards available, they are:
The first thing to understand is that currently, SPRINT DOES NOT SUPPORT MAC. You cannot call them if you have a problem. If you have a problem, you will have to duplicate the problem on a Windows laptop and if the problem is still there, then you can call them. When you insert any EVDO card into a Mac (running OS 10.4.3 or lower), the Mac will not recognize the card (this may change in a future revision of Mac OS X). So, there are two ways to get a card to be recognized. The first, is to hack the Mac OS X PC5220 drivers that Apple built-in since 10.3.5. These drivers support the PC5220, we have directions to hack them to get them to recognize any other EVDO card (for both Verizon and Sprint). The second way is to run an installer that has Mac drivers for a specific card. The only current card that we offer drivers for is the Novatel Merlin S620. There is no need to hack your mac, just install the drivers. Directions for AirCard 580 to work with Mac OS X. If you get a Novatel/Merlin S620 - we are the only place you can get Mac OS X drivers for that card - so as of December 5, 2005 - that is probably the best card to get for your PowerBook Here are a few important things to understand (VERY IMPORTANT): The card MUST be activated in a Windows PC before it can work in a Mac - there is no way around this. Once, you have the card, it is activated and you have hacked or installed the drivers, your Mac will communicate with your EVDO card, BUT there are 3 important limitations: No Signal Strength Indicator You not know if you are in a coverage area or not. You will not see a signal indicator telling you if you have 0 or 4 bars. The only way to know if you are in a coverage area, is to try and connect and see if you connect. It would be like having a cell phone without a display, in order to see if you are in a coverage area, you have to call someone and see if they answer. No Network Type Indicator Once you are connected, you will not see any indicator on which network you are on. There are 2 types of networks that your Connection Card can connect, they are EVDO (400Kbps - 700Kbps) or 1xRTT (50Kbps - 100Kbps). You can probably figure it out by how fast your browser is, or you can do a benchmark at DSLReports to see how fast it is. No Activation / Update PRL You would think that an Activation only happens once, and you need to only do this the first time you get the card, besides doing it when you first get the card, you need to do it every few months or so. Why? Something called PRL. As Sprint adds more towers, they will update the PRL (Preferred Roaming List). You will need to update this PRL in order to see new EVDO towers. Failure to do this, means that you may be in an EVDO area, but YOUR card will not see the new EVDO towers. So, it is a good idea to update the PRL every few months (or join or Sprint PRL Notification List and get notified via email when there is an update). So, if you are using a Mac, you will need to insert your EVDO card in a Windows PC every few months to do this update (until Apple supports cards natively, OR Sprint comes out with native Mac software). Currently, there is only ONE EVDO card that supports Mac fully, that is the Kyocera KPC650. This card is only available from Verizon (Sprint is rumored to be introducing it in the coming months). The reason, this card is compatible, is there is native Mac OS X software that Verizon provides (More info on KPC650 Mac Software). With the software, you can see signal strength, what network you are on and activate/download the PRL directly from your Mac (no need for a PC). Related Articles:
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