vB Easy Archive - Where are these mythical AWS laptop cards?

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Where are these mythical AWS laptop cards?
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Posted by: scr00ge

How come I can't find the Option GT 307, BandRich BandLuxe C105, or the Stelera Wireless cards anywhere on the internet. I would like to see some specs. See some pictures. Anything!!! Nothing at all is coming up. I'm starting to think these cards are myths. Can one of you guys that has one post a link to a product page, or a picture, or a wikipedia entry? I'm looking at you ThorBlaze Dragon

Please help. I started a new biz that has me on the road and I need internet access but I want to do some research first before I buy anything.

Posted by: g_patrick15

yeah thorblaze may be your only help on that one. Stelera wireless doesn't have a website?

Posted by: scr00ge

Quote:

Originally Posted by g_patrick15

yeah thorblaze may be your only help on that one. Stelera wireless doesn't have a website?

yep they do. No product page.

I went into the store that sells them in Brooklyn but they didn't have them that day and the store is really far from me. I'd like to check up on it before I make that trip again or buy one online.

Posted by: Scottish Skyedance

you have to go to
http://www.stelerawireless.com
find CS number and call (866-stelera)
but now with TM506, you can forget these cards except you really need it

Posted by: scr00ge

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThorBlaze Dragon

you have to go to
http://www.stelerawireless.com
find CS number and call (866-stelera)
but now with TM506, you can forget these cards except you really need it

so there is no product sheet or anything??? that seems a little shady. can you also explain what you mean about the tm506? do you mean tethering? if so, my laptop doesnt have bluetooth so ill have to get a dongle. secondly, i like my iphone when i get another phone it will be the g1. so that rules that option out.

Posted by: CeluGeek

Quote:

Originally Posted by scr00ge

Can't the TM506 tether via USB?

Posted by: Scottish Skyedance

you know I have several SE phones
just use the data cable, having PC suite installed, and tether
you must call CS to ask for data cards, you won't see any on site

Posted by: Scottish Skyedance

Quote:

Originally Posted by CeluGeek

Can't the TM506 tether via USB?

you can
use latest PC suite or get C902 cable driver
make sure you dial *99***2#
or *99***4# if you have total internet or VPN, and having setting (use K850) dl'ed on the phone

Posted by: hwertz

The reason Stelera Wireless's page is weird is they are not some card vendor. They're a wireless ISP that uses AWS and UMTS instead of Wifi or WiMax for the data connection. And, apparently, sell you the card for $200 or let you lease it if you use their service.

Posted by: jeffro01

There is certainly nothing shady about Stellera Wireless. I would just call them up, ask what avaiable cards they have and pick one out based on your needs..

Jeff

Posted by: swmetallica

Does Stelera not lock their cards? If not, I don't see why they're not advertising their cards work with T-Mobile. Maybe they will after the official 3G launch? I know Stelera is a wireless data carrier, but they can sell their cards to T-Mobile customers for a premium price and make a killing until T-Mobile releases their own 3G capable data card.

Posted by: veryblackberry

are they express slot or pcmcia or usb? why would one get this rather than tm506

Posted by: Scottish Skyedance

Quote:

Originally Posted by swmetallica

Does Stelera not lock their cards? If not, I don't see why they're not advertising their cards work with T-Mobile. Maybe they will after the official 3G launch? I know Stelera is a wireless data carrier, but they can sell their cards to T-Mobile customers for a premium price and make a killing until T-Mobile releases their own 3G capable data card.

they don't
however, under rare case, you may get "locked" cards
call the CS, and they'll gladly provide unlock code

btw, T-Mobile should take a chance to sell Option GT 307, product is there, no need to mod the bands, but they need to replace the internal software to T-Mobile one

Posted by: Scottish Skyedance

Quote:

Originally Posted by veryblackberry

are they express slot or pcmcia or usb? why would one get this rather than tm506

both (BandRich and Option) are in express card form
but BandRich has USB adaptor; Option has PC card adaptor (you can buy USB adaptor from ebay, but be careful, you have to get a special USB adaptor for Option card)

data card gives conveience when using laptop on commence (tether over bluetooth has similar convenience, just hide the phone)

Posted by: bryanharig

Which of the express card models (option and band rich) would you say is the best TB D?

It will be used in a mac running OS 10.5.5.

Will it work with the $5.99 plan or does it need the $20 total internet to have a useful number of open ports?

Posted by: Scottish Skyedance

Wirelessly posted (HP 211 and SE Z780: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.7))

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryanharig

Which of the express card models (option and band rich) would you say is the best TB D?

It will be used in a mac running OS 10.5.5.

Will it work with the $5.99 plan or does it need the $20 total internet to have a useful number of open ports?

depends on your preference
BandRich card is a lot cheaper, but it only supports 3G WCDMA IV band
Option card supports quad-EDGE, but you have to get Option Globetrotter client from ATT support
both support TmoWeb (html only)

Posted by: danska

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThorBlaze Dragon

Option card supports quad-EDGE, but you have to get Option Globetrotter client from ATT support
both support TmoWeb (html only)

Unless you use the Express Manager software from Telstra. It allows for manual network selection and has a lot more features. You do have to manually enter tmobile's apn settings in it though. It is a lot larger so it takes a bit longer to load but works just as well. I prefer it myself. But, if you want small and efficient, the option globetrotter client works just as well. I just needed the manual network selection for when i was roaming. (and until i got my tm506, look for the 3g network and see if it showed.)

http://www.telstrabusiness.com/busi...ary&versionId=2

Posted by: 3560freak

so there has been no word from T-Mobile when an actual 3G data card will be released? No insider info???

Posted by: Scottish Skyedance

by this info
there's an unknown 3G card/stick coming
http://tmonews.com/upcomingphones/
and.....8900 is Curve II (8920 maybe?!)

Posted by: bryanharig

Quote:

Originally Posted by danska

Is there a mac version for either of those? Or should I just setup the card via the built in support in the OS?

Posted by: danska

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryanharig

Is there a mac version for either of those? Or should I just setup the card via the built in support in the OS?

There is. When i get home, i will post the link.

Posted by: bryanharig

great, thanks!

Posted by: corys00

Q1 guys and gals, there will be TMO aircards out.

Thank god.................................

Posted by: johnkzin

Quote:

Originally Posted by corys00

Q1 guys and gals, there will be TMO aircards out.

Where'd you hear that?

Posted by: corys00

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnkzin

Where'd you hear that?

Q4 kickoff in Las Vegas last week.

Posted by: Scottish Skyedance

cory
do you know which form factor it'll be?
hopefully it'll be USB

Posted by: corys00

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThorBlaze Dragon

cory
do you know which form factor it'll be?
hopefully it'll be USB

I know of an express card for sure, don't know specific make/model though.

And yes, I would hope for a USB model as well.

Posted by: Scottish Skyedance

Wirelessly posted (HP 211 and SE Z780: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.7))

Quote:

Originally Posted by corys00

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThorBlaze Dragon

cory
do you know which form factor it'll be?
hopefully it'll be USB

I know of an express card for sure, don't know specific make/model though.

And yes, I would hope for a USB model as well.

if it comes with USB adaptor, it should be fine
hopefully it'll be GT 307 as it does exist

Posted by: scr00ge

Quote:

Originally Posted by corys00

I know of an express card for sure, don't know specific make/model though.

And yes, I would hope for a USB model as well.

thats great news. thanks for sharing.

Posted by: ncd

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottish Skyeandce

by this info
there's an unknown 3G card/stick coming
http://tmonews.com/upcomingphones/
and.....8900 is Curve II (8920 maybe?!)

And perhaps "any day now" we'll actually see the mythical MD300 from SE.

Posted by: slowhandkc

Well, I'll tell you what! I got lucky and bought the Aricard 750, a Gigafast wireless card and two Linksys Wireless cards from a guy for $50.00, so I know the Sierra Wireless cards exists. that's the good news; the bad news is that I bouhgt my sim card from a vendor and in order to use the full capabilities of the Sierra, I have to create a profile which includes the Access Port Number which I don't have. Can anybody supply default numbers, etc, for me to use to create a profile and steer me to a supplier of the headset that goes with the Sierra?

Posted by: Seti-Alpha 5

Scottish Skyeandce, I remember you did a Speedtest.net on your card when 3G was first turned on in New York. You were only able to get speeds of around 1 MBPS. I know that these cards from Stelera are 7.2 MBPS capable. Could you, (or anyone else who has one) do an updated Speedtest to let us know if the cards are performing any better now? Thanks

Posted by: libran28

I have clocked upto 1436 kbps d/l 162 kbps u/l to same server in first week of Nov.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seti-Alpha 5

Scottish Skyeandce, I remember you did a Speedtest.net on your card when 3G was first turned on in New York. You were only able to get speeds of around 1 MBPS. I know that these cards from Stelera are 7.2 MBPS capable. Could you, (or anyone else who has one) do an updated Speedtest to let us know if the cards are performing any better now? Thanks

Posted by: Scottish Skyedance

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seti-Alpha 5

I don't see anything better recently due to heavy traffic
no matter I use C105, GT307, or TM506

up to 700kbps, using GT307

using internet3 APN, wap APN yields similar result
I hate to use epc APN, it gives me too much 500 and 504, I can't stand it!

Posted by: RageFury32

Hm. Does the Option GT307 support quadband WCDMA/UMTS, or is it strictly AWS? And whatever happened to the Option GT Express 401, which is to replace the GT307?

Posted by: Scottish Skyedance

Wirelessly posted (HP 211 and SE Z780: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.7))

Quote:

Originally Posted by RageFury32

Hm. Does the Option GT307 support quadband WCDMA/UMTS, or is it strictly AWS? And whatever happened to the Option GT Express 401, which is to replace the GT307?

GT 307 supports
quad EDGE
WCDMA I/IV/V

Posted by: johnkzin

According to this:

http://www.option.com/news/detail05...temgroup_id=642

The 401 series (GT Express 401, iCon 401, and GTM382) were due out in 3rd quarter of 2008.

The iCon 401 and GTM382 are in fact out (according to Option's product page, but I can't find anywhere to buy the iCon 401 online), but that press release only specifies that the GT Express 401 will have AWS support. It'd be nice if the iCon 401 did have AWS, but the frequencies listed for the GTM382 don't include AWS.

The GT Express 401 is going to have _quadband_ UMTS/HPSA ... that would be QUITE cool to have. You could, in theory, use it with both AT&T and T-Mobile.

Posted by: johnkzin

I emailed Option to find out about the GT Express 401's delivery date, and whether or not AWS would be on the iCon 401. Here's what I found out:

1) the iCon 401 and GTM382 don't have AWS (and they have 900MHz as opposed to 800/850MHz, so I think they're intended for Europe).

2) the GT Express 401 was "withdrawn from the [product] roadmap".

:-(

Posted by: danska

I am selling my Option GT 307 expresscard. Has quad band gsm with edge and gprs with t-mobile 3g support. message me here or email me at danska@gmail.com for more information. Works fine. Had this card for about a month at the most.

Posted by: johnkzin

how come you're selling it?

Posted by: danska

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnkzin

how come you're selling it?

I need to pay for my g1 somehow! But seriously, things are a bit tight and i could use the cash. Having the data card i consider a luxury and stuff like that are the first to go. I plan on getting another card when finances are better. I got the card on appx december 7th. (was a replacement for a different card. Stelera replaced it. I have actually owned a data card w/tmo 3g since august.)

My mom normally pays me $100 for her lines but she has since gotten cancer and can't afford to pay me so i end up paying for all our lines. on average it's $230 per month. When i paid $130, it wasn't a big deal but $230 plus the g1 costs and unexpected bills put me in a situation. If i nobody wants it here, im just going to put it on ebay. I rather sell it to someone here.

Posted by: Jeph83

I was digging around the FCC search site for ALL the Band IV devices with an FCC certification between 9/1 and 12/27 and on the VERY last page, I found a listing from Option!

https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/ViewExhibitReport.cfm?mode=Sum&calledFromFrame=N&RequestTimeout=500&application_id=930656&fcc_id='NCMOMO0407'

Most all of the good info is confidential until 1/25/09. With that said, most carrier launched devices will have confidential info until the device is actually launched. I'm going to take a stab and say that we'll have a T-Mo, band IV card by 1/25/09...

Anyone have any other comments on it?

ALSO, the magic frequency range to look for is 1712.4-1752.5 incase you all want to do some searching and make sure you uncheck exact match. That range is consistent with T-Mo's AWS offerings, anything else is usually Metro PCS

Posted by: Scottish Skyedance

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeph83

I was digging around the FCC search site for ALL the Band IV devices with an FCC certification between 9/1 and 12/27 and on the VERY last page, I found a listing from Option!

https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas...NCMOMO0407'

Most all of the good info is confidential until 1/25/09. With that said, most carrier launched devices will have confidential info until the device is actually launched. I'm going to take a stab and say that we'll have a T-Mo, band IV card by 1/25/09...

Anyone have any other comments on it?

ALSO, the magic frequency range to look for is 1712.4-1752.5 incase you all want to do some searching and make sure you uncheck exact match. That range is consistent with T-Mo's AWS offerings, anything else is usually Metro PCS

it's embedded unit with WCDMA IV support, posted in 3G forum once
now a 3G stick is coming, Huawei E181
it should be great for netbooks, but I'd prefer tether over bluetooth to save power on laptop

Posted by: johnkzin

More info on the Huawei:

http://www.tmonews.com/2008/12/huaw...ive-passes-fcc/

Good news:
850MHz and 1900MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE
850MHz, 1700MHz/1900MHz WCDMA/UMTS/HSPA

Bad news:
Not Quadband, nor even Triband, GPRS/EDGE ... if you travel abroad, you'll need to buy a second data card/stick.
Same issue with WCDMA/UMTS/HSPA ... I can't tell if it'll support AT&T's 3G network, and I'm pretty sure it wont do European nor Asian 3G.

Hopefully it'll work with a Cradlepoint as well. But, ultimately, it looks to me like a minimally acceptable device. Sure, it'll do T-Mo USA 2G and 3G. But I want Quadband 2G, and at least Triband 3G... and preferably Quadband 3G (so it'll also do AT&T if I want). I want to be able to use that one device outside of the US, and preferably have on data card I can keep even if I switch carriers.

I know... I'll have to keep dreaming.

Posted by: xtdij4x

A little food for thought