Hello Darrel
We purchased a BigPond blue wireless broadband card (it's more like a
plug in dongle) from a Telstra agent a few weeks ago. We initially
had major problems and actually returned the unit (see below). But
after good advice from Daniel Kerr and others on WAMUG we were able
to get things working.
Telstra were very helpful but were having endless problems with Vista
and could not contribute much with Mac connection problems. I phoned
Maxon the manufacturers and was told that they could provide the
software but were not able to sell the units directly until their
agreement with Telstra runs out.
We ended up purchasing a second unit at a $50 discount from Australia
Post. ($249 not $299)
Our computers recognized the card immediately. The software on the
provided CD was of no use but you can download (BigPond Wireless
Broadband 2.5.3.dmg) on the Bigpond site < www.bigpond.com/help/
downloads> but definitely do not use (2.5.4) it is for something else
altogether.
With 2.5.3 you can see the card, register the account but not get
connected after you have registered. The software carries a warning
that it is beta only and may contain bugs. That is a gross
understatement. While talking to the BigPond tech, we were able to
report 3 major faults. However after registration, I then installed
the software from Maxon (MaxonHSDPA_v1.0b2.10.4.dmg) and the unit has
worked flawlessly since.
Speeds are fairly good if you have 3 or more bars of signal and you
need to choose a location with 4 bars of signal to get through the
registration process. I was also told that you can register on a PC
using Windows XP and then use the Maxon software on the Mac.
The whole thing was a bit of a nightmare but certainly worth the
effort in the end.
Feel free to contact me directly if you need any more help or some
sympathy.
Regards
Greg Manzie
Director
Glyde Gallery Conservation
Conservators, Consultants and Picture Framers
for Museums, Art Galleries and Collectors
5 Glyde Street
Mosman Park
Western Australia 6012
ABN 89 154 124 265
Phone (08) 9383 3929
Mobile 0448 844 381
0438 833 144
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hi Greg
If you use the Maxon drivers for the NextG wireless card it works
fine. I
know, as one of my clients has one, and he's lent it to me when I was in
Sydney recently. I just download the Mac drivers from the Maxon website
<http://www.maxon.com.au>
When I was in Sydney , I plugged in the card, waited a minute or two
and it
made a connection (the green light flashes) and I'm on the internet. No
problem at all.
Although, it was set up when I had it.
We also borrow one from one of the Telstra reps to use for Internet
at the
WAMUG meetings at Curtin. Again, it just works.
I may be able to get you the rep's name or can help you a bit more
with this
if you like. I'd need to find out that info, but drop me an email if
you're
interested, otherwise others may also be able to provide it to you as
well.
But I know they definitely work.
Hope that helps.
Kind Regards
Daniel
On 7/05/2007 3:33 PM, "Greg Manzie" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hello WAMUGers
My Wife works in the mining industry and needs wireless broadband.
She has a 17" MacBook Pro 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo/2GB/256MB VRAM 2GB
SDRAM. With OS 10.4.9.
We recently tried out a Bigpond Next G, wireless broadband USB mobile
card, recommended by a Fonezone shop (Plan name: BigPond Wireless
Super G Fast 20Hrs - Mobile). The management software that came in
the box didn't even show the USB mobile card as an option on it's
list of devices. After loading the latest recommended Beta
connection manager, from BigPond, we were able to go on line up until
we completed registration. After that we were unable to go on line to
anywhere other than the start of the BigPond registration page.
A Bigpond representative who was very helpful and knowledgeable about
Apple, spent an hour and a half on the phone with me to try to get it
going. We found and reported a few bugs in their beta software (which
they advertise will probably be the case). But in the end we
established that the Mac beta software would only let us go to the
Bigpond registration site and no further until the software is
developed further. This may take some time. So we sent the device
back for a credit. The devices have dropped in price by $50 in the
last few days, which may be telling us something.
For what it's worth, apparently Vista users have similar problems and
can only make the wireless broadband work after a 20 minute phone
call to BigPond. Thats why it takes so looong to get through to
BigPond tech help at the moment.
The MacBook pro has no built in modem so we are now in a situation
where my wife has no internet connection at all. All the PC people
think this is a great joke. She has just spent over four grand on the
latest and greatest and can't even send an email. We could buy an
external modem but that is just one more bit of gear to carry on the
plane and probably has a multitude of cables and wall warts to go
with it. Plus the idea is to be able to use the machine on a mine
site without the need for a phone line or 240V access if possible.
She has a Sony Erickson 750i phone which may be able to be used
somehow, but before spending another day and a half on fruitless
phone calls, I thought we would ask the group for some wisdom and
guidance please.
On 01/06/2007, at 12:24 PM, Darrel McGuiness wrote:
wamuggers, sorry if I have missed a posting related to the following:-
I am seeking info. on the experiences of anyone who has broadband
via Next G and utilising a wireless modem, as in desktop situation.
Bigpond indicate whilst they support MAC intheir mobile plans, they
don't in their modem plans.
The info. I would appreciate relates to Speed, and ease of Setup.
Regards to all
Darrel
-- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml>
Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml>
Unsubscribe - <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
-- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml>
Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml>
Unsubscribe - <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
