Sierra Wireless AirCard 580 User manual

AirCard® 580 Wireless Modem
User Guide
2130374 v3

Preface
v3Mar.11 i
Important Notice Due to the nature of wireless communications, transmission
and reception of data can never be guaranteed. Data may be
delayed, corrupted (i.e., have errors) or be totally lost.
Although significant delays or losses of data are rare when
wireless devices such as the Sierra Wireless modem are used in
a normal manner with a well-constructed network, the Sierra
Wireless modem should not be used in situations where failure
to transmit or receive data could result in damage of any kind
to the user or any other party, including but not limited to
personal injury, death, or loss of property. Sierra Wireless
accepts no responsibility for damages of any kind resulting
from delays or errors in data transmitted or received using the
Sierra Wireless modem, or for failure of the Sierra Wireless
modem to transmit or receive such data.
Safety and Hazards Do not operate the Sierra Wireless modem in areas where
blasting is in progress, where explosive atmospheres may be
present, near medical equipment, near life support equipment,
or any equipment which may be susceptible to any form of
radio interference. In such areas, the Sierra Wireless modem
MUST BE POWERED OFF. The Sierra Wireless modem can
transmit signals that could interfere with this equipment.
Do not operate the Sierra Wireless modem in any aircraft,
whether the aircraft is on the ground or in flight. In aircraft, the
Sierra Wireless modem MUST BE POWERED OFF. When
operating, the Sierra Wireless modem can transmit signals that
could interfere with various onboard systems.
Note: Some airlines may permit the use of cellular phones while the
aircraft is on the ground and the door is open. Sierra Wireless
modems may be used at this time.
The driver or operator of any vehicle should not operate the
Sierra Wireless modem while in control of a vehicle. Doing so
will detract from the driver or operatorʹs control and operation
of that vehicle. In some states and provinces, operating such
communications devices while in control of a vehicle is an
offence.
Limitation of
Liability
The information in this manual is subject to change without
notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of
Sierra Wireless. SIERRA WIRELESS AND ITS AFFILIATES
SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM LIABILITY FOR ANY AND ALL
DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, GENERAL, INCIDENTAL,
CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF PROFITS OR

User Guide
ii 2130374
REVENUE OR ANTICIPATED PROFITS OR REVENUE
ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE ANY
SIERRA WIRELESS PRODUCT, EVEN IF SIERRA WIRELESS
AND/OR ITS AFFILIATES HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR THEY ARE
FORESEEABLE OR FOR CLAIMSBY ANY THIRD PARTY.
Not withstanding the foregoing, in no event shall Sierra
Wireless. and/or its affiliates aggregate liability arising under
or in connection with the Sierra Wireless product, regardless of
the number of events, occurrences, or claims giving rise to
liability, be in excess of the price paid by the purchaserfor the
Sierra Wireless product.
Patents & Licenses This product may contain technology developed by or for
Sierra Wireless Inc.
This product includes technology licensed from
QUALCOMM® 3G.
This product is manufactured or sold by Sierra Wireless Inc. or
its aliates under one or more patents licensed from
InterDigital Group.
Copyright ©2011 Sierra Wireless. All rights reserved.
Trademarks AirCard and“Heart of the Wireless Machine” are registered
trademarks of Sierra WirelessSierra Wireless,the Sierra
Wireless logo, the red wave design, the red-tipped antenna,
and Watcher are trademarks of Sierra Wireless.
Windows®is a registered trademark of Microso Corporation.
Qualcomm®is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorpo-
rated.
Other trademarks are the property of the respective owners.

Preface
v3Mar.11 iii
Contact
Information
Your comments and suggestions on improving this documen-
tation are welcome and appreciated. Please e-mail your
feedback to [email protected]. Thank you.
Consult our website for up-to-date product descriptions,
documentation, application notes, firmware upgrades, trouble-
shooting tips, and press releases:
www.sierrawireless.com
Sales Desk: Phone: [phone]
Hours: 8:00am to 5:00pm Pacific Time
E-mail: [email protected]
Post: Sierra Wireless
13811 Wireless Way,
Richmond, BC
Canada V6V 3A4
Fax: [phone]
Web: www.sierrawireless.com

User Guide
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v3 Mar.11 2130374
Table of Contents
1: Introducing the AirCard 580 Wireless Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Welcome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Package contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Feature summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess/NationalAccess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
System components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Care and maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2: Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The AirCard 580 software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Your account and coverage area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3: Installation Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Part 1: AirCard 580 software installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Part 2: Inserting and removing the AirCard 580 and driver installation . . . . 12
Inserting the AirCard 580 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Removing the AirCard 580 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Part 3: Activating the AirCard 580 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4: WatcherTM Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Launching and exiting Watcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Connect and disconnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Components of the Watcher window (Full Mode View) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
System tray mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5: Understanding Alert Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
3G service alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

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Auto-connect alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Auto-connection failure alert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Call lost alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Card eject warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Connection in progress alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Premium service alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Power on card alert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Reset call log information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Security lock enabled alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Security enter lock code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Security incorrect lock code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Software mismatch alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Tray mode alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
6: Troubleshooting Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
7: Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
8: Regulatory and Safety Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

v3 Mar.11 1
1
1: Introducing the AirCard® 580
Wireless Modem
•Welcome
• Package contents
• Feature summary
• System components
• Care and maintenance Welcome
Note: Do not insert the AirCard
into your PC Card slot prior to
installing the software. It is
important to install the software
and driver in the correct order.
(See Chapter 3: “Installation
Procedures”, beginning on page
9).
The AirCard® 580 wireless modem is a dual-band wireless
PC Card that provides true wireless Internet access leveraging
Verizon Wireless’ premier high-speed data networks, Broad-
bandAccessSM and NationalAccessSM. It enhances the
functionality of your notebook PC by adding access to high-
speed wireless data.
The AirCard 580 functions as a wireless modem with WWAN
(Wireless Wide Area Network) connectivity. This card allows
you to connect to the Internet, send and receive e-mail, and
connect to a corporate network (VPN) without the need of a
network cable or phone line.
Package contents
Your AirCard 580 package contains the following components:
•AirCard 580 wireless modem
•Card case for portable storage
•Installation CD containing the AirCard software and this
User Guide
•Quick Start Guide
•Warranty Card
Feature summary
Note: For step by step instruc-
tions to access features of the
AirCard 580, consult the online
help available with Watcher.
The AirCard® 580 wireless modem is designed to provide a
wide range of capabilities using CDMA network technology.
Implementation of these features will depend on network
coverage availability and account features you have chosen.
Contact Verizon Wireless Customer Service for details of the
services and accounts available at 1-800-2-JOIN-IN.

User Guide
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A Type II PC card wireless modem
The AirCard fits into the standard (Type II) PC Card slot
available on most notebook PCs. Once installed and
configured, the AirCard 580 connects to the high-speed third
generation (3G) CDMA wireless network. You just insert the
AirCard 580, allow Watcher to autolaunch, click connect, then
launch your Internet browser—you’re on-line!
Verizon Wireless
NationalAccess/BroadbandAccessSM
The AirCard 580 operates on Verizon Wireless NationalAccess/
BroadbandAccess networks which leverage a 3G wireless
cellular technology called CDMA (Code Division Multiple
Access).
3G CDMA technology provides a variety of connectivity
features, depending on network coverage availabilty and
account features:
•BroadbandAccess is Verizon Wireless’ premier high-speed
wireless data network and is one of the fastest, fully
mobile wireless Internet data solutions available. Lever-
aging 3G CDMA 1xEVDO, the AirCard quickly
downloads complex files and views email attachments at
typical speeds of 300-500 kbps, capable of reaching speeds
up to 2 Mbps.
•NationalAccess is Verizon Wireless’ national wireless
Internet service that operates on 3G CDMA 1xRTT
technology. NationalAccess enables users to access the
Internet, corporate email, attachments, and business appli-
cations with a laptop at typical speeds of 40-60 kbps and
bursts up to 144 kbps. NationalAccess is available in
thousands of cities and towns across America.
Once the connection is established, you can open your browser
and connect to any web site that is accessible through the
Internet, or access other Internet services (such as e-mail and
your corporate VPN).
Additional AirCard 580 features
Beyond the features of high-speed wireless connectivity, the
AirCard 580 provides additional software and hardware
features:
•PIN security code to protect your AirCard and account
from unauthorized use.