Sierra Wireless AirCard 800 Series User manual

Includes:
· 875U
· 880U
· 881U
2130784
Rev 1.2
AirCard® 800 Series
Wireless USB Modem
Installation Guide

Preface
Important Notice
Safety and Hazards
Limitation of
Liability
Rev 1.2 May.07
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.
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 operator's control and operation
of that vehicle. In some states and provinces, operating such
communications devices while in control of a vehicle is an
offence.
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
3

AirCard 800 Series USB Modem Installation Guide
Patents
Copyright
Trademarks
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 CLAIMS BY ANY THIRD PARTY.
Notwithstanding 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 purchaser for the
Sierra Wireless product.
Portions of this product may be covered by some or all of the
following US patents:
5,515,013 5,629,960 5,845,216 5,847,553 5,878,234
5,890,057 5,929,815 6,169,884 6,191,741 6,199,168
6,339,405 6,359,591 6,400,336 6,516,204 6,561,851
6,643,501 6,653,979 6,697,030 6,785,830 6,845,249
6,847,830 6,876,697 6,879,585 6,886,049 6,968,171
6,985,757 7,023,878 7,053,843 7,106,569 7,145,267
7,200,512 D442,170 D459,303
and other patents pending.
This product includes
technology licensed from:
QUALCOMM
®
3G
Licensed by QUALCOMM Incorporated under one or more of
the following United States patents and/or their counterparts
in other nations:
4,901,307 5,056,109 5,101,501 5,109,390 5,228,054
5,267,261 5,267,262 5,337,338 5,414,796 5,416,797
5,490,165 5,504,773 5,506,865 5,511,073 5,535,239
5,544,196 5,568,483 5,600,754 5,657,420 5,659,569
5,710,784 5,778,338
Manufactured or sold by Sierra Wireless or its licensees under
one or more patents licensed from InterDigital Group.
©2007 Sierra Wireless. All rights reserved.
AirCard® and “Heart of the Wireless Machine®” are registered
trademarks of Sierra Wireless. Watcher®is a trademark of
Sierra Wireless, registered in the European Community.
Sierra Wireless, the Sierra Wireless logo, the red wave design,
and the red-tipped antenna are trademarks of Sierra Wireless.
Windows®is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
21307844

Preface
Rev 1.2 May.07 5
QUALCOMM® is a registered trademark of QUALCOMM
Incorporated. Used under license.
Other trademarks are the property of the respective owners.
Contact
Information
Consult our website for up-to-date product descriptions,
documentation, application notes, firmware upgrades, trouble-
shooting tips, and press releases:
www.sierrawireless.com
Revision History
Revision
number
Release
date
Changes
1.2 May 16, 2007 • Revised Guide to encompass the 880U and 881U in addition to
the 875U.
• HSUPA is now supported.
• MAC OS X 10.4 and later are supported.
• Windows NT, 98, and Me are no longer supported.
• Simplified AirCard USB modem removal process.
• Added FCC and IC ID numbers for the 880U and 881U.
Sales Desk: Phone: [phone]
Hours: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific Time
E-mail: [email protected]
Post: Sierra Wireless
13811 Wireless Way
Richmond, BC
Canada V6V 3A4
Fax: [phone]
Web: www.sierrawireless.com

AirCard 800 Series USB Modem Installation Guide
6 2130784

Table of Contents
Welcome to the AirCard 800 Series wireless USB modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
AirCard 800 Series wireless USB modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Supported operating systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The AirCard USB modem as a network card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, and HSDPA/HSUPA service support . . . . . . . . . . 10
Frequency band support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Your account and coverage area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
AirCard USB modem software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Package contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The SIM card and your account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Before you begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Install the AirCard USB modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Insert the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Insert the SIM card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Install Watcher software and the AirCard USB modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Set Internet Explorer to use the AirCard USB modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Remove the AirCard USB modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Remove the SIM card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Configure your account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Set up a profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3G Watcher basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Launch 3G Watcher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The 3G Watcher window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Rev 1.2 May.07 7

AirCard 800 Series USB Modem Installation Guide
Icons and indicators on the main 3G Watcher window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
View options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Status icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Turn the radio on and off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Frequency band and network selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Frequency band selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Network selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Care and maintenance of your USB modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Technical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
LED operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Radio frequency and electrical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Environmental specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Regulatory and safety
information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Important notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Safety and hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Important safety / compliance information for North American users. . . . . 38
EU regulatory conformity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
8 2130784

1: Welcome to the AirCard 800
Series wireless USB modem
1
• AirCard 800 Series
wireless USB
modem
• Your account and
coverage area
• AirCard USB modem
software
• Package contents
Caution: Do not insert your
AirCard USB modem into the
USB slot before installing the
software.
AirCard 800 Series wireless
USB modem
The AirCard 800 Series 3G wireless USB modem enables you
to connect to the Internet, send and receive e-mail, connect to a
corporate network / VPN, or view streaming video, without
the need of a network cable or phone line.
The AirCard USB modem fits into the USB slot on your
notebook or desktop PC.
Supported operating systems
The AirCard USBmodem works in notebook or desktop PCs
running Windows®Vista™, XP, or 2000 or Mac OS®X.
The AirCard USB modem as a network
card
The AirCard USB modem can be configured to provide the
“always-on” data connection that an Ethernet card or other
wired LAN card provides. That is, you can set options in
Watcher®(a program that comes with the AirCard USB
modem) that cause the AirCard USB modem to establish a
network connection whenever you insert it, assuming GSM,
GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, or HSDPA/HSUPA1service is available.
(See “GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, and HSDPA/HSUPA service
support” on page 10.) Otherwise, you can configure Watcher
to connect only when you click the Connect button.
1. HSUPA is only available for the 880U and 881U USB modems.
Rev 1.2 May.07 9

AirCard 800 Series USB Modem Installation Guide
The AirCard USB modem connection provides access to the
Internet. Once the connection is established, you can open
your browser and connect to any web site available on the
Internet, or access other Internet services (such as e-mail).
GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, and HSDPA/
HSUPA service support
GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, and HSDPA/HSUPA are add-on data
services to GSM mobile phone networks. The maximum
theoretical data speeds when connected on these services are:
• GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)—56 kbps (kilobits
per second)
• EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM Environment)—236 kbps
• UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System)—
384 kbps
• HSDPA (High Speed Download Packet Access)—up to
3.6 Mbps (Megabits per second)
• HSUPA (High Speed Upload Packet Access)—up to
2.0 Mbps.
GPRS and EDGE are 2G (second generation) data services.
UMTS and HSDPA/HSUPA are 3G (third generation) data
services.
When establishing a connection, your AirCard USB modem
uses the fastest available service. If, for example, you are using
an AirCard USB modem in an area that has GPRS and EDGE
service but not UMTS or HSDPA/HSUPA service, the AirCard
USB modem connects using EDGE service.
Once the connection is established, you have access to all
Internet services.
Frequency band support
Every GSM network operates on one of these radio frequency
bands when providing 2G (GPRS or EDGE) service:
• 850 MHz band—(also called the cellular band) used by
some North American service providers
• 900 MHz band—used by some European service
providers
• 1800 MHz band—used by some European and Asian
service providers
• 1900 MHz band—(also called the PCS band) used by
many North American service providers
213078410