Sierra Wireless AirCard 881 Wireless Modem User manual

2130893
Rev 2
AirCard®800 Series
Installation Guide
Products covered:
AirCard 881 Wireless PC Card Modem
AirCard 880 Wireless PC Card Modem
AirCard 881E Wireless ExpressCard Modem
AirCard 880E Wireless ExpressCard Modem
AirCard 881U Wireless USB Modem
AirCard 880U Wireless USB Modem
AirCard 875 Wireless PC Card Modem
AirCard 875U Wireless USB modem
AirCard 860 Wireless PC Card Modem
AirCard 850 Wireless PC Card Modem

Preface
Rev 2 Feb.11 3
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

AirCard 800 Series Installation Guide
42130893
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.
Patents 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affiliates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Wireless.Watcher®isatrademarkof
SierraWireless,registeredintheEuropeanCommunity.
SierraWireless,theSierraWirelesslogo,theredwavedesign,
thered‐tippedantenna,andTRU‐Installaretrademarksof
SierraWireless.
Windows®isaregisteredtrademarkofMicrosoftCorporation.
QUALCOMM®isaregisteredtrademarkofQUALCOMM
Incorporated.Usedunderlicense.
Othertrademarksarethepropertyoftherespectiveowners.
Contact
Information 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

Preface
Rev 2 Feb.11 5
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
1.3 Sept. 2007 •AddedprodedurestodealwithusingtheExpressCardto
PC Cardadapter.
2February 2011 •Updatedpatentinformation.

AirCard 800 Series Installation Guide
62130893

Rev 2 Feb.11 7
Contents
Introducing the AirCard 800 Series Modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
AirCard 800 Series modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Services supported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, and
HSDPA/HSUPA service support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Your account and coverage area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
AirCard modem software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Frequency band support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Installing the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
The SIM card and your account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
AirCard 850/860 modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1. Attaching the antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2. Inserting the SIM card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3. Installing the 3G Watcher software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4. Inserting the AirCard modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5. TRU-Install™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Reinstalling the software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
AirCard 875, 88x, and 88xE modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1. Inserting the SIM card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2. Installing the 3G Watcher software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3. Inserting the AirCard modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Without the ExpressCard to PC Card adapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
With the ExpressCard to PC Card adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4. TRU-Install . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Reinstalling the software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

AirCard 800 Series Installation Guide
82130893
AirCard USB modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1. Inserting the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2. Inserting the SIM card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3. Installing the 3G Watcher software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4. Inserting the AirCard USB modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5. TRU-Install . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Reinstalling the software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Configuring Your Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Setting up a profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Determining whether you have a profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Creating a profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
The AirCard modem as a network card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3G Watcher Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Launching 3G Watcher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
The 3G Watcher window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Icons and indicators in the main 3G Watcher window:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Indicators in 3G Watcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
View options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Status icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Turning the radio on and off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Frequency band and network selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Frequency band selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Network selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Care and Maintenance of Your AirCard Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Stopping and ejecting the AirCard modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Contents
Rev 2 Feb.11 9
Removing a SIM card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
AirCard 850 and 860 modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
AirCard 875, 88x, and 88xE modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
AirCard USB modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Regulatory and Safety Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Important notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Safety and hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Important safety/compliance information for North American users. . . . . . 46
Information pertaining to OEM customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
AirCard 850/860 wireless network cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
AirCard 875, 880, 881, 880E, and 881E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
AirCard USB modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
EU regulatory conformity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Radio frequency and electrical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Environmental specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

AirCard 800 Series Installation Guide
10 2130893