Sierra Wireless Aircard AC875 Review

Overall 4.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

pkmom
Strawberry Plains, TN

From the mountains to the sea this aircard is hard to beat!

not a techie, move around a lot, heavy internet user

Pros

Installs in a snap, Works where you are

Cons

Getting through to tech support

NOV

2007

I am the proud owner of a Sierra Wireless 875 Aircard. After using it almost a year, I can only wonder why the networks waited so long to develop this type of access. It's been great!

Specs:
The card itself is from Sierra Wireless. Designed for 3G networks, it is a type II pc card with a fixed internal antenna. With theoretical data rates of up to 3.6 Mpbs, the card can be used worldwide with HSDPA/UMTS and quad-band Class 12 EDGE/GPRS connectivity.

Card features include:
* High performance antenna in rugged housing
* Simultaneous voice and data capabilities
* Supports HSDPA and UMTS on the 2100, 1900, 850 Mhz band
* Supported by Sierra Wireless developer tools for third party user interface and applications
* Windows XP, 2000
* Field firmware upgradeable

When using this there have been a few glitches but by and large I'm very happy with the product and wireless internet service.

The card itself cost $150.00 from Cingular with agreeing to a 2-year contract. (Although you can buy the card itself for just under $300.00) There is a $100.00 mail-rebate to file which will bring the cost to $50.00. The rebate comes to you in the form of a prepaid Visa card. I'm less than thrilled about that but at least it is a rebate.

Getting set up for new service took about an hour. I had to set up another phone line in order to activate the Internet service. The sales clerk didn't tell me that when he originally quoted the $59.99 unlimited rate. The additional line added another $10.00 per month onto the bill.

It's pricier than my dial-up at the $10.95 rate but not much more than the cable company's $59.99 price. The sales clerk assured me I would have 30 days in which to try the service. If I didn't like the service I could bring the aircard back for a refund minus applicable restocking fees.

That sounded too good not to try.

Set up only took a few minutes. There was a CD-ROM of software to load. Then, I just popped the aircard into the slot on the side of the laptop and I was surfing away. Installation was quick and painless - even for a tech challenged person like me.

We've used it on the beaches of South Carolina and in the mountains of east Tennessee. Usually, if I can talk on my cell phone I can use the wireless internet. Once in awhile I've run into a glitch but not often. Tech support is available but you will have to sit through endless recordings, transfers and music before getting to the right person.

Speed is effected by the strength of the signal. There's a handy meter to show you just how much signal strength you have. Most of the time it seems to run a little faster than dial-up. If the signal is full I can approach broadband speeds.

There have been a couple of glitches which required help from tech support to resolve.

I had to make the first call when we left Tennessee and traveled into North Carolina. We were connected then all of a sudden we lost the signal and could not sign on again.It seemed an update hadn't been delivered to the card. When traveling you may need need to unplug the card and reinsert it to get updates from the network. We notice this mainly when crossing state lines.

The first time we noticed a problem my hubsand called tech support. In 5 minutes we were back up. The next time we encountered a glitch it took almost two hours and three employees. Finally, the third person I spoke with figured out what was going on and walked me through the fix. My computer was confusing itself by trying to self-assign two different IP addresses. This only happened once.

We've tried this service in just about every situation we can think of. I surfed from the Appalachian mountains to the beach in South Carolina, in buildings, parking lots, where other wireless services were offered and (other than the above) I've been absolutely thrilled with the service.

There is only one caveat. I've had to keep my dial up provider for occasional use. In some very rural areas where I don't get a cell phone signal I didn't get a wireless signal either. For cities, towns, by the interstate and more populated areas this aircard has been a dream come true.

I use it, love it and highly recommend it!