Danny Gorog01 December 2007, 6:37 AM
Got a Telstra Next G 7.2 expresscard and Leopard? Here's the way to get them working together again without waiting for an updated Bigpond connection manager.
In a previous article, I noted that users of Bigpond's Next G 7.2 Wireless expresscard made by Sierra Wireless were out of luck if they wanted to upgrade to Mac OS X 10.5 and remain online.
In my case, I tried using the latest software available from Bigpond on my installation of Leopard and simply couldn't get my card to connect. The Bigpond connection manager kept unexpectedly quiting.
According to Craig Middleton from Telstra, Bigpond is close to releasing an unsupported beta of the connection software for Leopard.
If you can't wait until then, though, one enterprising user, Leslie Nassar, has posted instructions on his website on how to get a Next G expresscard and Leopard to play nicely together.
Leslie's solution is actually remarkably simple. First off, you'll need to download and install the latest Sierra drivers from here. Once you've installed the drivers, you should delete the "SierraWatcher" application without running it -- it is designed for use with Telstra Mobile cards, and may actually damage the configuration of the BigPond Wireless cards in a way that's not easy to reverse.
Next, you'll need to click on the Aircard that appears in your Network preferences, and enter your Next G username and password. (Note, you can click any of the screenshots below to view them at full size in a popup window.)
Don't forget to tick "Show modem status in menu bar", too, so that you can easily connect/disconnect the modem from the menu bar rather than having to go into network preferences each time.
 Configuring the basic settings for the Aircard |
Then, click "advanced" and change the settings on the advanced page.
- You need to select the modem driver as Sierra
- Network type should be GSM
- Change the APN to telstra.bigpond
 Configuring the advanced settings for the Aircard to work with BigPond Wireless |
It's worth clicking on the "PPP" tab and changing a few options there too:
- Check the "disconnect if idle" option. If you're on a time-charged plan with BigPond, make sure it's ticked! Otherwise, you can untick it.
- "Connect automatically when needed" can be useful if you use the BigPond Wireless card as your primary internet access device.
 PPP options: worth checking a few things here |
I tested Leslie's solution this morning and I'm happy to report that I'm back online again. Craig from Telstra also confirmed that 'it is technically possible to use the Sierra connection managers with a BigPond username and password, but again it would be unsupported and users really should wait for the Bigpond connection manager.'
On the other hand, if we all did what Craig suggested, Leopard users would still be offline with a service they're paying good money for.
So, if you're a Leopard user with a Next G 7.2 Wireless card why not give Leslie's solution a shot? In the short term both solutions are officially 'unsupported', and using the built-in OS X networking over 3rd party Bigpond software would always be my preference.