Sierra Wireless AirCard 555 Wireless Installation guide

AirCard® 555 Wireless

Network Card

Installation Guide

2130163

Rev 4

Preface

Rev 4 Mar.11 1

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. The Sierra Wireless

modem 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LIABILIT YFORANYANDALL

DIRECT,INDIRECT,SPECIAL,GENERAL,INCIDENTAL,

CONSEQUENTIAL,PUNITIVEOREXEMPLARYDAMAGES

INCLUDING,BUTNOTLIMITEDTO,LOSS

OFPROFITSOR

Installation Guide

2 2130163

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Inter‐

DigitalGroup.

Preface

Rev 4 Mar.11 3

Trademarks AirCardand“HeartoftheWirelessMachine”areregistered

trademarksofSierraWireless.

Sierra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MicrosoftCorporation.

QUALCOMM

®

isaregisteredtrademarkofQUALCOMM

Incorporated.

InstallShield

®

isaregisteredtrademarkandservicemarkof

InstallShieldCorporation.

WinFax

®

PROisaregisteredtrademarkofSymantecCorpo‐

ration.

Othertrademarksarethepropertyoftherespectiveowners.

Comments

Yourcommentsandsuggestionsonimprovingthisdocumen‐

tationarewelcomeandappreciated.Pleasee‐mailyour

feedback,notingdocument2130163Rev4,to

documentation@sierrawireless.com.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: 1-604-232-1488

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: 1-604-231-1109

Web: www.sierrawireless.com

Installation Guide

4 2130163

Rev 4 Mar.11 5

Table of Contents

Introducing the AirCard® 555 Wireless Network Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Welcome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Feature summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Network card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

CDMA 1X services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Additional AirCard features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Package contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

System components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Your host computing device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

The AirCard 555 wireless network card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

The AirCard drivers and enabling software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

A CDMA service provider account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

The CDMA wireless network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

The AirCard 555 software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Account activation and configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Installation on Notebook PCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Windows 95 support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Installation Guide

6 2130163

AirCard software installation procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Windows 95 installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Preinstallation procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Verifying that the PC Card slots are enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Verifying that TCP/IP is installed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, and XP installation procedures . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Windows NT installation procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Windows NT driver installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Card insertion and removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Inserting the AirCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Removing the AirCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Installation on Devices Running Windows CE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Determining your version of Windows CE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

ActiveSync installation requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Software installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Installing the software on the host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Downloading the software to the CE device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Inserting the AirCard into a Pocket PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Inserting the AirCard into a Handheld or Tablet PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Removing the AirCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Ejecting the AirCard on a Pocket PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Ejecting the AirCard on a Handheld or Tablet PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Account configuration procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Activation Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Manual activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Voice-assisted and automated activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Contents

Rev 4 Mar.11 7

Care and Maintenance of Your AirCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Watcher™ Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Starting and closing Watcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Notebooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Pocket PCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Handheld PCs and CE .NET devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Components of the Watcher window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Window controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Docking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Always On Top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Interpreting icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Connection Status Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Call Status Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Indicator area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Minimized Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Online Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Fax Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Fax support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

WinFax PRO configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Third-party software supported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Requirements before configuring WinFax PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Initial WinFax setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Receiving faxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

LED operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Radio frequency and electrical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Environmental specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Installation Guide

8 2130163

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Rev 4 Mar.11 9

1

1: Introducing the AirCard® 555

Wireless Network Card

• Welcome

• Feature summary

• Package contents

• System components 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.

For detailed procedures, see

page 17 (notebook PCs) or

page 29 (Windows CE devices).

TheSierraWirelessAirCard 555wirelessnetworkcardisa

dual‐bandwirelessPC CardforcellularandNorthAmerican

PCSnetworks.Itenhancesthefunctionality ofyourmobile

computingdevicesbyaddingwirelessdata,voice,and2‐way

messaging.

TheAirCardfunctionsasawirelessnetworkcard(withLAN‐

likeconnectivity),a

modem,andamobilephone.Thiscard

allowsyoutodothefollowing(subjecttofeatureavailability),

withoutusingawirelinephoneornetwork:

• ConnecttotheInternet,VPNandcorporatenetworks

• Sendandreceivee‐mail

• SendandreceiveSMSmessages

• Connecttoadial‐upservice

• Makeandreceive

phonecalls

ThesoftwareprovidedwiththeAirCardalsoallowsyouto

manageandmonitor(onnotebooksonly)connectionswitha

WiFinetworkadapter.

Feature summary

Note: For step-by-step instruc-

tions to access features of the

AirCard, consult the online help

available with Watcher.

TheAirCardisdesignedtoprovideawiderangeofcapabil‐

itiesusingCDMAnetworktechnology.Implementationof

thesefeatureswilldependonthe particularserviceprovider

andaccountfeaturesyouhavechosen.

Somefeaturesdescribedinthismanualmaynotbesupported

byyourserviceproviderormaynotbe

availablewithyour

networkaccount.Fordetailsoftheservicesandaccounts

available,contactyourserviceprovider.

Installation Guide

10 2130163

Network card

OnnotebookPCs,duringhigh‐speedpacketconnections,the

AirCardisatruenetworkcard,functioningjustlikethe

networkcardsfamiliartomostcorporatecomputerusers.

Onceinstalledandconfigured,theAirCardcanconnecttothe

CDMAnetworkautomatically.YoujustinserttheAirCard,

allowWatchertoautolaunch

1

andauthenticateyouraccount

onthenetwork,thenlaunchyourInternetbrowser—you’re

online!

Modem

Asamodem,theAirCardallowsyoutodialupanyother

modem(suchasacorporateserver),orsendandreceivefaxes.

Phone

Youcanconnectaheadset(soldseparately)totheAirCardand

useitasaphone.Makeandreceivecallsusingdigitalvoice

quality,andhavethesecurityofemergency911access.

ShortMessagingService (SM S)isalsoavailabletoexchange

brieftextmessageswithotherCDMAsubscribers.

CDMA 1X services

TheAirCardoperatesoveratypeofwirelessnetworkcalled

CDMA (Cod eDivisionMultipleAccess).

CDMA 1X technologyprovidesavarietyofconnectivity

features,dependingonyourservic eproviderand account:

• High‐speedpacketdata,sometimesknownas1X,

supportsInternetconnectionswithdataratesupto

153.6 kbps(downlinkfromthe

network)and76.8 kbps

(uplinktothenetwork).Actualspeeddependsonthe

networkconditions.Withthistypeofconnection,the

AirCardfunctionsasanetworkcard.

Oncetheconnectionisestablished,youcanopenyour

browserandconnecttoanywebsitethat isaccessible

1. Autolaunch is supported on notebook PCs only.

Running Watcher is optional—a high-speed connection is initi-

ated upon insertion of the AirCard, provided:

a) you have enabled, in Watcher, “Always-on” for the high-

speed connection, and

b) WiFi coverage is either not available, or is available but no

WiFi profiles have been set to autoconnect.

However, to make use of other features of the AirCard, you

must run Watcher.

Introducing the AirCard® 555 Wireless Network Card

Rev 4 Mar.11 11

throughtheInternet,oraccessotherInternetservices(such

ase‐mail).

Theconnectionis“active”ina1Xconnectionwhendata

transmissionisoccurring.Ifdatatransmissionstopsfora

periodoftime(determinedbythe network),the connec‐

tionbecomes“dormant”.Youcanplaceandreceivevoice

calls

whilethedataconnectionisdormantbutnotwhenit

isactive.

Note: You may increase your

data transmission speed by

using compression software.

Contact your service provider for

details.

• Circuitswitched(dial‐up)data,usingtheearlierCDMA

IS‐95specification,supportsdataconnectionstoanydial‐

inserviceatratesupto14.4 kbps.Circuitswitcheddata

capabilityalsosupportsG3facsimile(FaxClass2.0),see

“FaxConfiguration”onpage 51.

• QNC (QuickNetConnect),providesasimplifiedwayto



dialintoanInternetconnection(usingcircuitswitched

data)where1Xhigh‐speedpacketserviceisnotavailable.

• SMS (ShortMessageService),allowsyoutosendand

receiveshorttextmessagesusingtheAirCard.

• Voic e calling,includingE911(Phase I) supportfor

emergencyservices.

Additional AirCard features

BeyondthefeaturesoftheCDMAnetwork,theAirCard

providesadditionalsoftwarefea tures:

• PINsecuritycodetoprotect yourAirCardandaccount

fromunauthorizeduse.

• AnActivationWizard(page 35)toassistwithconfiguring

yourCDMA accounts.TheAirCardsupportstwo

accounts.

• APhoneBooktomanageyourcontactsonnotebooks.

On

handhelds,Watcherhasdire ctaccesstoyourWindows CE

Contactsapplication.

• Soundoptionstocustomizeringtonesforincomingcalls,

SMSmessages,andvoicemailalerts.

• AScratchPadtoenterquicknotesandphonenumbers.

• ACallLogtotrackincoming,outgoing,missedcallsand 

determinetheamountofdata

transferred.

• AbilitytomanageandmonitorconnectionswithaWiFi

networkadapter(notebooksonly).

Installation Guide

12 2130163

Package contents

YourAirCardpackagecontainsthefollowingcomponents:

• AirCard 555wirelessnetworkcard

• Antenna

• InstallationCDcontainingtheAirCardsoftwareandthis

installationandtroubleshootingguide

• QuickStartGuide

• WarrantyCard

IfyouwanttousetheAirCardasaphone,aheadsetis

necessary.VisittheSierraWirelesswebsiteat

www.sierrawireless.com,foralistingofapprovedheadsetsthat

willworkwiththeAirCard.

System components

YourAirCard 555wirelessnetworkcardisjustonepartofa

systemdesignedtoprovideyouwithawiderangeofcommu‐

nicationfeatures.Everycomponentofthesystemisneededto

enablethesecapabilities.

You r host computing device

YournotebookorhandheldhoststheAirCardhardwareand

runsthecommunicationsoftware:yourwebbrowserand

e‐mailapplication,andWa tcher—theAirCardenabling

software.

Youmayalsohaveothersoftwareonyourcomputerthatcan

beusedwirelesslywiththeAirCard,suchas:filetransfer

applications(FTP),chatorinstant 

messaging,aVPN (Virtual

PrivateNetwork)client,clientsoftwareforacorporateserver

application,orafaxapplication.

The AirCard 555 wireless network card

Note: You may also acquire an

optional headset to use voice

services.

Alongwiththeantenna,thisequipsyourcomputerwitha

radiomodemandphone.

TheAirCardfitsintoastand ardType IIPC Cardslotavailable

onmostnotebookandHandheld PCs,andonPocket PCswith

aPC Cardjacketaccessory.

Introducing the AirCard® 555 Wireless Network Card

Rev 4 Mar.11 13

EveryCDMAnetworkoperatesononeofthreeradio

frequencybands.Asadual‐bandproduct,theAirCard

operatesontwoofthesebands(seepage 56),providingawide

coveragearea.

TheAirCardprovidesalltheadvantagesof1Xwhereitis

availablewhileallowingyoutousetheolderCDMA

IS‐95

standardwhere1Xhasnotyetbeenimplemented.Thebenefits

toyouarethatyoucanusetheAirCardinanyareathathas

coverage(assumingtherearenoaccountrestrictions)andyou

willbeabletotakeadvantageofthefastestpossible datatrans‐

missionspeed.

The AirCard drivers and enabling

software

Requiredtocontrol,monitor,andmanageyourwireless

connections,thisincludestheSierraWirelessWatcher™appli‐

cation,andonnotebookcomputers,theNetworkAdapter

Managerforselectingyournetworkconnectioncard.The

devicedriversarethesoftwarethatenablestheAirCardto

workwithyourcomputer’soperatingsystem.

TheAirCardcomes

withaCDcontainingthissoftware:

• WatcherapplicationthatyouusetomanagetheAirCard

andmonitoryourconnections.Usetheapplication’sonline

helpforstep‐by‐stepinstructionstoaccessfeaturesof

Watcher.

• NetworkAdapterManagerapplication(fornotebookPCs

only)thatallowsyoutoswitchbetweentheAirCardand



othernetworkcards.Thisapplicationalsohandlesthe

autolaunchofWatcherwhenyouinserttheAirCard.

• Thedevicedriversoftwarethatprovidestheinterface

betweentheAirCardandyourWindows

®

operating

system.

Thedriverand applicationsoftwaremustbeinstalledbefore

youinserttheAirCardforthefirsttime.Detailedinstructions

areprovidedinthefollowingchapters.

A CDMA service provider account

CompaniesthatoperateCDMAnetworksandprovideaccess

tothesenetworksarecalledserviceproviders. Youmusthavean

accountwithaCDMAserviceprovidertousetheAirCard.

Installation Guide

14 2130163

Note: You can use the Lock

Code feature to prevent others

from using your account should

your AirCard be stolen. For infor-

mation on this feature, see the

online help.

Eachserviceproviderhasitsownpricingoptions.Theremay

beflatrateaccounts,whichprovideyouamaximumnumber

ofminutesofnetworkusageforafixedmonthlyfee.There

maybeaccountsforwhichyouarechargedfornetworkusage

bytheminuteorbytheamountofdata

transmitted.

Youraccountmayincludeavarietyofotherservicessuchas

SMSmessagingandvoicemail.

EachAirCardhasbeenprovisioned atthefactoryforusewith

aparticularserviceprovider.ThissetstheAirCardtouse

particularradiochannelsandenablesservicesspecificforthat 

provider.

Theprocessofsetting

upyouraccountiscalledactivation.

Activationinvolvesactionbytheserviceproviderandconfigu‐

rationoftheAirCard.

Theproceduretoconfigure(activate)yourAirCardiscovered

in“Activation”onpage 35.

The CDMA wireless network

Note: More information about

CDMA networks is available on

the CDMA Development Group

web site, www.cdg.org.

Thisistheworldwideinfrastructureprovidingtheradio

coveragethatallowsyoutostayconnected.Madeupofradio

towers,andavarietyofnetworkswitches,routers,andservers,

thenetworkisaninterconnectionofmanyserviceprovider

companies.

Note: Most service providers

have coverage maps on their

web sites.

ThereareCDMAnetworksthat operateinthefrequencybands

supportedbytheAirCardthroughoutNorthAmericaand

partsofLatinAmerica,Asia,NewZealand,andAustralia.

However,eachserviceprovideroperatesanetworkthatcovers

alimitedgeographicalareawithintheoverallCDMAcoverage

area.

Note: The fee for service is

usually higher when you are

roaming (connecting to a

network other than the one

belonging to your service

provider). The Call Guard feature

(subject to feature availability)

can warn you before making or

answering calls while roaming.

Mostserviceprovidershave“roaming”agreementswithother

serviceproviders,sothattheycanofferserviceoutsideofthe

coverageareaoftheirownnetworks.Forexample,assuming

youliveinVancouverandtravelfrequentlytoSeattle,youcan

obtainanaccountwithaVancouverserviceproviderthathasa



roamingagreementwithaserviceproviderinSeattle.You

wouldthenhavelocalserviceinVancouver,androaming

serviceinSeattle.(Mostserviceproviderschargemorefor

roamingservicethanlocalservice.)

Rev 4 Mar.11 15

2

2: Getting Started

• The AirCard 555

software

• Account activation and

configuration

Beforeyoucan beginusingtheAirCard,youmust:

1. InstalltheAirCardenablingsoftwareanddriver.

2. ActivateanaccountandconfiguretheAirCardtouseyour

account(unlesstheAirCardhasbeenpre‐activated).

Thissectionprovidesanoverviewofthisprocess.

The AirCard 555 software

TheAirCardcomeswiththissoftware:

• Watcher™applicationthatyouusetomanagetheAirCard

andmonitoryourconnections

• NetworkAdapterManagerapplicationthatallowsyouto

switchbetweentheAirCardandothernetworkcards(for

notebookPCsonly)

• Thedriversoftwarethatprovidestheinterfacebetween

theAirCardandyour

Windowsoperatingsystem

TheWatchersoftware(andonnotebookPCs,theNetwork

AdapterManager)should beinstalledbeforeyouinsertthe

AirCardforthefirsttime.Detailedinstructionsareprovidedin

“InstallationonNotebookPCs”onpage 17and “Installation

onDevicesRunningWindowsCE”onpage 29.

Account activation and

configuration

YoumusthaveanaccountwithaCDMAserviceproviderto

usetheAirCard.Theprocessofsettingupanaccountiscalled

activation.

IfyoupurchasedtheAirCarddirectlyfromaserviceprovider,

youmayalreadyhaveanaccount;yourAirCardmaybepre‐

activated.

UnlessyourAirCardhasbeen

pre‐activa ted,Watcher

automaticallydetectsthatnoaccounthasbeenconfigured

whenyourunitforthefirsttime.Watcherthenrunsthe

ActivationWizardtoguideyouthroughtheactivationand

configurationprocess.

Installation Guide

16 2130163

ConfiguringtheAirCardinvolvessettingthephonenumber

assignedbyyourserviceproviderandmayinvolveentering

othernetworkparametersandsettingssuchasausername

andpasswordtoaccessservices.

Yourserviceproviderneedstoknow:

• Thebillinginformationtousetocollectpaymentforyour

networkusage.

• The

ESN (ElectronicSerialNumber)assignedtoyour

modemduringthemanufacturingprocess.(TheESNis

printedonalabelontheAirCardandcanbedisplayedin

Watcher.)Thisnumberisusedtohelpauthenticateyour

accountwhenyouconnectforservice.

Yourequirefromyourserviceprovider:

• Anactivationcodethat

givesyouaccesstoconfigurethe

account.

• AphonenumberforyourAirCard.

• Additionalinformationspecifictoyourserviceprovider

suchas:

· AuserID (username)andpasswordtoauthenticate

yournetworkconnection.

· ASID(SystemIDentifier)thatidentifiesyourhome

networkareaandisusedinconjunctionwithyour

phone

numbertodetermineifyouare“home”or

“roaming”.

Rev 4 Mar.11 17

3

3: Installation on Notebook PCs

• System requirements

• Installation on

Windows 95, 98, Me,

2000 and XP

• Installation on

Windows NT

• Inserting the AirCard

• Removing the AirCard Thischapterguidesyouthroughthestepsnecessarytoinstall

theAirCardonanotebookPC.

Note: Do not insert the AirCard into your PC Card slot before

installing the software.

Thebasicstepsare:

1. InserttheAirCard 555installationCDintoyourCD‐ROM

driveandinstallWatcherandtheNetworkAdapterMan‐

ager.

2. InserttheAirCardintothePC Cardslot (refertopage 27)

toinstalltheAirCarddrivers.

3. IftheAirCardhasnotbeenpre‐activated,usethe

ActivationWizardto

configuretheAirCard(asdescribed

in“Activation”onpage 35).

Beforeyoubegin theinstallationprocess,ensureyourPCis

runningasupportedoperatingsystemandmeetsthe

hardwarerequirementsdesc ribedbelow.

System requirements

TheAirCardissupportedon:

• Windows95OSR2andhigher(see“Windows95support”

onpage 18)

• Windows98/98SE

• WindowsMe

• Windows NT4.0withServicePack6a

• Windows2000withServicePack1orlater(ServicePack4

isrecommended)

• Windows XP(HomeandProfessionalversions)

Installation Guide

18 2130163

Subjecttofeatureavailability,theAirCardsoftwaresupports

Outlookintegration,allowingyoutoreadandsendSMS

messagesfromOutlook,andphonepeopleinyourOutlook

Contacts.TouseOutlookintegration,yourequire:

• Windows2000orXP,and

• Outlook2000ornewer(OutlookExpressisnotsupported).

OnWindows2000and

XP,theAirCardsoftwarealsoallows

youtomonitorconnectionswithaWiFinetworkadapter.

ToinstalltheAirCard,yourequirethesesystemresources:

Windows 95 support

Dial‐upNetworkingandWinsockarecomponentsofthe

Windowsoperatingsy stemrequiredbytheAirCard.The

versionsofthesecomponentsoriginallyshippedwith

Windows 95 OSR2donotmeettheAirCardrequirements.If

youareusingWindows 95 OSR2andhavenotyetupgradedto

Winsock2andDial‐upNetworkingversion 1.2orlater,you



mustdosobeforeinstallingtheAirCard.Therequired

versionscanbedownloadedfromtheMicrosoftwebsite,

www.microsoft.com.

AirCard software installation

procedures

Thissectionprovidesdetail edinstallationinstructions.

Proceedtothesectionthatcorrespondstoyouroperating

system.

Table 3-1: System Resource Requirements

Card Slots 1 Type II PCMCIA (PC Card) Slot

Communications Ports 1 Available

Disk Drive CD-ROM (for installation only)

I/O Resources 1 IRQ, 40 bytes I/O Space

Memory 10 MB

Disk Space 2MB

Operating System Page

XP page 20

2000 page 20

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Sierra Wireless AirCard 555 Wireless Installation guide

Sierra Wireless AirCard 555 Wireless Installation guide

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