My
notes on using the AT&T Mercury USB Connect on Ubuntu 9.04
September 26, 2009
After
my experience with using Ubuntu 9.04, I decided to try 9.10 alpha
release 6 and see how it worked. I found that if I started the laptop
using the live CD with the aircard plugged into the USB port, an
icon appears in the upper right of the screen, which is used to start
and stop network connections. All you have to do is add a network
connection as a modem and you are on the air in just a few minutes.
Follow the directions and things work smoothly.
The problem I
encountered is when I actually installed Ubuntu 9.10 on my hard drive.
The network manager did not appear on the upper right part of the
screen. After much checking, I discovered that it is not loaded
automatically, so to solve the problem, I re-installed Ubuntu 9.10 with
the USB Mercury card installed. The Ubuntu installer detected the USB
card and installed the drivers and network manager, and worked properly
since.
I have not investigated how to add the network manager
icon if Ubuntu is already installed and then add the Mercury aircard.
If you have experience with this and would like to comment, please send
me a note at my e-mail address below.
For an earlier 8.04
version, I was given a link to a web site which solves this problem. I
have not tried it to verify it, but the person who located it stated it
did work for them.
It is:
http://backpacking-wishlist.blogspot.com/#AT_T_and_Sierra_Wireless_USBCo_8403009210480907
Thanks to Patricia Bridewell for finding this solution and sending me the link.
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ATT
connect speed isn't nearly as fast as they advertise. It takes longer
to start and connect the Mercury Aircard to the ATT network than
anything else. I would guess it takes several minutes to start the
aircard manager, detect the aircard, and then get ready to connect. The
commercials are a far stretch from reality and ATT should be made to
remove the ads or to make it work as they show.
Using Linux, it
is almost as fast as they show. Plug in the card, make one click and
you're on the air in about 10 seconds using Ubuntu 9.04.
Contact Info:
work 614-851-1100
email:
eplurib@earthlink.net
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Charlie Morrison
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