This actually isn't a question. Well, maybe sort of. I am posting this because I couldn't really find any good information on getting this card to work successfully under Linux.
About two years ago, I got the Sierra Aircard 555 from Verizon and set it up to work under Windows. One of the things holding me back at the time from completely moving to Linux was that this was card was my primary means of connecting to the Internet and it wasn't supported under Linux. Well, now it (unofficially) is. I recently switched jobs where I needed to have the unlimited data connection for my laptop. So, I found this page:
http://www.sierrawireless.com/Suppor...c555_Linux.asp
which explains how to get the thing working in Linux. I wanted to share my experience and ask a question.
The URL listed above is 100% correct in that the card MUST be activated on a Windows laptop. And actually, the software that originally came with my card was out of date, so I had to download the latest software from here:
http://www.sierrawireless.com/Suppor...c555choice.asp
This software may also flash the firmware in your card (it did to mine). Once you installed the software and flashed the firmware, you'll need to start the Watcher program and go through a manual activation. There are three pieces of information you'll need:
1) Activation number (which happened to be on the side of the box)
2) New phone number
3) SID number
The SID number I got when I called tech support at (866) 788-9387. I avoided telling the tech support guy that I would be using this on Linux -- not because it wasn't allowed, I just didn't want to have to listen to him whine about Verizon not supporting it under Linux. The Activation menu is under Tools. Once you've activated the card and you are sure you can place a call under Windows, you are ready to go.
I followed the instructions found on the first URL and downloaded the scripts and made the various changes to the chap-secrets and pap-secrets files but I could never get them to work. My advice is to follow the advice about activation and making changes to the /etc/pcmcia/config file, but the scripts they provide just didn't work for me.
Here is what did work though.
I downloaded and installed wvdial and all dependent packages and set up two configuration files, one for Express Network and one for the older QNC network.
wvdial.conf.vzw
------------------
[Dialer Defaults]
Baud = 115200
Idle Seconds = 300
Init1 = ATZ
Modem = /dev/ttyS1
Modem Type = Digital Modem
Username =
xxxxxxxxxx@vzw3g.com
Password = vzw
Phone = #777
Stupid Mode = true
wvdial.conf.qnc
-----------------
[Dialer Defaults]
Baud = 115200
Idle Seconds = 300
Init1 = ATZ
Modem = /dev/ttyS1
Modem Type = Digital Modem
Username =
xxxxxxxxxx@vzw3g.com
Password = qnc
Phone = #762
Stupid Mode = true
Obviously, replace the xxx's with the 10 digit phone number. Then, to use one of the profiles, as root, type:
cp /etc/wvdial.conf.vzw /etc/wvdial.conf
Then to try it out, simply type:
wvdial
And it works...sort of. Here is the question that I have. wvdial will retry several times to connect before giving up. However, there are times when I will have to run 'wvdial' 8 or 9 times before it successfully finds the "modem" and connects. Other times it works on the first try. It's more of an annoyance than anything since I can actually connect, but I'm just curious if there might be something I am missing.
Hope that helps someone else there trying to configure the same thing.