New AT&T Mercury USB Laptop Connect Modem Available Tomorrow

Ive been using the usb881 and its annoying but I love being able to go anywhere theres a signal. Im considering getting the mercury design it looks like a small flash drive Im just wondering if its built in antenna works as well or possibly better than the usb881′s antenna? Is smaller really better?

did the at&t usbconnect mercury work for you? i saw your review. i am thinking about buying one and using my at&t sim card to activate it without a plan. functionally, did it work with the internet connection. i am using it for a vpn connection on vacation. is it worth the aggravation. if it f___ my laptop loading the software I will freak out.

Go to the Sierra Wireless Compass 885 page on the Sierra site, under accessories they have an amplifier that isn’t that expensive. Small size too.

I’ve had this device for about a two weeks, after switching from a failed PC Express card. I initially had connection problems on my last generation MacBook Pro, but thanks to Apple’s latest software upgrade – which specifically targets AT&T connection devices, there is added functionality and seemingly better connection!

Highly recommend this device!

JP

I brought my laptop to an AT&T store today to test the actual speeds. I was told they could not let me install it on my laptop unless I bought it. OK, fine….can I test the performance on the store’s laptop, which had the wireless card already installed? NO!!! The laptop used in the display was set up so it would only run an advertisement slideshow for the aircard. I couldn’t open a browser, the advertisement was running full screen. (I even re-booted the laptop – the salesman freaked out!) Then I was told if I buy it and don’t like it, I can return it for a full refund within two weeks. So I bought it and brought it home. However, after two hours of trying, I still cannot get it to connect. I Googled the card and found many people complaing about the same issue I am having. This POS is getting returned tomorrow. Not only is AT&T very arrogant about letting a customer test the device before they buy it, but the card also has some severe technical issues. STAY AWAY !

I just purchased this device and after attempting installation and unsuccessful connection to the internet, I called att customer service and find out that the service is inactive in new york (my area) for the past 6 days.
I was told it was priority to get it fixed but there were no repair date. Meanwhile I am being charged $2.14 per day!
I am returning this tomorrow, does not sound like a reliable service at all!

I just purchased this bugger and now am finding it hard to even find an Antenna booster that will work with it. If I go back to the 881 many Antenna’s but this one no one is supporting because they say it is a piece of Junk….I want the 881

Have had nothing but problems with this aircard. Got little to no signal when first got it then bought an external antenna and was able to get better connection. HOWEVER the crappy design for the antenna port makes it extremely fragile and the wrong move and the port snaps off in the inside rendering the devide completely useless. They replaced mine once already and are now replacing again!!!! BUYER BEWARE-DO NOT GET THIS IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE AN EXTERNAL ANNTENNA!!! They also had the nerve to give me trouble about replacing when the devices clearly have a one year warrenty. The pcmcia card antenna ports are much more secure.

I got one of these and while I was in the US it seemed to work pretty well, anyways I am not overseas for a few months so I paid to cancel my plan and since i am overseas, they sent me the unlock code for it but i dont know where to enter that code Any suggestions …

I just bought one of these to use as my only internet connection – I’m moving out of town up into the hills, where my options are limited, but cell signals are pretty strong. So far so good…in fact, I’m sending this from my netbook via 3G w/the Mercury. I just got it yesterday, so I can’t really say if it has any problems, but it works fine for me – both in a more urban area as well as rural. They told me at the AT&T store that I had thirty days to try it out, so I’ll be putting it through the paces. I’ll keep you posted…

A friend just brought one of those Mercury devices to me and had me install it on a laptop he bought…wanted me to show him how to get it running and how to get around on the internet….he is new to the world of PCs.anyway afetr inserting a window came up, i installed the software ( AT&T Communication Manager) and rebooted. We drove up the street where I knew there was always a decent cell signal…I opened the Communication manager and the bar showed 3 bars of signal after a few minutes (SLOW) and I waited and waited for the “CONNECT” button to highlight so we could connect…never happened, a window opened that reminded me of the old dial-up days..It had timed out. Is 3 bars of cell signal not enough for this device to work properly???

This device and the network to which it connects are horrible. Customer service is totally lacking. The signal will drop (i.e., no signal, or insufficient signal) for hours without warning–and I am in a flat part of Silicon Valley. I’ve been told after performing all sorts of diagnostics that finally, yes, there were intermittent outages of the 3G network in my area, and there was no ETA. I am extremely dissatisfied with this device and would warn others away from it. That AT&T Communications Manager software one has to use with this also has to be one of the slowest applications in the world to open and close. This has meant nothing but utter aggravation.

Update… still using the aircard – have had to have it replaced twice because the antennae port breaks. I have a terrible time keeping under the 5 Gb limit, which is the highest that ATT offers. They do not have unlimited – which I would be willing to pay for. If you go over its .25 cents per KB – YES – completely true .15 cents per kb. Unbelievable! I tried my friends Sprint card (who happened to get unlimited before all of the cell companies quit offering it). The Sprint card works very well, stable with very little interruption and bandwidth is better. Unfortunately I can’t switch to sprint because they don’t have unlimited any more. As far as I know its not offered for any 3G air-card devices any more.

I do work on 1 bar most of the time – sometimes 2 if lucky. Make sure you go into the config and allow multiple connections or you wont be able to connect to wireless networks and the 3FG network at the same time.

I just purchased this USB Mercury air card hoping it would perform better than my express card I have on a Dell 1501. I was totally surprised how bad this card is!! It wouldn’t connect to the network and when it finally did, the com manager kicked me off. I called AT&T laptop connect for help after a several minutes the cs rep got me connected. What a hassle!! Once I connected my local network to my laptop the com manager again kicked me off. Apparently, AT&T is trying to thwart users from connecting multiple PCs to this card. Useless as far as I’m concerned. This POS is going back.

There is a setting in the configuration you need to select to allow simultaneous connections. It is under Tools>settings>select the dropdown and choose “Allow Simultaneous connections”. (Doesn’t change my opinion of the card though – its still a POS – just thought you should know).

I have had nothing but issues with the 885 Mercury air card! This is my second one and still no resolution. Part way through install the # is wiped off the sim card. Will not complete install and tech support is very frustrating. Customer support is sending me to an AT&T store for hands on… I just wanted the 881 that I had and had no problems with it. But NO they said that I needed to up grade. I have had no mobile service for 2 months. This air card is a bad design.

I bought this for my Christmas present in 2008 and was very excited about the mobility of it. True, it is mobile. However, mine never got over 2 bars in signal strength. It did one time when I parked under a tower. The best service I ever got was the same as I did when I had dial-up service many years age. I was able to find a signal booster for $50.00 and it didn’t help. However, I was always able to sign on, but it was very slow. Oh yea, it also dropped my connection frequently. I went through 3 units and several downloads from tech support to no avail. I finally went with a smart phone and tethered it to use it as my modem. I don’t really recomend the smart phone option either because it still gives the same 5 gig limit.

What a peice of crap!. I purchased this product at an ATT Store and specifically told the service representative I needed coverage on my military base in Virginia. I was ASSURED by this individual that I had full 3G coverage in the area only to find out they cant assure 2G coverage. It gets better!, was told by customer service I could go online once I can get back home to my broadband and UPDATE the service online………Hard to do when Im on a fucking deployment.

Save your money, ATT is a joke!

Yes, this aircard is a POS and ATT reps are totally irresponsible, and I truly believe they would say ANYthing to sell a piece of equipment and get it out the door. This is the saddest thing I ever saw, and unfortunately, I am tied into a two year service contract. I am going as far away from ATT as I can, just as soon as I can. I don’t think they give a crap about their customers!