Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Acuity Mac Guru

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 5, 2008
17
0
Tampa Bay Area
I am having problems with the software configuration of my MacBook Pro with the AT&T GT Ultra Express Express WWLAN Card.

I have read some posts that say that you need to download the Option software from http://support.option.com/att and some other posts that say on Leopard that the drivers were already installed and the modem configuration is done thru Network Preferences.

Can anyone who is using the AT&T GT Ultra Express point me in the right direction.

Thanks,
 

woodhousem

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2008
21
0
GT Ultra Express Express WWLAN Card

I'm sure you have already solved this problem - but just in case - you do have to go to the website you referenced and download the Software, which will load Globetrotter Connect onto your MAC. I have the exact same MacBook that you have and after running the software it connected with no problems.

I also run Vista on my MAC via Parrellels and in order for it to recognize the express card I had to make sure that in Preferences the Share Internet option was checked. For some reason using the "share networking" option in Parrellels did not work because the card is recognized as an Ethernet connection.

Woody
 

ChicoWeb

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2004
1,120
0
California
Any update on this. I'm running into the same problems. I'd rather not have to use parallels if I don't' have too.
 
AT&T Option Wireless GT Ultra Express

Just got off the phone with AT&T and had me up and running in 5 minutes.

1. Download software on Option site (AT&T's will not work on a Mac)
2. Activate SIMM, turn it off for 5 minutes and plug the card back in.
3. Populate the software with the following information in the manager
software settings that was downloaded;

APN: isp.cingular
USER: ISP@CINGULARGPRS.COM (all caps)
PASSWORD: CINGULAR1 (all caps)

It couldn't of been easier. Number 3 was where I was stuck on, a call to AT&T was all it was needed instead of a Friday night messing around myself.
 

woodhousem

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2008
21
0
GT Ultra Express Configuation

Thanks Phil for the update. My card came from my Comm guys and was already pre-configured by AT&T before it was issued so all I had to do was download the Globetrotter software from the website and I was off and running. I did have problems during a recent trip to Victoria BC but contacted our AT&T rep and he bumped up my plan to true International (after some fuss from my IT folks) and I was good to go.
 
True International?

woodhousem,

Let me know about "true international" I usually travel to Europe in the summer and it's part of the reason why I got the card and the laptop to begin with. I do all my work from home or the office where I work on octo MacPros and just wanted excess to a computer without the hassels. Thanks for letting me know, I hate surprises. PhilC
 

woodhousem

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2008
21
0
International Option

Phil, from what my comm guy told me after we did a three-way conference call with our AT&T Rep, although I had International it was actually for the continental US - but I couldn't connect up in Victoria, although my phones and Blackberry (Sprint, Verizon and Cincular) had no problems. He then bumped me up to what is considered to be bonafide International and I had no problems other than my Comm guy telling me that the service runs around $150.00 a month (whoa!)so as soon as I returned to let him no so he could suspend the service until I needed it again. :apple:
 

chipshot4me

macrumors newbie
Apr 28, 2008
4
0
Orange County, CA
Almost there..

Jusr rec'd my Option GT Express and followed the notes listed in this thread - still have some issues:

- GT Connect v1.3.0
- OS X 10.5.2
- MacbookPro 2.2ghz, 2gb mem

As Seen in GT Connect Window:

I insert the Express card, the device initializes successfully (says AT&T w/four bars signal strength). I can successfully connect in the GT Connect window but cannot establish network connect via browser. GT Connect preferences are:

- 3G preferred
- automatic nw selection
- identical APN/Username/Password as listing in this thread

As seen in System Preferences (Network)

Open Systems Preferences and two devices are listed - GlobeTrotter Modem and GlobeTrotter Ethernet. GT Ethernet is connected and GT Modem is not. The APN/username/password was passed from the GT Connect SW to the modem (they're identical) but when I try to connect the modem, it says the device does not exist.

FWIW - In System Preferences, Globetrotter Ethernet does have a DNS server assigned in the Advanced settings.

Sorry if I've supplied too much info..

Question - is this device configured to work like a modem or an Ethernet adapter?

Any connection help is most appreciated. I called AT&T and they said they have little/no experience w/Mac connections.

Thanks in advance,

Chipper
 

woodhousem

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2008
21
0
Chipper - I need to go out to my car and get my Mac (which I had planned on doing anyway to re-configure using the Ultra Express when I'm in a Vista virtual environment via Parrelels but I digress) but I want to say that the device is seen as an ethernet adapter and not a modem. I will be more help when I get back with you but I never had to "tweak" anything when I installed the Globetrotter software, everything just worked...and I know how frustrating it is to read that when you're having problems but it's the truth.

My frustrations came from trying to get Vista (yeah...I need it for some of my programs), when its running on my Mac, to recognize and share the Internet Connection - like it does when I have a WiFi connection via Airport. I had it working at one time but need to figure out what I did in preferences.

Will get back with you later on today once I look at my configuration. In the interim, you may want to do what Phil did and contact AT&T tech support and see if they can talk you through the problem.
 

chipshot4me

macrumors newbie
Apr 28, 2008
4
0
Orange County, CA
a little more data

Now being on the East Coast today, I resumed my troubleshooting efforts.

When I connect Option GT Express via GT Connect, it disables my airport and any other active connections (hardwire ethernet). I can connect to the AT&T network - I'm then connected to a DNS server and am issued a DHCP address. I can also release/renew the DHCP address, which tells me I'm successfully connecting to the AT&T network.

I still cannot ping any addresses via Terminal (a simple network command), nor connect to any website addresses although the card appears to be connected to the network.

I am stumped - thanks for explaining the device connects as a ethernet device and not a modem. So far, no help from AT&T tech support..

Another thing - when I log out of AT&T and remove the card, I cannot restart my Airport adapter (won't restart) or "wired" Ethernet port (won't recognize cable being an active link) unless I open the "assist me" dialog box in Network Preferences. Once I begin the troubleshooting process, the Airport is somehow unlocked and restarts - connecting to my wireless network and the Ethernet port becomes active again.

??
 

rjweisman

macrumors newbie
Apr 29, 2008
1
0
Ultra Express Card

Not being that computer literate, I have been pulling my hair out trying to get this damn gizmo to work for weeks on end. This brief note of thanks is to the poster who advised putting in that APN, USER and PASSWORD info concerning Cingular. Once again, thanks soooo much.

rj
 

chipshot4me

macrumors newbie
Apr 28, 2008
4
0
Orange County, CA
Got it working!!

Ok - I got it working!

1. Deinstalled GlobeTrotter Connect
2. Downloaded & installed GT Connect again (express card inserted)
3. Deleted all of the "modem" profiles created in System Preferences > Network
4. Chose GlobeTrotter Connect from the Location dropdown
Note - The adapter installs as Option 3G Ethernet
5. Made no further changes in System Preferences
6. Opened GlobeTrotter Connect from Applications folder
7. Opened Preferences and selected tab 3G/EDGE/GPRS
8. Added ISP.CINGULAR (all caps) in the APN field
9. I left Username and Password blank (empty field)
10. Tried to connect again - connected successfully!!!!!:)

Notes

Not sure what happened, but a clean install with the device installed may have helped.

After sw install, I removed the device and reinstalled - the card successfully initialized. I shut everything down (and removed the card), reinstalled the card, started GT Connect and it worked again.

It did try to install four GT Express Modems again..
 

woodhousem

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2008
21
0
Just booted up my Mac, was about to tell you what should be showing "3G Ethernet" and to do what I see you have already done! I don't even remember doing anything in Globetrotter - except when I went to Canada and had to connect to a new Network but I'm glad that everything worked out for you!

Now I'm about to see how to get Vista to connect to the Internet via the GT Ultra using Parrellels - I just saw a tip online that may help.

Again, glad to see you're up and running :)

Woody
 

woodhousem

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2008
21
0
Using AT&T GT Ultra with Parrellels

When using the GT Ultra in a virtual Windows (Vista) environment via Parrellels - just make sure that you have shared networking selected in Parrellels and "Shared Internet" in Network Preferences on you Mac.

The mis-leading thing is that when you look at your connection in Windows it will only say Access: "Local" but you will actually have an Internet Connection.

I was able to get the system to recognize a bonafide Internet connection (the little globe over the twin monitors) but that is when I chose the "Bridged Ethernet" option and then selected "en0: Ethernet Adapter" but for some reason that configuration stopped working and I have given up trying to re-create it since I now have connectivity via the shared option.

The GT Ultra will turn off your Airport Connection but it shows back up once you disconnect the device and come within a WiFi network.

Woody
 

KinOfCain

macrumors newbie
Jul 17, 2008
7
0
Imperfect Workaround

I got this working WITHOUT using the GlobeTrotter software to connect. The GlobeTrotter software must be installed, but you can connect to the card like it's a modem (the advanced WAN config options are NOT present).

I have confirmed that this works on three separate macbook pros running 10.5.4, and 10.5.5:

1: Install GlobeTrotter software
2: Plug in Card and run GlobeTrotter connect (I had to take the card out and put it back in here before it would recognize the card)
3: You should get a warning from the OS that new network devices were found, hit ok to open network preferences.
4: Go back to the GlobeTrotter window and hit "connect" this should fail, as you haven't put in the connection info yet, that's fine.
5: Quit the GlobeTrotter application
6: Go to your network preferences window, you should have a new location called "GlobeTrotter Connect", OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED: Delete this location by selecting "Edit Locations" from the location menu.
7: Back in the Network preference pane main window, you should NOT see a list of GlobeTrotter modems in the left hand pane. They will have been deleted by the GlobeTrotter software when you hit connect. If you see them, go back and repeat step 4. If you still see them, delete them one at a time.
8: Hit the little plus button at the bottom of the list. From the "interface" dropdown, select the SECOND "GlobeTrotter HSUPA Modem" from the list. (NOTE: It was the second one on both machines for me, but if this doesn't work, try the others in sequence) and choose a name, the name can be whatever you want. I recommend "Crappy 3G Card From Evil Craptacular Corporation". Choose whatever you think is best and hit 'Create'.
adddeviceib2.gif


9: Enter the following information into the configuration screen:

Telephone Number: isp.cingular
Account Name: ISP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
Password: CINGULAR1

configscreenmt4.gif


10: Click the "Advanced..." button.
11: Choose "Option" from the "Vendor" dropdown in the "Modem" tab. The rest of the values will change accordingly, and they're fine. Hit the "OK" button.
configscreenadvancedsi8.gif


12: Hit "Apply" then hit "Connect"
13: Be happy, but still slightly angry.
connectedst9.gif


I tried uninstalling the GlobalConnect software after I did this and it ceased to function. But this is working for me on three machines, I can connect via the menu bar modem menu, and I get full speed (2megs down, 1 meg up in LA)


IMPORTANT: I believe that if you connect from the GlobeTrotter connect application at any point it will wipe these settings. so don't do that. Once you've got this working, put it in the trash where it belongs.

Hope this works for the rest of you.

EDIT/UPDATE: And to those who, for some reason, think I would make this **** up (because it's fun to post fake tutorials and laugh at the dip***** who follow them, err, what?) here's a photo of my card in my laptop, and a pic of the box.

img0063se4.jpg

img0065np8.jpg


That's my new macbook pro, but it works with my old macbook pro (the very first intel machine) and a newer Santa-Rosa based MBP as well. So that's now three different machines that I've verified this works on. If you guys still want to claim I don't know what I'm talking about, PM me, and i'll invite you over to look at the machine yourself.

Hope this works for the rest of you.

-Kin
 

woodhousem

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2008
21
0
Imperfect Workaround

Thanks for the workaround information - I must admit I never had to deal with these issues and, again, maybe it's because of our aircards being configured by AT&T before they are issued to us federal government types.

When it came to using the Ultra Express and the USB form factor (I have the 880/881 Sierra Wireless Aircard) all I had to do was load the Globetrotter Connect for the express card and the Sierra Wireless program for the USB card and they worked perfectly.

My only problem was in getting the aircard to function proprely in the Parellel's Window's VISTA environment - which I was able to do by using either Shared Networking or in some instances the Bridged Ethernet option in the Networking options in Parellels.

I will say that my MacBook Pro would automatically connect when I was using the USB aircard (we had those before the express card solution, which is slowly gaining ground with the newer laptops being purchased) until I upgraded to Leopard 10.5.1 and then I needed the Sierra Wireless Connection Manager to get it to work.

Woody
 

3GMac

macrumors newbie
Aug 5, 2008
12
0
Ultra 3G Final Answer

Guys, I just spent 4 hours today figuring this out. Here is what I found; this should clear up a LOT.

The older 3.6 Express card which was replaced by the Ultra 3G Express, is the card that is NATIVELY supported by Leopard. ALL of the guides and directions where someone says that they got it to work natively in OSX are using the older card. The older card uses, HSDPA which IS natively supported by Leopard. See this link: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1122

This is NOT the Ultra 3G card, it is the older card.

However the NEW card, is HSUPA; NOT natively supported yet. You know that it is, HSUPA, because when the Option Wireless installs and the modems are created; they are HSUPA, NOT HSDPA.

AT&T is in the wrong here, because if you look at their product feature description here: http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-details/?device=Option+GT+Ultra+Express&q_sku=sku1190105 You will see that it lists, HSDPA as the technology; WHICH IS FALSE. The new card is HSUPA.

Bottom line, YOU CAN'T do it. Anyone who is posting about getting this to work, is using an OLD card; more manually loading a driver and using a third party software that is even buggier than the Option Globe Trotter.

Log your complaint here: http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Read up on this here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7675523
 

woodhousem

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2008
21
0
Ultra 3G Final Answer

I would beg to differ - not only do I have two of the new aircards they both work on my MacBook Pro (I do have Leopard) using the Globetrotter application. I received the second Ultra Express Card this week from our AT&T vendor and it worked with no problem after a slight hiccup. The only reason I was familiar with the technology you referenced (HSDPA vs. HSUPA) is that when the 2d card was issued AT&T hadn't activated it yet (the hiccup I referencd) so although it could connect to a WiFi point it could not find the AT&T 3G network because there was not a number associated with it and I was screwing around with the settings to see if I could fix it when I noticed the HSUPA technology setting. But once they activated the card the next day I had no problems getting it to work.

Woody
 

jaygatsby27

macrumors newbie
Aug 6, 2008
1
0
i got it to work with the launch2net software. it worked right away, so its certainly a software issue. i have leopard 10.5.4
 

3GMac

macrumors newbie
Aug 5, 2008
12
0
Final Answer, Revised

Woody and Jay; I had an issue posting so let me clarify.

Woody you are correct in that the Globetrotter software works with the Ultra 3G Card (That is how everyone is basically using it, including myself). That is not the point or the goal of everyone working on this. NATIVELY means using OSX to connect to the AT&T 3G network; by NOT having to use a third party software, including GlobeTrotter or Lauch2Net. The Sierra cards for example; work NATIVELY, it is on the list of native supported cards from Apple. You can plug it in, install only the driver (Not the management software) and it will connect to AT&T as a modem and be fully integrated. The older 3.6 Express Option card is also supported as native card.

Jay, the launch2net software does work, but everyone is trying to do this natively, not using some buggy software.
 

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
I use the Globetrotter Connect and it works for me.

AT&T is in the wrong here, because if you look at their product feature description here: http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-details/?device=Option+GT+Ultra+Express&q_sku=sku1190105 You will see that it lists, HSDPA as the technology; WHICH IS FALSE. The new card is HSUPA.

I don't think you understand what HSUPA is. HSDPA is only download; HSUPA is only upload. And seriously not many people care about uploads so for all intent and purposes it's a HSDPA card.
 

3GMac

macrumors newbie
Aug 5, 2008
12
0
Understanding?

I use the Globetrotter Connect and it works for me.



I don't think you understand what HSUPA is. HSDPA is only download; HSUPA is only upload. And seriously not many people care about uploads so for all intent and purposes it's a HSDPA card.

I do understand what they are. Each card however was primarily listed as using one or the other, HSUPA or HSDPA. So it is easier to classify the card by that. Really it is just about the new card coming out, and no native support being built in the Mac yet. However if you look at both cards, they specifically say, one is HSDPA and one is HSUPA.

And yes, for the 1,000th time, GLOBETROTTER WORKS. The point is, trying NOT to use it.
 

KinOfCain

macrumors newbie
Jul 17, 2008
7
0
Guys, I just spent 4 hours today figuring this out. Here is what I found; this should clear up a LOT.
...
This is NOT the Ultra 3G card, it is the older card.
...
However the NEW card, is HSUPA; NOT natively supported yet.
...
Bottom line, YOU CAN'T do it. Anyone who is posting about getting this to work, is using an OLD card; more manually loading a driver and using a third party software that is even buggier than the Option Globe Trotter.

Not Quite. My workaround above is in fact for the Ultra card (I can send you a photo if you want) and uses the driver from the Option Globe Trotter connect software, which is why it has to be installed.

In that sense it is not truly "native", but you don't have to use the Globe Trotter application to connect, you can use the menu bar modem control and it doesn't shut down your other network connections (it doesn't switch locations) when you connect. That's not perfect, but it's a good enough solution for me.

I am NOT using the Launch2Net drivers. I'm using the Globe Trotter drivers. I've run this on a machine that has never had Launch2Net installed and it works fine.
 

woodhousem

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2008
21
0
Understanding?

Ah so! I get where you're coming from now 3GMac (and hopefully everyone else who has been beating up on you :) I had that same problem with a Sierra Wireless USB aircard (USB Connect 881). Before I upgraded to Leopard my MacBook Pro would automatically connect to the network as soon as I plugged in the aircard but after the upgrade I needed third party software from Sierra Wireless to get it to work. I was not happy either, as I couldn't understand why Apple would seemingly take a step backwards in now requiring users to use 3d party software for something that was taking place almost transparently (I'm sure there are issues at stake at the upper levels which led to this or maybe an oversight on the part of the OS programmers).

If I may change topics - the reverse of the above situation happened with the new generation iPod Classics and Touch when it came to using a 3d party audio/video player that enabled me to snap my iPod into it and use it like a portable DVD player with a 7-inch screen. When the new versions of the video iPods came out all the device would give you was audio and no video - so in this case the use of 3d party tech was defeated (for reasons only Apple knows - my MBA says keeping earnings solely in their pockets but that's just an educated guess). Fortunately, I still have two older iPods that will work with it and of course you can get the Composite AV Cables to hook to a TV or similar device but the former solution was neater (no wires), gave you more functionality (you could hook it up to a TV or use as a stand-alone) and actually cheaper ($50 for the cables!). I did see a new product in Circuit City the other day, which is supposed to support the newer Pods - but with a $180.00 price tag!

OK - I've vented enough - Leopard made it necessary to use 3d party software for my aircards and my newest iPod won't work on my nifty little gadget - I'll be alright...:rolleyes:
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.