Verizon broadband Modem and Internet Connect

Do you have to run the Verizon software at all? What happens if you uninstall it and just simply connect the modem?

Regards,
Steve M.

It is very unlikely you want to use Internet Connect.

Where did you get the software? If it came with the modem, does the install disk have a version number or any other useful info on it? If you downloaded it, can you provide a link to the download site (not the actual download but the download page).

Are you trying to connect using ethernet? wirelessly?

Do you have broadband? If so, do you know what kind? Might be cable, DSL, ADSL...

- cfr

Hi,

If yours is like mine (a different model tho, still VZ Access), it uses the Modem to *Place the Call*. The Modem has to be able to be used by the VZ Access Manager in order to get you on the Air-waves like a cell-phone... only with the Broadband Access. The software that came with mine, made this connection... and monthly updates keep it fine-tuned from Verizon.

In System Preferences > Network, you should be able to see it on the list... select it. Select Internal Modem... there you should see a web-proxy selected to use it, also, under Modem, you see most options checked. The number is contained in the VZ Manager... not the Network settings. It is the VZ Manager that does the dialing, through YOUR internal Modem... VZ uses YOUR computer to do it's thing... your computer cannot do it through it's own means. This, since you are NOT USING A PHONE-LINE connected to the computer modem plug, this use through a phone-line the computer can do... not the CELL PHONE idea without VZ Access Manager doing the Bridge-Over.

Hope this help make sense of your situation...

Hi again,

I would use VZ Access to do it (the Front Door), instead of internet connect... VZ has a good process once you get the bugs out. (Mine has been working well for over two years now). I have had some tweaks if I shutdown the computer before disconnecting VZ Access, it doesn't come back up as it should when I restart (or wake it up). Now, I too, am programmed to turn it on (connect) AFTER the computer, and turn it off (disconnect) BEFORE the computer. Like this, VZ access works well all the time.

I have had no problems with it not getting the modem to dial, as long as the signal is up there.

Is this fairly new for you?

Isn't VZAccess Manager designed for wireless connexions? If you turn Airport off, won't you block it completely?

Note: I looked it up but I don't really understand exactly what the VZAM is doing, so if you know this is incorrect, that's fine (obviously). Just it seemed to have to do entirely with wireless stuff and the previous post about air waves suggested this, too.

- cfr

Hi again,

Yes! VZAccess is for wireless connections. Airport is for WiFi connections. These are different. Both use the airwaves, but are not the same. If you have a cell-phone and make a call, you are now 'wireless'... not WiFi. The UMB150 is like a 'cell-phone' for your internet connection using the same type of wireless your cell-phone does. The EVDO is the 'How' it does it, and that through the Module you have from Verizon, plugged into your computer (or another router). If it's plugged into your computer, you can take a drive around town and be on-line the whole time with your computer, it will receive/send wherever a cell-phone works, as it's using the same network of towers to keep you connected. This is not WiFi!
WiFi works close to the Airport that has it and is connected to the house service. These are like the coffee shops with WiFi access for customers, you go out of range, it disappears. If you have it plugged in to your home router, it is wireless from the router to the cell-tower, and WiFi from the router to your computer... the router is the split-point. I believe you have it plugged into your computer, so WiFi, and Airport, have no part in your connection.
The internal modem does tho, as something has to be the phone to dial the number to get you to the wireless EVDO network so you can go on-line with the computer. So to say, the internal modem is the UMB150's key-pad to dial the number. I watch the activity in the Menu Bar (time connected etc)(on the modem icon) when using VZ Access Manager to connect... and disconnect.

If you want to learn more about it, I found the info for your UMB150 (Mine is a bit older then yours), Here it is:

http://www.evdoinfo.com/content/view/2161/64/

Have Fun

Hi again,

So you are having some success with it so far... that is nice.
Mine is set to connect manually, and that is in the System Preferences > Network; in 'Location' select 'NationalAccess - BroadbandAccess'; in 'Show' select 'Internal Modem'; Make sure you are in the "PPP" Menu and 'Click' "PPP Options..."; in the new menu that comes up is your option to "Connect automatically...", un-check it; also un-check the "Prompt every ??..."; in mine, the "Disconnect if idle is set for 10 minutes (Verizon put that number in there)(but it can be raised)(I did not though as VZ Manager disconnects if a "Dormant" period exceeds such a time, to free up the phone network for other users); the "Disconnect... logs out" is checked; the "Redial..." is checked and set for 1 time; and "Send PPP..." and "Use TCP..." are both checked. When done, click OK and you should be set for Manual Dial/Disconnect.

This is what and how VZAccess uses your computer equipment to do it's thing, the signal and strength is done through your plug-in card.

Bear in mind, I rarely get disconnected early mornings, but late after supper, the dormant time can go down to a few minutes, it does connect again, but the high use of the cell system would slow the whole system down if I maintained a connection with no use... so they disconnect it. Called a lost call, this also happens on the cell phone, even when you are talking. Some towers are used lighter then others, and it depends which tower has you connected... and time of day. Being on for two days without disconnect is very good... I am surprised they left you alone that long. Here in the metro area, they would of disconnected me way before that, you must be in a light used tower area.

Have Fun

I bought a UM150 the other day at the Verizon store. I tried it on two mac laptops, one is a macbook pro running 10.4.11 and the other is a macbook running 10.5.something.

On the macbook pro I consistently got hangups after 3 to 20 minutes of service. This was over several days of trying.

On the macbook running leopard the thing worked flawlessly.

You might consider updgrading to leopard, that is what I am going to do.

good luck.

My experiment with upgrading to leopard appears to be successful. Before the upgrade I was only able to keep connected on the UM150 for an average of 10 min. I just downloaded a 184MB file in about 1 hour with no problems and the connection has been stable for about 2 hours.

So if you have 10.4.11 just upgrade to leopard. You will need to reinstall the verizon software, this is no problem.

Have fun!

In reading this thread, I am finding a great deal of well-intentioned misinformation. I have been using Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess with a Novatel V740 ExpressCard for the better part of a year under both OS X 10.4 and 10.5 and have never once been unexpectedly disconnected. The performance of the service itself has been excellent. I cannot say as much for Verizon's software or policies. I don't claim to know everything there is to know about this subject, but here are some important facts and corrections that may assist with more effective troubleshooting.

You absolutely *+do not need VZAccess Manager at all+* to use the BroadbandAccess service (or NationalAccess service either, for that matter) and you *+do not need an internal modem+* (or an external modem) to connect. By "modem" here, I am referring to the POTS (plain old telephone service) modem built in to some Macs (and added via USB to some others), since it has been suggested that you need such a modem in order to dial out and make a BroadbandAccess connection -- you absolutely do not.

I can state these facts unequivocally because I have had consistent and complete success connecting and staying connected with BroadbandAccess from day one without the use of VZAccess Manager (which, currently, is not installed on my system) and I do not even have an internal modem on the MacBook Pro I use to connect (and I have never used my external Apple USB modem). If you have been fiddling around with modem settings, you can stop -- they are utterly unrelated to BroadbandAccess. The broadband adapter (it is not actually a modem) is all you need to connect. The adapter is essentially a specialized cell phone that works just like other cell phones except that it only handles data communications traffic (and it requires no keypad). It has its own telephone number (just look at your Verizon Wireless bill and you'll see the number there) and it does its own dialing.

When I first signed up for BroadbandAccess service, since I knew from experience that the Mac generally "just works," I decided to try to connect without installing VZAccess Manager. After entering my account name (which is my broadband card's phone number followed by @vzw3g.com) and my password, I was able to connect immediately with no difficulties.

My only concern was that I had no way of tracking my data usage during the month and I thought that VZAccess Manager might allow me to do that. As an aside, the reason I wanted to track my usage was that, although Verizon Wireless claims that the service is unlimited, they do, in fact, forbid you from streaming video over your connection and they disingenuously claim to be able to determine whether you've been doing so by looking at how much data you have transferred. If you go over 5 GB per month, they "presume use for non-permitted uses and will terminate service." So, in legalspeak, "unlimited" means "limited" -- they've been sued for this contractual slight of hand. More, recently, Verizon has decided, instead, to charge you an overage fee of $0.49/MB for any data transfers over 5GB -- that rate is over 40 times higher per MB than the "unlimited" 5 GB included with your plan. Okay, that's a different soap box. So, hoping I could track my data usage, I went ahead and installed VZAccess Manager and used it to connect. To my chagrin, when connecting with Verizon's own software, my data transfer speed dropped dramatically (by more than half).

That was unacceptable, so I promptly uninstalled that software and went back to letting my Mac take care of the connection itself. As soon as I did that, my connection was, again, rock solid and the data transfer speed was as fast as it had been to start with. The only problem I experience now is that, when my Mac wakes up from sleep, I get a message from Internet Connect that "The selected communication device does not exist." Of course, that message is erroneous so I click "OK" to close it and I find that I am, in fact, still online without a hitch. That issue is a little annoying and I think it may be the result of VZAccess Manager leaving some vestige of itself on my system when I uninstalled it (I never received that message before I installed the software). However, that glitch is trivial in view of the vastly better performance I enjoy without Verizon's extraneous software.

So, my advice to you is to uninstall VZAccess Manager without delay and never look back. I never have. Also, watch your bill and complain if you see overage charges since you should never have to pay overages after you've signed up for unlimited service.