Verizon broadband Modem and Internet Connect

jdamiano,

Please note that there are different types of cards listed on this thread... not all work like yours.

Mine is a Kyocera KPC650, which is a PC Card; Another is UMB150, which is a USB plug in; Yours is a Novatel V740, which is an Express Card. Not all of these will work like yours, which is a fairly new one.

Mine does use the modem and will not work without it. In fact, in Network Preferences there is no number listed, nor account or password and the card does "Grab" the internal modem to dial. The UMB150 works better the same way. If the Express Card does not need to use it, fine... Verizon has made some upgrades (there is one newer KPC6?? PC Card they have but it offers no more then the one I have for my system). Also, we are talking Panther, Tiger and Leopard as well.

We have Apples to Oranges here... there are differences...

jdamiano-

Thanks for confirming what I suspected -- that I can use a USB Broadband Modem with my Mac withOUT VZAccess Manager.

Alas, I'm having some problems and I'd love it if someone can help me.

-- I Verizon's UM175 -- a relatively new replacement for the UM150.

-- I have a MacBook Air. While I have a CD player on my PC in the next room, I'd rather not clutter up my Mac with VZAccess AND I understand it's faster ot use Leopard's built-in capabilities.

That said, I can't get it to work.

1. I plugged in the USB modem.

2. I Went to system preferences > network

3. I saw the new modem listed on the left -- it's listed as "Pantech Modem"

4. I highlighted it.

5. It wants a phone number, an email address, and a password. I enter my phone number as it was given to me at the store (and has been confirmed by a call to Verizon), my email address (which is allegedly my phone #@vzw3g.com, and my password (which, after calling in, was told was "vzw")

6. When I hit "connect" I get the following error:

Internet Connect
A modem error occurred. Please check your settings.

So... what am I doing wrong? If it were something as simple as an incorrect password I assume it would tell me.

Anyone have any advice? Please?

Peter

I had the same problem with my MBA and the UM175. After and hour on the phone with Verizon tech support (multiple renditions of install, uninstall, restart) and 2 hours back in the Verizon store (repeating the same thing) and tried with multiple different broadband card models, nothing worked. Eventually I just was refunded since nothing would work. I was using the exact same information you stated above (provided by Verizon tech support) but still nothing.

Actually, I got mine working. I called Verizon and after some wrangling, they transferred me to a "Mac specialist".

She really just read the scripts but the bottom line is that the piece of hardware has to be activated. It could be done in the store or by installing their software. So I downloaded the software (which only took a few minutes) and installed it to activate. All in all it took less than 10 minutes on the phone once we got the process going.

Voila. Now I'm online (I'm actually using it right now) and I log in via Apple Networking, not their software. I still need to go talk to a Genius to figure out a bit of the "location" stuff but generally I'm very pleased.

-Peter
http://www.FlashlightWorthyBooks.com

If you had previous types of connections like dial-up or ISDN and don't intend to return to those setups, I highly recommend deleting all such old preference settings from your system so that they don't cause you or your Mac confusion in terms of what settings to use in System Preferences networking or local preferences... It's just good house-keeping and problem-prevention if you know how to properly clean out those old use-less settings. If you can't locate them or delete them in system preferences, you can find them as a .plist file in user/library/preferences and sometimes in the by-host sub folder off that. You will have to have an idea what they are called or you can really mess things up by deleting the wrong preferences files.

Is this current connection you're speaking of a DSL connection or FiOS?

If you have a FiOS connection, you can ignore almost everything Verizon tells you about proper setup on a Mac or a PC. I have Verizon FiOS and have completely done-away with their slow 802.11g-only WiFi router in terms of my computers' access to the Internet, but I still have to leave their router connected only for the TV onscreen guides, apparently. Verizon tech support will always tell that you have to use their wireless routers first in-line with their ONT fiber connection device or you won't be able to connect to their network and they can't help you with troubleshooting. I found out by ignoring their directions and connecting the devices in the order I thought they should be connected for my best speed, I had no problems in doing so. I connected them in the order FiOS ONT (10/100 Ethernet)--->to AirPort 802.11n (with Gigabit Ethernet)--->to Macs with 802.11g or 802.11n WiFi, two 10/100 Ethernet wired Macs, and a wired 10-megabit non-router network hub (using NAT settings in AirPort) for connecting the slower Verizon-wireless router, networked HP printer, and some PCs on the same level below my AirPort router. To do so just requires resetting (or power-cycling) all the network devices (including the ONT) so that they all recognize the MAC addresses of what's currently connected. I've never needed to use Verizon's silly add-on software. That's only going to make things unnecessarily more complicated and slow for an intermediate or expert-level user. Novices who can't trouble-shoot their way out of a box might want to consider using it the way Verizon tells them to though.. 😉 If you are using a DSL connection, then ignore what I just told you. DSL may require use of PPPoE or some other weird connection setup which IF the Mac System Preferences networking settings can't configure by itself will require the use of Verizon's bloat-ware, unfortunately.

Thanks for the advice on deleting old setups and locations. Here's my situation:

I'm using Wifi most the time but the EVDO now and again. When I set up the EVDO the Verizon software set it up as a new device in a new "location". Sonow I have 1 location called "Automatic" and it has Airport and Bluetooth listed and a second location called "EVDO" (it was called Verizon something but I renamed it) and it has their broadband modem as one device and Airport as another but Airport is labeled as "Off".(exporting) and then importing it as a new device to the "automatic" location but it didn't work. :-/

Any advice on how to clean things up?

Peter
http://www.FlashlightWorthyBooks.com


I tried saving out the profile of the EVDO device

I've been using Verizon's Um 150 since Feb 2008. I haven't had any major connection problems. When i first got it it stopped working after about 2 wks but i took it back and they gave me a new one. A couple of times when i tried to log on through the VZ access manager it said i needed to activate my device, which i did. Sometimes when i plug in the um 150 back into my mac (i use it on my pc to) and i hit the phone icon on the tool bar to connect it says no device connected, i just unplug and plug it back into the usb port and hit connect. I haven't used the VZ access manager to connect in about 4 months. I just use it to check for updates. I get great download speeds.

Rather than worry about adding EVDO to Automatic, if it can't be done easily, then I would simply go the other direction and add Airport and Bluetooth to the other location EVDO and leave the location set to EVDO. Location "Automatic" is no more automatic than any other location you set up in truth (if all the connections in the location are enabled). In Network connection preferences for EVDO, after you add Airport and Bluetooth devices to this location, set all the devices for enabled status so the computer will automatically pick which one is available for your internet connection as the situation changes. If they are ever both active at the same time, you can set the order in which the computer prioritizes which connection to use before another. If you can also manually enable and disable them in this panel if so desired...

Chiming in here, since this is the best thread i found for VZAM and iMac.
The USB modem does work differently than the cards when accessing.
i find that VZAM is the way to go with the USB modem. never use iConnect at all with this.
that said, the speeds and consistency of usage varies widely depending on the tech, the time of day, etc. and paying $60/m really bites!

Can someone point me to a discussion or enlighten me as to why my other user on is iMac cannot log in and access VZAM? Tech told me it was ann Apple issue.

thanks,