AT&T 3G (Sierra Wireless) Drivers Working Under 10.6?

I have the same issue....

Same problem here. I used to have Sierra Watcher working fine. I've used its uninstaller, but plugging in my MercuryConnect USB881 card does nothing at all. It doesn't launch anything. I don't see the cellular symbol in the menubar. I don't see any option in the network preference pane either.

I have downloaded and installed the latest software from Sierra's website that includes a help file mentioning the 10.6 compatibility. When I run it now, it says my driver is up to date.

But the card never shows up or connects.

I use a Sierra Wireless usb on AT&T and the first time I tried to connect after updating to Snow Leopard I got the Fatal Error message within the Sierra Wireless Watcher software version 2.0.6. Having had this fatal error a year or two ago I ran the uninstall and then reinstalled and I have had no further problems. I don't use WWAN though. Don't you just love update time? Good Luck.

If you haven't done so, plug the modem into the usb and then launch sierra wireless from applications and it should look for the modem. That's what mine does. Good Luck

I can't get WWAN to show up in the network preference pane, and I tossed out my old Sierra Watcher. The only thing that seems to be available on the web is the new driver.

This is gonna seem drastic, but I needed my USB881 internet access to work. I did get the thing to work by downloading and installing the Sierra Wireless client, but I wanted everything to work without any additional clients. Make sure that you have everything backed up. I formatted my system hard drive and then did a "clean installation" of Snow Leopard. Once I I restored everything from my Time Machine back up, I plugged in my ATT USB card. The system indicated that that I had a new connection. I saw the Aircard and viola, it all worked as it did in Leopard. This entire process took about 3 hours, but it was worth it to me.

Thanks for that information. I don't think I want to spend that kind of time right now, but at least this tells us that the problem is likely some driver or other file that sticks around. If we could figure out which one(s), we could probably get the modem to be recognized.

I'll keep my eyes peeled.

I removed everything Sierra I could find. The problem now is that the modem is recognized as a USB disk rather than a modem. Sierra has a switcher application that is supposed to (at the kernel extension -- kext -- level) switch the modem from USB disk to modem mode. That ought to fire up Snow Leopard's natural drivers.

Problem is -- when I install the lastest switcher kext I can find from Sierra's website, installer tells me it didn't install correctly. I think it works with 10.5.5 (or 10.5.6) and higher, but not with 10.6.

Anyone with more information -- it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I have a support e-mail into Sierra but it will probably take them a while to walk me through all the things I have already done before they get to the meat of the matter. (No slam on Sierra support -- just that most support trails take a while for the support personnel to walk one through the standard stuff.)

I'll let everyone know if I hear anything from Sierra.

Or ... perhaps I have a unique, flaky situation.

I can't get it working either - I did a clean install of Snow leapard and the first thing I did was pulg in my USB connect and the Sierra Wirelkess Viewer wants to install but the mac does not recognize the modem.

I got the "final" word from Sierra tech support. They claim they don't have native WWAN support available yet for 10.6. In the meantime, they advising removing everything and installing 3G Watcher (which is different than the old Sierra Watcher).

3G watcher is available at http://www.sierrawireless.com/resources/software/mac/B21603G_WatcherGen.dmg

I have the AT&T 3G Mercury USBConnect modem and I followed these instructions in Post #13 from the following thread on Macrumors.com:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=774482

I can validate that this works and allows you to connect. Once I got that working, I was able to delete the Sierra Wireless Watcher software as it appears there is embedded functionality into the OS that works great!

Good Luck.

I am using Sierra Wireless 881U Under 10.6 without any issues using the apple native drivers. It takes a little but longer to initialize than what it took under 10.5.8 but the connection is very stable. Which Sierra wireless modem are you using? 881U or 875U? From what I understand, there may be more than one USB modem from SW. Also, what is the Firmware version you have on your Modem? You probably have to use a Windows or Linux Machine to find this out.

On mine the Firmware version is

ModemSW : F1 2_315AP C:/WS/FW/F1 2_315AP/MSM7200R3/SRC/AMSS 2008/07/09 13:02:11

I never had good luck with SW Watcher software. I recommend removing the watcher software, restarting and then plugging in the USB. Good luck getting a useful response from Sierra wireless tech support.

.

I had a problem with the 'sierra wireless 888' after 10.6 was installed, I am with network provider O2 in Ireland. within 26hrs they had found a link to help me!

Try this link below and download the 'B2160 3G_WatcherGen.dmg'

http://www.sierrawireless.com/support/showsupport_anddownloads.aspx?id=20,50,1,2

Hope it works for you.

I have had the same issue with my MBP where the 10.6 native WWAN driver refuses to recognize the device (USBConnect 881U). I ran the uninstall utility from Sierra Wireless and the switch utility (multiple times). I did receive an error on the switch utility installation saying the .kext file was not installed properly but the installation claims to be successful.

My only option at this point is to install the 3G watcher utility but that app is not able to connect to the 3G network now, only HSPA connections.

The most frustrating part of this whole ordeal is that it works flawlessly on ALL my other macs including 15-MBP, 17-MBP and 21-iMac.

This probelm seems to only be an issues on my MBP!

Hi,

I switched to the watcher, and it works fine on MPB and 10.6. I would prefer the native driver (and will try other suggestions linked off this thread), but the watcher does work.

HSPA is an advanced 3G, and I am getting decent speeds in the 1MB download and 500K upload. About what I was getting before. I can use VPN and do everything I need. I do usually turn off Airport when I use it though (both for battery life and because of trying to avoid hotspots if they are slower).

I haven't tried the native driver on my wife's 2008 MB Air, but will see if that works with the native driver.