HOW TO : Configure AT&T 3G on Windows Vista without Communication Manager

This is a howto for the geek in you :-). You can easily configure a AT&T 3G Wireless card on your workstation using the Communication Manager software provided by AT&T.. But then I have always been against using bloated software for something you can configure on your own.

I recently got a 3G card at work and needed to install it on my laptop. I figured that the AT&T  provided software was just setting up a dial-up connection with specific settings. Guessing that some Linux geek might have already figured out what the settings where, I used the following search term in Google “Linux Ubuntu Configure AT&T 3G card”.. Lo and behold, the following link showed up http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2008/12/07/how-to-use-an-att-ericsson-f3507g-card-on-ubuntu-intrepid/.

Here are the steps, I follwed to configure the card in Microsoft Vista

• Insert card into the laptop and use the “search online” feature for installing the required drivers.
• Open “Network and Sharing Center”.
• Click on “Setup up a connection or network”.
• Choose “Connect to the Internet” option and click on Next.
• If you are already connected to the Internet, you will get a message stating the same, but choose the “Setup a new connection anyway”.
• If you already have existing dial-up or DSL connections, choose “No, create a new connection” and click on Next
• Choose “Dial-up”
• Choose the modem related to your 3G card.. For example, mine was “Sierra Wireless AirCard 875 HSDPA Modem”
• Enter the following information in the ISP Information
  • Dial-up phone number : *99#
  • User name : *
  • Password : *
  • Connection Name : Whatever you want to name it

• Click on Connect and enjoy the broadband speed without bloatware :-).