Wireless Broadband for MacBook Pro

Welcome to WA. You might get more responses if you post in the Wireless Data and Internet forum.

I have not used wireless broadband on a Macbook Pro, but I noticed that the single card that T-Mobile lists, the Sony Ericsson GC89, is a PC card. I am assuming you need an ExpressCard.

Verizon offers the Verizon Wireless V740 ExpressCard, which was favorably reviewed here. Verizon also specifically mentions support for "MAC OS 10.4.8 or higher". If you try this, please post your experiences over on the Data forum.


SW

 

Sprint has got an express card as well. A friend of mine has one and uses it with his Macbook PRO all the time. That can be found here.

Verizon has an excellent broadband network built out. Keep in mind that they have a limit of 5GB/month on their unlimited plan. Lots of people have been cutoff by Verizon b/c of "excessive usage." If your usage is less than that, then I would go with Verizon.

Otherwise, Sprint is a lot better b/c they do not have a limit on how much you can use a month with their unlimited plan. They also have broadband access in more cities than any other network, and allow roaming onto other carriers if their network isnt available.

Like SteveW said let us know what you go with.

 

I moved this thread to the data forum. T-Mobile has poor coverage in rural areas from my experience. It's OK, but let's face it, their data network is basically non-existant. I still reccomend Sprint. They are more likely to cut one a break on pricing and they are faster and in more cities.

 

Verizon offers Express cards and fully supports Mac OS X. So Verizon is your most "compatible" choice. However they do have and enforce a 5 GB monthly limit on data. If you go over that limit your data line will be canceled. Keep in mind that Verizon's data plan is $59.99 if you have a Verizon line, if not then its $79.99 a month.

Sprint does not support Mac OS X officially but sometimes there are work arounds to that. Sprint does not have a limit usage policy and the price of their data is $59.99 a month whether or not you have Sprint. Overall if you can get a card to work with your Mac I'd recommend Sprint over Verizon. Sprint's EVDO network isn't quite as large as Verizon's but it's cheaper and they don't impose a limit on usage like Verizon does.

 

I purchased and tried the Sierra Wireless 595u REV A USB modem through Sprint.

I own a PowerBook G4.

I could connect easily without any issues and the speeds were decent for wireless here in Los Angeles.

The only downsides is that you don't get full use of the connection manager that PC users get and for some reason my connection will end if I leave my notebook idle for more than a few minutes. I can't figure out why.

If your MacBook pro has a slot on the side for an actual AirCard, check out the Sprint SERO plan. You can get unlimited data over their 1x-EVDO network for $ 49.99 per month on a new two year agreement. Go to: sprint.com/sero and use either: openaccess@sprint.com or savings@sprint.com when prompted for an email address.

If price per month is not your main concern, you can purchase an aircard with all the proper software suited for Macs out of the box and get full Mac post sale support through this site. http://www.evdoinfo.com/content/view/671/63/

Good luck.