Installing Sprint’s Sierra Wireless Compass 597 Aircard on OS X Leopard

September 15, 2008 | Tags for this entry: sprint, Technology, wireless

The other day, I finally broke down and bought a wireless aircard from Sprint. The problem is: I couldn’t get it working on OS X, even after calling tech support!

Yes, I have access to T-Mobile hotspots. Yes, there is a Starbuck’s on every corner. But sometimes I need access from random places. The moments when I find myself in a situation where Internet is not readily available are rare. But when I need to get online, and I’m on a meeting with a small business in the middle of nowhere, $60 per month is chump change considering that could mean the difference between my landing the account or heading back home passing the time with Facebook Word Challenge.

Although I’m not fond of their cellular plans, I decided to go with Sprint, since I’m confident that they’ll have the broadest coverage in the areas where I’ll likely be.

I chose the Sierra Wireless Compass 597 USB aircard. I didn’t want to worry about whether or not the computer I’m using has a wireless card slot. (Especially, since Apple still hasn’t decided to put one on the regular MacBooks.)

Installing the software for these devices is seemingly straight-forward. But, contrary to what the instruction booklet tells you, their software does NOT immediately work with OS X. This is something I discovered after trying it, and later calling tech support.

How To Get a Sierra Wireless 597 Running on OS X

When you insert the broadband card into the USB port on your mac, the TRU-install CD image will automatically appear on your desktop. It will also pop-up the folder on the image that contains the installer for Sprint’s connection manager, SmartView.

Double-click the file called ‘Install Sprint SmartView.mpkg‘ and proceed with the normal Mac installation process. This will require a restart.

After you’ve restarted your Mac, you’ll notice that there is a new shortcut on your desktop for the Sprint SmartView software that controls the Sierra 597 USB device.

Launch the Smartview software.

The program displays the status of your wireless card. In this example, it’s ‘Ready: Sprint Mobile Boradband’. If this is a brand new wireless aircard, you’ll need to activate it. You can activate using the steps outlined on Sprint’s support website, or you can let the SmartView software do it for you. Some have reported failures during the automatic activation process, but it was seamless for me.

Go to the Tools menu and select Activate Device.

Once you’ve installed and activated, the software (and support representatives) will have you thinking that all you have to do now is hit ‘Connect’. Lies. While this step is necessary, it’s only 50% of what you need to do.

When you hit connect, it will probably prompt you for your Mac’s admin password and then just sit there. Lame.

The Fix

What you need to do is configure this new network device in your OS X system preferences.

Launch System Preferences and navigate to Network.

Your system will alert you that a new network has been found. Hit Apply.

Now, highlight your Sierra Wireless connection in the sidebar. You’ll need to enter a telephone number, account name and password to make this work. The phone number and password are not specific to your account. You’ll need to fill in the properties of this panel with the following:

1. Telephone Number: #777
2. Account Name: The Sprint email address associated with your account
3. Password: 123

Click the Advanced button near the bottom and, under the Modem tab, choose Sprint as your vendor.

The only model available is PCS Vision. So select that and OK it.

Check the box to ‘Show modem status in menu bar’ if you choose.

Hit Apply.

Now you can connect using the icon in your menu bar every time you need to use your wireless card.