You typically purchase the AirCard 775 through a carrier that offers EDGE service, such as Cingular. Rates are currently priced at around $80 per month for all-you-can-eat service; this is not typically sold as part of your phone service.
Setting up the AirCard 775 is a breeze, but the procedure varies somewhat depending on the type of device you're using and the operating system you're running. You can use the AirCard 775 with laptops running any flavor of Windows from 98 SE onward and handhelds running Windows CE 3.0 or newer. Regardless of the type of OS you're running, the first thing you need to do is install the drivers, which are located on a CD that accompanies the PC Card. With a laptop, you simply insert the CD, and the installation wizard that appears on the screen will walk you through the process of loading the drivers and the card management software onto your system. The process is foolproof, and it takes less than five minutes.
The connection management and monitoring software for the AirCard 775 is called Watcher, which you access via a desktop shortcut. Watcher lets you connect to and disconnect from the Internet and gives you a graphic that indicates your signal strength when you're connected. The software also tells you what type of service you have at any given location: GSM, GPRS, or EDGE.
