Entered CNET Catalog: 11/14/2007
SKU: 812320002660
Manufacturer: Sierra Wireless
Manufacturer description
The AirCard 881 offers tri-band UMTS/HSPA and quad-band GPRS/EDGE for global connectivity and worldwide roaming. With Sierra Wireless HSPA AirCard modems, mobile data customers will be able to send email attachments, upload information, and transmit data from portable devices at speeds up to a theoretical maximum speed of 2.0 Mbps. Downlink speeds are also improved over currently available models, with a theoretical maximum download speed of 7.2 Mbps. The AirCard 881 is optimized for better fringe performance on North American networks.User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9out of 9 user reviews
Decent card if you know what you are doing
Pros: Can provide decent speed, portable, and cheap
Cons: May require external antenna for home use, AT&T software has very poor performance.
However
In order to get the most from this card you have to do a bit of tweaking. Toss out the AT&T software and go straight to the manufacturer's website and download the latest Sierra Wireless Watcher 3.1x. Don't worry that the card is not in the list for this software. It works fine. Now you have decent drivers and a decent connection program.
Next head over to Speedguide and look for the posts on their forum which tell you the settings for this card for the TCP Optimizer program (Rollingstone's settings work fine) and apply those settings using that program, and reboot.
Once these things have been done you can enjoy a much faster connection. I live 10 miles from the nearest town, use a cheap 4 ft external magnet mount antenna, and get an average connection of 85 - 90 dBm. With this connection I average 150+ kps up and down, and have even at times managed speeds of over 290 kps.
In urban areas, with no external antenna, I have attained speeds of 1 mbps.
Remember that wireless connections, by default, are generally poor for gaming. You have to take into account your signal being sent to a receiver, then from there to your target, then it gets rerouted back to you through the wireless company to you. Hence you will rarely see a ping good enough for most FPS games. Think a 350 - 500 ms ping time is bad? Then this sort of connection is not for you, nor is a sat modem, and indeed dialup is often better for that genre of gaming. But if you want download and web surfing speeds several times greater than dialup, then this may work out fine for you if you understand all it's quirks.
out of 9 user reviews
Junk. One step above worthless.
Pros: I can't think of anything that I like about it.
Cons: S-L-O-W internet connectivity. Stop using your computer for fifteen minutes and you are disconnected.
out of 9 user reviews
Liars and Cheaters
Pros: It installs easily
Cons: A case of marketing being ahead of engineering! Their advertising shows a guy in the what looks like the arctic. and he says, " I Found the Internet " which implies that it works ever where.
So If you order it on line you cannot take it back to one of their stores. So when you are on the road you cannot get replacements or cancel the service. It cost me over $400 to get out of the contract!
I will never do business with AT&T again! They are "Liars and Cheats"
out of 9 user reviews
This a very poor I S P I would not recommend it
Pros: Had 881 for four months .It has no pros.
Cons: log you off sometimes in four minutes. It is the worst I S P a person can consider except Hughes net which is worse.
out of 9 user reviews
The worst product ever!!
Pros: Absolutely nothing
Cons: the slowest internet connection i've encountered, dial-up is faster; connects for maybe 30-60 minutes at a time, after no connection noted. Has been replaced 4 times, remains non-funtioning
out of 9 user reviews
Piece of junk. Even dial up is better.
Pros: I guess you can use it in any computer.
Cons: slow, slow, slow. r\Rather have dial up. Disconects every 5-10 minutes on it's own.
out of 9 user reviews
Wow, are they serious with this???
Pros: Convenient, sturdy
Cons: slower than molasses in January
out of 9 user reviews
Att wireless sucks in Orange County (CA)
Pros: there are no pros about this product
Cons: limited connection, and device access
Do not buy this card. Get the Verizon one. It's much faster and more reliable.
ATT customer service sucks too. I spent over an hour with them trying to cancel, and they keep giving me the run around. I would not recommend this device unless you like getting tossed around from department to department.
out of 9 user reviews
Excellent broadband card.
Pros: Great connection, fits into PC slot nicely, Broadband speeds
Cons: Referbished cards are avalible, and sometimes they don't work.
