$100 before mail-in rebate with new 2-year contract
If you read my blog, you’ll know that I agonized for a little while over whether or not to buy a wireless modem to use with my MacBook Air during my commute, all the way to its arrival before I headed out to CES in early January, including some trials and tribulations with AT&T in between. I’ve now had the modem for several months and have had ample opportunity to see how well it works in order to write a review.
I chose to go with AT&T for a modem since I get a fairly substantial corporate discount applied to my current cell phone plan with them and any other line of service I add to my account. Since my MacBook Air does not have an Express or PCMCIA card slot, I was restricted to 2 options with AT&T, both made by Sierra Wireless - the USBConnect Mercury or the USBConnect Quicksilver. I did like the styling of the Quicksilver better with its fold-out design and no cap to lose. However, the Mercury has a microSD card slot to turn it into a thumb drive, and it was the same price as the Quicksilver. I figured I’d live with the possibility of losing the cap in favor of having a built-in thumb drive at the same time, particularly since my MacBook Air only has 1 USB port. I do transfer files fairly often between my work and home computers often and I didn’t want to have to juggle a regular thumb drive and a USB modem on the train to get some work done, so the Mercury was the perfect choice. As it turns out, the Mercury comes with a tethering strap that keeps the cap with it at all times, so I don’t even have to worry about losing it after all.
Setting up the modem
I had some major issues getting my first modem set-up, but it turned out that the cause was the modem itself - it worked for about 10 seconds and then promptly died. I spent hours trouble-shooting it, but then gave up and called AT&T tech support and the Sierra Wireless’s tech support and was told that it was dead. I received authorization to return it and promptly ordered a new one. The new one worked like a champ out of the box.
On a Mac, you have 2 software choices to use the USBConnect Mercury, though you’ll be defaulted to one if you’re running Leopard, both of which included in a single download package from the Sierra Wireless site here. I’m running Leopard, so here’s the screen I was presented with when I ran the installer:
On my work Mac that’s running Tiger, I installed the Wireless Watcher software, which looks like this:
The Sierra Wireless Watcher software
The Preferences menu
I do like the built-in driver support for it in Leopard that allowed me to avoid installing yet another application on my Mac.
All in all, set-up goes very quickly, as long as you don’t run into a dead modem like I did the first time.
Look and feel
The modem’s exterior is plastic, with a glossy finish on the top portion, which scratches fairly easily, while the sides and bottom are matte black with a slightly rubbery feel. Below the AT&T logo are the 2 status lights which indicate power and connectivity. With the cap removed, you see the USB connector. Above the connector are 2 slots – one for the SIM card and the other for an optional microSD card. As I’ve mentioned, the ability to use this modem as a thumb drive at the same time was one of my primary reasons for choosing it over the other modem AT&T offers that’s a bit more attractive in my opinion, the USBConnect Quicksilver. There are handy little diagrams on the front and back to let you know which slot is for the SIM card and which one is for the microSD card, though this shouldn’t be too hard to figure out since the SIM card will only fit in one of the available slots to begin with.
The top of the USBConnect Mercury
The bottom of the USBConnect Mercury
The cap removed – the microSD card has been released a little to show its position more clearly
There is an external antenna port hidden behind a plastic flap on the right side. I’ve never used this and don’t plan to. I’ve read one account somewhere on the net that this connector easy breaks, but I can’t speak to any personal experience with that.
It plugs easily into a free USB port, though, as I’ve mentioned, it won’t fit into the one on my MacBook Air given its limited clearance, requiring me to use a USB extension cord. However, to give you an idea of what it looks like when plugged into an unencumbered computer, I kidnapped my husband’s black MacBook to snap this picture:
The USBConnect Mercury in my husband’s black MacBook
Overall, the modem isn’t tiny, but it’s not cumbersome at all. I’ve shown it next to my iPhone 3G and a quarter to give you an idea of its relative size.
It’s not exactly tiny, but it’s not huge either
Using the modem
On Leopard with its built-in driver support for the USBConnect Mercury, connecting it to my MacBook Air prompts a signal strength meter to appear in my task bar. Clicking on this shows me the type of network available (EDGE or 3G) and a menu option to connect. In an area with good signal strength, connecting only takes a few seconds and everything that I use that requires an internet connection (Safari, iTunes, etc.) works just as it does when I’m connected to a WiFi network. Since I have an 8GB microSD card installed in the modem to use it as a thumb drive as well, this mounts just as any other thumb drive would when I plug it in, regardless of the connection status.
Going to connect to the network
When I want to disconnect from the network, I simply click on the Disconnect menu option under the signal strength meter in the menu bar. I eject the microSD card separately just like I do any other thumb drive to remove that. Technically, I don’t think anything bad would happen if I simply unplugged the modem, unless I were in the process of transferring files to/from the microSD card, but I go through the disconnect and eject procedures out of habit.
Going to disconnect from the network
Of course, the signal strength meter stays in my task bar all the time, which I really like since I can see the signal strength in my area with a quick glance - this is particularly useful on the train as I travel through dead spots.
I’ve noticed that the modem gets fairly warm during use - not too hot to touch, but hot enough to make me worry about any negative effects it could have on the microSD card inside.
Speed tests
I ran some of these speed tests at my home where my iPhone 3G shows 5 bars of signal strength on AT&T’s network with my my MacBook Air connected to my WiFi network (running under the 802.11b/g protocol since my husband’s work laptop doesn’t have an 802.11n WiFi card in it). I also threw in a test done while I was on the train coming home from work in an area where I was getting 4-5 bars. For kicks and giggles, I also did a speed test at home with my MacBook Air tethered via wi-fi to my iPhone 3G using the NetShare app to provide an additional comparison.
This is the speed test result for my MacBook Air running on my home wi-fi network
This is the speed test result of my MacBook Air using the USBConnect Mercury modem while at my house
This is the speed test result of my MacBook Air using the USBConnect Mercury modem while on a moving commuter train
This is the speed test result of my MacBook Air tethered to my iPhone 3G via NetShare
Here’s a quick chart to show this data at a glance:
As you can see, speeds aren’t great by far compared to a static Wi-Fi network (our internet service is provided by Comcast, and for both our sakes, I won’t go into how much I loathe them here) as you’d have in your home or office, but it can beat tethering to your mobile phone in some situations. In general, I get far better performance when I’m stationary, so other commuter train riders will experience fluctuations in speed and service as I did.
As an aside, I was pleasantly surprised at the speed test results when tethering my Mac to my iPhone 3G with NetShare. The last time I tried NetShare, it was working very slowly, but it fired right up and ran like a champ for this test. I don’t know if it had something to do with a previous version of the 3.0 beta I was running at the time (I’m now running the latest beta, 5) but I hope this doesn’t change when the final 3.0 firmware is released. It’s nice to have this option in a pinch if I don’t have my Mercury modem with me, or if I’m just too lazy to get it out of my bag and connect it to my Mac.
Summary
Overall, I am very satisfied with the USBConnect Mercury. It works very well when I have a signal (and I blame the lack of signal in some areas on AT&T, not on the modem) and I am very happy to have a network connection when I otherwise wouldn’t be able to easily and it’s great that it’s also a USB thumb drive at the same time thanks to its microSD card slot. My only issue is that it doesn’t fit directly into the USB port on my MacBook Air with its funky little pop-out connector door, but this was easily solved with an inexpensive cable purchased via eBay. However, I wouldn’t complain at all if Sierra Wireless came out with a slimmer modem, also with a microSD card slot, that would eliminate the need for me to use a USB extension cable.
Before you purchase this modem, or any wireless device with any carrier, I strongly suggest you check out the carrier’s coverage map (AT&T’s 3G coverage map is here) first to confirm you’ll get adequate coverage where you’ll use the device the most. AT&T has a 30-day trial period for you to see how a phone or modem will work out for you, and you can cancel your new plan without any penalties within that time period as long as you return the equipment (you may need to pay a re-stocking fee as well).
Other laptop accessory reviews on macgirl.net:
Booq Mamba Sling laptop bag
Incase Neoprene Sleeve for MacBook Air
Lock bracket for MacBook Air