Airlink101 AR360W3G compatibility: what card worked for you?

phxphun1 · EVDO User Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 64

I have a friend who wants to get Verizon EVDO service. He already has the Airlink101 AR360W3G router. The manufacturer only lists a few officially supported cards, however I am guessing there are others that work just fine. It might be useful to find out what other cards people have actually tried and either did or did not work, and any tips to get them set up?

For my contribution, it works fine with my S620. I would assume that it also works fine for the V620. Also, it should be a reasonable assumption that the Novatel 720 cards should also work, with either carrier, since they are essentialy just a Rev A version of the 620, and should be the same as far as communicating with the card is concerned.

Most useful, however, would be to know what ones of the currently available cards from each carrier will work with it. It seems that 3Gstore still has the 720 available for either carrier, so the V720 should be a safe bet for my friend.

Alex · Site Admin Joined: 19 Sep 2006 Posts: 1754

your assumptions were my assumptions as well, and they were wrong.
for example, the router supports the px500, which is what the verizon pc5750 is, but that didn't work.

i called tech support, and they TOLD me they have no plans to change firmware for the product. it is what it is, and thats that.
sounded really lame, but i did get same answer from two different people on different occasions.

have you seen ANY firmware releases in the months that you've had it?

its an OK router for a px500. the only advantage it has, is that at its price, i consider it a disposable product.

spending more to get something that will support more devices and work better as a long term investment, seems the wiser choice.

if your friend is the same guy who emailed 3gstore sales asking for an opinion, i told him to get rid of the airlink on ebay.

just my 2cents.

phxphun1 · EVDO User Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 64

Here is a tip I learned while surfing elsewhere that may get some cards that seem to be unsupported to work with this router.

The trick is to get the MAC address of the card and then manually enter that into the router setup.

This was suggested by Airlink101 tech support as possibly working for many cards, though the particular card being discussed was a Sierra 881.

phxphun1 · EVDO User Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 64

phxphun1 · EVDO User Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 64

It seems the V740 will work with an Express Card adaptor but otherwise no special configuration:

Alex · Site Admin Joined: 19 Sep 2006 Posts: 1754

phxphun1 · EVDO User Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 64

Good point, Alex. These routers are not likely to be useful for new cards in the future (unless card manufacturers stick to the same communications protocol and methods), so in that sense, yes, it is disposable if you later want to upgrade your card.

phxphun1 · EVDO User Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 64

If anyone is into modding firmware themselves, Airlink101 has the source code available to download and instructions on how to compile it and "upgrade" your router:

http://www.airlink101.com/gpl/ar360w3g/

jschutzm

TESTED and CONFIRMED -- works fine with Sprint Novatel Merlin S720 card.

Inserted it
Used the wizard to choose 3G
didn't enter any info just #777 for the phone number

WAN light does not indicate it's connected but it works fine.
_________________
~John

phxphun1 · EVDO User Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 64

Thanks for the confirmation on the 720 working.

As for: