This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Java Buzz by Marc Logemann. Original Post: Novatel UMTS express card. Still not what i want. Feed Title: Logemann Blog Feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/LogemannBlog Feed Description: Marc Logemann's thoughts on java and other stuff Latest Java Buzz Posts Latest Java Buzz Posts by Marc Logemann Latest Posts From Logemann Blog

After negotiating with Dell that they return the Dell branded Novatel Merlin XU870 card, i got the original XU870 today. But people thinking that this was a no brainer because of the supplied Mac drivers are horribly wrong. After i placed the card into the macbook pro, the whole menu bar and its icons were flashing and dissapearing thus render the whole menu bar useless. Luckily i found this site which outlined the solution for my problem (WTF - why does Novatel doesnt have a FAQ for this?).

After doing the hack to get it running i was quite happy…. for 5 minutes or so. The card was running yes but i hoped that my Cisco VPN Client could be bound to the Novatel card which it obiously cant. I was only going for the express card because of that. Without that feature i could also use a plain vanilla umts phone and go via bluetooth as done before.

So my last hope is to have the card running in boot camp and try the cisco VPN client software there. If this also doesnt work, i dont know if i will keep the card. If i keep it, then only because its a nice thing not to have my mobile doing the data work for my macbook. But thats really only a minor advantage and something i normally wouldnt spend 300$ on.