techblog 

Having just upgraded to Leopard (OSX 10.5) I had problems getting my Novatel (aka Merlin) XU870 to connect to the Internet over 3G. I’ve used Vodafone data services for several years now so the settings are burned into my brain:

With Tiger (OSX 10.4) I used to have all that configured, partly in Network Settings and partly in Internet Connect. To connect I would have to dial from Internet Connect.

With Leopard it turns out that Internet Connect is not needed, nor is the phone number. However there is one oddity that is not what you expect.

In the basic Network Settings box you set the Username and Password as above. Then select the advanced button. On that screen you set:

You have to trust me on the model, if you select CDMA then it does not work and the APN is not displayed. It does connect over 3G and does do HSDPA when available. So this is definitely an oddity with the software.

There have been some other blogs about deleting files and adding old drivers, but I already had the most up to date drivers and did not have to touch them. I had a colleague test it who has never installed the drivers at all and it worked fine for him, so I guess this uses the drivers included with Leopard.

Now, in order to connect I just use the WWAN icon on the menu bar (the one that looks like a gradient of vertical bars) and from that menu select Connect. Previously this icon automatically showed dark bars indicating the signal strength, but now it has varying shades of grey until you connect when it turns black. If you want to see some lights to indicate traffic flow then you need to keep the Network Settings screen open.

PS. I tested this, wrote this blog and posted it, all from a train !