But more importantly I wanted to see the new attach hardware that allowed the fast speeds to be delivered as in the past the attach wireless hardware used by Telstra has been of an inferior quality.
Manufactured by Sierra Wireless the new cards are available in USB and ExpressCard formats and support HSDPA at download speeds of 7.2Mbps.
The card we tested was the PCI Express card that comes with a clever little converter that allows the device to be plugged into an older notebook that has one of the older PCI slots. For resellers selling the devices the range of products is suddenly cut from 4 to 2.
The first thing that one notices is that the Sierra Wireless product appears to be more robust than past Telstra devices. The card we tested was easier to install and when connected one suddenly realised that fast meant fast.
Pages screamed down to a BenQ notebook running the Vista operating system.
The unit comes with an ExpressCard Modem, a carrying case, a PCMCIA adaptor, an installation disc, and an external Antenna.
The setup process starts as soon as a user inserts the CD and will be able to install the Telstra Turbo Connection Manager Software in a snap. The driver is compatible with Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, allowing users to install this software to any computer without any problems. Upon installing, we simply had to insert the SIM card into the Telstra Turbo Express Card and insert it into the notebook's Express Card slot. Computers that do not have an ExpressCard slot can still use Telstra's Express Card, as the kit comes with a PCMCIA adaptor.
