I would imagine that most people know that Apple introduced support for the Verizon Wireless 3G card in Mac OS X 10.3.5. What most people don't know is that the Sierra Wireless AirCard 580 used by Telecom in New Zealand (and by Sprint in the USA) is the same card. The only reason that Mac OS X does not recognise it is because the Vendor ID is different than the Verizon card.

To fix this, all we have to do is edit the XML text file inside the appropriate kernel extension. Once this is done, your PowerBook will recognise the card and you will be enjoying 3G speeds (415kps from the NZ test site) in no time at all -- as long as you are in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch at the moment.

Read the rest for the how-to...

NOTE: These are instructions are for advanced users who know what they are doing only!

1. Remove the card if it is already inserted.
2. Log in as an Administration user.
3. Open the Terminal application.
4. Go to the IOSerialFamily kernel extension PlugIns folder by executing the following command: cd /System/Library/Extensions/IOSerialFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/
5. Execute the ls command to view the directory, and you should see amongst the other plug-ins one called AppleVerizonSupport.kext and the other called AppleVerizonSupportKicker.kext. If you do not see these directories, then you are probably not running Mac OS X 10.3.5 or later, as they are installed by default.
6. To enable support for the Sierra Wireless card, we need to change the Vendor ID number in the two Info.plist files contained within the two kext's above. I like to use pico, but any text editor will do.
   1. Type sudo pico AppleVerizonSupport.kext/Contents/Info.plist
   2. Scroll down until you see a line that says <key>idVendor</key>
   3. In the line underneath, you should see <integer>3901</integer>
   4. Replace the number with 4505 (which is the vendor ID of the Sierra Wireless card)
   5. Save and exit the editor
   6. Repeat process for the AppleVerizonSupportKicker.kext plist file
7. Rebuild the kernel extension cache by executing these two commands:
   1. sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions.kextcache
   2. sudo kextcache -k /System/Library/Extensions
8. Restart your Mac (you can do this from the command line with a sudo shutdown -r now command)
9. Insert the Sierra Wireless AirCard 580
10. When the dialog box pops up asking you if you want to configure it, click OK
11. Click OK and it will create a new profile in your Network system preference called "AirPrime CDMA Wireless PC Card"
12. In this new profile, edit your Service Provider, Account Name (mobile@jamamobile in NZ), Password (telecom in NZ) and Telephone Number (#777 just about everywhere)
13. Hit the Apply Now button

That's it! Use the new Verizon Card menu item to connect to the Internet and enjoy 3G speeds!