AT&T USBconnect 881 prepaid?

[iphoneblueprint]

Hi, I got my hands on a at&t usb connect 881 mobile card for a laptop. I have a prepaid at&t chip from when I first jailbroke my iphone ages ago..the chip is still active as I tested it recently on another phone i jailbroke. I'm wondering if there is a way to use my chip or any other chip in order to get at&t mobile data for my macbook. I travel sometimes for days on end and would love to have mobile access in the u.s. without the binding contract. Any help would go a long way.

perhaps recommending another company you found a work around would also help.

[GenesisDH]

Although technically you aren't allowed to use a USB data card on at&t GoPhone service, you can get the $20 data package that gives you 100MB for 30 days use (you can buy this up to three times for three months worth of data, 300MB/$60).

However, be aware that at&T prepaid doesn't offer much roaming off at&t's native network. Check at&t's coverage viewer site under 'GoPhone' to see if the places you plan to be have at&t prepaid coverage.

ADDENDUM: As you have an at&t-branded device, you'll probably need to modify the device's APN settings (if possible) to use the wap.cingular APN instead of its default isp.cingular APN (which isn't provisioned to GoPhone accounts). I can't help you more on how to do that, google around for that info.

Another option:
Virgin Mobile has a prepaid Broadband2Go plan that is cheaper than at&t and runs off Sprint's EVDO network. However, VM's device has no official Mac OSX support (although some have had success getting it to work on Macs, see this Apple Support discussion for more info). Just thought I'd put it out there, in case you want to try to get it to work yourself.

Hope this helps and good luck.

[iphoneblueprint]

So, just buy a prepaid activated sim for $20 pop it in and change the apn..that's all?
I read that at&t had discontinued that prepaid package so i'm curious how recent your info is.
Also is there any mac based software for unlocking the dongle? So I can use it with a tmobile sim card etc?

[GenesisDH]

So, just buy a prepaid activated sim for $20 pop it in and change the apn..that's all?

Yeah, pretty much.

I read that at&t had discontinued that prepaid package so i'm curious how recent your info is.

at&t hasn't discontinued the $200/100MB package, rather old 'unlimited' data package of the same price.
See this page for more info on feature packages with GoPhone PAYG.

Also is there any mac based software for unlocking the dongle? So I can use it with a tmobile sim card etc?

I'm not sure, but most times unlocking tools are Windows-only or requires finding (and probably purchasing) an unlock code. Google for more info.
Note: Unlocking the at&t-branded dongle will not give you better T-Mobile-US data speeds than your iPhone would via tethering, as it doesn't have T-Mobile's unique 3G frequencies (Only at&t's).

[iphoneblueprint]

Thank you GenesisDH i'll try that now and share my experience. I've given you a thanks as well.