Merlin G100 GPRS PCMCIA modem for less than $50

Something I just came across on eBay; quite a
few sellers
have the T-Mobile/VoiceStream
Merlin G100 GPRS
card for around $50. I believe most, if not all of
these, are locked to the T-Mobile network and I don’t know if there’s a
way to unlock them. Here’s
the auction
I picked one up from for $49. This is a lot cheaper
than the $249 that T-Mobile asks for the Sierra
Wireless AirCard 750
, although the AirCard has more features than the
G100. Still, $50 vs. $250–not bad if you’re looking
for a cheap card to use once in a while. I’ll let you all know how it
works after I’ve had a chance to play with it.

Update: the card works great. Linux sees it as /dev/ttyS2. It
didn’t respond to my AT+CGDCONT command at first (well, it responded,
but with an error), so I removed and reinserted the card. I’m typing
this over a GPRS connection using the card right now. This was $50
well spent (and the fastest-shipping eBay purchase I’ve ever had; won on
Friday, the seller sent it out on Saturday, and I got it Monday).

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