That’s right. Unfortunately, Sprint just informed me that Vista SP2 and Windows 7 will not work with the Sprint 4G demo cards handed out at the Open Developers Conference.
The reason is that Vista SP2 and Windows 7 are not compatible with the older Sprint SmartView included on the demo CD. That version of SmartView is custom-coded to these Sprint 4G Franklin U300 cards. And, to add to that, these U300 cards carry a different firmware (likely so they can all be deactivated at once when the trial period is over at year’s end).
I have been told that they are working on a solution, but it is difficult since these cards are “in the wild now.” Sprint did tell me that it is also difficult to solve because they have to coordinate with Clearwire and Franklin on a fix.
The best advice I have been given is to call the WSTS team in a few weeks, using the phone number included in your Sprint 4G demo kit. I would suggest calling now as well as in a few weeks, if you are in that situation. The more people that report to Sprint that their apps require Vista SP2/7 (or have already upgraded all their systems… like me…) the more likely they’ll implement a fix.
And, of course, if you can, hold off on updating to Vista SP2 and/or Windows 7 until this gets solved. Updating SmartView to 2.27 from sprint.com will not fix the issue, as the public version of Sprint SmartView will not communicate with your demo card.
Presumably, after the trial period ends, this will be solved anyways as the cards will no longer be on a demo period. I expect Sprint will issue an updated SmartView that flashes the firmware on these cards to the same firmware as a standard-issue U300.
In case you didn’t hear, Sprint was handling out Sprint 4G cards (with free service until the end of the year) like candy at the Open Developers Conference… much better than Halloween treats.
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It is more than that, they don’t work at all. These U300 cards are also being used by Comcast and Clear and they don’t work at all with Windows 7. In fact, I put one of the cards on a WinXP box after and it completely would not even load. I thought it was just a bad card but after talking to Comcast support I learned the following: Applying the new update for Vista/7 actually wiped the cards firmware so it won’t work on any machine now.
I also tried the Clear mode which is also made by Franklin under the same model number. No luck there either. I was not at the conference and I purchased these cards myself.
[...] Wireless & Mobility As I noted previously, Sprint 4G modems issued at Sprint’s Open Developers Conference did not work with Windows 7 [...]