Using your Blackberry as a modem

I know the point of using a Blackberry is not to have to power up your laptop but… well sometimes you need the big screen of a laptop, so he is a guide I found sometime on the net (apologies to whoever made it and all recognition to your work… I just don’t know who you are).

This has the bits in for Vodafone in the UK, so if you are using any other mobile provider you will have to change the settings (for a list of GPRS UK settings see http://www.filesaveas.com/gprs.html).

The most important bit (well the bit I always forget and so it doesn’t work) is right at the bottom… You must have Blackberry Desktop Manager running.

BlackBerry Desktop Manager 4.1 or better will be required, so make sure you have that installed first.

Set up Internet APN
From your PC:

• Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel
• Double-click Phone and Modem Options
• In the Phone and Modem Options window, click the Modems tab
• Select Standard Modem and click Properties
• In the Standard Modem Properties window, Click the Advanced Tab
• In the Extra initialization commands field, type the following: +cgdcont=1,”IP”,”internet“
• Click OK
• In the Phone and Modem Options window, click OK

Configure dial-up networking connection
Windows XP:

• Go to Start > Settings > Network Connections
• Double-click New Connection Wizard. The New Connection Wizard opens
• Click Next
• Select the Connect to the Internet option. Click Next
• Select Setup my connection manually. Click Next
• Select Connect using a dial-up modem. Click Next
• If the Select a Device screen appears, select the Modem - Standard Modem check box. Click Next
• In the ISP Name field, type a name for your connection, ie Blackberry. Click Next
• In the Phone number field, type *99#. Click Next
• Indicate which users will have access to the connection. Click Next
• Enter the user name “web” (no quotes) and password “web” (no quotes). Click Next
• Click Finish
• In the Connect window, click Properties
• In the Properties window, verify that Modem - Standard Modem appears beneath the Connect using heading, then click Configure
• In the Modem Configuration window, clear the Enable hardware flow control check box and make sure none of the other check boxes are selected. Click OK
• In the Properties window, click OK

Connect BlackBerry to Desktop Manager

• Connect the BlackBerry device to the computer and verify that BlackBerry Desktop Manager displays Connected. The device must be identified by BlackBerry Desktop Manager in order for the modem to establish a connection.