Tether your BlackBerry for Internet Sharing

There is some confusion in how-to setup a BlackBerry in tether mode to share internet with your laptop or PC so I would like to share my setup process. Overview: Since you are already paying for a data plan why not take advantage of this data connection when you are away from home? Hotels and other facilities can charge you $15+ per day for Internet access. BlackBerry and other hardware providers allow you to tether your smart phone as a modem to your laptop or computer. Keep in mind that your tethered modem will not operate any faster than your data plan. GPRS and EDGE will give you 2G speeds of approximately 56 114 kbit/s depending on signal strength; which will be similar to a dialup modem connection. 3G can provide up to 14.4 MBit/s download and 5.8 MBit/s upload. RIM has provided instructions on how-to connect to the Internet using a GPRS, EDGE or UMTS smart phone as a tethered modem. I had to make some modifications to these instructions to allow my smart phone to properly allow tethered access to the Internet. It is possible that each smart phone provider has slightly different setup so these instructions may not work for you. These instructions work on the Rogers Canada wireless network, in particular, a BlackBerry Curve 8300. These instructions should work with other data devices in tether mode. Setup: ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ______ Step 1) Download the Software Do this first, Download the BlackBerry Desktop Software 4.1 or later which will install the USB and virtual com ports. Otherwise your computer will not discover your mobile device. The desktop software will allow you to copy files to your smart phone such as MP3, videos and load applications. ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ______

Step 2) Setup an APN (If Required) Task 2 of the RIM instructions states you need to setup an Internet APN (Access Point Name), some data providers may not require an APN. I found an APN is not needed as part of the Rogers wireless network. Do not setup an APN if you use Rogers or else your tethered modem will not work. If you do not know your Internet APN or have connection troubles, contact your service provider. To 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,your Internet APN ie. +cgdcont=1, IP, Internet.com Click OK In the Phone and Modem Options window, click OK

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ______ Step 3) Configure Dial-up Network Windows Vista
1. Click Start. 2. Select Connect To. 3. Click Setup a connection or network. 4. Click Setup a dialup connection. 5. In the Dial-up phone number field type *99#.

6. Type the user name and password provided by your service provider.
7. In the Connection Name field type BlackBerry (or any name

you wish).

8. Click Dialing Rules.

9. Make sure the APN profile created in Step 2 has been selected (if

required), and then click OK.

10. Select Connect to establish an internet.