Digital Crema

GPRS on Mac OS over Bluetooth

My last post describes the steps for setting up a Motorola v360 as a modem to connect your Mac to the Internet using T-Mobile's GPRS service. In that poat, the steps are based on using a USB cable to connect the phone to the Mac. In this post, I'll add Bluetooth to the mix.

1. On the phone: Menu > Settings > Connection > Bluetooth > Setup > Set Power to On.

2. In the Network panel of System Preferences on your Mac, select Bluetooth from the Network Port Configuration screen. Notice the listing for the phone (Motorola v360) is greyed out because that is only active when the phone is attached via USB.

3. Click on the Show pulldown menu and select Bluetooth.

4. Set the PPP Options as described in my last post, then cllck on the Bluetooth Modem tab.

5. Set the Modem as shown (the same as if it were USB).

6. Connect from either the menu bar or Internet Connect. Follow the instructions in my last post to type in all the arcane AT commands that are required..

7. Now you won't need a "Hot Spot" at Borders or the Coffee-Flavored Slurpee Empire. Go find an independent coffee house and surf from the phone that can be hidden away in your pocket. Enjoy.

Getting Online with a Motorola v360 using T-Mobile EDGE GPRS and Mac OS X

This post is a break from my usual opinion and commentary, but this information was so hard to find online and took four tiers of T-Mobile phone support to solve, I thought I'd post it for anyone else that was trying to connect their Apple to the Internet using T-Mobile's EDGE GPRS service. I was using my Motorola v360, but some or all of this process may work for other phones. Feel free to comment.

First, configure the phone. This is the easy part.
1. Select Menu, Settings, Connection.
2. Under USB Settings, switch your Default Connection to Data/Fax Connection.

Now set your Mac up to use the v360 as a modem.

Note: For the following configuration, I added the T-Mobile Internet service to Apple's preinstalled "Automatic" location in the Network Preferences. Advanced users might want to create a new location before proceeding. This is done in System Preferences > Network > Locations > Add Location.

1. Plug in phone to USB. GPRS will work over Bluetooth, and 90% of the configuration is the same, but I found Bluetooth to be unbearably slow. Over USB, I've been able to connect at speeds ranging from 14.4 to about 50K, based on CNET's bandwidth meter test page. Your results may vary. See store for details. Void where prohibited.

2. Anyway, in System Preferences, select Network. You will see the following message:

3. In the Show pulldown menu, select your v360.

4. Click on PPP Options.

5. Set your session options based on this screen shot:

6. Click on Modem and set your modem to: Null Modem 115200. Disable error checking and do not wait for a dial tone.

7. In the Applications Folder, open Internet Connect. You should see your v360 connection. Click on Connect. A terminal window will appear.

8. Type in: at+cgdcont=1,"IP","internet3.voicestream.com"

9. Press enter. OK will come up in the terminal window.

10. Type in: atdt*99# and press enter again.

11. Click on Continue. In about 5 seconds, you are online. If you added your modem to the status bar, you can see how long you are online and quickly connect/disconnect from there.

12. Ding. You are now free to move about the country.