How to use your cell phone as a wireless Bluetooth modem
I was recently stuck in a situation where I had absolutely no broadband connection or phone line to dial up. What's a tech-nerd to do when in need of the internet but only able to use a laptop, cellphone and no wires? Get this - Not only did I get this to work, but I successfully connected to my company's VPN over it and was able to work for the day, slowly but surely over the 115kbps EDGE network. Just to push the point home, I connected to our mail server via VPN via Internet via EDGE via Cellphone via Bluetooth. No wires needed. The sweet part is that it doesn't cost me anything to do this because it's part of my unlimited data plan and uses no minutes. I use T-Mobile, but will give settings to the best of my knowledge for all the other providers.
1) Enable bluetooth on your phone
This is easy but every phone is a little different. In mine I have to do Applications -> Bluetooth -> Activation -> On.
2) Link your laptop with your phone
Set your phone's bluetooth to "Discoverable." for me it's in the Bluetooth menu under "My phone's visibility." This setting makes it so that your laptop will be able to find your phone and link to it.
'Right click on the bluetooth icon in your system tray and use the bluetooth setup wizard. Choose "I know the service I want to use and I want to find a Bluetooth device that provides the service." Next choose "Dial up networking." Find your phone in the list of devices and add it. If you have security enabled, you will be asked for a PIN. Make up any number you want, but remember it. On the phone, enter the PIN you made up on your laptop.
At this point you can turn off the visibility/discoverable on your phone but leave Bluetooth running.
3) Start the dial-up connection
Double click on the Bluetooth icon or right-click and "Explore my Bluetooth places." You should see an icon that looks like a computer and a phone that says your phone's Bluetooth name and then "Dial-up Networking." Double click on that or right-click and "Connect."
For the phone number, put in *99# and dial. Your phone should connect to EDGE/GPRS now. If it does not, try *99**1*1# or *99***1#. If none of these work, post a comment with your phone model and we'll see if we can figure out what the code is.
If it's successful, you'll generally see an indication on your phone that it's connected to EDGE/GPRS. If not it'll either sit indefinitely waiting for a connection or you'll get an error. It should not ever try to dial a number. That is not what you want. You want to be connected to EDGE/GPRS.
4) Configure the proxy server
This is the part that I got stuck at the first time I tried to do this. For those of you who have used unlocked/unbranded phones, you've had to put in some special settings to get the web/wap browser working on your phone. This is the exact same thing but it needs to be on your computer now. You can't directly access the web using EDGE. You must use your carrier's proxy server.
For Internet Explorer: Tools -> Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN Settings -> Use a proxy server for your LAN
For Firefox: Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Network -> Settings -> Manual Proxy Configuration
Other Applications: Find the proxy settings. Always use HTTP.
Now apply the proxy settings found below and give it a shot! Remember: EVERY application you want to have connectivity now must have proxy settings to work. Also, make sure to check your data plan before doing this! It could get very expensive if you don't have unlimited!
Enjoy your new bluetooth cell phone modem wireless surfing experience!
T-Mobile Proxy Settings
HTTP Proxy IP: 216.155.165.50
Port: 8080
APN: wap.voicestream.com
Login ID: anonymous
Password: Leave blank
AT&T/Cingular Proxy Settings
HTTP Proxy IP: 10.250.250.54
Port: 8080
APN: proxy
UserId: leave blank
Password: Leave blank
O2 Proxy Settings
HTTP Proxy IP: 193.113.200.195
Port: 8080
APN: wap.o2.co.uk
username: o2wap
password: password
Stumble It!
This worked perfectly, thanks! I did not however need to set up a proxy server. I'm using AT&T (was Cingular) with a Samsung D805 phone.
I have an AT&T Tilt and the dial in codes do not seem to work. Has anyone with this device had success with these instructions?
Appreciate any tips. Thanks.
I have blackberry 8230, T-Mobile service.
What is the phone number, username and passworder that I need to key in?
Thank you
I have an HTC 8125 with service through att. I just bought a new compaq f700 laptop and added bluetooth (kinsington). I have been able to connect the phones but the dial numbers do not work. I have even tried using certain password and usernames given on other sites like wap@cingulargprs.com and cingular1
Help
There are some model phones which can not do this trick. I'm not familiar with the HTC phones. I would ask first - Can you make it work with a serial cable? If you can get the EDGE service to work over that, then you can try bluetooth.
I have made it work with my other dell laptop. But I cannot get it to work with this one
Hi,
My problem was with the the Bluetooth program. I had to use the complicated load instead of the recommended. ONce I created my connection correctly, ,making sure that the bluetooth was recognized as a modem it was all good.
Thanks for the info, Jeff!
yo robert i tried ya information, but it did not work. Could you please help me ? My cell Phone is a Samsung SGH-E370 Edge Tri Band. im on the T-Mobile network in the U.K. Thanks.
Kind regards....Peter.
my cell phone is from tmobile t629 could i tried to connect to internet using phone as modem thru blutooth . it dosent work i tried to follow your info.
could you pls just step by step procedure. i appreciate. and also i need to ask does it is gonoo charge me to do so from tmobile i dont have internet access plan on my phone.
worked perfectly with Samsung D900 phone in
dialog GSM Sri Lanka network. thanx.
Dialog Sri Lanka - Proxy Settings
HTTP Proxy IP: 192.168.122.2
Port: 8080
APN: www.dialogsl.com
username: leaveblank
password: leaveblank
I tried for the t-mobile settings.
Using IE 6.
There is no place for apn also.
Any suggestions?
Sorry using samsung beat E230L.
Also is there anyway you could use the bluetooth as a modem using a dial up account?
Thanks again P
My carrier is T-Mobile and I use a Motorola W490 and it works great. I used the proxy settings given in the tutorial. The weird part is, is that my IP resolves to an address in London which gives me something around a 2000ms ping. Any idea if there is a US proxy? Whenever I search for information on a different proxy I only find the one that you provided. Thanx :)
My carrier is SunCom Wireless and my phone is a LG Shine ME970c. Anybody knows what does the phone have to dial? I tried the T- Mobile settings since T- Mobile bought SunCom Wireless last year even though the merger hasn't really started yet. Anything would be helpfull. Thanx
I HAVE A PALM TRIO 700P. IM TRYING TO SET UP MY PHONE AS A MODEM AND USE MY LAP WITH MY CELL PHONE AS A MODEM. CAN ANYONE HERE HELP ME OUT. IM WILLING TO PAY YOU FOR YOUR HELP. PLEASE E-MAIL ME IF YOU CAN HELP, THANKS TOM
hello, im using Virgin Mobile, and Virgin Wireless Australia i am using a Virgin Dongle for my wirelss conection. am i able to push it through to my phone with out costing me on my phone?
Works Great I have a Sony Erickson W580i. First Phone code worked *99#. But I am using Firefox 2 and beta 3 and did not need to update proxy settings for either. Thanks green for all the help