Internet access anywhere. That's the promise of next-gen cell phone data connections like EVDO and HSDPA. While bringing things like email and web access to a mobile device is nice, having laptop access to the full internet anywhere is extremely useful. While road warriors can purchase specific "broadband cards" that connect to express card and USB slots, spending another $100-$200 on a device that's used occasionally as well as shelling out for an expensive monthly data plan doesn't exactly sound like a deal. Instead, you may be able to set up your cell phone as a modem via Bluetooth. In this guide we'll show you the steps for tethering your phone to your laptop for internet access on the go.

To get started, you'll need a few specific items to make this work. First, you'll need a laptop that's Bluetooth-enabled. Second, a phone that connects to the internet using some form of 3G data. Third, you may or may not need to purchase an additional add-on to your data plan that allows you to use cell phones as modems. I'm using Sprint with an unlimited phone EVDO plan, and I don't need to purchase a separate plan; but make sure to check with your carrier about whether or not your phone plan supports data tethering before making extensive use of this option, because otherwise you could potentially be hit with a nasty per-megabyte or per-kilobyte charge for data usage outside of a plan.

Why Bluetooth?

Many phones can be connected via USB and used as a modem. However, these phones typically have very strict rules on which computers they can connect to (primarily Windows-based machines) and other specific stipulations. We've found that when we've connected our phone to our laptop using USB, the throughput is faster, but we've always needed to install extra software on our machine that comes on the install disc of the phone, which may not always be easily accessible.

Bluetooth, while marginally slower than USB, allows more compatibility regardless of operating system or phone. As long as the phone to which you're connecting has support for the dial-up networking (DUN) Bluetooth profile, you should be set.

Setting it all up

Like its name, Dial-up Networking implies your phone will be turned into a modem, a device that can connect to the internet via a telephone connection. This isn't any sort of modem of yore with screeching tones and slow connections; instead Bluetooth modems are simple connections between your computer and phone, and allow your computer to access your phone's data connection the same way the phone does.

Setting up a Bluetooth connection in a modern operating system (Windows XP or later, and Mac OS 10.5 down through 10.4) is a pretty simple process. The basic process is to pair the phone to the computer, then set up dial-up networking to use the phone to call a specific number, and then you're on the internet. We'll go through step-by-step using our Sprint phone, a Motorola Q (original). If you're using another phone or another phone provider, your steps will be marginally different and might require some additional Google searching to find the proper settings. However, this guide is the basic method for Bluetooth Dial-up Networking, and will be similar across most phones.

We've got directions for each of the major OSes: Windows XP, Windows Vista and Mac OS X.

Windows XP

Start the process by heading to the control panel, and going into the "Bluetooth devices" menu.

Click Add in the bottom right corner to start the Bluetooth pairing wizard.

Like any Bluetooth device, you'll need to provide a pass key to pair the device.

Once you're paired, the next step is to set up a Bluetooth dial-up networking connection. Head to the "network connections" section of the Control Panel. There, you'll click "create a new connection" in the network tasks sidebar.

Go through the wizard, select the option to "connect to the internet."

Enter in the name of the connection.

Then, enter the phone number. In our case, with Sprint, it's #777. Your phone number may vary.

Next, it'll ask you to enter in a username and password. Leave these fields blank.

Click Finish, and you're set to go. All that's left is to dial, and connect.

If you have more than one modem installed, you might need to specify which modem to use at some point during the installation. We don't have more than our Bluetooth modem, so it wasn't a problem.

Windows Vista

Vista has a similar process to XP. First, head to the control panel and select the Hardware and Sound category, then select "Set up a Bluetooth enabled device."

Once you do this step, the bluetooth pairing process is the exact same as Windows XP (see above)

Once you're paired, head to the "Network and Internet" control panel category, then click "Set up a connection or network."

Select that you're connecting through Dial-up.

 

Enter the phone number field using #777 (for Sprint, check for other providers) and leave the username and password fields blank.

Dial-up networking will test the connection to make sure it works, then will add it as a location. Simply double click on the connection to dial, and you're set.

Mac OS 10.5

The first thing we're going to need to do is pair your phone to your computer. Do this by opening system preferences, and going to the Bluetooth pane.

Click the plus sign in the bottom left corner of the window, and the Bluetooth setup assistant will open.

Follow the setup assistant through the pairing process, by selecting the device and entering the numeric passkey.

Make sure to check the box that says, "Access the internet with this phone's data connection."

After that, you'll see a screen to configure how the device will connect to the internet. It'll ask for phone vendor and phone model. I picked "Generic device," and "dial-up device." I also entered the phone number #777, which is one I found by surfing different internet forums specific to Sprint. It should be the same code for Verizon, but be sure to sound off in the comments if you know better. The AT&T DUN code should be either *99# or *99***3# so be sure to try both if you're having trouble connecting. I left the username and password fields blank here for Sprint, and they most likely should be blank for Verizon connections as well. For AT&T tethering try the following username/password combination if you can't connect with blank info: User Name: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM and Password: cingular1. You may have to do a bit of Google searching if you're having trouble connecting to find out if there's a particular DUN code or username/password combination required for your particular mix of carrier and phone model; carriers tend not to make this information easy to find so you may have to spelunk through some forums and miscellaneous search results to find the answer.

I finished the Bluetooth setup assistant, and now all that's left is to try to connect to the internet. To do this, head to the network preference pane.

Pick the Bluetooth connection, and hit "connect." This will connect your phone to your computer, and then try to connect the data connection.

I like to have the modem status in my menubar so I can see exactly what's happening.

Now you're connected to the internet and cruising as fast as the phone will allow. While I'm connected to the internet at an adequate speed, it's nothing like my 10 megabit per second connection at home. I did a speed test at speakeasy.net/speedtest and found my connection to download at 560 kilobits per second, and upload at about 21 kbps. That's about 70 kilobytes per second download, and about 2 kilobits upload per second. My cellular connection is like slow DSL, however it gets the job done when I need to fire off an email or IM with friends. I don't expect to be using this connection for downloading movies or music, though it's technically possible.

Have you had luck connecting thanks to our guide? Do you have more questions? Sound off in the comments and let us know.

[Image: Ed Yourdon]