Picture 3 of 11
Picture 3 of 11
Use Your Blackberry as a Modem
Maybe you are traveling and have no Wi-Fi access. Or perhaps you are at an airport and do not want to pay the gouge rate to access a public access point where a convicted black hat felon is just waiting to steal your information. Maybe your DSL or cable Internet connection is down, and after screaming insults over the phone to the call center help desk staffer who hardly speaks English, you can instead connect your PC or laptop to the Internet with your Blackberry.
It is possible to use your Blackberry as a modem to access the Internet without commercial software, but this writer ’s attempts failed after spending hours trying to get it to work. Instead, you can take the easy way out by using Mobishark’s Shark Modem software. Data connections with Shark Modem can be as slow as dial-up links, but they can also approach those of DSL connections, depending on the carrier.
Shark Modem retails for $49.97, while a free trial for 10 MB of connectivity is available so you can make sure it works first before paying the bill.
To download Shark Modem, go to Mobishark’s Shark Modem Website with your Blackberry’s Web browser for an over-the-air installation and click the download button. The Shark Modem then installs itself.
Once installed, enter the application by clicking on the Shark Modem desktop icon that is now on your Blackberry. Select Direct TCP connect if you have a carrier service or change the option to BES/MDS if you have a Blackberry enterprise server account through your company. Select either USB or Bluetooth depending on which connection you use for your laptop.
With the laptop, go to www.mobishark.com and download and install the software directly from the home page. Upon completion of the installation process, connect the Blackberry to the laptop with the USB cable. Once the Blackberry modem is recognized, the X disappears from the Shark Modem system tray icon, which resembles a Blackberry.
Click on the Shark Modem system tray icon to access the interface to confirm that your Blackberry is connected. The Shark Modem application must remain open on your Blackberry to remain connected to the laptop. "Connected” should appear under “Status.” Once you begin to access the Internet with your laptop, the number of bytes your laptop sends and receives are communicated here.
It is now necessary to enter the proxy settings for the different browsers with which you plan to access the Internet. For Mozilla Firefox, select Tools from the menu bar, then Options followed by Settings. Select Manual Proxy Configuration then type in “localhost” for HTTP Proxy and “3128” for Port. Check the box to select “use this proxy server for all protocols.” Enter “localhost, 127.0.0.1” under No Proxy For. Click Okay to exit out of the menus and you are good to go.
For Internet Explorer, select Tools from the toolbar, then Internet Options, Connections and then LAN Settings. Select “use a proxy server for our LAN” and enter “localhost” for the address and “3128” for the port.
It is possible to use your Blackberry as a modem to access the Internet without commercial software, but this writer ’s attempts failed after spending hours trying to get it to work. Instead, you can take the easy way out by using Mobishark’s Shark Modem software. Data connections with Shark Modem can be as slow as dial-up links, but they can also approach those of DSL connections, depending on the carrier.
Shark Modem retails for $49.97, while a free trial for 10 MB of connectivity is available so you can make sure it works first before paying the bill.
To download Shark Modem, go to Mobishark’s Shark Modem Website with your Blackberry’s Web browser for an over-the-air installation and click the download button. The Shark Modem then installs itself.
Once installed, enter the application by clicking on the Shark Modem desktop icon that is now on your Blackberry. Select Direct TCP connect if you have a carrier service or change the option to BES/MDS if you have a Blackberry enterprise server account through your company. Select either USB or Bluetooth depending on which connection you use for your laptop.
With the laptop, go to www.mobishark.com and download and install the software directly from the home page. Upon completion of the installation process, connect the Blackberry to the laptop with the USB cable. Once the Blackberry modem is recognized, the X disappears from the Shark Modem system tray icon, which resembles a Blackberry.
Click on the Shark Modem system tray icon to access the interface to confirm that your Blackberry is connected. The Shark Modem application must remain open on your Blackberry to remain connected to the laptop. "Connected” should appear under “Status.” Once you begin to access the Internet with your laptop, the number of bytes your laptop sends and receives are communicated here.
It is now necessary to enter the proxy settings for the different browsers with which you plan to access the Internet. For Mozilla Firefox, select Tools from the menu bar, then Options followed by Settings. Select Manual Proxy Configuration then type in “localhost” for HTTP Proxy and “3128” for Port. Check the box to select “use this proxy server for all protocols.” Enter “localhost, 127.0.0.1” under No Proxy For. Click Okay to exit out of the menus and you are good to go.
For Internet Explorer, select Tools from the toolbar, then Internet Options, Connections and then LAN Settings. Select “use a proxy server for our LAN” and enter “localhost” for the address and “3128” for the port.
Ads
Share:
Ads
Related Albums
Blackberry Tips
10 pictures
Blackberry Pearl - Pictures Co
11 pictures
Blackberry Pearl - Pictures Co
11 pictures
Blackberry Pearl - Pictures Co
11 pictures
Blackberry Storm Touchscreen
15 pictures
Good tips. Any recommendations for reading HTML e-mail on the blackberry?
Dialing into corporate voicemail system:
1. Make sure that your own info is in your outlook address book
2. Make sure that your direct dial number (with area code) is in your contact info
3. To that number add a space and:
x*your extension#your voicemail password#
It will look something like
(988) 555-4321 x*1241#1234#
4. Once your blackberry updates with the server, the new, longer number will show under your contact
5. Dial yourself using that number. When you dial it, the blackberry is smart enough to stop before the ?x.?
6. It will give you a big button on the screen that says Dial *1241#1234#
7. All you have to do is wait for your voicemail to pick up and then press your click wheel once. It will dial you in to the new messages prompt.
I must say - great article on keeping the blackberry alive with the launch of the new iphone.
Note: All of these apps I list below work with the majority of blackberries on the market. I myself have an 8830.
My blackberry is on a BES server through my company and have an unlimited data plan - so the apps mentioned below come in handy.
I have added tons of fantastic apps on it.
First, my theme is one I downloaded that has a "iPhone" look to it as I enjoy the layout. You can download it free from here: http://rogersmj.com/tech/blackberry/bphone
Second, if you don't have it go download google maps and gmail plus tons of other apps that google offers. I like being able to access my google email and other 3rd party email accounts tied to it. On your blackberry go to: m.google.com or you can have the apps sent by going to: http://www.google.com/mobile/#utm_ [...] ign=mobile
The great thing about Google Maps is that even without GPS built in, it will give you an approximate location of where you are usually within 1500 meters by locating the cell towers around you and then calculating a radius. I have found it to be pretty accurate.
There is a must have app that is free and is in beta right now, but it is easy to use and it has 3 icons when you open the app. First is yellow pages (you can either have it use your GPS if you have that on your phone or put in your area code) and it will allow you to pull up information just as if you were looking in the yellow pages. The second is Movies, this allows you to search by location, movie name, theater and purchasing tickets has never been easier. It is called Poynt and is free - on your BB go to: http://m.mypoynt.com
Then the app I use to connect to my chat services is called JiveTalk. You get a 30 day free trial but then you only have to pay $19.95 and the best part is it uses your data plan so if you have an unlimited one you do not need to worry. It allows you to connect multiple account at the same time and is amazing to manage. I use it for Gmail and MSN and it works perfectly that my co-workers when they IM me on MSN think I am at my desk. It can handle: AIM®/iChat, MSN®/Windows Live®, Yahoo!®, MySpace, GoogleTalk®, ICQ® & Jabber - The website is at: http://www.beejive.com/
I don't really like the Blackberry web browser, I use it sometimes but I don't like it. So I prefer to use Opera Mini on my Blackberry. The Opera Mini is free and can be downloaded at: http://www.operamini.com/ (it has instructions on how to download OTA from your blackberry).
Then if you want to connect your blackberry (as long as it has bluetooth) to GPS, there is a key size GPS receiver that you put on your key chain and the new Chipset – MTK. with 51 Channels. It is $74.95 and has gotten fantastic reviews. The best part is it will work with google maps and give you turn by turn instructions and works with other mapping software you download to your blackberry. It does not come with any such software, but a lot of people have been pleased with it working with google maps and currently google is testing voice directions. The GPS key chain is accurate and fast enough to provide directions while you are walking down the street. I will be buying this item shortly. Here is their website: http://store.blackberrycool.com/pr [...] n-GPS-2000
As for a media player, they do offer a free trial but then you must buy the application. I have found however that it is a fantastic app that plays videos, mp3's and so much more content then other apps. Also I like the ability to create playlists. It also allows you to play your music through a bluetooth compatible headset. So you can just use your standard one ear piece headset. The bluetooth earpiece must be designed to allow audio playback and there are some on the market that do through a single earpiece or through a bluetooth headset which I would not want as with a single earpiece it allows you to pause the song, then take a call and continue. The location for that software is: http://www.dollars5.com/plete/blac [...] earl-8100/
As for internet access through your blackberry, I have yet to find a free application. Rather I have the tethering service enabled on my blackberry account that allows me to connect my laptop to my blackberry via USB cable or through bluetooth, then I use VZ Access Manager (Verizon) to connect to their network. As for speeds, I usually will get 600-800kbps down and 200kbps up. So it is not dial-up speeds at all, rather it is comparable to a slow DSL line, the web browsing is speedy.
Most apps that you find that are fantastic you sometimes have to pay for, but I would rather have my current setup then a iphone for business. The iphone while it has some new features such as document viewing, it will not start to take over in the business field in my opinion. One reason is that it lacks a keyboard at all and a full keyboard at that.
How do I configure my BB so I can post comments/questions on an internet web site? For example, I go to ccn.com and go to contact us I am asked to fill out identifying info and my comment or question on a fill in the blank type form. Then I am given the option to hit the submit button. When I hit submit nothing happens? Any and all help would be appreciated. Thanks.