KB05178 - Support for tethered modem use


Environment

• BlackBerry® Desktop Software 4.1 to 4.7
• BlackBerry smartphones
• Windows® 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista™
• Laptop computers with an Intel® 486 processor or higher

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Overview

A BlackBerry smartphone with tethered modem capability can be used as an external modem to connect a laptop computer to the Internet.
BlackBerry smartphones support the standard modem driver. The driver is installed with BlackBerry® Desktop Manager. After installing BlackBerry Desktop Manager, the modem appears in Windows® Device Manager. To check Windows Device Manager, complete the following steps:

1. Right-click the My Computer icon on the desktop, or right-click My Computer from the Start menu.
2. Click Properties.
3. Go to the Hardware tab in the System Properties window.
4. Click the Device Manager button.

If the standard modem driver is not shown in Windows Device Manager, see KB04129.

• To connect a computer to the Internet using a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), or Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) BlackBerry smartphone as a tethered modem, see KB05196.
• To connect a computer to the Internet using a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) or Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) BlackBerry smartphone as a tethered modem, see KB04664.

Dialing and connecting to the network is supported by the service provider. Contact your service provider for more information about tethered modem support.

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Additional Information

Apple® computer users are not able to use the BlackBerry smartphone as tethered modems with their laptop or desktop computers. There is no support capability for Apple computers at this time. Apple computers do not use or recognize the standard modem drivers used by Windows.
At present, there is no tethered modem support using Bluetooth® technology for Apple computers.
To set up the BlackBerry smartphone as a tethered modem in Windows using Bluetooth technology, see KB12544.
If you are unable to query the standard modem, see KB16458.

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Are you saying you could use your BB as a modem with out paying a service provider extra? I have at one time paid Verizon $15 per month for this.

Some carriers include tethering for free depending on the plan; such as T-Mobile on US-based plans.

Another option is Mobishark | Use your Blackberry as a Modem

__________________
http://blog.port3101.org/hdawg/

The views expressed by me on Port3101 and its affiliated sites are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.