Free Wireless Internet On Your Laptop - Through Your Cell Phone!
This is a neat little hack that I discovered last week when looking for a new cell phone plan. I had just gotten a BlackBerry Pearl, and the plan from T-Mobile came with unlimited data transfer for wireless internet on their EDGE network. (By the way this also works with other blackberry’s on other networks, and possibly other smartphones.)
I immediately installed mobile versions of GMail (never even bothered to look at the standard BlackBerry Mail app), Google Maps, and a 3rd party program to sync with my Google Calendar. I was quite happy with the whole experience given that I’d assumed it would cost a lot more for the whole “internet on a cell phone” experience. Remarkably enough, it didn’t. I was paying the same monthly rate ($59.99) as before with Cingular, except now I was getting all these new “web” features.
But then I discovered the killer app that was truly LifeHack.org worthy! A way to get that unlimited wireless on the cell phone to transfer over to my laptop.
In essence, some people have figured out how to use the blackberry as a wireless modem for their laptops using bluetooth. This has two big advantages:
- While regular wireless internet is only available in limited locations, this wireless is available everywhere (or at least everywhere you have cell phone service)
- Unlike T-Mobile’s HotSpots or other paid wireless services, this is free (or another way to look at it: you’re already paying for it)
And the really cool part is that if you have a laptop with integrated blue-tooth (the MacBook in my case, although some PC’s have this as well) then the entire process takes place wirelessly. In fact you never even have to take the phone out of your pocket! You can just connect at any time, as if it were a modem, in a few seconds.
(Note: if your laptop doesn’t have blue tooth, it will still work through the USB cable.)
To be fair, the speeds you get aren’t exactly blazing. It’s been years since I’ve used a 56k modem, but from what I can recall (and what others have reported) the speed you get with this setup is comparable to a 56k modem.
What this means is that it’s perfect to have in case you need to pull up GMail in an airport or remote location, but you aren’t going to be getting serious work done on it. Still, it has saved my behind a few times already, and after all it’s free if you have the blackberry, so why not take advantage of it.
Here are the instructions for PC and Mac (with screenshots).
Happy Surfing!
Brian Armstrong is an entrepreneur who spends all his time “working” in coffee shops, by the pool, or at home in his underwear. Today he seeks to help others break free from the corporate world and start their own business. You can get three free chapters of his book, Breaking Free, and hear interviews with self-made millionaires at his website.
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Comments
Dennis Newel says on June 4th, 2007 at 9:33 am
There’s just one small catch with this, depending on your plan. I don’t know the details of the plan mentioned, but I looked into “unlimited” plans here in the UK and there ones I could find all stated that you weren’t allowed to use your phone as a modem for your computer. You’re only allowed to use whatever web features your phone has.
Rasti says on June 4th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Some extra tips to speed up your Web browsing with this connection:
Disable windows automatic updates
Disable antivirus automatic updates
Turn off any P2P software
If you’re using firefox, uncheck in
tools/options/content/load images automatically
You will surf faster
Rasti says on June 4th, 2007 at 11:01 am
You can add Web accelerator proxy software with compression to speed up a bit more.
A list here:
Better choose one with compression
like Google Web Accelerator
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_accelerator
Jason Kratz says on June 4th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Be careful with this!!!!! Make sure your plan truly allows you to use your phone this way. Cingular does not allow this with their phone-based unlimited internet package. I got burned once so please check your terms of service.
Bryan says on June 4th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Definitely need to agree with what Dennis Newel said. I have AT&T and had planned to do exactly as you mentioned, but after reading the fine print for the phone agreement unlimited only applies to data going to the phone. I’m not sure technically how the phone company is able to tell, but if you use your phone as a modem you’re going to get a monster bill as they’ll charge you the crazy data transmission rate. There is a special super duper unlimited plan if you want to use your phone as a modem, but it costs about twice as much as the standard unlimited.
Bob says on June 4th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Yeah, make sure to read your service contract really carefully and/or check with your provider: some companies give unlimited web browsing from the phone, but charge separately for different data services. I got dinged with a $2000 Bill from Bell Canada for doing this (which they were pretty gracious about excusing, but still …)
BrianArmstrong says on June 4th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Hi Dennis,
You are correct, I wouldn’t recommend doing this unless you have an unlimited data plan.
I believe that in the U.S. it does not violate TOS with T-Mobile, but I haven’t checked that extensively. If I pay for unlimited data, then they should care in my opinion, nor would they ever know.
Brian
BrianArmstrong says on June 4th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I meant to say “shouldn’t” above.
BrianArmstrong says on June 5th, 2007 at 11:59 am
TMobile has a website designed to help you get it setup, so I think they allow it.
http://tmobileusotw.wdsglobal.com/phonefirst
Use at your own risk, but I imagine most cell companies would waive the bill if something crazy like that did come back.
ukio says on June 6th, 2007 at 5:17 am
if they would not allow to use your cellphone as a modem, there’s some hints how you can disguise it:
* use the Firefox modify headers plugin, it will make firefox to identify itself as a mobile phone. Add e.g. the following headers:
- User-Agent: Nokia6630/1.0 (4.03.24) SymbianOS/6.1 Series60/2.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.0
- X-WAP-Profile: nds.nokia.com/uaprof/N6630r100.xml
In Germany, O2 provides a similar service called the O2 WAP Flatrate at a very cheap price (ca. $7/month), but they filter for the User-Agent and X-WAP-Profile headers to “ensure” that you don’t violate their TOS. Further, they allow only HTTP traffic and filter other protocols…
If you have problems using a Java / J2ME software on your phone which can’t connect to the internet (probably because the User-Agent and X-WAP-Profile headers are not properly set), then you should check out the O2 WAP Flat Patcher (http://mobdev.tknerr.de/category/projects/o2-wap-flat-patcher/), it patches any J2ME application by fixing their HTTP-headers.
-ukio
iknownothing says on June 22nd, 2007 at 1:45 pm
how fast is the internet then? sorry. im not an expert. and i have no time to read all of it.
Ben Gomez says on July 1st, 2007 at 11:13 am
Hello,
I worked for T-Mobile for a while a few years ago…
Before I started working there I had used my phone as a modem even when they just had GPRS. When they say Unlimited they mean UNLIMITED.
It is not against any TOS to do this…
I cannot verify for any other provider but I do know that t-mobile will not suprise you with a raging bill.
I did have cingular once before… They charged me for everything and didn’t give me a d*** thing. I will not go in to that. 3 too many bad experiences from them.
You can use most phones from t-mobile for “phone as a modem” service. however i did notice that since edge is growing old they did raise the price of the net from 19.99 to 29.99-49.99 depending on how much access you want…(hotspots/corprate e-mail.. all the s*** you don’t need).
I hope i helped any one in question cause you guys seem confused… lol
if you need more information on this i’ll be more them glad to assist by e-mail… motophreaker@blazingimage.net
or by IM if you catch me…
Yahoo: MotoPhreaker
AIM: MotoPhreaker
H C says on July 2nd, 2007 at 3:08 pm
I wonder about us cellular, do they charge for doing this, does anyone have any exp with them, Thanks, in advance
Phil says on July 24th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
You Americans are soooo far behind. It’s really crazy how expensive cell phone plans are over there. The “hack” you describe has been standard with basically any cell phone provider in Europe for at least 3-4 years!
Marl says on September 18th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Just wondering what happens if you are using your mobile as modem and it rings - or you need to use it to ring someone?
Brian says on September 18th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Hey Mari, sometimes the blue tooth stays connected during calls, sometimes it doesn’t. I haven’t quite figured that out yet.
Thanks!
Brian
feix says on October 20th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
any one know if i be able to use my cell how to connect y notebook/laptop for my internet
Kaylee says on May 10th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
This is not a hack. This is a feature that t-mobile has on their palm/blackberry phones. I actually called t-mobile and had a representative help me configure my computer for it. I know cingular doesn’t allow it.
Mr Me says on June 23rd, 2008 at 1:41 am
You know? I have a friend who has been using their Sprint Phone like that ever since they owned it…they do P2P, lots of downloads, videos…everything. They don’t pay for phone as modem, just the Phone unlimited thing….and Sprint has never ever dinged them with anything…and as far as I got from Sprint, the Simply Everything plan that applies to phone is not subject to the cap. BTW: The speed on my friends computer-to-phone internet is about 250kbps faster than my Novatel Wireless Card from Sprint.