Blackberry 7250 as Tethered Modem

Something extraordinary happened yesterday -- I called tech support and actually got help that was more helpful than I was able to find through Google reading messageboards and whatnot. The end result was that my Blackberry 7250, which I was trying to use as a tethered modem for the HP laptop that I've been using to write my book, actually started working as a tethered modem for the HP laptop. Amazing!

The speed isn't great -- when it connects it reports about 115kbps, but I'm not sure I believe it. Actually I haven't tried to download anything, so that might be accurate, but if so then the Blackbery suffers from some latency problems even when compared to a dial-up modem. (There are at least two "speeds" to consider when it comes to Internet connections, and the one we talk about isn't really speed, but rather bandwidth. The larger the "pipe" in terms of bandwidth, the more data can get through it at once. But if a connection has issues with latency in terms of sending and receiving small bits of information, that can affect the perceived "speed" of basic browsing as well.)

Anyway, the point was to get any sort of connection out of it at all -- and we did. The trick was actually to go into a buried network setting on the phone and reset one of the usernames for a network connection...I'll tell you how, but I don't actually remember. (You go to the phone screen, dial a crazy # code phone number and then delete one of the usernames. The Blackberry resets in a mode that is compatible with the network for modem mode.)

The other bit that was funny...due to some sort of litigation, the support guy (Eli) was not actually allowed to walk me through the setup procedure for creating the Internet connection over the Blackberry. He said it was an issue with RIM, the company that makes the Blackberry, and that his only option was to e-mail me the instructions. When he did, I noticed that the instructions were different from those posted on RIM's Blackberry website...oddly, both worked, but the e-mail instructions seem to make for a slightly faster connection.

I was also told that here in Jackson, Mississippi we don't yet have EVDO support (higher speed "broadband" over the data network) on the Alltel network, but it's due in Q1 2007, which will also mean getting an EVDO compatible phone such as the Blackberry 7130e. I'm looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, kudos to Alltel support. I was pleasantly surprised. Here's hoping my $45 Blackberry data plan will also be useful for something approaching broadband surfing on my laptop in the very near future.