Hack 6. Use Your Treo as a Modem
Use your Palm Treo to connect your laptop to the Internet. You can also use your Treo as a backup Internet connection for your desktop machine.
If you've signed up for your carrier's wireless data plan, you can get the entire Internet on your Treo. It may not seem like it at times, because the small screen can really constrain your web-browsing experience when compared to, say, your laptop or your desktop computer, but it's all there every last byte. Better still, it is possible to feed the Internet connection of your Treo through to your laptop computer. This is called tethering, and it allows your tethered laptop to work with the Internet as if it were connected via a normal dial-up, cable, or DSL modemexcept that you are connected through your Treo. Anywhere your Treo has enough signal strength to connect to its wireless data service, you can tether it to supply a laptop with Internet.
Setting up tethering is specific to the model of your Treo and your cellular service provider, as summed up in Table 1-2. You use either your Treo 650's Bluetooth connectivity to use the Treo as a wireless modem for your laptop or desktop, or you need a third-party Windows application called PdaNet, which allows you to connect your Treo (as a modem) to your laptop or desktop via the USB sync cable.
|
Device |
Carrier |
Tethering technique |
---|---|---|
Treo 650 |
Sprint |
Built-in Bluetooth DUN is now supported, provided you apply the "Treo 650 Updater 1.12 for Sprint PCS," found at http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/treo650updater/sprint.html. You may also use PdaNet for tethering over your USB sync cable or wirelessly over Bluetooth. |
Verizon and other CDMA carriers (e.g., EarthLink) |
Built-in Bluetooth DUN is not supported, and no firmware update is promised. Hack your device to enable Bluetooth DUN now, without waiting for Verizon's firmware update. The hack is fairly stable. You may also use PdaNet for tethering over your USB sync cable or wirelessly over Bluetooth. |
|
Cingular and other GSM carriers (e.g., AT&T Wireless, Rogers) |
Built-in Bluetooth DUN is not supported. Cingular promises a firmware update "later this year," according to a Palm support page dated March 31, 2005. Hack your device to enable Bluetooth DUN now, without waiting for a firmware update. The hack is fairly stable. You may also use PdaNet for tethering over your USB sync cable or wirelessly over Bluetooth (no hack required). |
|
Treo 600 |
All |
This device does not support Bluetooth. Your only option is to use PdaNet for tethering over your USB sync cable. |
1.7.1. Treo 650 Bluetooth DUN
To enable Bluetooth DUN on your Treo 650:
- Run the Bluetooth application.
- Enable the Dial-up Networking settings, as shown Figure 1-13. (If you don't see this setting, you need to check for a firmware update for your Treo 650, or apply the shadowmite patch; see the sidebar "The shadowmite Patch).
Figure 1-13. Turning on the dial-up networking setting on a Treo 650
The steps in getting Bluetooth DUN set up on your laptop (or desktop) varies with operating systems and Bluetooth hardwareplease consult your manuals for help here. But in general, you want to do something like this:
- Make sure your Treo is on and Bluetooth has been enabled!
- Open the Bluetooth control panel/system preferences on your laptop (or desktop).
- Your Treo 650 should be discovered; Mac users will need to set up a new Mobile Phone device.
- Establish a connection between your laptop and your Treo 650.
- Look for your Treo 650's Dial-Up Networking service on your laptop; if you only see its Object Exchange service, try performing a soft reset on your Treo 650.
- Create a dial-up connection to your Treo 650's Dial-Up Networking service on your laptop. See Table 1-3 for the values that should work for you. A quick phone call to your carrier can get you going if these don't work.
Carrier |
Username |
Password |
Phone number |
---|---|---|---|
Sprint |
YourSprintPCSVisionUsername@sprintpcs.com (you might not need the @sprintpcs.com part) |
YourSprintPCSVisionPassword |
#777 |
Verizon |
YourPhoneNumber @vzw3g.com |
vzw |
#777 |
Cingular |
WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM |
CINGULAR1 |
**99***1# |
T-Mobile |
none |
none |
*99# |
1.7.2. PdaNet
You can download the PdaNet application from June Fabrics PDA Technology Group at http://www.junefabrics.com. It has a 15-day trial, after which the application costs $34 to register to your Treo device.
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Once you've downloaded and run the installer for your specific Treo model (check carefully!), you are prompted to select the appropriate cell phone service from the screen in Figure 1-14.
Figure 1-14. Selecting your carrier in PdaNet's installer
The Windows component is installed to your desktop, and then you are prompted to HotSync the Palm component onto your Treo (see Figure 1-15).
Figure 1-15. PdaNet's installer, queuing up a PRC to install onto your Treo
Once the installation is complete, you will notice a new PdaNet icon in your System Tray (the icons by your clock), which indicates your connection status, as shown in Figure 1-16.
Figure 1-16. PdaNet's icon indicating a connected or disconnected state
The PdaNet icon indicates whether you have an active Internet connection through your Treo; right-click on it to get to the advanced PdaNet settings.
After you've installed the PdaNet application onto your Treo, make sure your device is connected to your laptop with a USB HotSync cable (serial HotSync cables will not work), and then simply launch the PdaNet application on your Treo. Figure 1-17 shows PdaNet running on a Treo.
Your Treo automatically attempts to establish a connection to its wireless Internet service; if successful, PdaNet will then tether that connection over your USB HotSync cable to your laptop. Figure 1-18 shows PdaNet's desktop component confirming its Internet connectivity.
Figure 1-17. PdaNet, ready to connect your laptop to the Internet
Figure 1-18. The Windows component tethering to your Treo's wireless data network
You should be able to use any Internet applications on your laptop, as long as your Treo is able to keep connected to its wireless Internet service. Be sure to disconnect it when you're done!
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Jeff Ishaq