Reconfiguring For Mobility

Reston: The recent experience at the World Mobile Congress -- where I had a brand spanking new Nokia 810 and my Mac and I couldn't connect to the Web through the overloaded Wifi there -- has led me to start getting more serious about mobile connectivity via my cell phone. My EVDO card from Verizon doesn't work in Europe, and has to be slid into the Mac or some other device to work, and what I want to be able to do is to connect via my phone -- like my N95 -- and avoid the Wifi mess that happens at so many conferences.

[disclosure: Nokia very kindly gives me a lot of gear -- for free -- as part of the Nokia Bloggers Program. I am not being paid to write this post, or any of the posts I have written about Nokia gear, however.]

Connecting the N95 to the Web

I am happy to report that I have managed to solve the first hurdle, to get the N95 connecting to the Web as a modem for other devices.

Here's the recipe, for others who might want to try it.

I am using a Nokia N95 -- not the most recent 8MG version, but the older one, designed for European use. Because I am running Mac OS 10.5.1 various webpages that explain how to set things up are out of date, but provided enough info for me to do it.

In particular, mroth's post (below) solved various problems.

[from Nokia HSDPA support in Mac OS X 10.5]

My Nokia N95-3 has a deliciously fast HSDPA connection, and it is automatically recognized in Mac OS X 10.5 for syncing and tethering. Only one slight problem:

• Apple’s included Nokia 3G modem script hasn’t been updated for 3.5G technologies such as HSDPA — if you use your phone in tethered mode via either Bluetooth or USB, your speed will max out around ~300kbps.
• Apple changed the format for modem scripts in 10.5, so the previous HSDPA scripts from Ross Barkman won’t work.

Using the developer tools and iSync Plugin Maker.app, I was able to update Barkman’s script to work in Leopard. My preliminary tests are getting ~750kbps in my apartment with so-so signal reception from AT&T. Woo! (Now if only Nokia would make a QWERTY version, so I didn’t have to carry around both this and a Blackberry…)

You can grab my updated modem script here: NokiaHSDPA.zip

Just dump it in /Library/Modem Scripts and then follow one of the many existing setup guides for either bluetooth or USB tethering, making sure to select the new HSDPA device instead of the 3G device from the Nokia category.

That may be a bit confusing for the uninitiated. Let me break it down, since the official description at the Nokia blog is out of date.

On the Mac side, connecting to the internet requires various settings, and in this case, I wanted to be able to get the Mac to connect by a/ talking to the N95 via bluetooth, and b/ getting the N95 to connect to the internet through the Cingular data network. I know the data network connection works on the phone, because I can browse the web, read/write gmail, etc. However, a modem script is needed, and mroth's new scripts were essential. Note: It's necessary to take the full contents of the expanded zip file -- a folder -- and place that in the system Library.

Turns out all that was needed on the phone was to configure the identity of the access point (go to Tools -> Settings -> Connection -> Packet Data and set the Access Point to: wap.cingular).

wap.cingular, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

On the Mac, I had to configure Network Preferences and create a bluetooth configuration. The settings are as displayed below, and the passwork is CINGULAR1, all in caps.

Cingular Wap, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

Once I downloaded and installed mroth's scripts and set up these settings, it worked! I haven't clocked the speed but it is working, so now, in a pinch, I can use my phone as a modem for the Mac. Kind of overkill in the States, since I have the Verizon EVDO card, but when I am next in Europe I could get a local SIM, and use that approach to get nearly ubiquitous Web access. In Lugano I had no real access in my hotel, last week, and I was paying through the nose at my hotel in Lausanne, too.

Tethering my Nokia 810 to the N95

The Nokia 810 can connect to Wifi, but as I discovered in Barcelona, when the Wifi is unreliable tethering to a phone is a better course.

I set up a Bluetooth coupling from the 810 to my N95, and afterward connected to the Web in that fashion. Seems workable, although not as fast as the Wifi in my house.

Tethered to N95, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

The Nokia 810 is a great internet tool, and now that I have it tethered to the N95 I can just stick it in my pocket and head off without lugging my laptop along. While I think I will still get a Macbook Air, based on general travel wear-and-tear on my shoulder in traveling, I am definitely going to take the 810 along for things like a conference day, and leave the laptop -- even an Air -- behind.

Next To Try

I haven't experimented with using the 810 as an internet phone, although I have Skype and Gizmo installed. That's coming soon.

I also haven't tried blogging from the 810, except for one extremely frustrating session in Barcelona. I plan to give that a try today, while I am out for a walk.

Comments

[David Mantripp]

Unless you actually enjoy wasting hours with this stuff, you should check out Launch2Net by nova. Does it all for you...

[Stephanie Booth]

Getting a local SIM to put in might work in some countries, but it would probably be quite uninteresting as a solution in Switzerland, for example (unless, of course, you're thinking of borrowing somebody's existing SIM).

If you get a prepaid SIM card here with Orange, for example (chances are other operators -- swisscom.ch, sunrise.ch -- will have comparable offers), you'll be paying 15CHF/Mb. If you want to pay less than that (I pay an absolutely incredibly cheap 2.50CHF/Mb) you'll need a subscription.

I think the situation in the UK will be more exciting, and I'm not sure about other countries -- but here, for the occasional user, it's probably way cheaper to simply pay the "through the nose" rate or use your US card's roaming data plan.

[Stowe Boyd]

David - Mostly I was working this out so that I could tether the phone to the 810, not so much the Mac, although the latter turned out to be more complex.

[Stowe Boyd]

Steph - My colleagues at the Mobile Congress had found some low-cost sim plan being sold in Barcelona. I will find out the name.

[Ivan Pope]

Stowe, have you tried JoikuSpot which in theory turns your phone into a Wifi router. So that when you're at a conf. with crap Wifi you can make a little network and share it with your friends :-) - or just use it for yourself. Might be useful at meetings where there is no wifi!

[Stowe Boyd]

Ivan - Yes, someone saved me that way once!