How do I use my 'always on' internet on my mobile phone as a modem for my laptop?

January 7, 2007 1:01 PM

How do I use my 'always on' internet on my mobile phone as a modem for my laptop? I own the T-mobile equilvant of the HTC TyTN with Windows Mobile 5.0 and a HP laptop with Windows XP. On my mobile phone I have T-mobile 3G internet with always on functionality. I would like to use my mobile phone as a modem with internet connection for my laptop so I can access the internet with my laptop no matter where I am. I connect to my mobile phone with an USB cable (I tried bluetooth but couldn't get it to work...). Does anyone know how to accomplish this? Maybe there are software applications that can do this for me? All tips are welcome!
posted by remcobron to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

Response by poster: ...sorry for the long question on the homepage. Never realized it would show everything right there, it should have gone om more information.
posted by remcobron at 1:05 PM on January 7, 2007

Best answer: would PDAnet work for you?

I use it for my Treo, and it works swimmingly, but I'm not sure about other handsets... their site does say "New! Version 1.72 adds support for GSM/GPRS devices such as T-Mobile MDA or Cingular 8125! It also supports Vista and Bluetooth/InfraRed connection through ActiveSync."
posted by matty at 1:07 PM on January 7, 2007

Response by poster: Looking at the specs that should work! I will give it a whirl to find out. Thanks!
posted by remcobron at 1:10 PM on January 7, 2007

Set up the laptop to use the HTC TyTN as an external modem. Connect the two through the USB Cable. Ask your phone company about the settings for the modem [initstring]. Typically, you probably need an internal phone number to dial in for the first time, the name of a domain, and the standard username and password for that domain.
posted by ijsbrand at 1:18 PM on January 7, 2007

Response by poster: Matty you are the man! Believe it or not, I'm posting this answer with the connection from my mobile phone. Easier isn't possible.

Wow, my first question answered and solved within 10 minutes. How great is that?
posted by remcobron at 1:18 PM on January 7, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks ijsbrand, I'm sure this will work - I always knew it should be possible with Windows itself - but I like the software solution because it's easy and fast.
posted by remcobron at 1:20 PM on January 7, 2007

Glad it worked for you! I use it (while also paying for my data plan w/ Verizon) because it just works better than Verizon's clunky Broadband Access software.
posted by matty at 1:22 PM on January 7, 2007

Man I wish there were an option for Mac OS X.... But cool software, so I guess I can't complain much.
posted by zpousman at 4:02 PM on January 7, 2007

zpousman: You can connect a WM5 device via Bluetooth to a Mac as a modem, but there is a bit of voodoo required (i.e. installing a modem script for your device, and getting the settings right). Here are some instructions.
posted by chrismear at 4:44 PM on January 7, 2007

zpousman, if BT won't work for you (pre BT mac), you can try WirelessModem - I've gotten it to work on 10.3, but setup took me a while. And don't be dissuaded by the top of the page, the software is reported functional on the 600 and the 650.
posted by Orb2069 at 5:32 PM on January 7, 2007

I followed the directions here with my T-Mobile Razr GPRS phone. Worked with no problems.
posted by longdaysjourney at 7:49 PM on January 7, 2007