Can I use my Razr to surf the web on my Macbook with only the mobile web plan on my service?

September 19, 2007 7:14 AM

I have mobile web on my cell phone plan. Can I use bluetooth and my Mac Book to connect to the Razr and surf the web on my computer?

I have Alltel service and a Motorola V3m Razr. I suscribe to the mobile web feature on my phone (the condensed version of the Internet, bascially only useful for sports scores) and it allows me to put in URLs and view any website in it's mobile version.

Is there a way to use this to browse the web on my Mac Book?

posted by Mark to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

I have done it before, but the only way I could make it work was by using the phone as a dial-up modem and connecting that way. It should be possible.

These instructions might help
posted by excitementMD at 7:26 AM on September 19, 2007

Yeah, you use the phone as a dial up modem like Dr. Excitement says. I went on a cross country road trip with a macbook and a cingular cellphone with an unlimited data plan, and had access 90% of the time. It was kinda slow but worked. Be aware though, it kills your cell battery with continued usage.
posted by Mach5 at 7:51 AM on September 19, 2007

If you have Bluetooth (or IR and IR on your computer) you can probably do something called 'tethering'. However! It may be in your terms and conditions that you are not allowed to do this.. so it will work but if they detect you they can cut you off. That proviso is quite common on service contracts that come when you get a phone, rather than a dedicated data contract.
posted by wackybrit at 8:13 AM on September 19, 2007

I've used my phone's mobile web service via Bluetooth to get internet on my MacBook before. It was slow and it killed the phone battery, but it worked.
posted by corvine at 8:37 AM on September 19, 2007

If you can't do it over bluetooth you can also try getting a data cable & use that to connect them. I got my v3r to work that way. The cable is a just a mini USB to USB, costs maybe $15 online. Here are two sites that helped me get my connection going: one & two.
posted by scalefree at 5:54 AM on September 20, 2007

IIRC, Alltell is a CDMA carrier. I 'tether' my old Sony Ericsson w810i, but I have Cingular. The phone hops onto the Cingular/AT&T "EDGE" network and the speeds aren't great, but aren't all that bad either. It's basically the same network the iPhone uses.

Your mileage may vary. It might work but be flaky and slow as hell.

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=10162
posted by drstein at 12:25 PM on September 20, 2007