Using your phone as a Bluetooth modem
March 7, 2009 24 Comments
As a follow up to “Configuring your phone for mobile Internet (DST)”, in this post I’ll detail how to use your phone as a Bluetooth modem freeing you from the mess of wires and also providing a way to utilize tethering without installing bloated phone software like the Nokia PC Suite. Using this method also allows DST users with 3G SIM cards and 3G/3.5G capable phones to enjoy the great speeds of DST’s Go! without having to subscribe the the DST Go! service or buying the Go! SIM card or buying the USB modem.
Requirements:
- Phone with Bluetooth
- Computer with Bluetooth
- SIM card with credit (duh)
Requirements for high speed Internet over 3G/3.5G
- 3G/3.5G phone in 3G mode (3G only or dual mode is acceptable but not GSM)
- 3G SIM card
- 3G phone signal (for Nokia phones it is shown with a little “3G” icon under the regular signal bar)
Note1: if phone/SIM does not meet 3G requirements or no 3G signal is available, the phone will fall back to slower GPRS / Edge connection, but the Internet will still be accessible.
Note2: Not all 3G/3.5G phones are created equally and each have a maximum 3G speed that it can obtain. This can hinder These details can be obtained online from places such as GSMArena.com. E.g. Nokia 6680 max 3G speed of 384 kbps, Nokia E51: max speed of 3.6 Mbps.
My current configuration setup:
- Windows XP Professional
- Using “dst.internet” as the access point
- HP Compaq nx6320 notebook
- Nokia E51 / Nokia 6680 / Nokia 3110c
The following is the brief outline of the procedure utilizing “My Bluetooth Places” software provided by WIDCOMM preinstalled with the notebook, however the concept stays the same over any computer / Bluetooth software:
- Pair phone and computer
- Configure phone as a Bluetooth modem
- Create network connection dialing *99#
- Optional: set extra initialization command to:
+CGDCONT=,,”dst.internet”
where “dst.internet” is the access point to connect to
Despite the maximum speed defined in the modem settings is 921600 bps (= 900 kbps) which is less than 3.6 Mbps or 7.2 Mbps offered by Go! and typical phones, I have managed to get 1.5 Mbps connections using this Bluetooth method my previous speed tests so I’m not really sure what’s up with that.
Nokia Phones with Nokia PC Suite
Refer to this post. It is for USB connection, but follows the same concept
Detailed Pictorial
- Pairing phone and computer
- Go to “My Bluetooth Places” or the equivalent in “My Computer” or “Control Panel”
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Search for nearby devices (ensure phone’s Bluetooth mode is in discoverable mode, not hidden or off)
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Initiate pairing of devices and specify a Bluetooth PIN code
- Go to “My Bluetooth Places” or the equivalent in “My Computer” or “Control Panel”
-
Configure phone as a Bluetooth modem.
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Double click the phone to search for Bluetooth services offered by the phone
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Double click “Dial-up networking”
-
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Create network connection dialing *99#
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Network connection dialog should automatically popup. Username and Password is for authentication to the access point (can be left blank for dst.internet)
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Click “Properties” and ensure correct Bluetooth modem selected
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To ensure maximum speed over Bluetooth: Select your Bluetooth modem and click “Configure…” > set “Maximum speed” to the maximum value
-
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Optional: set extra initialization command to:
+CGDCONT=,,”dst.internet”
where “dst.internet” is the access point to connect to-
This may have to be done depending on phone. It was required by my Nokia 6680 but my Nokia 3110c was fine without it. If anybody knows why this happens do let me know =)
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This work is licensed under the 
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….cool post brother…will give it a try…thnx.
thanks for the help
hello,
may tagalog version ba ng tutorial na to..?
@ohio state I’m glad it helps =)
@toots I’m sorry but I don’t speak Tagalog so I can’t really translate for you. Perhaps you can follow the pictorial or get somebody who knows English and Tagalog and you are welcome to do a translation of the tutorial =)
hello,
the direction and step here are not hard to follow but still we cant do it. I dunno whats the problem but we follow the direction up to “3.Create network connection dialing *99#”
the window appeared and we try to dial the number indicated but still it cannot connect, we use the right phone and bluetooth devices, the phone and the computer already paired but still we cant connect to the net, the phone also have credits..
hope someone can help about this problem
thnx…
hello,
the direction and step here are not hard to follow but still we cant do it. I dunno whats the problem but we follow the direction up to “3.Create network connection dialing *99#”
the window appeared and we try to dial the number indicated but still it cannot connect, we use the right phone and bluetooth devices, the phone and the computer already paired but still we cant connect to the net, the phone also have credits..
hope someone can help about this problem
thnx…
@masteredison what phone are you using? If it’s a Nokia you can try this post to follow directions of how to use Nokia’s PC Suite. You can try using the optional setting of the extra initialization command, some devices need this. If not you need to ensure Bluetooth is enabled. I found out that for my HP notebook, I need to keep the “My Bluetooth places” window open in order to connect via Bluetooth. The phone also needs to support the Bluetooth Dial-Up Networking profile. Last but not least, if you can get the phone’s Bluetooth modem drive you can try install it from “Add New Hardware” in the Control Panel.
Hope this helps you out.
I was worried about configuring my blue tooth to use my NOKIA-3230 as modem.Then after looking for solution i got my way to use it.I want you to use my easy way with image description to connect to blue tooth modem.Search on google “nextech.byethost16 connect edge” you will find your way.
trea mi
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thanx, works great with my nokia 5800
Brow, starting few days ago, i can’t use my mobile as modem, Bmobile n Dst same problem can’t connect any idea? Thank’s B4
Try the entire process again. Delete and current modem and start over. Sometimes the Bluetooth connection is troublesome so try to pair the phone and computer again. What phone are you using? If it’s a Nokia, I find the Nokia PC suite why is the easiest
Thanks, works perfectly with my nokia e63 (3 mobile network of Australia). and just let you know, in my case, the extra initialization part is not skippable.
cool works perfectly with my alcatel ot880
Im using nokia E65 & m havng trouble using it as a modem. I hve pc suite bt i cnt seem 2 gt it olryt. Cn ù help?
plz send me vodafone extra intialization command canect nokia 3110c to pc.
Thank ye eh, senang rupanya, inda ku terklik menggunakan bluetooth, sekali cuba sekali klik lagi tu tarus mau. 3g modem bmobile atu inda kuat signal yang diterimanya di kuala lurah ani satu bar ganya kadang langsung nada bar made in china jua bah apa kan diharapkan, iatah memakai hp motorola, sekali atu full bar signalnya atu puas hatiku eh.
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how about the gprs setting for china mobile e71?
You will need to check the settings and find which values are appropriate to put in. Look for mobile data / data / APN settings.
Is this compatible with nokia 3230? Tnx
Nice post. Thanks. it looks really great and very informative.. Keep posting.