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View Full Version : Is there such a thing as a Bluetooth external modem?

karijackson
02-03-2007, 01:57 PM
I looked around for a while but got nowhere, decided to ask you guys.

I bought Nokia 770 for a trip, only to find out that I cannot use it the way I had thought.

The plan was to have it use my Treo 650, via Bluetooth, as its internet source. But unfortunately my cell carrier is Verizon, and Verizon has the Dial-Up Networking disabled on its version of the Treo 650, at Palm's request. There's a workaround published by shadowmite, but it appears to have some risks attached to its use (I'm a big chicken!!) and is not easily available anymore anyway..... (I guess Palm threatened to sue him?)

So I'm looking for another way to connect my Nokia 770 to the internet during a trip to Minnesota later this month, where I'll be staying in a house that has no computer. I'll have a phone line, and I have nationwide dial-up access to Verizon Online, but I won't have any computer other than my Nokia 770.

There ought to be SOME kind of gadget I could buy, that I could plug into the phone line, that could log onto my Verizon dial-up account, and then allow Nokia 770 to access it via Bluetooth.

Anybody know of any such gadget?
fpp
02-03-2007, 03:26 PM
You mean like this ?

http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=135119
karijackson
02-03-2007, 03:57 PM
That sure looks like what I wanted. I have ordered it. Thank you so much!
fpp
02-03-2007, 04:56 PM
Yer welcome. I just Googled the last three words of the thread subject above, et voilą :-)
monroe
02-03-2007, 05:49 PM
I have used this one for almost a year now. It is a little cheaper and you will find the battery lasts a little longer than using WIFI.

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=985332
YoDude
02-03-2007, 08:26 PM
I have used this one for almost a year now. It is a little cheaper and you will find the battery lasts a little longer than using WIFI.

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=985332


For real? This is the first i have seen posts on real wold experiece on the subject.

A BT packet data DUN is the way to go then?
WiFi = more power consumption?
monroe
02-03-2007, 11:51 PM
For real, but I am in a rural area and still use 56K dialup all the time. If you have a faster connection you are going to want to use that. The bluetooth modem is also handy because I can use it anywhere there is a analog phone line and no wireless connection.
karijackson
02-08-2007, 11:43 AM
You mean like this ?

http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=135119

It's here! And it works great with the Nokia 770!

In case any other readers are going to try it, here's how to make it work (there are no instructions for such a setup, in the Nokia 770 booklet nor this bluetooth modem's documentation, so it wasn't smooth as silk, getting it to work).

In Control Panel | Phone | New, it was very easy to get the two gadgets paired together via bluetooth. Then came the hard part.

In Control Panel | Connectivity | Connections | New, I didn't know what to pick, because the manual-writers for both devices apparently don't expect anyone to ever do this. So I used trial and error to figure out how to set it up. The correct answers appear to be: Connection type "Data call", Cellular network is the next question, which is silly, I'm using a dial-up network, not a cellular one, but nevertheless the only answer that worked here was CDMA. Once I tried that one, everything was golden.
fpp
02-08-2007, 01:37 PM
Great mixture of modern and ancient stuff ! :-)
wallcraf
02-08-2007, 06:10 PM
Another option is a dial-up wireless router, e.g. Wiflyer, see Cordless 56K Modem V.92 with Bluetooth (http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2299&highlight=wiflyer).
wodin
02-09-2007, 09:23 PM
Why don't you use PDANet http://www.junefabrics.com/palmnet/ on your Treo?
karijackson
02-09-2007, 09:54 PM
Why don't you use PDANet http://www.junefabrics.com/palmnet/ on your Treo?

I installed it, but I could not find that it had any purpose other than to use the Treo as the modem for a Windows computer that has PDANet installed on it. It doesn't appear to make Treo become a modem that will work for some other computer (or Nokia 770) that doesn't have PDANet installed.
TabulaRasa
02-10-2007, 12:36 AM
I have PDANet for WM5. With this version, you can connect with your 770 (or a Mac, for instance) using bluetooth DUN. You just need PDANet on the phone. I just activated BT dun via PDANet and then I paired the phone and my N800.

I wonder if this would work on the treo? (I used to have a 600, but that device didn't have BT).
karijackson
02-10-2007, 10:22 AM
I have PDANet for WM5. With this version, you can connect with your 770 (or a Mac, for instance) using bluetooth DUN. You just need PDANet on the phone. I just activated BT dun via PDANet and then I paired the phone and my N800.

I wonder if this would work on the treo? (I used to have a 600, but that device didn't have BT).

I'm trying, but I still do not find anything that indicates PDANet can do this. You can connect the Nokia 770 to a bluetooth DUN phone without PDANet (it's just not as easy). The reason something extra is needed on the Verizon-branded Treo 650 is because the Verizon-branded Treo 650 has DUN disabled. PDANet makes it work with a computer that has PDANet installed on it, not anywhere else. And it says "only runs on Windows XP/2000/ME/98SE and does not support Mac." If their software can do this, they sure do need to work on their marketing text and other documentation. Remember, I downloaded and installed it and read its instructions before coming to this conclusion.
karijackson
02-10-2007, 11:29 AM
I tried it again, just to make sure. Connects my Treo 650 to my PC, just great, but still doesn't make bluetooth DUN work on the Treo 650 for another device to attach to it.
civileng67
02-13-2007, 01:45 PM
With this bluetooth modem thing, do you have to have an internet subscription? I mean, do you just plug it in the phone line and have internet through blue tooth? How does it work?
karijackson
02-14-2007, 12:07 AM
With this bluetooth modem thing, do you have to have an internet subscription? I mean, do you just plug it in the phone line and have internet through blue tooth? How does it work?

Yes, you have to have an account with a dialup internet provider. I have Verizon DSL, and pay the extra $15/mo. for the nationwide dialup access...my husband's a pilot so he needs access in hotels that don't have wifi.