Quote:
Originally Posted by BfSkinnerPunk
The new Macs just came out.
Fine. I've been waiting for the latest tweak.
So I walk in the Apple Store, tell them what I want... and while I'm waiting... I feel like shooting the bull. So I ask, "Hey, so my blackberry can tether to a Mac, right?".
I honestly thought that it was just a time filler question... but as it turns out, the answer is no!
What????
This is totally unexpected. I had to walk away empty handed because of this. I have *got* to have the ability to tether. (no, I don't want a kooky bluetooth method.)
So does my blackberry force me to stay with Windows????
I see a $70 bit of software that *might* work, but it doesn't seem like the most graceful solution....and it's not ready yet.
Heck, walk into a Verizon store with your Windows machine and they will happily sling you free tethering software like they can't wait to get rid of it and it works great.
I have read all kinds of gripes in forums like these, but why is this news to me? Isn't this a huge issue?????
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Apple will tell you this and so will Verizon because tethering is not SUPPORTED via Mac OS X or even a Mac running Windows. The key word here is supported, which means if you ask this question instead of saying the truth in that they don't know how to tether via a Mac they instead say there is no way to do it.
I have a month old Macbook Pro (I didn't want to wait for the Penryns and I'm glad I didn't) and tethering my 8830 from Verizon via Windows Vista was an extreme chore because I had some issues installing the VZ Access Manager and it recognizing the correct modem. It literally took several hours (I was probably just a random case, most people wouldn't have this issue) to do this but it only took maybe 3 minutes tops tethering via bluetooth in Mac OS X.
I haven't tried tethering via a cable (like I do when I run my Macbook Pro in Windows Vista) so I don't have advice on how to do that. For bluetooth in Mac OS X I just easily paired the devices together (it doesn't matter which device initiates the pairing) and then after the BlackBerry 8830 was listed as one of my bluetooth devices. I then clicked on BlackBerry 8830 listed under the bluetooth icon and clicked the wheel looking icon next to the add and subtract button and selected "configure this device". I then checked "Access the Internet with your phone's data connection" and selected continue. For Phone Vendor I selected "Other" (at the bottom of the list) and then the only phone model available was "Verizon Support (PC 5220)". I was very excited about this because I thought I would have to load custom modem scripts but apparently Mac OS X 10.5.2 already has these scripts. I then entered my username as "XxxXxxXxxx@vzw3g.com" where XxxXxxXxxx was my phone number, used "vzw" as the password, and used "#777" as the phone number.
After doing these things I clicked on the phone icon that was added after doing this setup and selected "Connect Bluetooth". Within 5 seconds my Verizon 8830 was connected and I was able to verify this my seeing that my 8830 displayed "Modem Mode Enabled" at the top of the device. I was now able to browse the internet wirelessly using my phone and have had no issues yet. One thing you must know is that you have to call Verizon and tell them you want tethering added (it's an additional $15/mo. with the first month free) and there is no way to use tethering without paying this fee.