3G Wireless on Mac OS X

IDG News Service - For the past few years, I've been following the cellular telephony business and waiting for some form of mobile broadband to arrive in the U.S. In 2000, I had AT&T's IS-136 service and a cabled connection from my laptop to my phone. On average, I got a 4,800 bit/sec. connection.

I didn't see much of an improvement until General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) services entered the marketplace. GPRS gives up to a 13Kbit/sec. connection, and EDGE is significantly higher, in theory. In the past year most of the cellular operators in the U.S. began offering data services (both Code Division Multiple Access and EDGE), but the software provided by the telephony firms wouldn't work on my Mac. And it seems that these services are understood by only a small tech support group within each company, and information is often absent or, if given, contradictory. Settings vary from provider to provider, country to country and even state to state, depending on the legacy network.

Recently, I heard about a product called Mobile High Speed (MHS) from Novamedia. This product allows both Mac and PC users on Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks to simply insert a SIM card in the PC Card modem, run the MHS software, and then, if your account is enabled for this sort of service, connect to the Internet. This sounded so easy, I just had to give it a try.

First I called my provider, Cingular, to get its Laptop Connect service. This is a GPRS-enabled data service in the U.S. Recently the company announced an EDGE-based service called Broadband Connect, but that is not yet available in New York so I didn't test it. Business travelers are advised to get a separate number and SIM for use with a 3G modem, but since I was just testing I had the service added on to my regular phone and just swapped the SIM card.

Using the MHS software was as easy as promised. I put the SIM into the Globetrotter Combo Edge 3G modem from Option. Then I put the card into my PowerBook's PC Card slot and waited 30 seconds. I fired up MHS and it auto-detected the carrier and service and populated my modem info. Under my modem connection there was now an MHS connection profile. I selected that and was instantly connected to the Internet. Novamedia assured me that anywhere I go in the world, the process will be this easy.

So, with the easy stuff out of the way, I wondered how hard it would be for a tech like me with a degree in telecommunications and wireless technology to connect my laptop without the software. I should be able to just set up a Bluetooth connection to my phone and use that as a GPRS-attached device. But I discovered there is a good reason to use the software.

I called my provider, Cingular, to get the necessary information. They have a special queue for Laptop Connect users and hold time wasn't an issue. I called in three times to get the necessary information and each time got a slightly different answer with the "We don't support Macs" and "You shouldn't do this manually" caveats. The PC support consists of giving the end user software that does what MHS does, but only for a local provider. It does seem like the cell operators are still using security by obscurity as one of their methods.

Finally, I got a very helpful senior support specialist who told me to check a Web site from a gentleman named Ross Barkman who maintains the site for OS X and Linux users who want to connect to 3G services.

I took information from the Barkman site and information obtained from my previous calls and used some intuitive guesses to successfully connect.

For the benefit of all who are using the Cingular Laptop Connect service in the U.S. and a Nokia phone, I will detail the process I used, which is similar for other handhelds. You can check with the Barkman site and Cingular for specifics.

First, download the Nokia 3G CID1 script from the Ross Barkman site. Put that in your Library:Modem Scripts folder.

On your cellular phone do the following:

1. Press the Menu button.


2. Scroll down to Connectivity and press Options, then choose Open.


3. Scroll to highlight Bluetooth, and press Options, then choose Change and select On. Scroll down to My Phone's Visibility and press Options, then choose Shown To All. This will activate the Bluetooth in the handset and prepare it for use as a modem.


4. Press Back and scroll to Tools, press Select.


5. Scroll to Settings and press Select


6. Scroll to Connection and press Select


7. Scroll to GPRS and press Select


8. For GPRS Connection, select When Needed


9. For Access Point, enter isp.cingular (all lowercase letters)


10. Your phone is now configured properly for GPRS

Click to see larger image