Access the net via Bluetooth
- Article 48 of 89
- MacFormat, June 2007
Use your mobile phone to connect your Mac to the internet
It’s hard to think of a time before the Internet. It’s become so vital to our everyday life, it’s almost as important as water, gas and electricity. So when we don’t have access, whether it’s because our phone line or ISP is having ‘issues’ or we’re away from home or work, it can be a real problem.
Fortunately, you have the solution almost in the palm of your hand. Just about any decent mobile phone comes with Bluetooth and even if your Mac doesn’t – and all the latest ones do – you can buy a Bluetooth “dongle” that plugs into a USB port for less than £30. Provided you have a signal on your phone, you can use Bluetooth to connect your Mac to your phone and to use your phone’s network connection to give you Internet access.
The speed of access will depend on your phone and network. If you have a 3G-capable phone and network plan, you can get near-broadband speeds, albeit at a cost. Virtually all phones have GPRS, which will give you speeds equivalent to a 56K dial-up modem. In both of these cases, you’ll be charged according to how much you download, not how long you’re connected for. If you don’t have a GPRS connection, then you’ll need to subscribe to an ISP such as Tesco, Zen or Be that gives you a dial-up narrowband connection. Speeds will be slow and you’ll be charged according to how long you’re connected for, not what you download, but at least you’ll have a connection.
We’re going to show you how to configure your Mac to access the Internet using your mobile, first by pairing it with your phone, then by installing the correct modem scripts and entering the appropriate network settings. Naturally, though, we suggest doing this before you go out on the road!