Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments
Search

News for nerds, stuff that matters

Slashdot Log In

Log In

Create Account  |  Retrieve Password

Using Your BlackBerry As a Modem On Linux

Posted by timothy on Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:01 AM
from the repurposing-for-the-win dept.
Wireless Networking Handhelds Hardware News
ruphus13 writes "Now, the suits and the geeks can unite — Barry allows BlackBerrys to serve as modems for Linux machines. From the news post, 'Barry, created by open source software vendor Net Direct, lets you not only sync your contacts and calendar but also use your smartphone as a computer modem. Sure, it's not as fast as T1 or cable, but you can't beat it if you're stuck somewhere with no Internet access. Currently, there are packages available for Ubuntu, Debian, Mandriva, and Fedora (although syncing is not supported on Fedora 9). Most older BlackBerrys work just fine with Barry, but the newest generation of devices — the Storm and Bold — are not yet fully supported.'"
+ -
story

Related Stories

Submission: Using your Blackberry as a modem on Linux by ruphus13 (890164)
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

Using Your BlackBerry As a Modem On Linux 50 Comments More /

 Full
 Abbreviated
 Hidden
More
Loading... please wait.

  • Is this really news. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jellomizer (103300) on Tuesday January 06 2009, @11:05AM (#26343463)

    I have done this with Mac OS X and a little Samsung Sync. Years ago, for phones that allow you to put software on it. There really isn't much stopping you from doing this.

    • My first experience was using a normal, run of the mill cell phone that had an IR port as a modem -- back in high school. That was beyond annoying, because the alignment had to be withing about 5 degrees, but it worked, and back then 9.6kbps was not unbearable even for the web. These days I do it with Bluetooth when I am traveling, and I can really only check my email via POP3.

      • Bluetooth to my cell is a saviour in low-service areas where I can't find a quick access point.

        I've been doing this for quite some time as well, although some of the new usb-attached modems from local cell service providers are very nice (and work with Linux).

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Thalagyrt (851883)

          I used to do that with my old T-Mobile phone, but now I just have a Sprint PCI-E mini card built in. It's a hell of a lot more convenient than using a tethered phone.

          I wrote up a script that uses traceroute to determine whether or not I have Internet connectivity via 802.11 or my wired Ethernet jack, and if not, it automatically connects the Sprint card. When I have 802.11 connectivity it traceroutes to the nearest Google box every 30 seconds or so and if it notices that I'm not going out through Sprint (ya

        • They SHOULD work with any OS, in order to make the install under Windows easy all of the cell modems I've seen in the last 5 years or so show up as a comm port USB adapter, then it's generally as simple as finding the dial string for your provider.

        • Yours had a phone jack?

          I had to dial the number, and then set the handset into the acoustic coupler. I still don't believe in all this wireless stuff. If I can't see the wire, I don't believe it's connected! How do I know I'm talking to the other person on the end of the wire, and not an impersonator. If my wife were to call me and ask for a gallon of milk, who's to say it's not a KGB agent trying to lure me to kill me and destroy our American way of life. You know those d

    • Re:Is this really news. (Score:5, Informative)

      by conlaw (983784) on Tuesday January 06 2009, @12:13PM (#26344417)
      I agree that this isn't news. Five years ago, I could do this from my Blacberry using software from RIM and T-Mobile. The great part was that the Blackberry kept on recharging while I using it as a modem.
    • This is really old news, you've been able to do this in Linux by abstracting the BB through bluetooth for quite some time. Here [blackberryforums.com] is a guide I wrote last January (when I had a BB Pearl for 2 weeks), and I've been doing the same process with my Moto Q smartphone for about a year prior to that.

  • Most corporate comms policies I have seen where Blackberries are given strictly forbid the use of work mobile phones as modems for their laptops, because data charges are so high.

    One of the reasons RIM carved such a niche in corporate phones/PDAs is the "eat as much as you want" (more or less) email access; surfing the net via GSM/TDMA/3G/UMTS is not part of the deal, and billed by your provider as data by the Kb or minute.

    • Cell providers also routinely filter data traffic, because they want to charge extra for mobile Internet and fax plans. Verizon definitely does this, and T-mobile kills fax but not dialup users. How this is not a violation of the Sherman act is a mystery to me.
    • Got my Blackberry (Pearl) at Sams Club and got a deal for unlimited data including email browsing and modem, through TMobile. Not the fastest connection as you'd expect but certainly good enough for email, and its 128kbps more than nothing. Ive been at client sites that had very restrictive net access, and routed entire subnets through my laptop and phone to get some engineering services working, like remote desktop and TRAC/subversion at remote sites. Again its slow, but it was way better than nothing and

      • Obviously quite a few, because I know several Blackberry owners and clearly unlimited data is just not a priority for any people outside of 24/7 tech support...

        • We have ~350 BB handsets on 3 different providers and they ALL have unlimited data, I just can't imagine the possible overage charges without it!

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by vux984 (928602)

        What corporations are getting Blackberries w/out unlimited data plans?

        Many blackberry "unlimited" data plans only include unlimited data destined-to and originating-from the blackberry itself. Data incurred when using it as a tethered modem is usually excluded from the unlimited bb data plan.

        The rationale is that you can really only consume so much bandwidth with the BB itself. After all, its primary an email device with some modest multimedia capabilities. So they can give you "unlimited data" and the limi

          • Forgot to mention. Verizon will kick you if you do Phone as Modem.

            Since Verizon has a higher-priced plan that specifically allows you to tether your Blackberry, while the cheaper plan you were paying for specifically forbids it, you not only violated their TOS, you did so in a way that very directly takes money away from them. It's no surprise they kicked you off.

            • It's no surprise they kicked you off.

              Only because they are a company with atrocious customer service. A smart company would have a salesperson call the customer and try to sell them the more expensive plan before canceling the contract.

          • Verizon is evil, no doubt, but Sprint is much more evil by far.
  • If it's anything as slow and difficult as it is on Windows, then it's really not worth the effort. Tethering a BB on Windows, even without a corporate policy, was exceedingly difficult and the speeds were pretty horrible.

    • Surfing from my Nokia 3G phone using it as a modem gets me about 512kbps which is reasonable - about 64KB/s which means most web pages render in less than 10 secs...

      Outside of 3G coverage it's painful though. In any case, on a Blackberry you can already install GMail, Opera Mini & you have corp email... not bad.

      The rest of the functionality (sync, charging, etc) seems way more interesting. Most hotels & cafes offer free or inexpensive Wifi anyway if you need your fix.

    • Tethering a BB on Windows was exceedingly difficult...

      Huh. Worked flawlessly for me. And Blackberry support was just outstanding, talked me through the setup step-by-step and didnt even talk down to me. Now as long as my phone is within 10' Bluetooth range it will connect via BT and dial-up if no other network connections are available.

      I just got a Dell Mini9 with Ubuntu (and love it) but really wanted the same BT modem capabilities. I cant wait to try this 'Barry' thingy out!

  • Why? Can't we already just do..

    modload usbnet
    dhclient usb0

    ???

  • Welcome to the 21st century (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Albanach (527650) on Tuesday January 06 2009, @11:19AM (#26343649) Homepage

    9 years late, we can welcome RIM to the new millenium.

    Seriously, most geeks will have used cell phones as modems for years. I certainly did it back in the last millennium. In the old days, IR was the way to connect. Then when you got fed up trying to keep the phone pointed at the computer you got a cable.

    Bluetooth replaced all that nonsense. And, today, we have software that turns your phone into a Wireless access point, allowing you to share your connection with the entire room.

    Here's hoping I never have a job that forces me to give all that up for a Blackberry!

    • Likewise.

      And why is it not as fast as cable.? 3G over here in europe can be used with a variety of laptop/phone combinations and is really quite snappy.

    • I've been using my Blackberry as a modem for a long time, both with Windows and OSX, and both over Bluetooth and USB.

      So this appears to be a purely Linux thing. This shouldn't just pertain to Blackberry, but pretty much any phone that can act as a modem. The Razr makes a decent modem, again over Bluetooth or USB.

  • Ok except for the cost (Score:3, Informative)

    by sheldon (2322) on Tuesday January 06 2009, @11:27AM (#26343747)

    I tried to do this with my Pearl when we went on vacation. Thought I could use my laptop on the trip when we wanted to find where to go, etc.

    First roadblock is the cost. I pay $30 for my Blackberry data plan, can browse the internet... unlimited data they say. Except if you want to tether it to a computer that is another $30.

    Then half way through the trip it just plain stopped working. I had to "reboot" the Pearl to correct the problem, where rebooting means pulling the battery out.

    Otherwise I actually felt the speeds were decent, faster than dialup... probably 120k/sec, and this was over old-school GSM(not 3G).

    • Old Skool GSM is 9.6kbps, aligned with the fax standard. Anything above that is something else (maybe UTMS?)

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by charlesnw (843045)
      May I ask who your carrier is? T-mobile USA it's 24.99 for unlimited data, and it tethers easily. I wrote a howto on it at http://adjix.com/if6u [adjix.com] It's 9.00 for exchange access.

  • Not practical... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by NineNine (235196) on Tuesday January 06 2009, @11:30AM (#26343779) Homepage

    This just isn't really practical. I just came back from a trip in Central America, and Internet access was easier to find than land or cell phone service. I have a feeling it's that way in lots of developing countries. My phone was useless. There were very very few land lines, but I could hop on one of many computers at hostels or Internet cafes and check my email.

  • The article mentions that the software allows a linux laptop to charge the battery.

    My eee has always been able to do this without any software, anyone else?
  • Is it possible to use other cell phones as well as modem for Linux boxes ? My old Nokia connects with a USB cable and works as a modem on my windows laptop thanks to a special driver, but I never tried it under Linux. I don't think Nokia provides Linux drivers.
    • I just switched to a Nokia 6133 using t-mobile, and I've set things up so the laptop connects to the phone via bluetooth, and I set up a normal PPP connection using GPRS/EDGE. I also have the cable, but it is more convenient to use bluetooth (however, I discovered when my house lost power for 5 days and I needed to check email, that the bluetooth drains the battery much faster). I do have to subscribe to the unlimited data service on t-mobile, and speed depends on whether I can get GPRS or EDGE. Here is
    • I bought one of these several months ago and set it up as a USB modem quite easily. AT&T gives you the instructions for tethering this device using PPP and Windows Dialup Networking. Specifically, they give you the modem initialization string, the username and password, and the number you have to "dial" to set up your connection. All of this can easily be moved over to Linux. I easily got it working using KPPP and a 'sudo route add default ppp0' command. The connection is great : 3G with an average down

  • I've been doing this with my Curve 8320 without Barry for some time now, via blueZ and rfcomm under Gentoo on my laptop. It's relatively stable and has enough bandwidth for casual web surfing. I was able to get up to 20KBps down / 11KBps up over EDGE.

  • TuxMobil provides a survey of Linux compatibility and configuration guides for different Blackberry models [tuxmobil.org]. Currently only four guides are listed. Not much yet, but a start. But I guess the number of guides in the TuxMobil Linux and mobile phone section [tuxmobil.org] will increase soon.
  • I'm on a sprint USB aircard and get about 1.5down and 380 up with a latency of around 90. I use this connection in my home with a cradlepoint router. Which will also tether your blackberrys including storm for those of you running something other than ubuntu or fedora. My question is I've heard tethering slows down the connection is that true? Id rather pay $60 for a phone i can tether than $60 for an aircard that only does internet.

    Also back in october? I heard at&t's ceo said they will be offering
  • I plugged in my shiny new Nokia E71 into my Ubuntu 8.10 machine and it automatically started configuring it. I have no need to use it in this manner so I stopped it, but it seemed like it would work fine.

  • For AT&T customers in the US with 'unlimited' data plans, this is very likely against the terms of service [att.com]. As long as you keep data usage light, you'll probably be fine - but if you start doing massive downloads and they look closer, your service may get terminated.

    From the link:

    Prohibited and permissable uses

    ... Furthermore, plans(unless specifically designated for tethering usage) cannot be used for any applications that tether the device (through use of, including without limitation, connection kits, other phone/PDA-to computer accessories, Bluetooth® or any other wireless technology) to Personal Computers (including without limitation, laptops), or other equipment for any purpose

  • even if you have "unlimited" there are TOS that forbid this. They have all done it.

  • Nice. :\ (Score:3, Informative)

    by AdamWill (604569) on Tuesday January 06 2009, @06:36PM (#26350985)

    Well, this was a nice article.

    It obliquely credits my own article on the same topic - written a whole one day previously - while describing it as a 'review' of Barry. No, it isn't. It's a guide to the exact same topic covered in this article, only it's a hell of a lot more useful, because my article tells you exactly what packages to download for what distributions, and how to actually use them. Rather than just saying "oh, look, this application lets you do this, isn't it cool?"

    Would've been a lot more useful to link to me. But then, my server probably can't take the load, so I should be thankful. :)

    http://www.happyassassin.net/blackberry-tethering-and-more-on-linux/ [happyassassin.net]

    • 9.6kbps is acceptable for email access, assuming POP3 (though your blackberry will already do this, so what would be the point?). It is also decent for IM, although Jabber is too bandwidth heavy so you'd want to stick with something like IRC.

      Also, this IS dialup, it just isn't v.92 56k dialup.

    • My crackberry 7520 is about a third the speed of dialup, with much higher latency..

      That is a bummer. On the other hand, the number of times I've paid oingo boingo (or somesuch) $7 for just a few minutes of WiFi at an airport to sync my Outlook in/outboxes during a layover, the bar isn't very high.

      On the other other hand, as soon as somebody sends me a 7MB powerpoint attachment, I would be hosed.

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2009 Geeknet, Inc.