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Wireless Networking Hardware

Treo 650 Hacked: Dial-Up Networking via Bluetooth 77

Posted by timothy from the smartly dept.
AndersBrownworth writes "The standard Treo 650 doesn't support Dial-Up Networking over Bluetooth, but Shadowmite figured out that they just hid the option, so he hacked up an un-crippled version. Trevor Harmon shows you how to get DUN over Bluetooth working and now my new PowerBook can get on the net from anywhere!"
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Treo 650 Hacked: Dial-Up Networking via Bluetooth More

Treo 650 Hacked: Dial-Up Networking via Bluetooth

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  • Obsolete (Score:5, Informative)

    by cyklus ( 583951 ) on Saturday June 25, 2005 @01:25PM (#12909588)
    New official update for Treo 650: http://www.palmone.com/us/support/downloads/treo65 0updater/sprint.html [palmone.com]

    • NOT OBSOLETE (Score:2, Informative)

      by Bodysurf ( 645983 )

      That only works for the Sprint/PCS version of the Treo 650.

      Treo 650 Updater 1.12
      (for Sprint PCS)

      There are a lot of people out there using the locked Cingular/GSM version Verizon/CDMA of the Treo650 where this still fills a void.

  • This is news, how? (Score:4, Informative)

    by rufo ( 126104 ) <rufo AT rufosanchez DOT com> on Saturday June 25, 2005 @01:25PM (#12909589)
    Yes, Shadowmite hacked DUN. About 8 months ago. [treocentral.com]

    Also, all unlocked GSM Treos have had this capability from day one, and Sprint just released a firmware update that officially enables this capability in all Sprint Treos... so how is this news, exactly?
  • Anybody ever had any luck getting a Treo 600 working on T-Mobile for data as a modem?

    I know there's a third-party app, but I could never get it to work for me...

    • Re:Treo 600 / T-Mobile... (Score:2, Informative)

      by Shwag ( 20142 )
      Yah, I got the 3rd party app to work no problem whatsoever. You have to subscribe to the tmobile unlimited internet service. I think its like $29.99 a month.
      • From: support@junefabrics.com
        Subject: RE: Platform support
        To:
        cc: store@junefabrics.com
        Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2005 21:42:37 -0700

        Chris,

        Sorry that unfortunately we have no plan to support Linux system.

        Thanks,
        June Fabrics PDA Software Support
        http://www.junefabrics.com/ [junefabrics.com]


        > -------- Original Message --------
        > Subject: Platform support
        > From:
        > Date: Fri, June 17, 2005 6:43 pm
        > To: support@junefabrics.com
        >
        > JuneFabrics,
        > I am interested in using your product (for which I
      • Which one?

        I'm using Mac, so I have to use WirelessModem. No matter what I did, I couldn't get it to work.. and there's no documentation to speak of for T-Mobile...
  • Notwithstanding the non-need for a hack, is the Treo 650 any good? I've been thinking of getting one.

    I don't need a lot of fanciness, just a working phone and convenient PDA in one unit.

    • Re:Scavenging relevance (Score:1, Informative)

      by v3rgEz ( 125380 )
      Just got a Treo 600 3 days ago. It seems to have everything you want: working phone and the pda essentials. It ain't as pretty as my old Axim, but it's a lot more efficient with the built in keyboard, got a crappy little camera which is good for taking pictures of stuff you need to rememember (I'm a reporter with a terrible memory), and it's got an EXCELLENT navigation system that basically makes the touchscreen pointless (trust me, that's a good thing). QWERTY takes about 4 seconds to get warmed up to, the
      • I've had a Treo 650 for about 3 months now.

        I agree, it's a great little PDA/phone combo. The keyboard is great, in fact on a recent business trip I did all of my e-mail from the Treo and never bothered firing up the laptop. I wouldn't want to type long documents on it, but I was truly amazed at how quickly that little keyboard becomes second nature. It's light years ahead of any handwriting recognition scheme I've ever used on a PDA.

        The camera is only 640x480, but the pics are good enough that I very r
    • No, it's bug-riddled and unstable. The newest firmware does not fix the memory allocation problem just makes it different. If you enjoy wiping your phone clean one a week and restoring it to cover up firmware bugs then the 650 is the phone for you.
    • I have it from sprint. It's like any other palm device, not perfect - but you learn how to work around it. If you find the phone resetting, just remove the last stuff you installed. I sync everyday at home, and at work - so it's not a big deal for me.

      What I love about my treo 650
      camera phone & video phone (good for caller ID, and great shots of friends boobs - I don't argue, I just enjoy)
      NES, GG, PCE, etc. EMULATORS
      mp3, avi, mpeg, divx, etc playback
      converter - if you have a palm, you need this app
      mR

    • It's an absolutely fantastic product WHEN it works. My experience was with a Cingular locked Treo 650.

      Unfortunately, it didn't work too long without freezing or locking-up. I couldn't tolerate a phone/PDA that would reboot or freeze several times a day, so I went back to my Nokia 3600 that runs for weeks/months without any problems.

      The stability is on par with Windows 95 running on buggy hardware.

      My advice is to stay far away until people say it's reliable and stable.

    • Re:Scavenging relevance (Score:4, Informative)

      by jht ( 5006 ) on Saturday June 25, 2005 @03:00PM (#12910002) Homepage Journal
      I've had mine for a couple of weeks, and I like it. A lot. I had a lot of trouble with it the first couple of days, until I weeded out all the incompatible cruft that had accumulated from all the software I had on my old Palm Tungsten T (which in turn had everything from prior Palms I've owned over the years). A few warm reboots and removed apps/patches later, it's very solid, only requiring one reset over the last week (an AvantGo sync locked it up). That, to me, is about average for a Palm nowadays, so the Treo is typical. Yes, it's bigger than my Sony Ericsson T637 was, but not ridiculously so. And it's smaller than any other phone I've seen with a QWERTY keyboard.

      In its current version (I have the Cingular model, with the current non-updated firmware from them), there's some Bluetooth weirdness when using multiple devices with it. I mainly just use it wirelessly with my headset, so it's not a big deal right now. Battery life has been very good - a full day of use with no charging (an hour or two of phone time, and about an hour's worth of PDA use) will only take the charge down to about 80%. That's almost as good as my old phone. The speakerphone is pretty good, and even acceptable in the car. I do wish I still had Graffiti readily available, and I'm looking forward to getting more free space after the update finally comes out from Cingular, but overall I'm very pleased.

      Note to Cingular users: if you buy the phone directly from Palm or a third-party without a service plan as an upgrade, you can save some money. With your old phone, add their $20/month Media Net unlimited plan, and then just move your SIM into the Treo when it arrives. You now have the exact same plan that would cost you $40 if you signed the Treo up directly.
      • Warning - there are all kinds of horror stories on the TreoCentral boards of people trying this, and getting socked with thousand dollar bills for data airtime...
        • I think it depends on what variation on the Media Works/Media Net package you have. I just have Media Net Unlimited, which includes unlimited data but caps on text and MMS (neither of which I use). According to my plan and bill summaries, it's not an issue.

          But it is pretty easy to confuse the various plans when you sign up. Media Works originally had an unlimited option that had no cap on regular data usage - that was how I used my old T637 as a wireless modem on occasion (before I switched to Verizon f
          • I had medianet unlimited.
            and I got hit with a $600 bill after the first months use.
            Cingular's reasoning was that Media Net wasn't compatible with the Treo.
            Went to the local Cingular box shop where I bought it and the plan and they straightend it out for me. But i had to go with the unlimited PDA connect plan after that.
            Cingular never got thier plans right for this device before selling it.
            Now if they would only catch up to the other carriers with regards to the firmware updates.
    • The hardware... well, I am in awe.

      The software? Well, I am also in awe, but in the sense that it is the most disgusting abuse of good hardware I've ever seen in my life.

      Usability was not a feature the software guys cared about, it would seem.

      One example: Say you get a call while you are already on the line, and you take said call: There is no way to end only one of the calls. You can FLASH over, from one to the other, but you cannot 'end current call'. Even the $%&&*$#^* POS manual says 'for your
      • > Want to go to your contacts list? Always defaults to 'All' -- never remembers a subcategory. Voice dial? Subscription feature.

        Options -> Preferences -> [x] Remember Last Category.

        >There is no way to end only one of the calls. You can FLASH over, from one to the other, but you cannot 'end current call'

        "Swap Call" til you're on the call you want to end. Then "Hang Up". (this is for GSM. perhaps the PCS support is dodgy, or perhaps PCS itself is dodgy. upgrade already to GSM, like the re
        • Options -> Preferences -> [x] Remember Last Category.

          Thanks -- read through the manual a couple of times, didn't see it. WOuldn't swear that it isn't there, the manual is 200 some pages of mostly worthless pratter. Also, for reference, unlike the majority of the screens, touching the top of the screen with the stylus doesn't bring down the File menu -- I didn't figure anyone would make up the options -> prefs thing so I took the time and managed to discover that pushing the menu button DOES bring
    • Go here for all the scoop;
      http://discussion.treocentral.com/forumdisplay.php ?f=70 [treocentral.com]

      The peeps I know that have a T650 swear by it and have had a great experience. The latest updates from Sprint and Palm fix several issues for the unlucky peeps that did experience true problems.

      If you read through Treocentral to get a basic understanding, things should go smoothly. I've notice that the peeps that had the most problems did things like not charging the phone when it was first opened. A requirment for all
    • I have loved all of my Treo's (180,270,600 and now 650). I bought them for the same reason you are, a two in one solution. But now the treo is also my MP3 player using a 1gb high speed SD card.

      It's not without it's quirks and bugs, but I wouldn't recomend any other smart phone (well maybe the Treo 600 ;-) )

      Timmay
  • This shows that true innovation comes from the freedom to tinker with existing devices and technology, just as much as it might come from the incentive of profit.

  • Dvorak (Score:2, Funny)

    by rasty ( 212471 )
    Now if anyone could come out with a Dvorak keyboard hack for the Treo, I'd finally re-experience the graffiti learning experience!

  • If you have a sprint Treo 650 (Score:3, Informative)

    by jockm ( 233372 ) on Saturday June 25, 2005 @01:37PM (#12909636) Homepage
    You can get the latest firmware [palmone.com] with supports DUN over BT.

  • Only for Verizon (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    This hack is now really only valid for Verizon uses as they are the only carrier left with the crippled functionality...

  • DUN over BT (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    What they don't tell you, is that when your phone is on the data network, you can't take calls. At least, that's the case with Sprint, but I believe it's a limitation of CDMA (and possibly other) networks. It's not a huge deal, mind you, but when you're on call and your NOC expects to get ahold of you, they get pretty worried when their calls go straight to voicemail because you're at the pool using your Treo to talk on IRC. You can get voicemail notifications and text messages though, so that's good.

    Th
    • Regarding the issue with no incoming calls while on the data network: I have a vague recollection of reading somewhere that this is indeed a CDMA limitation. Could someone with a GSM 650 verify that incoming calls come through on that platform during a data connection?

      Personally, I don't find it to be much of an issue since the voicemail notification still works, so if I do miss a call I can check my voicemail and call them back within a minute or two.

      I agree that the 650 is great. I had some severe do
      • Could someone with a GSM 650 verify that incoming calls come through on that platform during a data connection?

        Confirmed... -N
        • It is a CDMA limitation. The EDGE and GPRS packet-data services which run atop of GSM don't have this problem. Depending on implementation (both at the carrier and on the terminal - and I'm not sure of the Treo's implementation), GPRS (and I would presume EDGE) supports simultaneous voice and data. If the implementation doesn't support simultaneous use, an incoming or outgoing call will simply "pause" the data session. Calls can always interrupt the data.
  • In the UK, thieves are now using Bluetooth enabled handsets to detect laptops and mobile phones hidden inside cars.
  • That would be much cooler.
  • I'm upgrading from a broken-down Kyocera 7135 [kyocera-wireless.com]Kyocera Smartphone to a Treo 650.

    For more than a year, I was in complete heaven. I did not pay for a data plan, and got info for logging into a 3G data connection from PDA Phone Home. A net connection was billed as regular voice minutes. Couple that with unlimited nights and weekends, and I could use the Internet at will.

    I could hook the phone up to my laptop using the USB cable and connect at 28.8-36.6 anywhere with cell service and surf at will after 9pm.

    • An earlier poster mentioned he was able to get an unlimited data plan (possibly with a different telco). You might want to try that.

      Having used both, the Kyocera 7135 feels like a nasty hack compared to the Treo 650 - which feels much better integrated. You ought to like the upgrade to Palm OS 5, higher-res screen with better backlight, and the way faster processor.

      It's a much nicer device :)
    • It is possible to keep your old data plan -- you might want to fight to get to higher-level wireless tech support.

      The basic deal is they had lots of billing complaints, because it is easy to leave the network connection on with the Treo650. Therefore, it is Verizon policy to not sell any treo without a data plan.

      However, if you sign up for the Pay-As-You-Go data plan, you can immediately call customer service to take off that plan and add a "1xPP1" feature, which takes data out of minutes. They'll rant
  • I splurged on a Motorola V710 cell phone; blue tooth, MP3 player, camera, ringtones, etc..

    However, Telus followed Verizon's lead, and offered a crippled version of the phone. Even something as simple as sending an sound file or contacts via bluetooth wasn't possible.

    The cell phone providers want you to send data to the phone over *their* charging network, not over a free network (bluetooth). It is really hampering convergence, in my opinion.

    There are hacks for a lot of crippled platforms, but having to
    • You can buy an untatinted Treo from Palum and use it with T-Mobile, or any ohter GSM provider. And since the provider hasn't loaded it with their crap, these unloccked Treos are very reliable in general I wouldn't use Cingular GSM though, they're crooks..
  • I mean, like "new" news? I recall reading about this "hidden DUN" hack on a site somewhere back when I bought my Treo several months ago.

    OhioJoe

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