AN UPDATE - JANUARY 7, 2012
This post has now been viewed over 150,000 times. As I wrote a year ago, I've retired my BlackBerry and switched to the amazing iPhone 4S. If you're looking for an super easy way to tether to your Wifi only iPad --- I suggest you do the same. Apple's iOS now includes tethering using their Personal Hotspot feature. It couldn't be any easier. Save yourself a whole lot of grief and get an iPhone.
I'm now leading Business Development at 6S Marketing. Working at one of North America's fastest growing digital marketing agencies doesn't leave me a lot of time to work on updates.
Here's how Apple describes Personal Hotspot
Personal Hotspot
With Personal Hotspot on iPhone 4, you don’t need a Wi-Fi connection to surf the web from your computer. Instead, you can share the 3G connection on your iPhone with your Mac, PC, iPad, or other Wi-Fi capable device and connect to the Internet from anywhere. Share your data connection simultaneously with up to five devices via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB. Each connection is password protected and secure. And once your Personal Hotspot is no longer in use, it automatically turns off to preserve battery life.
So, just do it. Go get an iPhone. You'll thank me.
AN UPDATE - JANUARY 12TH, 2011
I wrote this post back in June 2010 and I'm amazed that its been viewed over 12,000 times. Looks like a lot of folks bought Wifi only iPads.
The truth is, after eight long years as a BlackBerry user I made the switch to an iPhone 4 a couple of month ago. As much as I loved my BlackBerry and thought I couldn't live without a real keyboard, the reality is the iPhone is a much better device. Frankly, I don't see myself ever going back. While I'm Canadian and generally try and root for the home team, RIM is a global company and they don't really need my help anymore.
My home is full of Apple products including an iMac (family computer), MacBook Pro (my work computer), a MacBook (my daughter's computer), an iPad (for the family), an iPhone 4 (mine) and more iPods then I can count. My kid and I are unabashed Apple Fanboys and we take every opportunity to try and make converts out of friends and family. Apple has also been very good to me.
I started buying Apple Stock back in 2006 shortly after Steve Jobs announced that they'd start building computers with Intel CPUs. I thought that was going to be a game changer for Apple and I was right. I still own the stock and fully expect that my modest investment from 2006 will more then pay for my daughter's University education. Even if she makes it to Harvard.
Based on the comments and emails I've gotten from readers the Blackberry tethering walk-thru still works. If you've made the switch to an iPhone 4, rumor has it that the next release of the iOS will have support for tethering mulitple devices. Can't wait.
ORIGINAL POST
If you follow me on Twitter you may have sensed my excitement at being able to tether my Blackberry to my iPad. I discovered tethering a couple of years ago and have used it regularly with my MacBook Pro to avoid hotel internet charges, work from the back seat of my wife's car, or just about anywhere free WiFi wasn't an option.
While the MacBook Pro has pretty much become a desktop computer, my iPad goes everywhere. It's been to the gym, to conferences, 20 different Starbucks, and even a nursing home. It spends a lot of time in the car, on planes and in the loo.
I love to be connected but I'm just not interested in buying a 3G iPad and being forced to pay for yet another wireless data plan. That's why I tether.
So What is Tethering?
Tethering is a pretty simple concept. It turns your cell phone, iPhone or in my case a Blackberry -- into a modem for your laptop computer or iPad. You connect with either a USB cable or wirelessly using Bluetooth.
Benefits of Tethering
The main reason I tether is because I'm cheap. I already pay Rogers Wireless (my carrier) a pile of money for 6GB of data per month. I can barely put a dent in that amount of data with a Blackberry. I guess Rogers think some folks must be using their Blackberrys as web servers. While I have my issues with Rogers, I'm glad they elected to include tethering for free. Not all carriers are this generous or even support tethering, so you'll have to do a little digging to see what you're allowed to do.
But I thought Steve Jobs said the iPad couldn't tether and you'd need to buy a 3G model?
Actually, he did say that during the announcement of the iPad back in January. This weeks iPhone 4 OS event in San Francisco seems to suggest that tethering my be enabled in the next release. While that's great news for iPhone users, I'm a Blackberry holdout and doubtful that Mr. Jobs and crew have any interest in getting me hooked up.
How to turn your Blackberry into a Bluetooth Modem for you iPad
Here's what you need and where it gets a little geeky:
- Jailbroken iPad - As a Blackberry user I never really understood the discussion around jailbreaking the iPhone or why you'd want to do it. When I got my iPad I started exploring the concept but was initially scared off.
Don't be. Jailbreaking is a really dumb name chosen by geeks and hackers. They should have called it Liberating. All you're basically doing is taking control of your iPad from the draconian Overlords at Apple, Liberating enables you to tap into hundreds of apps, utilities, services and tweaks that Apple would "prefer" you not make.There are plenty of web sites dedicated to Jailbreaking. I used ReadWriteWeb's tutorial. If Liberating your iPad seems just a little too scary or geeky --- then we're done. A Jailbroken iPad is the only current way to connect your Blackberry via Bluetooth.
- Blackberry - I use a Blackberry Bold 9000 like the one at the top of this page. The only way to know for sure it your model is supported is to give it a try.
- PDAnet - The is a free app that turns your Blackberry into a wireless Bluetooth modem. You can download it directly to your Blackbery at www.junefabrics.com/bb (make sure you only click "install pdanet 1.30" only) You need to be running OS 4.6 or higher on your Blackberry.
- iBluever - This is a paid app you'll need to download from Cydia. (Cydia is the not-Apple approved AppStore that comes to life on your iPad after you Jailbreak your iPad.) The developer offers a demo version for free. I recommend you install that first to see if it works with your Blackberry and your carrier. Many of the apps on Cydia are a little rough around the edges -- this one is no different. Consider it a work in progress. I seem to be getting updates and improvements almost daily.
On your Blackberry
If you've managed to make it this far and you've got all the pieces in place then you're ready to give it a try.
Grab your Blackberry and go to Bluetooth options. Make sure that DIAL-UP NETWORKING is NOT checked. Turn Bluetooth on from the connections menu.
Next you'll fire-up PDAnet by clicking on the icon. You'll see two options. Select Enable Bluetooth DUN.
Your Blackberry is now ready to act as a wireless modem for your iPad.
On your iPad
iBluever will search for Bluetooth modems and should find your Blackberry. Click the blue arrow to configure the connection. Keep in mind that these are my settings for Rogers Wireless. You'll find other settings for other carriers listed here.
You should also turn Authentication ON. I keep Sniff Mode OFF and Wait for SDP ON.
Click the iBluever button and go back to the main screen.
Now you're ready to try connecting the iPad to the Blackberry. Click on Blackberry 9001. You should see a flurry of modem commands as iBluever tries to talk with the Blackberry.
If it works you'll see a green check mark like this and a new modem icon in the top right corner of your iPad.
And that's it. You can hit the home button to close iBluever and start surfing the web via your Blackberry. It's not screaming fast but I find the speed perfectly acceptable for those times when grabbing some free WiFi just isn't an option.
Enjoy and let me know how it goes.
