Blackberry Curve with Cingular as modem

[Hakmusic]

Does anyone know if the new Blackberry Curve offered by Cingular will function as a high-speed (mobile broadband) modem for a laptop?

Is there any special equipment or service I need to do this?

The Verizon guy told me that the Blackberry that they have can do this for a $10 a month fee, but the guy at the Cingular kiosk didn't seem to know if it would work on the Cingular system (which I'd like to stay on).

I am new to all this, so any help with really basic explanations would be much appreciated.

thanks.

[Dubdub]

You shoudl be able to tether the Curve like you can with the 8700, 8800 and others. I suggest you do a search on "Tethering". It has probably been discussed many times. But since I don't use it, I am not much help.

Cingular offers a tethering plan to go with the BB dataplan which you will need, otherwise you might get hit with a very high data bill.

[secrecyguy]

You can tether to the 8300 Curve but expect to pay a high price for it. Not worth it. If you planning to do it, I may suggest that you switch to T-mobile. You don't have to pay extra for tethering.

[vincentnyc]

tmobile and cingular blackberry tether is not high speed. they uses edge. spring and verizon uses evdo. they are much higher speed and are considered "broadband" connection.

so the cons with tmobile and cingular:
1. not worth it cuz of the high price. even though u can do a hack so u dont have to pay for tether. i wont tell u cuz it is against the rules in this forum.
2. not worth it cuz how slow speed (almost like browsing with 56k modem back in the 90's)

[Hakmusic]

For loading web pages (not playing videos or downloading big files), would the speed difference between Cingular and Verizon be significant?

I am traveling cross country and want to be able to use my laptop to look up things to do in upcoming locations and make hotel or campground reservations (not heavy lifting, basic internet stuff).

We are on cingular now and I have a family plan, so moving to Verizon or Sprint would cost extra money (I still have a year left on my wife's Cingular contract).

If I was to go to Verizon or Sprint, is one better? looking at better coverage primarily.

thanks!

[test54]

the speed would be significant for browsing. basically your looking at EDGE (AT&T, TMO) being twice as fast as dial-up (at best) and then EVDO (Sprint, Verizon) being about 3-4 times faster than that.
i have used it with my cingular 8800 and its ok, not fast but its good if your patient.

Search for tethering in here and you will find all kinds of help in this.

[takeshi]

Does anyone know if the new Blackberry Curve offered by Cingular will function as a high-speed (mobile broadband) modem for a laptop?

See BlackberryFAQ.com -- it has instructions for setting up your BB as a modem and it's the same for all BB's. The Curve is an EDGE device as others have stated and I wouldn't really call it mobile broadband.

If I was to go to Verizon or Sprint, is one better? looking at better coverage primarily.

There's no way to provide a general answer to that. Coverage will vary by location and unless you test it in person there's no way to tell for sure. You can look at coverage maps but they're of limited use since they can't account for all factors that affect coverage.

[secrecyguy]

tmobile and cingular blackberry tether is not high speed. they uses edge. spring and verizon uses evdo. they are much higher speed and are considered "broadband" connection.

so the cons with tmobile and cingular:
1. not worth it cuz of the high price. even though u can do a hack so u dont have to pay for tether. i wont tell u cuz it is against the rules in this forum.
2. not worth it cuz how slow speed (almost like browsing with 56k modem back in the 90's)

Correction...

For T-mobile, you have to pay $19.99 for the Blackberry data plan that includes tethering. (There are other plans available for Blackberry like a plan that combines voice, data, and text messaging.)

For AT&T, you have to pay $29.99 and if you want tethering, it's another $69.99 extra per month.

With Edge speed, it's in between dial up and DSL speed. Expect to get around 115 kbps.

If speed concerns you, than yes, I do recommend getting Verizon or Sprint. But if I have the money, I think I will go to Verizon instead.

[woodi68]

A Verizon Tetherer testamony: AMAZING! I surf and download on my laptop (on the train) as fast as I do at home with DSL. There are trade-offs of having Verizon, but for me (and you so I understand) data is the main thing.... plus, for me I like the voice quality better (experiences vary depending on market and all that other mumbo jumbo).

One of the main trade-offs has been international travel.... not such a great experience with Verizon since MOST of the BB's aren't GSM capable (though my new one is, I'm not sure how GREAT it'll be). Other than that I've never had a complaint.

[Scarlett]

Cingular Communciations Manager is what I'm using for my Pearl and it was a breeze to setup. Got the link for download from Cingular Rep.