First of, I want to say this is a great forum. I love macs and I love BBs

Although I'm new I hope that you don't mind if I start a thread that would consolidate some of the different threads about the tethering your Mac to the Blackberry 8830. I'm not adding a new information but hope to make it easier for those that are looking for the information to come to one thread that they can use. Okay here it goes.

Can you tether your Mac to the Blackberry 8830?

The answer is Yes.

Can I tether via USB or Bluetooth?

I tried tethering via USB but was not able to do this but I have tethered via Bluetooth. Different posters have reported that they have been only able to tether via BT only. So the answer right now is BT only.

What are the speeds that you are getting?

I have gotten 220 down and 78 up. I think that this is pretty decent. It seems that this is pretty standard on VZW and Sprint. I'm not sure about the other carriers but if you can reply and add your speeds it would be great.

What is your service provider?

My service provider is Sprint. This was frustrating because it seemed like most post had to do with T Mobile or Cirgular/ATT and recently VZW. Based on the differents post that posters are reporting that all can tether. I will consolidate all of the info I found. Each carrier has to have a login and phone number

.

For Sprint

User Name: None

Password: None

Telephone Number: #777

For Verizon

User Name: (yourphonenumber@vzw3.com

Password: vzw

Telephone Number: #777

For Cingular

Still working on this

For TMobile

Still working on this

Do I need a special script?

I did not use a special script. I just followed a couple of cobbled together instructions from different sources - some on these site and some from other sites. So my answer to do this would be that you don't need a script.

Do I need to get a special plan to tether?

Depends on the carrier.

Sprint: No - it is included in your BB plan.
VZW: Yes - you have to add it for $15 per month. And you have to call

How can I tether my Blackberry 8830 with my mac?

1. Make sure that you pair your BT with your Macbook Pro.

2. Go to System Preferences.

3. Click on Network.

4. Click on the pull down for Show.

5. Choose Bluetooth.

6. Skip all the other tabs and leave blank and click on Bluetooth Modem.

7. Click on the Modem pull down and choose WWAn Support.

8. Check all of the boxes underneath the Modem pull down.

9. Close out and you will see a little phone icon in the status bar next to the airport status bar. Click on it.

10. Go down to the Open Internet Connect and click on Bluetooth.

11. Fill in the telephone number, account name and password .

12. Save it.

13. Turn off your airport.

14. Click on the phone icon and then click on connect.

15. If you have paired your phone correctly and your mac you should see the blue light start blinking. On your phone it will ask for permission. Click Yes.

16. You should see a connection dialog box with a send and receive bars on it.

17. Congrats you have tethered your Blackberry 8830 to the the mac.

Again thank you for such a great forum. Even though I'm new I hope that you don't mind that I'm doing this post. I hope to give back by contributing. I know there are more knowledgeable posters on this forum and I would appreciate any additions to this thread.

This is a great post. Thank you. This should be a sticky.

Thanks dclawyer. Your post last week actually were the post that gave me hope to keep trying.

So with sprint you don't have to pay any extra, but with VZW, you need the tether plan? that seems bogus! can anyone confirm?

Yes. It is unfortunate but you will have to pay for it. I just set it up on one of my friends account. It is 15 per month.

Any idea how to tether on a Rogers 8800? I used *99# for the phone # with the name/password blank. Tries to connect, authenticate then disconnects.

Have you tried leaving out the *

I read the form and was thrilled as I have spent many hours trying to make my new 8830 teather like my Q used to.

I have Sprint. I used both the WWAN and the cdmaOne Bluetooth Ada.
I do not see that information here.

Neither worked with this information.
I called BB advanced support and they tell me its not supposed to work and they do not support it.

Any ideas why I would continue to get this error?

"No carrier detected. Please check phone line connection and try again."

I can go on the net via the phone direct but not connect my MacBook Pro to the net.

HELP

Ron

I GOT IT! With a lot of fiddling and a lot of googling, I found out how to tether with TMobile USA....

I only tried it with Bluetooth and havent tried with USB.

You do need to download one thing though. Its a small script that needs to be put into ~/Library/Modem Scripts. Here is a link to download it. Click Here


Alright here is a step by step as far as I can remember how I did it...


1. Pair the unit with your mac
2. Goto System Preferences>Network. Under the drop down menu for "Show:" select Bluetooth.
3. PPP Tab
- Account Name: <Enter in your mobile phone number>
- Password: <Enter in your mobile phone number>
- Phone Number: wap.voicestream.com
4. Bluetooth Modem Tab (This is why you needed to download that script!)
- For the drop down menu select BlackBerry 3G CID1
- Select "show modem status in menu bar"
5. Press Apply Now on the bottom.
6. Click on the phone icon on the menu bar and click connect
7. You should be on the internet!


That is everything I did to get the thing to tether. I did a speed test at Speedtest.net and got 160kbps/80kbps.


If I helped anyone here and they feel like helping me out, someone please tell me what #777 is. Because when my phone dialed that when i was following the OPs directions, someone picked up which scared the crap out of me and I quickly hung up... I think I heard, "Hello, this is <something something> how may I help you?"


EDIT: Oh by the way, I did it on my Tmobile 8800 if that makes a difference...
EDIT: Original script(s) can be found Here from Ross Barkman

I believe that script was written by Ross Barkman - you might want to credit him and include a link to his site. He's put a lot of work over the years into getting us mobile-toting data junkies online.

There we go

Has anyone tried to do this yet with Bell in Canada?

keljay

Yes, I had this exact problem. It turns out that Sprint in fact did not have my plan set up correctly. I had upgraded from a Treo 650, but when I called to activate the 8830, the CSR failed to inform me that my old PCS Vision plan is not applicable with the BB. After getting this error, I phoned Sprint and asked to be put on the BB Unlimited Plan ($39.99/month) and that fixed the problem. They apparently have two of these plans -- one for CDMA and the other for RTT (same price). Make sure they put you on the CDMA version of the plan. They messed this up and I had to call back. Then they set me up on the correct BB plan, but inadvertently dropped my voice plan, and I had to make a FOURTH call. This time I got through to BB support people at Sprint and someone actually got it done right. I use the WWAN Support script and it is working fine with my MacBook.

Good luck, and let me know if you need further assistance.

Phil

Just curious if there have been any other fixes to the "no carrier" issue. I have confirmed on two occasions now I am on the correct plan, and it is CDMA. I still have the same issues. It indicates it is "phone to modem" then disconnects and tells me there is no carrier. I have tried several modem strings, same effect. I am working with a MacBook Pro

Interestingly enough it also sees it as a network connection when I use a USP cable. Still have the same issues. I have tried to find a Sprint 8830 specific modem string and cannot seem to find one. Am I missing something?

I am having the same problem. "No carrier detected. Please check phone line connection and try again." I get a script error when I check the log. Any ideas?? If this phone could tether to my MacBook, I'd be a lifetime BB user (there are other areas this phone has surpassed my expectations, this would just be the icing on the cake so to speak).

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

Here's the log

Apologies in advance if I am pointing out the obvious ....

There is no Sprint 8830 script that I know of. I am using WWAN Support. Is your phone prompting you to accept a connection when you attempt to dial? If so, set up your MacBook as a "trusted" device on your 8830 (navigate to bluetooth options .. device properties .. trusted --> change to "yes"). Also, this simply will not work with USB, because there is no kernel extension. It will show up as a port in network prefs if you have Pocketmac installed, but this is only an illusion . Have you defined a separate "location" in network preferences for BT DUN? If not, I would recommend doing so. In the new configuration, turn off all other ports except for bluetooth.

Yes I have it set up as trusted, the two pair just fine. It actually tries to connect to the network and that is when I get the "no carrier detected".

I have not set up a separate location for BT DUN in Network Preferences. If I understand it correctly I had however set up a separate BT Modem under BB 8300. I am not certain about whether it turned off all other ports though, never thought about that, not sure how to do that. I did turn off my Airport and it still came up with the same error.

Okay, I think I accomplished that task. It is a separate location. Nothing is on that location other than the Blackberry. It spends a bit more time connecting then disconnects. It is making it to the network though. In checking the log it is connecting to the network and gets a "Connect Script Failed".

Okay, I have set up the separate location. There is nothing on there but the BB. It pairs, then connects to the network (or tries) and I get a "connect script failed"

Update your macs. Under my internet settings I have a modem script that says Sprint PCS vision and thats what I use, I have an older powerbook and I know I didnt add that and it was there.

Looks like juroku and I are having the same problem. I tried with the Sprint PCS Vision as well as the WWAN. The WWAN script actually got further along than the PCS Vision script. I'm going to test 2 coworkers BB 8830's on my MacBook and see if it's my Mac settings or the phone settings.

My MacPro is only three weeks old, so it does have the Sprint PCS VIsion script. It does the same thing as ClayK described. I actually tried that right off the bat the first time the WWAN did not work.

Can you successfully connect to the 8830 as a BT modem under Windows? This is what I would try next. In fact, you could even just see if it works as a tethered (USB) modem under Windows. I really believe now that it is a problem with the way your plan is set up on Sprint. I believe this because I had the exact same problem until Sprint set up my plan correctly. Are you able to browse the internet from the phone (using the built-in web browser)? I would talk to Sprint customer support (yeah, I know, I don't like waiting on the phone for 40 minutes either ) and ensure that they have enabled PAM (Phone as Modem) for your account. It seems to me that your settings are correct on the Mac and on the 8830. The only thing left is the account setup. This could be verified if you experience the same problem under Windows.

I was not able to do so under Windows, it always came up as a #678 error. I have called twice now and on both occasions they have assured me I am on the BB unlimited, I have PAM and it is a CDMA account. I can access the Internet just fine on the BB.

Hopefully CLayK will have better results and he can let me know what they find out. I am still waiting for a call on the "ticket" they created on it not working under Windows, but they sounded clueless so I am not holding my breath.

Okay, here's the deal on my end and what I found out so far today.

I am using a MacBook Pro 17" 2.33 w/ 2GB Ram. I'm not necessarily new to Macs nor am I a Windows noob. Trust me, I know enough about both that it's not a software or update issue on any OS I use. It's not the hardware or the software, trust me.

I tested BT connectivity today using my MacBook and two fellow co-workers BB 8830's as well as my own. E (one employee) has an identical BB 8830 to mine, purchased a week before I purchased mine. J (other employee) also has an identical BB 8830, purchased about 2 weeks before mine. Timing on purchase may be a factor, however I'm not inclined to lean that direction just yet. I paired E's phone to my laptop and then attempted to use his phone as a modem. No luck, same results as when I attempt using my own phone. I then paired using J's BB 8830 and attempted to use his as a modem. His worked, in fact, his phone put a message up top that said "Enabling Phone Modem" (or something like that). The only factors I believe to be the difference between the phones (not the timing of purchase) may be that E and I are both on a SERO plan with unlimited BB. J is on a retail plan with unlimited BB. I verified all three phones settings using every menu option and what not (advanced, etc etc). All three have the same settings. My belief, wholly unsubstantiated as it is, is that there is something quirky with Sprint's provisioning. I know that E and I are both on the new billing system (Ensemble) and I am unsure about J (it's quite possible he is on the old one since he never requested to be ported over to Ensemble). All phones have the correct BB plan and the correct CDMA? BB plan. I'm inclined to think it's the EVDO or RTT plan and not the CDMA and RTT plans, but that's just my opinion (CDMA is the network type, EVDO and RTT are the data speed types).

I called Sprint, again I verified my plan settings. I swear, talking to Sprint customer service or their "Blackberry Technical Support" is like arguing with an aluminum can. That is to say, pointless. None of the technicians seemed to grasp that it's irrelevant what OS I'm using, my phone isn't connecting when another's is. I actually got to one representative/technician in BB support that claimed I had to pay an additional $15 to use my BB 8830 as a PAM. She rambled on about it being a worldphone and blah blah blah. I called J and confirmed that he is not paying an additional $15. Over the last week, I have gotten so many different answers on a variety of topics from Sprint's customer service and from their "Technical Support". While I am not happy about this, I am trying to work with the company. Thankfully, I have about 20 more days in my first 30 days (of this account) to decide if I want to keep this plan going.

If anyone can provide any additional insight as to their plans specific features (SERO, retail, BB unlimited, additional tethering fees, billing system, etc) we might actually be able to troubleshoot this and get it fixed for at least three people.

I know that I am on the new billing system as well, so that seems to be somewhat of a common denominator at least. I know it caused issues when I tried to port in the old number.

I am in the same boat as you as it pertains to the OS issue. I clearly in every instance have been far ahead of any of the people I have talked to at Sprint when it came to the computer or the BB. I actually asked the "technical" person the last time if she "actually knew anything about any of the devices I was asking her about". I kept asking specific questions only to hear her frantically typing in the background. She was at least honest and said no, she just reads from the data base. She sends me to the BB expert. Same question, different answer but the truth was clear. Made the same point about the OS, it went nowhere.

Luckily for me this is not critical, but it is annoying. I don't actually care if it ever tethers in windows, but it would be nice to get it to hook up to the Mac. If I ever actually hear from someone on my Windows issues I will let everyone know. Mine will not work under Windows with the latest BB software and the latest Sprint software either.

Thanks for typing this out. It works with my Sprint 8830 and Powerbook G4 1.25 OSX 10.4.1. Awesome! Now I am wondering what's point of iMobimac? This will do?

P.s. I am using Spring tether to post this

For those of us that still have issues I wandered over to the Sprint Users - Sprint PCS Forum, Downloads and Tools site to see if there was anything there. I am currently on enternal hold to hopefully get this resolved. It seems from looking over there that this SERO thing may present some issues. For what it is worth you may be on that plan if you ordered your phone over the Internet as I did without knowing it.

There is also one individual who had to have a seperate "PAM" code with the Blackberry plan initiated. He was told that the BB had three seperate parts, the phone, the data, and there was a need for a PAM code.

Another exiting day spent with Sprint Business Technical Services. Actually the woman that helped me was very pleasant and helpful, but unfortunately nothing was fixed. I think at least I confirmed a couple of things. She confirmed I am on the "new billing service" but as far as she was aware it should not effect the phone. It was simply software that they use to access the account, and she said it really has nothing to do with the service side of it. She confirmed (for the fourth time) that I am on the BB unlimited, I am on the CDMA, and I do have the appropriate PAM code on the system. She even re-initialized the phone and I reset it as well. We went through the set up step by step on the PC and it always came back with the #678 error.

So we confirmed it is the phone, not sure what it is yet. Sprint at least says that it should not make any difference whether it is on the new billing system or not, but I am not sure she really knew as it has not come up much I guess (yet). My ticket number from Sunday is still active and I will get a call at some point I presume and I will hopefully get this thing working on windows at least.

I wish I had more for those of us that are still having issues.

Wow, sure has been interesting dealing with Sprint. It is incredibly frustrating that you have to call every two days to get your ticket "expedited" in order for them to do anything. I started this ordeal on the 19th and was told I would get a call in 24-36 hours. I did not get a call so I called back on the 22nd. I was told the "ticket was expedited" and I would get a call in 24-36 hours. I recieved no call so I called today and they gave me another ticket number, said this one was expedited as far as it could go and I SHOULD get a call in 24 to 36 hours.

For those that are wondering yes I know this is a MAC forum, but they will not help you if you say you are using a Mac (blackberry or sprint). What I need is for this to hook up with my MacPro. Since this will not work on either of the PC's I have either I am hoping that if they can get it to work on the PC it will work on the Mac. There are at least four others out there I know of that are having the same issue.

If you are looking at one of these, and need the PAM I would certainly make certain that it works within that 30 days.

If I actually get a call in the next 24 - 36 hours I will let ya know!

Okay, so I returned my 8830 today. I replaced it with the new RAZR2 v9m, and I love this phone (but I'll save this for another thread). In the process of getting my new phone working as a modem, I ran into the familiar "no carrier" message. I ended up writing my first CCL modem script so that I could use this phone as a modem. Anyhow, I edited the script to "dumb down" the modem init string, and I've attached it here just as one more thing to try. I did not have to do this with my 8830, so don't get your hopes too high, but I think it is worth a try (strip off the .txt extension before you put it into your /Library/Modem Scripts/ folder -- I had to do this for the upload).

Good luck!

ok so i have paired the 8830 with my powerbook G4 but ther is no phone icon coming up on the menu bar... ??? also, under BT devices it said

Paired: Yes
Configured: Yes
Favorite: Yes
Connected: No

im totally lost on what to do/not very comp savvy and im new to BB (ie, i have no idea what "SD" means... ) i really just want to put songs on my BB so if that is simpler and someone can help me with that, that would be incredible!

ok so now ive got the BB listed under my internet connections, but it says it "cannot connect to the device" when i click on "connect" under "configurations" (i have entered my name for acct name and my phone number for phone number; i know someone else in this forum mentioned typing a web address under phone number and the phone number under acct name???)
any other ideas?
i still have not seen a glimpse of a phone icon on the menu bar!

Here is the solution for those people having problems tethering their Sprint Blackberry 8830 to their Mac (or PC). If you are using the WWAN Support script (this is the correct one by the way) for the Mac (using bluetooth) and you are connecting and then disconnecting with the log saying that the script failed, it's a provisioning problem. If you are attempting to hard tether your 8830 to your PC and getting a #678 error, it's a provisioning problem.

Call Sprint and tell them to push your provisioning again. After almost 2 weeks of horrible tech support, I finally found a guy that was OUTSTANDING! He covered every angle and got it re-provisioned and it worked perfectly. He also fixed my text messaging on my account. I can't tell you how different this call was from all the others. I'm writing his supervisor (and cc'ing him) about the excellent job he did. That phone call was going to be my last ditch effort with Sprint before chucking them, he saved their continued business with me.

Although I eventually met up with the same level of success it was not nearly as easy. But with a bit of effort, and a very helpful local repair outfit I am finally up and running.

I called last night and tried to get them to do as you have listed and I unfortunately did not get the same guy. After four more hours I not only could not tether but she so screwed up my provisioning that none of my data services worked. She said it was the phone and to go in and have it replaced. So the adventure began again this AM. I went in and did just that, same issues. Spent another two hours on the phone. For what it is worth I may have talked to the guy you had, as this guy was all there. He tried all kinds of stuff to no avail, but he really knew what he was doing. He finally gave up and tried to transfer me to "advanced technical services" what a misnomer that is. In short I went from there, to somewhere in NY who worked with Enterprise and she was as clueless as you can get. Then I went to the Phillipines to some guy that told me my phone number had been ported properly (no duh that happened two weeks ago!) then I was sent right back where I started only this guy was new to blackberry's. Luckily the call got dropped when he was trying to send me to the "blackberry expert".

So now for the good part. I took it back and told them to keep it and they told me to try the local repair shop as a last resort. Why, not I had so much in this already and I would have to call another person to send it back. Well, two hours later it turns out everything was "almost right" he located some "stall code" that somehow had been entered on my account". It was cleared and bingo it worked. I took it home and restored it so I had all my settings, hooked it up to the PC and it worked first time. Just hooked it up to the Mac, and again, it hooked right up. It tethers perfectly now. Different guy, but he too saved a customer. He was fantastic to work with and is getting the same letter. With all the pain I will say that they were all very pleasant to deal with in my case. Few really had a clue about this phone, and the issues with it, but they were all pleasant. Now I can finally get back to making money as opposed to wasting my time on the phone!!

This is very frustrating indeed. I have a MacBook Pro, recently got an 8830. I actually got it to tether via BLUETOOTH and connected several times. At one point I was connected to the BB and internet vis BLUETOOTH and then turned may airport on and connected to my printer all at the same time. It was the happiest 10 minutes of my very short BB owning existence. I think I was using the SPRINT PCS VISION modem script. Then there was some sort of provisioning problem where I wasn't getting any data/internet connection on the BB. I got that fixed and now not able to successfully connect with my mac.

Here's something I did notice, and maybe somebody can let me know if it's even relevant. When I go to connect right when it says MODEM MODE ENABLED it changes from 1XEV (all upper case) to 1x (lower case) and then back to 1XEV. It keeps trying to connect and then gives me the Modem Error Occured please verify your settings and try again.

It wouldn't be so bad if I had never connected, then I could chalk it up to the NO MAC SUPPORT, but I did connect and it was glorious.

I'm going to be stuck at Atlanta airport today waiting on a flight. Maybe I"ll call Sprint and see if I can get someone that knows something about anything.

It works! It's all about being on the right data plan I guess. I called tech support 3 times with no success and only a small amount of willingness to help (due to the it's for a Mac) finally from the last person I spoke to. My friend who is also a manager of a couple independent nextel/sprint stores checked on what plan they had me on and got me put on the correct one. Yesterday many many attempts to tether. She switched the plans last night today I tethered first try using the SPRINT PCS VISION modem script.

Both my 8830 and the Mac OS X bluetooth are "on" and are "discoverable", but they can't find each other! Anyone here experienced this yet?

Did you do the bluetooth setup yet? Try running through that and see if they find each other.

Of course I did. On the Mac, I tried selecting the "Mobile Phone" option as the device I was searching for, and then I select "All Devices" to be searched. I kept tinkering w/ both the BB and the Mac -- turning bluetooth off, toggling between discoverable on and discoverable off, and so forth. Absolutely no luck!