[BryanHarig]

I am considering moving from my current setup of a Sprint Mobile Broadband card and a T-Mobile Blackberry to a single device in the form of a Sprint Blackberry with the tethering option added.

I am more interested in tethering via Bluetooth then USB, as I will be using it with a Macbook Air. Gotta save that 1 USB port for other things.

I know that neither the 8830 or the 8130 will ever be compatible with the EVDO Rev A network due to the chipset used and I will thus experience slower upload speeds then I do now with my Mobile Broadband card. I am willing to accept that for now. I also hope the CDMA curve will correct this failing whenever it is released.

Id like to hear from people using the phone out in the real world what kind of speeds they are experiencing when tethered via bluetooth.

Please post the speed you get with these tests along with your location.

Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test

Speed Test - dslreports.com

[buzzmaker]

First of all, I noticed i get better speeds when my 8130 is in "Home Only" with Sprint and it works better when its connected via usb, bluetooth will drain the battery but it works nicely. Just bring a spare battery you plan on using it for an extended period of time. Speeds are about the same.

When I'm in far, far suburban Chicago, I usually hit speeds like in the 300-550 down and like 100+ up. When I'm in Chicago, its usually a consistant 500 - 700 down and 100+ up.
Being someone who has used both a sprint broadband card, a tmoble 8100 and now a Sprint 8130 to tandum, I really think the 8130 is the best situation and works great when you are in the right area. I wasn't that happy with my broadband card and the 8100 was great untill the 8130 came out with EVDO. Only thing that stinks is when the "Phone is a Modem" you cant receive any type of messages untill you disconnect.

I was having trouble with my phone staying in EV-DO but the xxx8220;Sprint connection mangaer helps vs connecting via a dial-up connection. Also, being in Home Only helps because it wonxxx8217;t roam.

Hope this helps.

[BryanHarig]

with the sprint connection manager you should be able to lock it to evdo only. It makes sense that you would see slower speeds when it is roaming. In your area sprint has no evdo roaming agreements.

Will a call go to voicemail? Or will it pause the data connection and come through as it should?

[iseemtohaveaproblem]

I do not have the exact speeds for those two sites since I do not plug in at my work computer, only at home, but I wanted to respond anyway. I have visited those sites repeatedly trying to understand why my phone as modem connection sucks so bad. I top out at about 40 kilobytes per second download speed, just about like an old-school dial-up modem. How the heck are you guys getting 300-400?

What is your trick? You said something about locking in EV-DO. I didn't know that was an option. Wouldn't that just cut you off if you started to roam? How do you do that?

[BryanHarig]

In the Sprint Connection Manager goto menu --> settings --> Sprint Mobile Broadband. Select EVDO only. You will lose roaming on Verizon, as Sprint can only roam on 1xrtt with them. Sprint can roam on Alltel with EVDO speeds though.

Speed will depend on location. 40 kbps is slow though. 1xrtt should top out at 144 kbps and EVDO at about 1000.

[buzzmaker]

To answer your first question: When receiving calls, it pauses data. Everything else is blocked untill you disconnect.

Question about locking into EV-DO. I put my phone in "home-only" on the blackberry. It's an option under "Manage Connections."


Also, I've been playing with the new sprint connection manager. It offers cool new things but I noticed I'm only getting up speeds of like 6. Using the older connection manager still works.

Do you have a "Phone as a Modem" on your sprint plan??

[buzzmaker]

I just hit 667u 111d in far suburban/rural Hampshire, Illinois. Not bad!! using speakeasy.net/speedtest

I have the phone pluged in via usb and I'm using the older version of (3.07.044) Mobile Broadband Connection Manager.

Also, I have 5 bars on my phone. Unusual out here.

[tbacba]

I can only get a little over 100 on BT vs 600 or so on USB. Am I doing something wrong? Also, I can't see where the newest Sprint Conection Mgr supports BT, only USB. Are there some additional settings? Thanks.

[buzzmaker]

I think you need to manually configure the "mobile tab" to modem over bluetooth link. I'm haveing troubles getting it to work too. I use the usb cable because I don't want a dead battery when I'm done and much faster speeds.

[UnOrd]

I get about 300kbits on bluetooth compare to 1mbits with USB cable, does anyone know if theres a speed limit for bluetooth tethering?