If you have the 8700 you already know that you shouldn’t be able to connect to the internet via Bluetooth (also known as tethering). If you’re thinking of getting one you should know that it is possible to connect. I’ve listed the steps below that I used to successfully do this:

1. Phone: BlackBerry (BB from now on) 8700g on T-Mobile network running BB Operating System (OS from now on) 4.1

2. Computer: MacBook (Mac from now on) OS 10.4.10 using Parallels (build 3214)

Upgrading BB OS

3. Upgrade BB OS to 4.2. On these pages, John Ball gives a great step-by-step:

http://johnball.wordpress.com/2007/08/01/upgrading-the-blackberry-8700c-41-to-42-os/

http://johnball.wordpress.com/2007/08/04/blackberry-8700-421x-update/

4. I use Parallels, connecting the phone with the usb was a bit of a hassle, sometimes it recognized- other times it didn’t. Not sure if it’s a Parallels or BB problem. Once I got to the Application Loader Screen the processing froze. Not heeding the warnings of John Ball I disconnected and tried again only because the Updating Your Device section never got past Back Up data. I figured nothing had been lost.

I started the Application Loader again but decided to not include the Back Up Data as part of this process. This time I got further, to Read Java application configuration and the process froze. Yes, I restarted and did it all over again. The third time worked and I got through the whole process, very nervously I admit. I didn’t want to buy a new phone.

5. The first time the BB started up it took about 4-5 minutes. The native “theme” that it had looked like an 80’s video game. I navigated to the themes and activated a default one. I turned on Bluetooth.

**As a bonus for going to 4.2 I can now make my own themes using Plazmic, which I’ll explain how I got it to work on Parallels in another post. UPDATE: here’s the post
http://bugambilia.wordpress.com/2007/10/23/creating-themes-for-blackberry-8700-using-plazmic-on-a-mac/

Getting Modem Script

6. The next step is how to get the Mac to use the phone as a modem. For that you need a modem script. I found it with directions here http://www.fibble.org/archives/000508.html. There are lots of comments, so read through to find others who use your cellular carrier. I use T-Mobile, username and password are guest.

The Connection

If you’re spoiled using high-speed connections, this isn’t the fastest. But it’s surprisingly quick. My only complaint is that the connection times out if it’s inactive for a few minutes and you have to reconnect. But other than that I’ve had no problems while browsing the internet for hours on end

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Cameras makes managing multiple cameras a snap on your Mac