Caleb Hunt (.com)

*** Heads Up!*** Data tethering can be outrageously expensive (potentially $8/mb) if your plan does not include tethering. I take no responsibilities if you end up with crazy data charges. My data package includes tethering, and I’ve had NO extra charges using the methods outlined below. That being said, if you feel comfortable doing what you’re doing… carry on

After a whole lot of internet searching, and no success finding a step-by-step tutorial on how to properly setup Bluetooth tethering, I’ve manage to piece together the settings on how you can make this work. This tutorial is specifically written on how to setup Bluetooth tethering with TELUS BlackBerries, and even more specifically my Bold 9700, so keep in mind, your mileage may vary on this one… but I hope this helps get you in the right direction.

My laptop is an LG R200 (C2D T7250, 2GB RAM) with a fresh installation of Windows 7 x32 Enterprise. I’m using the generic built-in Bluetooth drivers that Microsoft supports provides with Windows 7 which proves to be all that’s required to make things work.

First step, is to pair your Bluetooth enabled PC to your BlackBerry. During the paring, Windows installs the ‘Standard Modem over Bluetooth Link’ drivers required for Bluetooth connection to your BlackBerry, and then to the internet.

In the Network & Sharing Center in the Control Panel, there is an option to ‘Setup a new connection or network’ which you select, and on the following screen you select the ‘Standard Modem over Bluetooth link’ as the modem you’d like to use. The following screen asks you to enter your ISP information. Enter the following:

Dial-up Phone  number: *99#
User name: leave blank
password: leave blank

Give the connection name something like ‘TELUS via Bluetooth’ or something, an  then click connect. It will attempt to dial the *99# number via your BlackBerry – but just cancel this attempt by hitting ‘Skip’. Hitting close on the following screen creates the connection and saves the connection under Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections (or by clicking the ‘Change Adapter Settings’ link in the side menu of the ‘Network and Sharing Center’)

*Update July 19th 2010*: confirmed that this setting also works with a CDMA BlackBerry 8530 as I helped a friend setup her phone for bluetooth tethering as well. No need for the next step if you’re configuring a CDMA (1XEV) BlackBerry, read on if you’re using an HSPA (3G) BlackBerry…

Next, from the Control Panel, select ‘Phone and Modem’ settings. Under the ‘Modems’ tab, select the ‘Standard Modem over Bluetooth Link’ and hit ‘Properties’.

Under the General Tab, hit the ‘Change Settings’ button. Select the ‘Advanced’ tab and add this line to the ‘Extra initialization commands’ box:

AT+CGDCONT=1,”IP”,”sp.telus.com”

sp.telus.com is the APN Telus uses for internet connections. Once you’re done, hit OK.

I’ve modified the connection properties to skip the prompt for the phone number and prompt for username/password, so it connects as soon as you click the ‘Connect’ button.

But that’s it – you’re good to go. You know you’re connected when your BlackBerry says ‘Modem Mode Enabled’ like it does here:

Now, I should probably say… Tethering via Bluetooth is NOT as fast as tethering via a USB cable, nor does it help the ‘make my battery life on my BlackBerry longer’ department, but it’s mighty handy when you don’t want to mess around with wires.  From what I’ve read, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR  maxes out around 3mb/sec, so your results may be a little better than this, but for webbrowsing, email, (and creating posts like this) – I’m OK with it.

*edit* April 15 – Heh, waddya know. Checked my Visa statement today, saw the credit was posted yesterday.

I’m a huge fan of pre-authorized payments. I bill almost everything automatically to my credit card. I like not having to remember to pay my bills and only pay one bill at the end of the month. I usually don’t have any issues, but Bell Mobility has made me re-think my pre-authorized payment route on some of my services.

See, my cell contract was up with Bell in January. I put my cancellation notice in with them 30 days in advance and asked them the exact day I could port my number out without penalty. I documented the rep’s response, got her name and number, and on that fateful day in January – said ‘bye-bye’ to Bell Mobility. I was fully aware that I would be getting one final bill from Bell, which I did. However, one month after that – I was billed $200 for an ‘early-cancellation fee’.

Livid, to say the least, I called Bell back and was like “OK – what gives, I have confirmation from Christina emp# 6021736 that there is NO cancellation fee”. After 25 minutes of holding, the rep comes back and says ‘You’re right, that was an error, we’ll issue a you a cheque for the balance because your account has already been closed and we have already debited your credit card’. No $&*@, you debited my Visa $200+tax, and I want my money back.

It’s now been over 90 days, I’ve since placed two calls to Bell Mobility (each a month apart) saying ‘Where’s my money? I’ve been out this money now for 3 months… I’d kind of like it back, it’s not yours, why am I waiting so long for this?” Each time ‘oh sir, it’s coming it’ll be there in a couple weeks’.

I know it’s only $200, but it’s the principle. They took it, it was their fault, now I have to play the waiting game simply because I was a good customer who every month paid their bill without fail thanks to a pre-authorized credit card bill. Of course there’s no urgency now,  I’m not a customer, they can’t simply credit my account – and for whatever reason, can’t refund it directly to my card. It’s a joke.

If I wasn’t on pre-authorized billing, I would have called them to say ‘I’m not paying this bill, it’s wrong’ and they would have said ‘You’re right, ignore it – it’s been cancelled’. Why is this such a hassle?

To anyone thinking about cancelling any service you have, I HIGHLY recommend that before you cancel, you take pre-authorized billing off your account so that when the final bill comes – you can pay it however you like, you’re not at the mercy of the company who’s billing to have their systems straight.

Screw you Bell… Last time I recommend your services to anyone.

This is just a little test playing around with the new WordPress Mobile app for Blackberry…

Seems like a useful tool…

I love my BlackBerry – anyone who knows me, knows this fact well. I frequently get asked ”Hey, what software do you use on your BlackBerry the most?”  Well, gather around…

So, my aging Bell BlackBerry 8830 World Edition has seen better days. It’s a couple years old now, and of the three BlackBerry’s I’ve owned has lasted the longest after taking the most abuse. In the past couple weeks, there have been some nice updated to some of the software I regularly use, so I figure it was a good segway into writing up a little post on my favourite apps. However, one issue that I currently face is that until the next gen qwerty BlackBerry from Bell makes it’s way to the market (sorry Storm, you’re not for me – and I’m not ready to switch to Rogers just yet) my aging 8830 has me “on a diet” in terms of the number of apps that I have installed on my BlackBerry simply to keep enough memory free for running applications & system performance. So in no particular order, here’s my top 5 :

1. BeejiveIM (formerly JiveTalk) – http://www.beejive.com $30
Hands down, the best IM client for BlackBerry period. I’ve tried all the official clients (and gone back and forth multiple times), but each time I come back to the all-in-one interface of the multi-protocol supported BeejiveIM. Just this past week they announced support for Facebook IM which works great along my MSN & Gtalk contacts. This is the only application that I have ever purchased for my BlackBerry, and it’s worth every penny they charge for the user licence of $30 (I’m now using it on my third BlackBerry!). If you use IM and you use a BlackBerry, you need BeejiveIM.

2. Google Sync – http://m.google.com/sync $Free!
My life runs on Google’s suite. Calendar, contacts, mail, tasks & to-do’s (more on that shortly) are all sync’d OTA (Over-the-air) to my Gmail account using their free sync program called Google Sync. It’s like having your own BES (enterprise software/server) but for FREE. Sure, there are some idiosyncrasies and the synchronization isn’t instant – but for a free application when combined with the IMAP support for Gmail that the BIS 2.6 upgrade this past weekend, it makes for a pretty awesome application – one I can’t really live without on my phone. It’s a must have for me, and the price is right!

3. Remember The Milk’s Milk Sync – http://www.rememberthemilk.com $25/yr
Ok, so the one thing that Google lacked (until recently, when the tasks feature was released in the Labs) was a task list / notepad / to-do list such as that found in MS Outlook. I started using Remember The Milk to keep track of bill payments and due dates for assignments at school, and found it convenient that there was a Widget available for Gmail that gave me the tasks/to-do list that I was missing. The Pro account at RTM costs $25/year and provides OTA synchronization of tasks for my BlackBerry’s native Task Manager application. The changes are sync’d to my Gmail widget, and of course, are updated on the RTM site. They have a trial of the MilkSync app on their site, and after using it – I was hooked. The reminders via SMS are fantastic, it links in due-dates with my Calendar (which you already know sync’s with Google Sync) and makes organization a snap. Big fan of Remember The Milk, MilkSync adds the functionality I need.

4. KeePass for BlackBerry - http://f5bbutil.sourceforge.net/keepassbb/ $Free!
Ever since my good friend Mark convinced me to start using a more secure way of organizing my passwords using KeePass to generate random secure passwords and storing them in a easy-to-manage database, I’ve had to keep a copy of my KeePass database on my BlackBerry to have all my passwords at hand when my USB drive isn’t accessible. The application is free, and reads the KeePass database files that are shared between my computers housing my passwords. Need to have passwords at hand, this way I know they’re secure – and always available.

5. Chronograph - http://www.michaelportfolio.com/chrono/ $Free!
Ok, you may laugh at me for this one, but I use this application every day (and usually multiple times a day). It’s a timer. Yup, a countdown timer. I use it for cooking, for remembering to get the laundry from the dryer downstairs,  but primarily for steeping tea. It’s super useful, and worthy of being on my list. Oh, and the price is right – 100% free.

*EDIT* Micahel’s OTA link is dead, I created step-by-step instructions including all the files to install Chronograph using BlackBerry Desktop Manager here!

Runner up:

Google Maps - www.google.com/gmm/ $Free!
Since BlackBerry Maps is technically installed by default, I un-installed BB maps in favor of Google Maps and use it for all things directions related (and Latitude is awesome too, albeit somewhat creepy). Yeah, this app is a given – that’s why I didn’t include it on the list. You already know it’s awesome.

So there you have it, If I could only have 5 apps installed (outside the native BB pre-loaded applications) those would be it. These are not the only applications I have on my BlackBerry, in fact the others I have installed that I use quite regularly are:

- Opera Mini, for sites that the built in browser doesn’t render well.
- Facebook Mobile, although, with the mobile browser & email notifications, I could likely do without it (although the leaked 1.5 update sound promising)
- GPS Nav from Bell, for some reason – I never EVER get charged for using it, and it provides turn-by-turn voice guided directions. Great for traveling with friends who don’t have a GPS or a sense of direction.
- BlackBerry Wallet, for storing things like loyalty card #’s (ie Aeroplan, AirMiles, Shoppers Optimum etc..) Cards I don’t always carry in my actual wallet.
- WeatherEye, because it’s nice to know when you need to wear a jacket.
- Google Reader via the web browser, OK this technically isn’t an app – but I use it every day, great for skimming headlines (bad because sometimes I glance over important stuff). I LOVE Google Reader
- Twitter via SMS & Mobile Web, http://twitter.com/calebhunt

Three Cheers for lists!

So last night, I logged into my Bell account to monitor my usage, knowing that my billing cycle is coming up in a few days to find my text message usage looking like this:

Beginning to wonder, I decided to check out the ‘ol #belltwit hashtag on Twitter search to find that other people out there have started getting their bills and low-and-behold, people are seeing charges on their bill from the whole “we’re not charging, oh wait – we are charging. Nah, just kidding, we’re not really (or are we?)” fiasco from when they re-enabled Twitter SMS support late last month. Finding an interesting post from @empty_space, I decided to email Bell’s CS as per his step-by-step directions which he claims success in getting credited for charges. I followed them to the letter, and got this response from a Bell CS rep this morning:

I have reviewed your last three invoices and I did not see any Short Code Program charges.  However, on your unbilled usage charges, I noticed some charges for such service are currently on pending.  I regret we are not able to adjust them for you as they are valid charges.

 

I wish to clarify that Short Code Programs are text messages sent to a short code (a 5 to 9 digit number), just like a phone number.  Many companies advertise short code numbers to interact with their clients (examples:  text voting, contests and chatting).  Kindly note that short code program text messages and their associated charges are billed by those third party companies and automatically placed on your Bell Mobility invoice.  These may cost up to $5.00 per message.

 

In your case, this could be related to one of several sources.  I have listed the possible sources with their corresponding short codes:

 

(CBC Top10 22210, Chum TV Generic 332211,  Olympic Alerts 86767, Sportsnet Alerts 843638, Oil of Olay 12121, Dose mblog pills 74557, MRX Alerts 235235, Canwest Alerts 987987, Warner Bros 43892,  Extreme Sports 360360, Wireless Developer Agency 32852)

 

If you would like to stop receiving these short code program text messages, you must send a text message to the appropriate short code with the word “STOP”.  You should then receive a text message informing you that your mobile number is no longer subscribed to that service.

Blah, blah blah… The only short code that I have EVER used has been to 21212, which is Twitter. It’s interesting to note that he didn’t find any charges from the previous 3 months of bills, yet during that time – I DID send updates to Twitter’s 21212 and was NOT charged for them, and all of a sudden, I’m now being charged. I have NEVER ONCE sent a message to any “Premium” service provider.

Just got off the phone with Bell, had quite possibly the most frustrating experience dealing with one of their CS reps who is adamant that I am sending / receiving messages from a premium provider called “my thumbs” and hellbent on charging me the fees as “they are premium messages”. Twitter is the ONLY service I use and it is supposed to be FREE… Looks like I’m going to *really* have to fight for this one, they aren’t budging.

Help anyone?!