Tethering is when you attach your phone to your computer for the purpose of using the phone's data ablilities as an outside connection to the internet. This is different from using it as a cellular modem in the fact that you are using sprint's vision data to transfer the data rather than using your cell line to dial into a service provider.

Possible moral implications: I have heard some users complain that sprint cracks down on tethering, that if you exceed some unknown data size in some unknown time period that sprint will flag your account for tethering. These limits are evidently pretty high if they exist, and you would have to abuse this pretty bad to get flagged. Sprint supposedly will cancel your vision, leaving you to pay per megabyte. Evidently tethering goes against the end user licence agreement for vision. I have no evidence to support either case. I tether only when it becomes a convienience, and I have a seperate primary internet connection.

How to tether with sprint and alltell, using windows xp or some windows variation.

Materiels required:
A ppc 6700 with some kind of data plan (vision or powervision. note: there is no difference currently between the 2 plans when it comes to the ppc 6700. If you are paying for "power vision" please trade it for regular vision.)
Your USB cable.
Your installation/driver cd.

Step 1 : preperation. boot your pc normally, but leave your ppc 6700 unconnected to the computer. plug your usb cable into the pc, and leave the miniUSB end unplugged from the ppc 6700.

Step 2 : get the phone to act as a modem. Goto start/programs and 'click' wireless modem. There will be a box that says "Connection Type". Select "USB" if it inst selected by default. At the bottom of the screen is a button called "Start". Push "Start." Your phone is now a modem. Now plug the miniUSB cable into the phone so that the pc and ppc 6700 are connected.

Step 3 : install software. the computer should now see a usb modem and will try to find drivers for it. The drivers are on your original installation/driver cd. By putting your cd into the cdrom it will run the autorun software. this is a mere annoyance, close out all menus generated by this action. We are only concerned with installing the drivers, so we continue. Windows will look for drivers, and you will tell it to look for the drivers on the cdrom. Windows should find the drivers almost immeadiately and install them. Follow the directions from windows, I cant remember if it has you restart the computer or not, but once the drivers are installed we can now proceed to step 4. Remember that if you do restart to dissconnect the usb cable before doing so. Once the pc has rebooted, reconnect the ppc 6700 and continue to step 4.

Step 4 : make a connection. goto the control panel and click on "network and internet connections" in category view or "internet options" in classic view xp or in any other flavor of windows. We want to "setup or change your internet connection." "setup" a new internet connection, and the wizard will open. Choose "connect to the internet" and hit next, and set up a connection manually. We will be using a dial up modem, hit next. Choose a name, prefereably something that you would associate with a wireless modem. The phone number will be #777, enter it in and hit next. The name and password we will leave blank, hit next. This will probably not be your primary internet connection, so uncheck "make this the default internet connection." It would be a good idea to leave the other one checked. Hit next. you may want to make a shortcut to the desktop. clicking on finish should close the wizard.

Step 5 : dialup your modem. double click your new connection to bring up the "connect <whatever you called it>" menu. The input fields for name and password should be blank, the number to dial should be set to #777. The properties button gives you the option to pick the modem you want to use, put the check mark on the "CDMA USB modem" and hit ok. Hit dial. You should be online shortly.

You can now "tether" at will, but you will no longer need to use step 3 or 4. Remeber that your computer thinks that a CDMA modem and a pocket pc are 2 very different things. If your computer sees your pocket pc, it will need to disconnect for a while (like 20 seconds) before reappearing as a cdma modem. This is why it was important to have the ppc unplugged for the first few steps.

For Verizon the same steps will work, but you will have to fill in the username and password lines. Your username will be your_9_digit_mobile_number@vzw3g.com and the password will be vzw. There is no reasonable data plan for verizon currently, any you will either have to buy into the ridiculous verizon data plan or pay by the MB to use thier data. My advice is either look into sprint, or looking into wifi for your data.

Tethering is survival skill, a usefull fallback when your primary internet connection dies or if you are on the road. It is something that a good ppc 6700 user should have in his/her bag of tricks. This is something I use, and I will continue to use it. It gets a mongoose approval rating of 4 paws!

Additionally drgirlfriend, a fellow ppc 6700 user and current spouse of mine, was instumental in helping me write this while i was nowhere near a windows xp computer. She is a very patient person, and showed just how patient she was reading to me what the xp machine was doing while I was barking orders over the phone. Her effort was extrodinary and deserves four paws. Thanks drgirlfriend!




Temporary Verizon Directions
*added by mensaphone

FYI, This works on Alltel service also.

OK.. can you update this for the Verizon 6700 version as these instructions don't fit.

Thanks,

MG

Since the VZW unit just came out, there are few members that have the phone. As soon as a member figures out how to teather, I hope they will post up a "how-to" for the VZW users. Is there any specific reason that you are unable to teather? Does your phone have the modem program? (I assume that you are a VZW user?)

OK OK hold on... If I remeber correctly, the instructions I gave you verizon guys will work. The only difference is that you fill in the username and password. I have edited my post to reflect this.

The WModem is not on the device by default. After loading AS 4.1 and then terminating it, when you plug in the unit it does not sense anything.

If you run WModem and then tell it USB - it just gives you Network not found type of error.

MG

When you plugged the phone into your PC did it ask you to install drivers? Did you start WModem before plugging in the phone?

Yes I started WModem and it just fails to "connect to network"

and No, it didn't ask me for drivers. I had AS 3.8 installed for my Jornada... remember those... anyway, when I plugged it in it did ask me for drivers and i pointed them to the .INF file we all know about and it fails.

After I installed AS 4.1 it does not prompt me to install the device any longer.

MG

I can't seem to get mine to not use the standard dialup modem from the pc....doesn't giveme usb option

spymongoose, why do you suggest not paying for power vision? does this have any impact on teathering?

No, power vision includes features the 6700 cant use. With vision the 6700 gets unlimited access to the network. With power vision the 6700 gets unlimited access to the network. Power vision costs more. Do the math.
The 6700 can do far more on normal vision than modern phones on power vision. I pains me to stand by and watch as others pay more for the exact same service.

Great tutorial!

I was able to get the PV for free on my account, so I will not complain.

Just got the new Verizon version of the 6700. Noticed that your instructions for tethering don't work because the Wireless Modem icon doesn't exist. Through use of ActiveSync explorer and comparing with the Sprint 6700, I can see that the corresponding executable still exists, but just the shortcut is missing. Launching the app seems to work. I'll have to try attaching it to my laptop tonight to see if it will now work as a modem. Hopefully with your steps and this observation it will work.

Unbelievably enough I'm only now JUST doing this.
I tried this initially when I first got my 6700 and failed miserably, I think I had made it 90% of the way, however my directions failed to mention the correct method of actually initiating the connection blah blah blah

Anyhow, EXCELLENT write up. Thanks!!!
(even your typos )

Thanks! Glad that it helped.