'BB' 3G on the MacBook Air
In the interest of achieving faster 3G on my Apple MacBook Air while getting more bang from my BlackBerry, I've found two paths to 3G Nirvana. Well, maybe not quite Nirvana.
My first foray into 3G on the MacBook Air via a BlackBerry Storm produced satisfactory results. Here, the Blackberry served as a 3G modem via Bluetooth. The Bluetooth bottleneck, however, can be frustrating (it's closer to 2G than 3G) when there is a need for speed. So, I turned to a physically tethered connection via USB.
MacBook Air tethered to Blackberry Storm via USB
(Credit: Brooke Crothers)Let me preface this by explaining why I resisted a tethered (wired) USB connection at first. Quite simply, the idea of plugging and unplugging a clunky USB cable, dealing with the VZAccess Manager (Verizon) software, and then finding a place to put the Storm (if I wasn't sitting near a flat surface) seemed like too much overhead.
Not only that. Verizon doesn't make this easy. To date, there is no documented support or software for doing USB BlackBerry 3G on a MacBook. In short, you have to use a version of the VZAccess Manager that is specified for a Motorola smartphone. (More details here.)
(Apple could obviate all of this, of course, by providing an elegant internal 3G option for MacBooks.)
That said, it was relatively painless to set up and connect (it took maybe 15 minutes). And the best news is that this is truly a 3G connection: even the most ad-laden, multimedia-intensive Web pages loaded comparatively quickly--which is not the case with Bluetooth.
Based on SpeedTest.net, I achieved a download speed of 1.11Mb/s
(Credit: Brooke Crothers)And, as I pointed out in a previous post, an external 3G phone/modem is a movable 3G feast. I can use the BlackBerry with any laptop as long as it has Bluetooth or a USB port (which is virtually every laptop on the market).
Internal 3G modems, on the other hand, are wedded to one computer and one computer only. Each computer requires a separate subscription and another $60 (more or less) per month.
There's the USB "stick" modem option, of course. I can't address that because I've never tried it. The way I see it is: use the existing 3G on your mobile phone. It's cheaper than the dedicated USB modem: on Verizon, about $30 per month for tethering versus $60 for a dedicated modem.
Or if that option doesn't appeal to you, opt for a laptop with an internal 3G modem option.
Which brings me to Apple's dearth of (as in zero) offerings in this department. Even with the ostensible advantage of an external modem described above, I would still prefer a built-in 3G modem option on the MacBook Air.
Apple take note: there's a modem technology from Qualcomm called Gobi that doesn't tie the user to a single service provider. Users can choose between Verizon or AT&T or another provider. This could, at the very least, be offered as an option on a high-end version of a future MacBook.
Apple, are you interested? Why do I get the feeling you're not.
Brooke Crothers has been an editor at large at CNET News, an analyst at IDC Japan, and an editor at The Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, among other endeavors, including co-manager of an after-school math-and-reading center. He writes for the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. Disclosure. 
It's also perfectly reasonable to go with an internal device if you only have one computer you'd want to use it with anyways. I don't know about you but I don't exactly have three or four laptops I use on a regular basis.
Wireless carriers won't like these solutions much, as they can't collect on the extra fee per month that they'd charge for a separate 3G USB modem or for permitting one to tether one's phone and use that. But those solutions are available.
WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.
I am currently in Finland have an unlimited with a big fat "U" data plan that I pay $15 a month for. STOP talking about what you have no clue. Most European countries allow unlimited data but you have to pay for it. You do not know what you are talking about.
Good thing you didn't have to use a SCSI cable. :)
Also, bluetooth is not really that bad, it will manage around 1mbit, which is fast enough for web browsing. The advantage of bluetooth is it's an extremely low power wireless technology, so that means great for battery life.
With the card getting booted off the next work and regular modem resets on my iPhone, I don't know whether the data capabilities of the iPhone hardware coupled with ATT's hit-and-miss network will get me to consider tethering for the extra cost. I do have an iPhone. With BBA Connect via my Storm costing me only $15 over the existing plan, why pay more for crappy data service via ATT and limit the data amount used through the iPhone? Ring me up a good reason and I'll consider it!
- by bonesbautista April 19, 2009 5:19 PM PDT
- @Brooke, chiming in again.
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(18 Comments)Thought I'd try USB tethering, but the method listed by the poster in that linked thread - and you - leave out one minor bit of useful information: the available version of VZWAccess software for the Mac on Verizon's VZAM web site (4.2.2) doesn't support BB devices, the last version of VZWAccess software to support BB devices was 4.1.2, which isn't available on the VZAM site. 0mie left that part out, too - the 4.2.2 VZWAccess installer won't see a connected BB at all. Archived versions aren't available on the VZAM site.
If you know something I don't or have access to the 4.1.2 software, pass it on, if you would?