John commented to say he’s been using his 650 for DUN over bluetooth for a long time now, and that all it takes is the latest firmware. So I go looking and find Treo 650 Updater 1.04 from October 2005 and I have to wonder “what firmware does my phone have?” Here’s how to check:

Open the Phone application, press ‘menu’, navigate to ‘Options’, then ‘Phone Info’

Of course nothing is simple, and a TreoAddicts story notes trouble with the update, and the installation instructions are daunting (really, look at ‘em). And even if either plan did deliver Bluetooth DUN without frying my phone (a risk I’m happy to take), it’s still only 1xRTT (and if you’ve forgotten what it was like to surf on a 56K modem, 1xRTT is like the good old days all over again). (Did I just say “and” four times in two sentences?)

So, just for kicks I took another look at shadowmite’s DUN hack (hey, the shadowmite wiki works better than the forums) and see a two step install that’s not nearly as scary or risky sounding as the official update. That sounds like the plan, but again, it’s only 1xRTT.

Frustrated, I go looking for other options and find the very exciting looking Merlin XU870 3G HSDPA 7.2 ExpressCard (deets) from Novatel. It delivered 1Mbps download speeds in the test and is supposedly going to be available from Cingular some time soon, but they’ve got nothing to offer in the Expresscard form factor now.

Still frustrated, I wonder about phone-based access solutions. T-Mobile will happily sell me their SDA phone, which supports EDGE (with average data speeds of about 100-130Kbps, far slower than Verizon’s EV-DO), Bluetooth, and WiFi. Interesting, but still slow.

dun, firmware, shadowmite, shadowmite DUN hack, treo, treo 650

Sometime ago I started work on figuring out how to get dial up networking (DUN) access via my Treo 650. Now I’m getting serious about mobile internet access and looking at this again.

The plan is that you should be able to make a Bluetooth connection between your laptop and the phone and then get piped onto the internet from the phone. Trevor Harmon wrote it up and has been following the issue as it relates to Mac OS X and Sprint Wireless service.

The problem is that Verizon has locked down the phone to make this difficult.

This MAKE blog post promises a how-to about getting “legal” DUN on the Treo 650 (what’s with the pix of oscilloscope traces and solar stoves?), but everything that follows is couched with warningss that we may toast our phones and draw the ire of our service provider.

With that said, Everything Treo has a forum post on using a Treo as external modem on Verizon that had some very specific instructions (copied below). TreoCentral has a similar Verizon 650 DUN Hack thread. And all of these point back to Shadowmite, who made the original hack. So, finally, this thread at shadowmite.com is definitely worth a look.

Does it work? I don’t know. I haven’t dared try yet.

Part A: Treo hack
1. Download Shadowmite’s hacked BtManager.prc to my Mac.
1(b)- because of funny settings from the web server, rename downloaded file from BtManager.verizon.prc.txt to BtManager.verizon.prc.
2. Soft reset the Treo 650, for a clean start.
3. Disable any programs that use the network connection, e.g. Chattermail.
4. Drag-and-drop BtManager.verizon.prc onto Bluetooth File Exchange.
4(b) send file to the Treo.
4(c) accept the file and agree to replace the existing app.
5. Open the new Bluetooth application on the Treo
5(b) Turn on Bluetooth DUN, accept the warnings.

Part B: Mac Setup
1. Open Bluetooth preference pane.
1(b) in Devices pane, delete the existing connection to the Treo.
2.Click ‘Set up new device…’
2(b) Choose ‘mobile phone’
2(c) Select the Treo
2(d) Enter the pairing password
2(e) Select Access The Internet service.
2(f) Enter the network settings:

Username: 2015551212@vzw3g.com, where the digits are my cellular number
Password: vzw
Phone Number: #777
Modem Script: 1_VZW_Generic_1X_ON_230400 (you can find that here)

3. Set up network port: Click on ‘Sharing’ tab
[ this step may not be necesssary for other people ]
3(b) Click ‘Add Serial Port Service’
3(c) Rename to ‘BluetoothDUN’ or the like
3(d) Set Type: Modem, and turn on ‘Show in Network Preferences’

4. Network Preferences
4(a) Open Network preference pane
4(b) Click to configure BluetoothDUN
4(c) Under PPP, click PPP Options…
4(d) Turn ON PPP echo packets, and OFF TCP/IP header compression

Part C: Attempt to Dial
1. Open Internet Connect
1(b) Select BluetoothDUN
1(c) Click ‘Connect’

bluetooth, dial up networking, dun, mobile carrier wireless networking, treo, treo 650, treo 650 dun, verizon, verizon wireless, vzw

I’m in San Antonio for ALA Midwinter and enjoying the benefits of wide-area mobile internet access via my Treo and and the power of local search. This is sort of a test for me and my Treo, as I passed on all the usual trip prep I do and entirely I’m depending on what I’ll find in situ or in my mobile web browser.

I wandered around a bit this afternoon to get a feel for the place, but as I got hungrier, I found myself stuck in the Riverwalk Mall, and without any local clues about where to look for better food (Steers & Beers, in the mall, might have been an option if it had more activity or if those few who were sitting at tables didn’t look so miserable). So I sat down and started searching with the accompaniment of a mariachi band. Google sent my to Yahoo!, which had restaurants by neighborhood. A couple clicks later I was looking at the map and figured out that I needed to get myself over to Commerce Street, where’d I’d find at least a couple places worth dining at.

Moments later I was at a patio table at the Lone Star Cafe, sipping a Shiner, and enjoying yet another mariachi band. Score one for local search and mobile access.

texas, san antonio, riverwalk, treo, treo 650, mobile internet, local search, mobile local search, mobile search

I’ve been talking up the Pepper Pad and Nokia 770 a lot, and I’ve mentioned a moment of lust for the LifeDrive (despite my complaints against PDAs), but today I bought a Treo 650 (even though I had doubts).

My decision surprised me, but the following factors all weighed in its favor:

• My cell phone contract expired. Verizon was dangling their standard $100 discount (on top of other discounts) on a new phone if I renewed. That, and Palm dropped the price on the 650 a lot recently.
   
• My Clie TH-55 is kaput. Yeah, I had complaints, but it turned out that I missed the damn thing.
   
• With the Clie out of commission, I was also in need of a small camera/video camera. I was thinking of getting a refurbished Stylus Verve for about $150 (when you can find them). The Treo’s camera can’t match the Stylus, but it’s better than the Clie’s and will do the job.

Well, that’s how I justified explained it to Sandee anyway.

cameraphone, cell phone, cellphone, palm, palmone, pda, phone, small camera, smart phone, smartphone, treo, treo 650, treo650