Don't Back Down

If you should happen to have connected your Alltel phone using Bluetooth - be it an LG 8600 like I used or something else - then of course the next question is how you go about using the phone as a modem. Of course if you have reliable broadband, then this isn't a typical need, but it's still nice to know how to do it, or if it's even possible.

I did some reading on the subject, and it seems that there is no complete guide to this - perhaps because Alltel doesn't want you to know how to do it or just because there isn't a lot of call for it. When I called them, the only answer I got was that I could purchase a data card and a data plan for ~$60 per month. For a backup to a service that doesn't even cost that, it's not really feasible. So I decided to do some exploring. The good news it that it seems to work and the speed is good. The bad news is that the connection isn't great and the unknown is what it will cost.

The first thing you have to do is have a connection, as I described previously. Once you have that, you'll be able to see an item that is labeled something like Bluetooth Modem. For me, it is LG AX8600 Bluetooth Modem, and I can find it in My Bluetooth Places. I just double-click and I'm presented with a fairly standard dial-up networking prompt. The only question is what you enter at this point.

It seems fairly common (from what I've read) that carriers will require a phone number of #777. This is certainly the case with Alltel. Your user name is your phone number @alltel.net. So if your phone number is 1234567890, then your full username is 1234567890@alltel.net. Though it has a leading 1 there, that's just so that you have ten digits and I started with 1. More than likely you won't, and you don't want to include a 1 like you are dialing long distance. Most Charlotte numbers are in the 704 area code, so a better example would be 7041234567@alltel.net.

Luckily, the password is a bit simpler. It's alltel. Apparently it is always alltel. Just fill in those three pieces of information and away you go.

The only problem I had was that the connection would drop somewhat regularly. It would seem to reconnect the first couple of times it dropped, but after two drops, it wouldn't do so again. I don't know why this is, it just is. There might be a setting somewhere that I missed (if you know what it is, let me know and I'll try it). Sometimes I can stay connected for 20 mintues and not have a problem. Sometimes it only lasts a few seconds. There is just no rhyme or reason to it. It might even be an incoming call, but I never received a ring or a voice mail, so I can't say for certain.

Only one other item might be an issue, and that is billing. I've seen various items say that you may be billed by the amount of data you send and some say that you are billed for the minutes used. I'll let you know when I receive my bill. I hope it's minutes, or I'll get a large bill next month.