[kc311v2]

Has anyone attempted to connect to the internet with their Verizon Wireless service on a Mac (desktop)?

Here's my situation:

I'm upgrading my phone and am looking at the Samsung SCH a930. I'll be going with an unlimited data contract so I'd like to take advantage of this and use this for my internet access.

I spoke with a person at their Tech Support on the support for a Mac using their Mobile Office Kit which is required to interface with their cellphones and connect wirelessly to their network, and they said it would work with a Mac (only specific cellphones would, the a930 being one of them). She said they were designed for laptops only, but didn't rule out the possibility that it would work on my desktop.

The Mobile Office Kit connects to your computer via USB (not PCMD slot or whatever it's called), so whether it's a laptop or desktop doesn't make sense to me.

Anyways, I just want to make sure this will work before I make the purchase.
Specs of my machine are Dual 2.3 GHz PMG5 (PowerMac 7,3); 10.4.8; 2.5GB SDRAM.

Any feedback on this is most appreciated.

[murdoc158]

First off you need to force your phone into 1x mode so you are not using VZW's EV-DO network. The EV-DO network is the high-speed (DSL) wireless network. Using dial up networking (DUN) on EV-DO is a violation of the Terms of Service.

To force your phone into 1x mode:
First press MENU, then Settings,#, and lock code is 000000. Go down to number 6 Pref Mode, and select CDMA only mode.

Next do you have bluetooth or will you be connecting with a USB data cable?
If bluetooth, just connect like you would normally.
If USB data cable, plug the cable into your computer and install any drivers if necessary. Connect your phone to the data cable and install any drivers if needed. Once your computer recognizes your phone you should be good to go.

Go into your system preferences and set up a new connection. I'm not sure where this is in OSX as I am still on a PC for a bit longer. Choose your cell phone as the modem or connection device. For the number to dial you want to dial #777. For the user name and password the user name is [email protected]. So if your wireless number is (333) 555-4433 your user name would be [email protected]. The password is vzw.

Are you a member on howardforums.com by chance? If not, you should sign up and try asking over there as well. Here is a link to the Verizon and Samsung subsection: HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - Samsung

Also there have been a few threads over there with people having a few problems as well. If you have access to a windows PC you may want to check out this thread as well: HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - How to enable EVDO DUN on ANY EVDO capable phone in 10 easy steps!

Folow the instructions in that thread to "hack" your phone but do not use "verizon" as the password. You need to use "vzw" without the quotes as the password.

I hope this helps!

[kc311v2]

Wow, great!

Thanks a lot!!

[kc311v2]

Update:

As I'm typing this post, I'm officially connected to the internet through my Samsung a930.
There were some kinks I had to work through, but here's what I had to do to get it all sorted.

Using the Mobile Office Kit I had purchased at Verizon, I connected my phone to a USB port on my computer. I heard my computer's hard drive spin for a few seconds (an indicator that something had happened when connecting it), which was promising.

I launched my Network settings under System Prefs and right away a dialogue popped up saying it detected a new modem device. So no drivers needed to be installed.

I used some of the suggestions that murdoc158 mentioned (mostly the username and p/w), and typed this information in under the default location name SAMSUNG CDMA Technologies.
For a modem, I selected Verizon Support (PC 5220), the default was set at Apple Internal (v90).
I was unable to connect at all without selecting this option. I unchecked 'Enable error correction and compression in modem' and 'Wait for dial tone before dialing'. For convenience purposes I selected 'Show modem status in menu bar' so I can connect/disconnect from the menu bar, and also monitor how long I've been connected.

Next, because this was a new phone purchase, I had to activate the phone. *228 got me through all that process, however I was still unable to connect. An authentication error occured. So I contacted Verizon Tech Support which ended up being a 2 hr deal, and in the end the final hurdle was just having to power restart the phone and in the *228 activation process, instead of pressing "1" to program my phone, I pressed "2" to do a refresh on my roaming access (maybe due to the fact I live in a rural part of Tennessee).

After that it worked like a charm. This works both on a laptop and desktop. I haven't tested in other OS besides 10.4.8.

Then I launched the app Internet Connect so I can monitor my d/l rate while I'm online.

Thanks for the help and thought this info would be helpful to those considering using their cellphone to access the internet.

[murdoc158]

Good to hear. Glad it worked out for you!

[brado]

Originally Posted by kc311v2 

Update:

As I'm typing this post, I'm officially connected to the internet through my Samsung a930.
There were some kinks I had to work through, but here's what I had to do to get it all sorted.

Using the Mobile Office Kit I had purchased at Verizon, I connected my phone to a USB port on my computer. I heard my computer's hard drive spin for a few seconds (an indicator that something had happened when connecting it), which was promising.

I launched my Network settings under System Prefs and right away a dialogue popped up saying it detected a new modem device. So no drivers needed to be installed.

I used some of the suggestions that murdoc158 mentioned (mostly the username and p/w), and typed this information in under the default location name SAMSUNG CDMA Technologies.
For a modem, I selected Verizon Support (PC 5220), the default was set at Apple Internal (v90).
I was unable to connect at all without selecting this option. I unchecked 'Enable error correction and compression in modem' and 'Wait for dial tone before dialing'. For convenience purposes I selected 'Show modem status in menu bar' so I can connect/disconnect from the menu bar, and also monitor how long I've been connected.

Next, because this was a new phone purchase, I had to activate the phone. *228 got me through all that process, however I was still unable to connect. An authentication error occured. So I contacted Verizon Tech Support which ended up being a 2 hr deal, and in the end the final hurdle was just having to power restart the phone and in the *228 activation process, instead of pressing "1" to program my phone, I pressed "2" to do a refresh on my roaming access (maybe due to the fact I live in a rural part of Tennessee).

After that it worked like a charm. This works both on a laptop and desktop. I haven't tested in other OS besides 10.4.8.

Then I launched the app Internet Connect so I can monitor my d/l rate while I'm online.

Thanks for the help and thought this info would be helpful to those considering using their cellphone to access the internet.

Thank you so much for listing the connection instructions for your a930. I followed them for my LG VX6100 and it worked perfectly !!!
I have been agonizing over this since I got my new iMac for Christmas. All the forums and websites out there can be so confusing. I live in a rural area and now I can connect at 230 instead of my dial up of 24.
Thank you thank you thank you!!!