How to setup a tethered modem, Telus Blackberry smartphone and a laptop, for wide-area wireless Internet access, aka wireless ADSL

Road warriors dream comes true.

How to setup a tethered modem using Telus 1x EVDO Blackberry smart-phone and a laptop, for wide-area wireless Internet access.
(aka wireless ADSL modem, or more accurately, mobile broadband)

Warning: wireless data packet charges can be extremely expensive, do not use this method to download any attachments, pictures, MP3, movies or do any high data traffic activities unless you are a millionaire or billionaire. Check with your carrier to find out how much it costs per megabyte of wireless data before you try this method.

Download and install the latest version (version 5.0.1 or higher) of Blackberry Desktop Software and all the nasty setups below will be taken care of by the new Desktop software. On the main menu of BB Desktop, there is an icon that says “IP Modem”, click on it and it will do all the nasty setups for you. It even works on Windows 7 32-bits and 64-bits.

OLD legacy information:

This is not an official Telus website, nor an official Blackberry website, nor is an official how to for BlackBerry, but it works!
With some minor tweaking, download/upload performance can reach 580 kbps/120 kbps, with -95dbm signal strength, stationary in the Vancouver area.
Download/upload speed was tested using www.speedtest.net and a BlackBerry 8730e smart-phone.
James Kennedy (Brains II) of Edmonton reported that it works for BlackBerry 8830 World Edition.

Safety Warning: Do not surf the net or use a laptop while driving a motor vehicle.

Equipment Warranty Warning: Do not let any sand get into your laptop or BlackBerry.

Here is how:

(1) Steps 1 and 2 are optional.
If you don't have a username and password, James Kennedy of Edmonton reported that it will still work. Just leave the username and password fields blank in the steps below.

Optional: get yourself a username and password from https://secure.telusmobility.com/ccp/
Your registration confirmation will be email to your email address, don't use a fake email address.
For username and password, it is STRONGLY recommended that you don't use any spaces.

(2) Wait until you receive a confirmation email from Telus. Even after you received the email confirmation, it may still take several minutes to get activated.
Your registration will still be "incomplete", but it is good enough to proceed to the next steps.

(3) Go to BlackBerry Technical Solution Center and search the document "KB04664" CDMA (KB05196 GSM), follow the instruction in that document.

(4) If you cannot find document "KB04664", do the following:

(a) Make sure you have BlackBerry Desktop Software v4.1 or later.

Note: BlackBerry Desktop Software v4.3 installs Media Manager by default, it slows your computer down tremendously to a near grinding halt. During install, choose custom install and check off Media Manager, unless you have a valid reason to want to install it.

(b) Make sure either the BlackBerry Desktop Manager or BlackBerry Device Manager is running (both running is OK).
Connect the USB cable (tether) from the laptop to the BlackBerry smart-phone.

Note:
Technically, only the BlackBerry Device Manager is needed for tethered modem to operate.

Windows Vista:

(c.1) Start ....Connect to .... Setup a connection or network ... Connect to the Internet ... choose "Setup a new connection anyway";
choose "create a new connection" ... choose Dial-up .. choose "Standard Modem" ...
Dial up Phone number is #777 ... enter Username and Password obtained from step (1) ... Connection name is Blackberry Telus
Connect ...

Windows XP:

(c.2) Start ....Connect to ....Show all connections ... Create a new connection ... Connect to the Internet ... Setup connection manually ...Connect using dial up modem .. Select checkbox "Standard Modem" (deselect other modem types) ... ISP name is Blackberry Telus ...
Dial up Phone number is #777 ... enter Username and Password obtained from step (1) ... Connect ...

Advanced topics:
(1) If you do OpenVPN under this tethered mode, packet fragmentation may become excessive and
most firewalls will consider this as an "abnormal situation" and drop the packets.
(2) You cannot connect to any MS-PPTP VPN servers under this tethered mode.
(3) We are still in the dark ages when it comes to mobile wireless broadband.

Disclaimer

Revised November 14, 2009