Saturday, July 7, 2007

Internet Anywhere! Connecting the Cingular SYNC (Samsung SGH-A707) to a MacBook Pro via AT&T

The following articles helped me get my Samsung SYNC talking to my MacBookPro:
Tether Your Smartphone To Your Mac, Ross Barkman's Home Page, and Tethering on the Samsung A707


After buying my MacBook Pro with built-in Bluetooth - I couldn't wait to tether it to a cellular phone and get Internet connectivity anywhere I have cell-phone coverage.

But first - I had to upgrade my old cell-phone, the Nokia 6030. A great phone, small, reliable, but a little low on gadgets by today's standard.

I knew I wanted a 3G capable phone, but since I'm prone to losing phones, I also didn't want to spend a lot. AT&T had a special for their Samsung SYNC phone this weekend that was just what I wanted -- only $49 with a 2-year contract (after $50 rebate). What attracted me to this phone was:


  • 2M Camera

  • Bluetooth Support

  • 3G network support

  • And most importantly, Bluetooth DUN support


They also had the Motorola Razr V3xx phone for $FREE$ with a 2-year contract. But I picked up both, and liked the feel of the buttons on the Samsung SYNC better. The SYNC also had a 2M camera vs. a 1.3M camera.

Note: Make sure you add an appropriate data plan to allow data transfers.

And, be sure you are running Mac OS X v10.4.9 or higher in order to get the latest bluetooth updates.

Getting the Mac talking to the Samsung took me about an hour...but hopefully - I can reduce the work to only 15 minutes for anybody reading this post..

Samsung

  • Menu / Settings / Connectivity / Bluetooth

  • Set Activation to ON

  • Set My Phone's Visibility to ON

  • Set My Phone's Name to whatever you want



MacBook Pro

  • Visit Ross Barkman's Home Page and download the Generic 3G Scripts

  • Expand the downloaded file with StuffIt Expander, and copy the file "Generic 3G CID1" to the directory "Library:Modem Scripts"

  • System Peferences / Bluetooth

  • Click Set Up New Device...

  • Choose "Mobile Phone" as the Device Type

  • The Assistant will now search for your mobile phone, and it should be listed

  • Select your phone, and press Continue

  • The first time your MacBook Pro communicates with your Samsung SYNC phone, you must approve the pairing with a pass key. A numeric passkey will be shown on the MacBook. At the same time, the Samsung SYNC should display a dialog window asking for the passkey. Enter the numeric key from the MacBook into the Samsung

  • Select Services you want to use. Choose "Use Address Book", "Access the Internet with your phone's data connection", and "Use a direct, higher speed connection to reach your Internet Service Provider"

  • Press Continue


  • You will be prompted for information specific to the Cingular network. Use the settings below:

    Username: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
    Password: CINGULAR1
    GPRS CID String: ...leave this field blank...
    Modem Script: Generic 3G CID1

  • Click Continue / Quit

  • Select System Preferences / Network

  • Select Show: "Bluetooth"

  • Click PPP, and your Bluetooth settings should be already populated

  • Service Provider: Enter whatever you want here
    Account Name: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
    Password: CINGULAR1
    Telephone Number: Leave Blank!
    Alternate Number: Leave Blank!

  • Click Dial Now..., and another window will appear...

  • Click Connect


Your Samsung SYNC phone may ask a question periodically..."DUN Connect with the MacBook Pro computer?". Obviously, you should answer YES.

If everything went smoothly - you should now be connected to the internet on your MacBook Pro through your Samsung SYNC phone!

And if you want the MacBook to seamlessly connect to your Samsung SYNC so you don't even have to pull it out of your pocket! That's possible also. Visit the following menu on the SYNC: Menu / Settings / Connectivity / Bluetooth / My Devices. Choose your computer from the list. Click Options. Then "Authorize Device". Once your MacBook Pro is authorized, you will no longer be prompted for any bluetooth activity!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Francis:

Great summary, but I had to add wap.cingular into the telephone number field in order to make this work.

thanks!

Unknown said...

this is driving me crazy, could someone please walk me through these steps? i still cant conect

Francis Wong said...

The steps I followed are outlined in the blog post. Can you specify which part of the steps you are having trouble with and I'll try to clarify? The first thing I'd check is to make sure you phone is able to access the internet. Press the silver AT&T logo button in the center of the 4-direction cursor on the Samsung SYNC and make sure you are able to surf the net on the phone. If your account doesn't have internet connectivity, or you're in an area without AT&T broadband support, then these steps will not work.

Anonymous said...

my phone will connect, but then after establishing a connection it says "disconnecting" and then says "the modem has unexpectedly hung up. please check your settings and try again"

can anyone help me with this? thanks

Francis Wong said...

anonymous mike - Can your phone browser MediaNet via the phone? I've seen that problem a handful of times when AT&T has outages. And when it has happened to me, I couldn't surf the net via the phone by itself either.

dr. hypercube said...

Thank you - far more helpful than AT&T was (in fact, they were worse than useless).

Alexander Bahder said...

Does using this charge you on your monthly bill for data charges if you don't have unlimited data on your plan? I would suspect so, just checking if I should go get unlimited data or not...

Francis Wong said...

To pyromaster114... I'm on the Media Max plan and I don't get charged for any additional data fees on top of the fixed Media Max monthly price. I suppose AT&T could shut-down the tethering feature someday, but for now...it still works for me. At the time I signed-up last summer, there was no "unlimited" data plan for the Sync. Only the RIM devices offered one.

Anonymous said...

to dr.hypercube ... lol ... what exactly do you mean att was no help

Anonymous said...

Thanks, the tip on 'authorising device' was just what I was looking for :)