2nrds.com
we dig technology
Mac
- The topics
Suggest an article
Have a good idea for an article? Something you want to know? Suggest an idea for an article and we just might write one for you.Using the Nokia E71 as a modem on a Mac
This guide is tested with a Nokia E71 and OS X 10.5.4 Leopard. It should apply to other Series 60 (S60) 3rd edition devices as well, but I cannot guarantee any results. If you have success using any other devices, leave a comment to let me know.
The first step in getting the phone working as a modem is getting a modem script for it. I found a script for Nokia HSDPA phones on Matthew Rothenberg’s blog that worked with Leopard.
Grab the script and put it in /Library/Modem Scripts, as advised on the blog.
The next step varies depending on what method you will be using to communicate between your phone and computer.
Cable
The first, and easier, alternative is to use the USB cable that came with the phone. The cable will also allow for faster transfer speeds and give you longer battery life on the phone as it doesn’t need to use two radios at the same time.
To configure the cable connection, connect your phone and select PC Suite mode from the phone.
Go to System Preferences and find the interface that was created. I renamed mine Nokia E71 to distinguish it from other interfaces. Choose vendor Nokia and model HSDPA. I put my provider’s internet APN both in the APN field under Modem, and as the telephone number, as required by the script.
If everything went according to plan you should be able to connect now. If it doesn’t work, you may need to adjust the CID number under Advanced>Modem.
Bluetooth
The second and more difficult alternative is to use bluetooth to make the connection to your phone. Using bluetooth gives you the freedom to place your phone freely wherever you want it and where it gets good signal, but has lower transfer speeds and requires more battery.
If you have set up your phone as a bluetooth device in OS X, you should see a Bluetooth connection under Networking in System Preferences.
If not, you need to select “Set up Bluetooth Device” from the bluetooth menu in the menu bar. Follow the directions in the wizard and make sure you have bluetooth turned on in your phone.
Configure the Bluetooth connection the same way as the cable connection, select vendor Nokia and model HSDPA. Put the internet APN both in the APN field and in the field for the telephone number.
The APN can be found on your phone by going to Tools>Settings>Connection>Access point>(your internet access point name). The APN you need is in the field “Access point name”.
If you are lucky you will be able to connect now using bluetooth.
In my case I got an error about not being able to communicate with the PPP server and I was unable to connect. Upon closer inspection I noticed an error message in the console:
MPPE required, but MS-CHAP[v2] auth not performed.
Some creative googling later, I found that the PPP authentication needed to be turned off and the only way to do this is changing a few values in a property list file.
To make my explanations a bit clearer, I shot a short screencast showing how to do this.
When done, you need to restart for the system to read the changed property list.
I had some audio problems, so there is no audio in the screencast, but the video should be pretty easy to follow nonetheless.
In short, you need to edit the properties.plist found under /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration. Find the item under NetworkServices named Bluetooth and change all the values under PPP that start with CCP to 0.
The Property List Editor is included in the developer tools on the Leopard DVD. You can also edit the XML if you feel comfortable with that.
Conclusion
Using the USB cable I’ve been able to get some pretty decent download speeds. My data plan is capped at 2 Mbps, so the below speeds are quite good.
I’ve been able to download with constant speeds of about 285kB/s.
Thanks for a great guide!!! My speed bumped to 2,5 Mbit!
One problem though :) I am getting PPP error when I try to use it for a first time. second time it connects fine. I was trying to follow the plst editing guide, but for some reason I don’t have CPP values there. I am at Leopard 10.5.4.
Any suggestion how to change PPP under 10.5.4?
Thanks!
Igor Dertkin · Jul 29, 05:13 PM
Great idea to use the video to show how to make a change. I am getting the same error on my MacBook Pro using a Motorola RAzr V9m. But like Igor above, I’m running 10.5.4 so your video doesn’t apply to me. I don’t have the preferences file you go to.
Any ideas?
George Carvill · Aug 9, 12:50 PM
Hey Igor and George,
I’m running 10.5.4 myself and I still have the plist file and CCP options in it.
Igor, if you have the plist file but are just missing the CCP values there, you should be able to just add them there. Just make sure to have a backup of the file just in case.
In the PPP section, press the “Add Sibling” button and make sure you name the CCP options just as they are in the video, pay special attention to capitalization.
George,
Are you sure you are looking in the system Library and not in your own Library? There are two Library folders on your mac, one that is immediately underneath you “Macintosh HD” (or what ever you have named your primary drive) and the second is under your user folder. This is at least a mistake I make myself often even though I know there are two different Library folders :)
Let me know if that helps.
//Marcus
Marcus · Aug 9, 02:51 PM
Ok.
So, the correct way for one Internet device to share a network connection with another device is to set up NAT, or a simple bridge. It’s the way people have been doing it for 30 years and there is no reason to do it differently.
With that in mind, I see that instead of doing things in a sane way, tethering your phone to your computer involves turning it into a fake modem and jumping through all sorts of hoops to trick your computer into thinking it is a modem, culminating in telling it to “dial” some FQDN, possibly with a username and a password involved (WTF ?)
So … help me out here. What is my APN ? Where do I find this number/address/fake-phone-number/whatever ?
I have a nokia e71 that is, presumably, already a standalone Internet node, with its own mac address and own IP address, so all of this is pretty silly – I should just be using NAT or a bridge.
But since I have to do it the weirdo way, how do I find out this secret code that you all have ?
Not Amused · Aug 10, 04:06 AM
You can find your APN by going to Tools>Settings>Connection>Access point>(your internet access point name) on your phone. Find the field “Access point name”. It is usually something like “internet” or “operator.internet”.
I updated the article to clearly state how you can find the APN.
For some reason Nokia, and many other phone manufacturers, still do not offer Bluetooth PAN or other easier technologies for bridging your existing internet connection to your computer.
Until they do, this is probably the only way to accomplish using your phone’s connection on your computer.
The good thing is that you only need to set it up once, the rest of the time you only need to click connect to get online.
Marcus · Aug 10, 11:20 AM
i have the 10.5.4, i’m not able to find properties.plist file itself…im having the same problem like
“an error about not being able to communicate with the PPP server and I was unable to connect”.
can one help on this?
udkar · Sep 24, 08:26 AM
Hi,
First up, thank you VERY much for this article. I did what you said, and it worked perfectly. :-)
But alas…
It only worked ONCE. :-(
A few days after setting it up, I tried again, but when I click on ‘connect’, it tries briefly, then an INTERNET CONNECT alert appears, saying “The selected communication device does not exist. Please verify your setings and try again.”
Hmmm….
I tried the Nokia Multimedia Transfer software, and the “Device Browser” works fine, so the E71 USB is connected OK using “PC Suite”. But for some reason, the Mac can’t see the E71 and connect through it as the modem as it did the other day.
I haven’t changed any settings from the other day when it DID work, and being a tek-nik-kal dim-wit, I don’t want to try anything in case I stuff it up.
If you have any thoughts, I really would appreciate it!
Thanks!
Jerry
Jerry Crockford · Oct 19, 03:36 AM