Need to use your laptop but can’t find a hotspot? Here’s a solution that worked for me.
I was in San Francisco for a few conferences and needed to use my MacBook Pro, but I wasn’t able to find open WiFi hotspots. I decided to try my luck with tethering my MBP to the AT&T network using the handset.
It was a fairly pain-free process. I paired my notebook to the N95 over Bluetooth and then created a profile that logged into AT&T using this new connection.
I found the login credentials for AT&T after a quick Google search:
- Telephone number: wap.cingular
- Account name: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.com
- Password: CINGULAR1
You should be able to find details for other networks online. [Note: Even with an unlimited data plan, there may be additional charges for tethering; check with your carrier beforehand to make sure you don’t run up any unexpected charges.]
Once I had established a connection (usually happened in a few seconds), I was off and browsing. I was able to connect to various services: SSH, IMAP, SMTP. None of these ports seemed to be blocked, which was good news.
There were a few cases when my computer would not connect using the handset. The two devices had been paired and could talk to each other but wouldn’t login to the network. I still haven’t been able to track down the reason for this.
Some others online have had luck resetting the Bluetooth (turning it off and then back on again) on both the phone and the MacBook. The first time I wasn’t able to connect, I decided to restart my machine, which ended up fixing the problem.
But there must be a better way.
Any ideas?
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