Route 32: From Powerbook to Internet via Mobile Phone.

This is my quick guide to using your mobile phone and your powerbook to access the internet.

This Document is currently revision 0.2, changes and suggestions welcome!.
The quality of this page will improve as I get more time to work on it.
The pictures included are based on MacOS 9.1 Things are almost identical in earlier versions.
MacOS X is significantly different and will require a rewrite. In progress!
If you have comments, queries, questions or suggestions please send email to me at
Angus.Hardie@malcolmhardie.com.
However I can't guarantee that I will be able to answer questions or respond to every email.

What do I need?

The first point to note is that your phone must support an internal hardware modem. There is a list of suitable phones .

The next point to note is that you don't need any special software (except maybe a modem script see below) to use your mobile to connect to the internet. The software packs commonly supplied for windows are simply an easy way to set various options on the phone in a user interface rather than by using a script.

If you are willing to use infrared then with your powerbook and your phone you have everything you might need. If you want to use a cable you'll need to figure out a way of connecting it to your powerbook. That option may require more work. I don't know anyone with a cable so I haven't tried that yet.

Infrared control panel is inside the control panels folder

First of all find and open the infrared control panel in the control panels folder. If you've trashed it you will need to reinstall it or use tomeviewer to extract a copy from your installation. When you've found it, double click and you should see the following window.

This window allows you to set up infrared connections to other devices. If your phone is not in range of the infrared sensor then you will see this in the window.

I typically find that a straight on alignment and a distance of about 2-3 inches is best, you may need to experiment to get the best combination of distance and alignment.