Nokia 6230i - can it work as a GPRS modem?

Question

Nokia 6230i - can it work as a GPRS modem?

I've got a 'Safecom' USB Bluetooth Adaptor (aka the cheapest one on Ebuyer) and a 6230i. The phone happily pairs with my iBook, but that's about as far as it goes. When I try to send a file to the phone, it says 'unable to validate'. When I set up serial ports for the phone, it says 'could not get services'.

What I'd like to know is thus:
1. What device service and port type do I set for this phone?
2. Under sharing, what type do I set?
3. Under Network setup, do I select the port that the phone automatically set up, or do I select the port I manually set up under Sharing? I ask because only the port I manually set up under sharing is identified as being a 'Bluetooth Modem' in Network Prefs.
4. What exactly should happen when I go into Internet Connect and try to connect via bluetooth and my phone? As it stands, the phone sits and does nothing while Internet Connect tries to connect and then says 'there was a modem error'. I'm on the O2 network in the UK, if that makes any difference.
5. What script should I be using off taniwha.org.uk?

Thanks for any help you can give me, I've been fighting this thing all afternoon.

Posted on Oct 6, 2005 11:28 AM

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Answer 1

Jon Lake

Level 1

0 points

Oct 7, 2005 2:19 AM in response to Stephen Webber

I have built in Bluetooth, so didn't have to set that up.
I'm on Orange UK, not O2.
I can offer no help, but I can offer some encouragement!

But the 6230i does function fine as a GPRS Modem, so don't give up!

1) Turn on Bluetooth on the phone in Settings>Connectivity

2) Select 'Set Up Bluetooth' in the drop down menu from the menu bar

3) Select Mobile Phone as device in the next window

4) When Nokia 6230i appears, you'll soon get a 'Pair with? Stephen Webber's Computer' on the phone. Accept.

5) Enter Passkey from Mac into phone.

6) Accept on phone

7) Select 'Access the Internet with your phone's data connection' and 'Use a direct, higher speed connection to reach your Internet Service Provider (GPRS, 1xRTT)' on the Mac

8) Provide Username, password, GPRS CID string (O2 will provide this, mine is *99#) and use the Taniwa Modem Script Nokia GSM V.120 14.4 RB as prompted.

9) Open Internet Connect and enter the same access string (NOT phone number) account name and password under Bluetooth.

10) Connect!

11) You may have to accept on the phone again.

12) a G will appear on the phone display next to the Bluetooth symbol, and you should connect, getting a status display in Internet Connect.

13) Be careful! Browsing is VERY expensive using GPRS!

It's using the 6230i as a GSM modem that's beating me!

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Answer 2

Oct 7, 2005 4:02 AM in response to Stephen Webber

Go for a D-Link DBT-120 USB adapter. Mac OS X v10.4.2 has several issues with other USB adapters.

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Answer 3

Oct 7, 2005 5:03 AM in response to Jon Lake

Jon,

Thanks for the advice... I'm so close to getting this to work that it's painful.

I actually phoned O2 yesterday and asked for the CID string, and was told it was this:
+cgdcont=1,`ip',`mobile.o2.co.uk'

...which seems a bit odd. In fact, it almost sounds like what you'd type in if you couldn't get the settings sent to you via SMS.

Instead, I've gone for the 99**1# route (and variations thereof) and what's happening is the first time I click 'connect', it fails to reach the communication device (even though the phone and mac connect to each other). The second time, it almost immediately says the connection has failed, please check your settings and try again.

What's going through my mind now is this:
1. This can't really be due to the USB dongle not being the ONE AND ONLY that OS X likes, can it? Why would everything else work exactly as it should via the dongle?
2. Do I need to use that ridiculous CID string anywhere? My phone connects fine to GPRS on its own, surely that setting is already in and working, and the Mac doesn't need to know it?
3. Do I need to type my APN (mobile.o2.co.uk) in anywhere? That's the only piece of information I haven't had a use for yet.

Thanks again to anyone who has info, I've been using Ross Barkman's site and also this: http://homepage.mac.com/jrc/contrib/tzones/

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Answer 4

Oct 7, 2005 5:18 AM in response to Stephen Webber

(yes, this is 2 minutes after my last post)

It's actually dialling, now. My speakers started making the delightful pulsing sound when a phone is sending or receiving data, and the G appeared on the phone (hurrah!)

However, as it's verifying, the phone suddenly, angrily says 'SUBSCRIBE TO GPRS FIRST!' and then disconnects me.

A quick call to O2 has revealed that GPRS was in fact not enabled on my account - which has me scratching my head as I've been using this account to check my Hotmail via MSN Mobile for over a year. So, unless I'm in the dark (probably) and it's been doing that by some other protocol, I don't know what's going on. All I know is, 2 to 24 hours from now, I should be able to connect.

I'm using the Nokia IR 6210_8xxx script that came with OS X.

I'll post when I've got it working.

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Answer 5

Oct 9, 2005 7:21 AM in response to Stephen Webber

It works!

The connection is quite slow (I couldn't get Google to load, and using Mail, attempting to retrieve new mail from Hotmail timed out) but I pinged Google.com successfully, so the connection is there, it just needs tweaking.

Thanks for your input, and anyone suffering with problems - don't give up, and don't blame your non-DLink USB dongle.

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Answer 6

Oct 9, 2005 11:36 AM in response to Stephen Webber

could not get services

How did you resolve this? This sounded like a current Mac OS X v10.4 non-D-Link DBT-120 USB adapter problem. This is why I suggested a D-Link DBT-120.

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Answer 7

Oct 18, 2005 5:13 PM in response to Alexander Traud

It just was able to read the phone fine... it could be that I hadn't restarted the computer since installing the dongle, which seemed to fix another problem I had recently of it not being recognized.

The connection has successfully worked several times now - in a hotel recently I was able to check Multimap, update my Dashboard weather widget, and get my email with Mail.

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Answer 8

Oct 28, 2005 8:04 PM in response to Jon Lake

When Jon Lake asks "It's using the 6230i as a GSM modem that's beating me" well, it is possible as there is no other service on the Scottish Island of Westray. I wish I had been able to read his posting before fiddling for hours to get it to work, but it now works perfectly. Switching the Internet Connect to dial-up modem (and getting the OS to remember this) and plugging in the dongle BEFORE firing up seemed to be the two touchy points.
A posting about his is on
George Mowat-Brown, "Nokia 6230i as modem" #3, 08:47pm Oct 28, 2005 CDT

George

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