Tethering a BlackBerry Curve and a Mac

Work supplies me with a BlackBerry Curve 8330 from Bell.  Until recently, the plan did not include tethering.  This was $5/MB.  I;m not making that up.

The good news is that, thanks to Ryan, I found out that Bell has a 1GB data plan that includes Mobile Connect (Bell-speak for tethering.)

The bad news is that setting this up on my Mac makes absolutely no sense and surfing seemed to be more of a hindrance than a help.  See, even Google isn’t perfect.

So, here’s what I did:

1. Pair the BlackBerry and the Mac over Bluetooth
2. Go to System Preferences -> Network
3. Click on the +
4. Under Interface select Bluetooth and give it a nice Service Name (BBTether or somesuch) Click Create
5. Telephone Number: #777
6. Account Name: Anything (Elsewhere it was suggested bell1x or even 5551112222@1x.bell.ca where the number was your phone number.  Not needed.)
7. Password: Any four digit seems to work.  (Elsewhere suggested your message PIN, this doesn’t seem to be a requirement.)
8. Click on Advanced…
9. Vendor: Generic
10. Model: Dial-Up Device
11. Close, Apply, Connect.

You’re done.  So simple.  No scripts needed, no funky usernames or passwords, no APN, no Bell software needed.  Just pair, setup for Dial-Up over Bluetooth and you’re done.

There.  With any luck, I just saved someone an hour of frustration.