Don't you find it annoying that the software and drivers that come with your phone are only supported by Windows 2000/XP/2003 or Vista? It is especially if you have an ultra portable laptop like the Libretto that runs Windows 98 or Windows 95 and you want to use your phone as a GPRS modem. Well this can be solved if you are intending to connect your phone via a serial cable, bluetooth or an infra-red interface by manually configuring and using standard serial modem drivers (note: this will not work using a USB cable in most circumstances). In this tutorial, I will show you how to connect a Windows 98 Laptop to the internet via a Sony Ericsson K550i.

First of all, make sure your interface is set up properly, i.e. your Infra-red port or Bluetooth is mapped to a COM port. If you are using a serial cable, this shouldn't matter. In the screenshot below, I am checking whether my Infra-red port is mapped to a COM port:



Next, go to Control Panel -> Modems



Click add on the window shown above, then select 'other' and press next



Check 'Don't detect my modem' and press next



Choose 'Standard 33600 bps Modem' out of the Standard Modem types, and press next



Select the port your phone is present on. As my phone was connected via infra-red, I selected the Virtual Infrared COM Port. Press Next



Click Finish



Go to Control Panel -> Modems and open the property sheet for the 'Standard 33600 bps Modem'



Click the 'Connection' tab, then click 'Advanced Connection Settings'



In the Extra Settings box, type:

+CGDCONT =1 , "IP" , "apnaddress"

Replace apnaddress with the APN Address of your provider. For Orange, this is simply orangeinternet - You can check this by looking on your phone data account settings, or for UK providers, visit this site for a list: http://www.filesaveas.com/gprs.html

Please note, the commas have a space before and after.

Now click OK



Now, go to Dial-Up Networking in Control Panel or My Computer, and click 'Add new connection'. Give any name to the connection you want, just be sure to select the 'Standard 33600 bps Modem'



Remove anything in the area code box, and type *#99# in the telephone number box, and click next



Click Finish



Now, double click the connection in Dial-up Networking. Enter the username and password associated with your provider - A list can be found here: http://www.filesaveas.com/gprs.html



Next, click Dial Properties, and in the 'For Local calls, dial' box, enter a *

Now click OK



Now you can click connect, and if everything was entered correctly, it should work.



All the settings shown in this tutorial is for Orange UK.

Links

Filesaveas GPRS settings