Windows Mobile

In part 1 of this article, I talked about using your HTC phone as a modem using the newer feature called “Internet Sharing.” For those of you with older HTC phones, this feature will not work. Your phone has the feature called ‘Modem Link.’ This feature is a little harder to use but it is still quite possible. So let’s look at using your HTC phone as a modem for your laptop using the ‘Modem Link’ feature.

First of all, you will need to download some drivers for the phone HERE.
The way this feature works, it actually loads your phone as a modem on
your laptop. So, just like most every device you ever use, you will
need drivers. Download the drivers and unzip them onto your desktop.

Next,
hook up your phone to your laptop with your USB cable. This will start
ActiveSync, but don’t worry about that. Now go in to the ‘Modem Link’
program. You will see a drop down menu where you need to decide between
‘Infrared’ and ‘USB.’ Select USB. (One day, play around with infrared.
It works nicely if you have an infrared port on your laptop.) Then
click ‘activate.’

Your computer with make the ‘device disconnect’
sound and then the ‘device connect’ sound. Don’t worry; it is just
switching from phone to modem. Once it switches to modem mode, it will
ask for drivers. Direct the file dialog box to your desktop and click
on the ‘.ini’ file. Then say ‘ok.’ You may have to select ‘continue
anyways’ if your version of windows does not recognize the drivers as
official. Now you have loaded your phone as a modem.

Your
almost there! Now, go into ‘My Network Places’ and select ‘New
Connection.’ Then select ‘Connect to the Internet.’ Then select ‘Dial’
as the connection method. It will ask you which modem to use. Select
the HTC modem. When asked, use ‘#99*’ as the number to dial. Leave
username and password blank. Name the connection whatever you like. I
use t-mobile, so I always name my connection ‘tmo.’

Right now, I’m traveling with my family. We are in the beautiful central Texas hill country. My wife is driving, the kids are watching a movie, and I’m writing an article for my blog. When I finish this article I will publish it to my blog. Pretty much, this is why I love technology… the ability to surf the internet and use my laptop while traveling.

I use my HTC Wizard (t-mobile MDA) as a modem for my laptop while traveling. I use a feature that is built in to all HTC Windows Mobile 5 phones, and most other Windows Mobile 5 phones. The feature allows you to use your phone as a modem for your laptop. On older phones, this feature is called ‘Modem Link.’ On newer phones (2006 or 2007), this feature is called ‘Internet Sharing.’ If your phone has an Internet plan, you can use one of these features.

The newer feature, ‘Internet Sharing (IS),’ is definitely the easiest to set up. First, download and install ActiveSync 4.5 or newer from Microsoft’s website. Once that is installed, connect to the Internet on your phone. The easiest way to do that is to just open up Pocket Internet Explorer and browse to google.com. Once you are connected to the Internet, click on the start button and select ‘Programs. ‘ Scroll down to ‘Internet Sharing.’ Open the application. Select ‘connect with USB.’ Click ‘Activate.’ Now just connect your phone to your laptop with its USB cable. That’s it. Open a browser on your laptop and you should be ready to surf.