How to set up BlackBerry Smartphone with USB Internet Tethering on a Mac

The next time you require a strong network connection while camping, hiking, or otherwise out in the woods, consider using USB Internet tethering. This useful feature enables you to leverage your BlackBerry smartphone’s network connection on your Mac computer. All you need for this tutorial is your BlackBerry smartphone, a USB cable and a few minutes to perform the initial setup. Following this, you can easily and quickly connect your smartphone with just a few clicks, you can surf the internet on your Mac using your smartphone’s wireless connection.

In addition to USB based Internet tethering, you also have the option of using a Bluetooth connection. Here we’ll be focusing on the USB based method. But before we get into that, here are two things you should know about smartphone passwords and Internet tethering in general.

First, if your BlackBerry smartphone has a password, a password helper application (part of the BlackBerry Desktop Software) is launched and prompts for the password when it is connected to your Mac. When this prompt appears, enter your BlackBerry smartphone password and click “OK” to establish the Internet Protocol (IP) modem connection. If you do not enter your BlackBerry smartphone password, Internet tethering will not work. If you are unsure about tethering your BlackBerry smartphone to the Internet, contact your wireless service provider for more information about tethered modem support and any form of fees you may need to pay as a result. You may need to contact your wireless service provider to obtain configuration settings that are specific to your wireless provider as well. With that being said, let’s set up Internet Tethering on a Mac while using a USB cable:

• Install BlackBerry Desktop Software on the Mac computer
• Using a USB cable, connect your BlackBerry smartphone to your Mac
• On the menu bar of your Mac, click the Apple icon and select “System Preferences”
• Click “Network” and a dialog box stating “New Interface Detected” appears
• Click “OK” followed by “Apply” and select “Advanced” to complete the modem configuration

Verify the following information:

Vendor: Research In Motion

Model: BlackBerry IP Modem (GSM) or BlackBerry IP Modem (CDMA) – depending on the network type that the BlackBerry smartphone or SIM card is associated with

APN: internet.com – by default, the “internet.com” Access Point Name (APN) is displayed

• Click “OK” to save the configuration changes followed by “Apply”
• Verify that BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac is closed
• Click “Connect”

If the “Connect” button is grayed out, click the lock icon in the bottom left corner of the Network screen and enter your OS X password in order to light up the “Connect” option. After making a successful connection, to disconnect when you are finished complete the following steps:

• On the menu bar of your Mac, click the Apple icon and select “System Preferences”
• Select “Network” and select your BlackBerry smartphone followed by clicking on “Disconnect”

Manually adding a New Interface

While setting up Internet tethering, if you do not receive a prompt after clicking “Network” that states a new interface has been found, complete the following steps after verifying your smartphone is connected to your Mac using a USB cable:

• Click the plus sign that appears in the bottom left corner of the network list
• Click the drop down for the interface and select your smartphone (i.e. “BlackBerry – ABCD1234”)
• Click “Create” and continue following the instructions provided earlier in this article to start using Internet tethering.