How to Use your Pearl as a BT Modem under OS X?

n the long tradition of only writing software when it solves something that annoys me, I’ve written an OS X modem script for the BlackBerry 8100 (a.k.a. Pearl). If you have an 8100, you can now use it as a Bluetooth modem with your Mac. Here’s how you use it:

1. Download the script here. Please Right-Click and Choose ‘Save As’.
2. Copy the script into /Library/Modem Scripts.
3. If you’ve already paired your Pearl with your Mac, open Bluetooth Preferences, Select your Pearl from the list of devices and press ‘Configure…’. (If you haven’t, choose ‘Set up Bluetooth Device’ - the following dialogs will be shown after you’ve paired your phone with your Mac. Make sure your Pearl doesn’t require a password for your mac to connect to it - the ‘Trusted Connection’ option for the pairing should be set to ‘Yes’ on your phone, not ‘Ask’.)
4. Make sure ‘Access the Internet with your phone’s data connection’ is checked. Also, make sure ‘Use a direct, higher speed connection’ is selected. Click Continue.
5. In the Modem Script pulldown on the following screen, Select ‘BlackBerry 8100’. Use the following settings for the other fields, then click Continue:
   • Username, Password: leave blank
   • GPRS CID: *99***1#
6. Open the Internet Connect application. Select the Bluetooth icon at the top. Under Phone Number, put your APN (for T-Mobile and the BlackBerry Unlimited plan, I use wap.voicestream.com, for Cingular it’s “wap.cingular”). Type a username and password (I use guest/guest, for Cingular you’ll use “WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM” as the username and “CINGULAR1” as the password) in the appropriate fields.

That’s it! Let me know if it works for you. I don’t believe my settings are getting the most out of the device’s EDGE support, so I’ll be tweaking as I learn more. Credit to Ross Barkman and Tim Hatch for the original scripts I tweaked to make it work.