Get internet access anywhere you have a cell signal (Mac Version)

Windows XP Version of this article is here

Required:

• Verizon Wireless, and a phone that has Bluetooth
• Mac OS X 10.4.x
• A computer with Bluetooth

OK, after a lot of fooling, and a lot of searching, I’ve managed to get dialup networking working over Bluetooth at 1X speeds. Since the info was so hard to find, I decided to post the intructions here for reference. Essentially, what needs to be done is to force Internet Connect to authenticate via PAP. However in Mac OS X, there is no option to select PAP authentication, so the system defaults to CHAP/MSCHAP and authentication thus fails when dialing #777. Instead, you must go into the system settings and manually disable CHAP.

Here are my instructions from start to finish:

1. Make sure your vx9800 has paired via bluetooth to your Mac. If you have not set this up, turn on visibility on your phone, and then in Bluetooth preferences, “Set up bluetooth device.” Follow the instructions from there. Make sure that in bluetooth settings on the vx9800, under “paired devices,” the PC Connection is set.

2. Make sure that 1x only is selected on your phone. To change this, click “OK” on the inside keypad to bring up the menu, then press “0″, followed by the service code “000000″. Press 3 for Network select, press 1 for Mode, choose 1x only.

3. On your Mac, open up prefernces, goto Network. Click “Show” and then “Bluetooth.” Click “Bluetooth Modem.” For modem, select “Verizon Support (PC 5220)”. This script should come pre-loaded on Mac OS X.

4. The important step. Open up Applications–>Utilities–>Terminal. Type in the following commands:

cd ../../etc/ppp
sudo pico

Type in your root password. Copy and paste the following lines into the terminal (actually the terminal application pico).

refuse-chap
refuse-mschap
refuse-mschap-v2

Type Control-X to exit pico. it will ask you if you want to save. type Y for yes, then save the file as “options” without parenthesis. hit enter.

In the future, to revert to original default system settings, go open terminal and type

sudo rm ../../ppp/options

5. Open up Applications–>Internet Connect. Click Bluetooth. Fill in the following fields:

Telephone #: #777
Account name:your10digitphonenumber@vzw3g.com
Password: vzw

Click Connect, and you should be able to connect to VZW’s network at 1x speeds. In my testing, this works out to about 17 KBs/sec, a huge improvement over QNC speeds.

UPDATE 5/6/08 – It seems like Verizon has further locked down their network. While the above method will still allow you to connect, you will be trapped behind VZW’s captive portal. In order to get around this, you will need to perform a seem edit on your phone. More information on seem editing (handset specific) can be found in the Verizon section of Howard Forums.