I recently had the opportunity to upgrade to a new BlackBerry 8830. It has several bells and whistles (improved keyboard, GPS, voice activated dialing, etc.) but perhaps most importantly, I now have the ability to use my BlackBerry 8830 as a wireless modem on the Sprint wireless network with my laptop.

12/6/09 Update – I recently upgraded to a Blackberry 9630. The 8800 modem script works for the 9630, too (I couldn’t find a modem script explicitly for the 9630 so when I tried the script for the 8800, it connected just fine). It should also be noted that the link to the modem scripts below DOES work for Mac OS 10.6 as I’m also running that now, too.

Internet access anywhere there’s a cell signal

No more having to pay $9.95 at each airport I sit in for Internet access. I’ll basically have Internet access wherever I have a cell phone signal!

Here’s how:

1. Install the BlackBerry 8800 modem scripts in Macintosh HD > Library > Modem Scripts
2. Pair your BlackBerry with your Mac (I have a MacBook Pro which has built-in Bluetooth functionality). To do this: Apple Menu > System Preferences > Network > Bluetooth and click the “Set Up Bluetooth Device…” button. Follow the prompts to pair your device.
3. For the Sprint wireless network, you need to enter the following configuration information in the Bluetooth settings for Modem connectivity:
   1. Telephone Number:  wap.sprint.com
   2. Account Name & Password fields can both be left blank

I recently upgraded from a Blackberry 8700 (on the T-mobile network) to an 8703e on the Sprint network. The primary reason was so that I could get a local phone number for business as well as access corporate e-mail, etc. Previously, I did not have cell phone service with my 8700, just enterprise e-mail service. Now I have the best of both worlds.

My main gripe right now is that the phone quality is really poor. I can’t tell if this is the design of the Blackberry or if it’s Sprint’s network. Calling my wife’s cell phone our or home Vonage line with my old Nokia 6820 on Cingular’s network results in a much better quality call that doesn’t drop. In a week of use, I’ve experienced poor phone quality and more frequently dropped calls. Apparently it’s also difficult for people on the other end of the line to hear me at times, whereas with my Nokia, they can hear me just fine.

Phone quality problems aside, my life is just about perfect with this phone. E-mail, internet, ssh client, AIM, Yahoo! IM, Google Chat, Gmail, SMS messaging, and the ability to look at Word/PDF attachments makes traveling much more convenient. It’s a great enterprise phone for the business user, but still lacks the following:

• mp3 playback
• video playback
• HTML e-mail support
• no camera
• web browsing experience is OK, but still is not a “true” browser, despite its emulation capabilities

I still am highly anticipating the iPhone. However, with just about all of my life consolidated into one device (I forward my calls from my old Nokia on my Cingular account to my BlackBerry, now), I may wait until the second generation iPhone instead. This is almost good enough for me to not really need the iPhone, but it still doesn’t quite do everything. I have yet to purchase a true iPod (I just have an iPod Shuffle), so the iPhone essentially solves that need, plus gives me the added benefits of being able to do just about everything else I could ask.

For now, The Blackberry continues to be an excellent tool for business use.