How To Use Your CDMA Cell Phone as a
USB Modem on Mac OS X

(a.k.a. the Wireless Internet you already have)

by John R Chang

Update 1/9/06: Alan G. writes: "Between your initial help and his illustrated instructions [Motorola E815 as a Mac OS X modem] I was able to get my mac to use 3G via my Verizon v710 phone."

Update 12/13/05: Chris S. writes: "Per the posted comment about no more iSynching the v710, you might want to point readers to an easy fix: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050501151747917

Update 11/22/05: Dan M. writes: "VZW's motorola V710 has bluetooth, and can be used in OSX. i use it with my powerbook all the time through bluetooth, though it is only usable as a modem -- the bastards disabled OBEX so no contact syncing. also, re your VZW update, the "#777" internal VZW service still works, though for the service that i use the username is now "@vzw3g.com"."

Update 8/8/05: Bruce T. writes: "I read your installation instructions and, even though you said they were reported as no longer working, decided to try them anyway. Everything works perfectly. I used the Modem script already in the system (Tiger), called "Verizon Support (PC 5220)", which I guess really shouldn't work, but does perfectly. I am only getting 14.4, but that's all I was trying for."

Update 1/22/05: For Verizon Wireless users: Apparently "Mobile Office" and "Express Network" are gone. The new names are "Quick 2 Net" and "NationalAccess". Although the documents on their web site still match the following instructions, I've been told that it no longer works. I am no longer a Verizon Wireless customer so I can't investigate. Please contact Verizon Wireless for more information, or scroll to the bottom for a link to the help forum.

Original 12/1/02.

Here's how you can get your Mac on the Internet through your CDMA cell phone (Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, etc). If you have a GSM cell phone (e.g. T-Mobile, Cingular, AT&T), see instead How To Use Your GSM Cell Phone as a Bluetooth Modem in Mac OS X.

I discovered that Verizon Wireless has this nifty service called Mobile Office, which allows you to use your cell phone as a 14.4 kbps wireless modem for your computer—at no extra charge! Note that this is not the same thing as their optional Mobile Web service, which is for WAP-enabled cell phones and costs extra per month. Of course, your cell phone needs to be a data-capable digital one, but even the discounted low-end phone I got when I signed up (the Motorola V. Series 120c) is one.

"The Mobile Office service is available in all Verizon Wireless digital markets." "There's no additional access fee for Mobile Office service because it's an included feature of your Verizon Wireless digital service. Mobile Office calls are taken from your packaged minutes just like your voice calls."

Now, both Verizon and Motorola sell "data kits" which contain all the cables, manuals, and software you might need. Unfortunately, 1) they cost $70-80, and 2) they don't support Mac OS X. So what do you do?

1. Buy a USB Data Cable (not the whole USB Data Kit) for your phone.
   
   
2. Mac OS X probably supports your phone out-of-the-box, so you can most likely skip this step. [Note: I've been told this is not necessarily true with the new t720 and perhaps others.]

   If you're using a non-supported phone or you are still using Mac OS X v10.1 (seriously?), you can try patching your existing USB modem driver to recognize the phone. When I first got the cable, I ripped open the package and plugged it into my iBook, but darn it, the phone didn't show up in Network Pref. Being the geek that I am, I came up with the following solution:

   Download and install the AppleUSBCDCDriver Patch package, intended for Mac OS X versions 10.1.3, 10.1.4, and 10.1.5 only. [The package replaces the older manual hacking instructions, preserved for the technically curious.]

3. Plug your phone into your computer.
   
   
4. Open System Preferences and select Network. If you did everything above correctly, you should see
   
   Congratulations!

5. Now, you need to install a modem script.
   
   
   1. Download the modem script for your phone. Verizon's Macintosh User Guide PDF includes links to the various drivers they provide. You can probably get away with the generic Verizon_Wireless_STD_Driver (mirror). The Files section of the maccellphone group contains additional modem scripts.

   2. Put it in /Library/Modem Scripts. You don't need to restart.
   3. In Network pref, select "Motorola Phone" from the list of network ports.
   4. Click the Modem tab and select your modem script (the one you just installed) from the "Modem" pop-up menu. [Jose Vela notes that you may need to turn off "Wait For Dial Tone" on some configurations.]

      

6. Configure for your ISP.
   
   
   1. In Network pref, make sure "Motorola Phone" is selected.
   2. Click the PPP tab.
   3. If you use Verizon Wireless, you can use their built-in ISP called Quick 2 Net:
      • Type qnc as the Account Name.
      • Type qnc as the Password.
      • Type #777 as the Telephone Number.
      Otherwise, fill in the fields with the account info of your ISP (EarthLink Network, corporate dial-up pool, etc).

   [Michael Kincaid writes that "mail.airbridge.net should work for non-authenticated SMTP." Ralph Strauch says that smtp.airtouch.net "is no longer valid. That server is now down."]

   [Randal L Schwartz writes in about configuring for the Express Network.]

That's it!

Well, maybe. If you can get Mac OS X to dial your cell phone, and the phone says "Connected" but won't establish a PPP connection, you might need a firmware update for your phone. Initially, my cell phone would dial and connect almost immediately, but then it would hang up, and Mac OS X would say "No carrier detected. Please check phone line connection and try again." I called *611, and Verizon checked my phone and said that I just need to take it to a Verizon dealer for a free software update. On a V120c, you can check the firmware version by selecting Menu -> Settings -> Phone Status -> Other Information -> S/W Version. Version "2000.08.B2" didn't work, but version "2100.03.28.05" works beautifully. Thanks, Verizon!

Compatibility

Many popular cell phone models, including most Motorola V. Series and Timeport phones may work, and with ISPs such as EarthLink Network as well Please check the maccellphone group for specific information.

• The Files section contains drivers, modem scripts, and other information.
• The Database section contains a table of hardware compatibility information.

FAQ

• Q. Can you help me? I have <phones, service provider, etc>
  A. Please use the maccellphone site.
  
  
• Q. I followed your directions but couldn't get my computer to detect my phone (as shown in Step 4).
  A. Quit System Preferences and relaunch it. Try restarting your computer. Use Apple System Profiler to see if your computer actually detects your phone as being plugged in. If not, it is a problem with your cable or you are using an incompatible phone.
  
  
• Q. My computer detects my phone, but I am having problems establishing a reliable connection.
  A. Try a different modem script (available in Files). Look through Verizon's Mobile Office web site. If all else fails, contact Verizon tech support, as Mobile Office is a supported feature of your existing service plan. I found Verizon's tech support to be surprisingly knowledgeable and helpful. You may need a firmware update, and they can tell you all about that.
  
  
• Q. What about Mac OS 9 support?
  A. This web site focuses on Mac OS X. I've been told that Rob McKeever has a freeware Motorola USB driver. I believe Verizon and/or Motorola provide a solution for Mac OS 9 with their USB Data Kit (I could be wrong). Of course, my best suggestion is to upgrade to Mac OS X.
  
  
• Q. What about data synchronization (contacts, etc) for Mac OS X?
  A. I don't know of any solutions for non-GSM phones. Alexander Traud's GSM Remote works only for GSM mobile phones. Apple has introduced iSync, which supports Sony-Ericsson GSM phones only at this time. Check also the maccellphone group.
  
  
• Q. What about faxing?
  A. James Bucanek wrote in with some advice. Check also the maccellphone group.
  
  
• Q. How did you figure out how to patch the driver? I want to do the same for my phone.
  A. Here is all the technical information I can provide. If you figure out some useful information, please post it in the maccellphone group.
  
  
• Q. I have a Windows PC laptop. Can you help?
  A. Switch.

Links

• 8/12/02: Jason Geiger posted instructions on getting it to work under LinuxPPC.
• Motorola still doesn't get it.

If you have a question, please re-read the above, then visit the maccellphone tech support forum. If you have a comment, you can write to , but I can't respond to individual technical questions. Thanks for understanding.