How to Connect to the Internet Using a Cell Phone & Home Computer

Use your cell phone for an Internet connection

More and more people are telecommuting from home these days, which means having a consistent Internet access is important. If your Internet connection occasionally drops or cuts out completely having a backup might be a good idea. Using your cell phone with a data plan is a smart way to back up your Internet connection on your home computer, as it can be relatively fast and inexpensive.

Things You'll Need

• Cell phone data plan
• Cell phone data cable

Instructions

1. Get a cell phone data plan from your cell phone service. You can do this by simply calling them and asking to be signed up for a plan. this will allow you to use your phone to surf the Internet or to use it as a modem for your computer. It costs between $10-$30 for such plans.

2. Get a cell phone data cable. This will allow your cell phone and your home computer to communicate with one another. You can find these on line (see Resources below) for between $15-$30.

3. Turn your computer on. Connect the data cable to your cell phone and plug the other end into the USB port on your computer. Wait for a few seconds and you will get a "New Hardware Found" message, and it will ask you to install the drivers for it.

4. Click on "Have Disk," and then click "Browse." Insert the disk that came with your data kit into the CD-ROM drive and click "Next." Your computer will find the drivers and begin installing them. Wait until they are installed and then click "Finish."

5. In Windows go to the "Start Menu," then "Network" then "Network and Dial-Up Connection." At the top click "Network and Sharing Center." On the left choose "Setup a Connection or Network."

6. Choose "Setup a Dial Up Connection." Enter the user name and password. For most carriers in the United States it is "Guest" (without the quotes) for both user name and password. For other countries see Resources below.

7. Enter the phone number. This will vary from carrier to carrier but these are the numbers for the following carriers.

   Cingular/AT&T *99***2# or *99# (try both).
   Verizon, try #777
   Sprint is also #777

   If yours isn't listed you will need to contact your service provider.

8. Name your connection and click "Save."

9. Click on the connection that you've just created and hit "Dial." Wait for a few seconds and it will connect to the Internet. Once it has open your browser and surf normally.

References

• Internet Patrol: How to connect to the Internet

Resources

• Taniwha.org: Internet password, and user names