Intro
If you have a BlackBerry and don’t want to pay for a separate mobile broadband aircard or the additional fees charged by your carrier to use your BlackBerry as a modem this app will do the trick. The new app Tether (formerly TetherBerry), is now available on the BlackBerry App World. Even better, the software is on sale for $19.99, 60% off its normal price of $50. It’s currently the number 1 paid app and they even offer a free trial.
Install
The install of Tether is simple, download the app on your BlackBerry and the software on your computer. The PC software install is simple, and requires the BlackBerry desktop software, which the Tether installer will prompt you to install. The install on a Mac is just as easy, simple mount the installer and click next until it’s done. The Tether software for both Mac and PC creates a virtual network card, so do be alarmed if you see a new one in your network connections.
Connecting
Once everything is installed, simply open the Tether app on the BlackBerry and on your computer. You’ll choose USB or Bluetooth and off you go. It’s that simple. You can move the Tether app to run in the background of the BlackBerry so you can continue to use it.
Speed and Data
You can expect the same speeds using Tether that an aircard from your cell provider would give. I’m using a Verizon Tour 9630 and SpeedTest.net gave me about 1 mbps download and 300 kbps upload.
For those that don’t have an unlimited data plan, the Tether software on the computer side will keep track of your data usage. You can even set a range of dates, so you can see how much you’ve used that month.
Conclusion
Tether is deal at $50 compared to the monthly fees of $60 or more for a mobile broadband aircard, and at the limited time cost of $20 it’s a steal. With a simple, clean, and intuitive interface it makes Tethering your blackberry a quick and easy and it’s a must have app for any Connected Commuter.
with this program work with Sprint phone???
Yes, it should work with any service provider as long as you’re using a BlackBerry.
Is this serious? Verizon was sure to scare me straight before I ever tried. They said that additional fees would be applied if I tethered my blackberry device without paying their fee. Is this hot air on their end? Do you have Verizon and do it without getting additional fees?
I use it on a Verizon Tour and haven’t gotten any overage fees so I think you should be ok (as long as you have an unlimited data plan.)
My wife and I both have the blackberries. I downloaded and am currently demoing Tether. It works great. I was wondering if there was a way, or if Tether offered additional licenses for a lesser cost. My wife and I use the same computer, however we are not both together and an additional license would solve the problem.
There’s no way that I know of nor did I see the ability to buy a multiple use license. Once you purchase the software it’s linked to a specific BlackBerry via its PIN (Which you can see by going to Options->Status on the phone).
If you know who is going to use the software you can change the BlackBerry PIN that your copy is registered to on Tethers web site. It’s a pain to switch back and forth, but it saves $50.
I have a vzw bb tour and I followed the instructions to the letter and it isn’t working. What should I do
I use this with Virgin Mobile unlimited service on a BBY 8530. It costs $35 monthly with 300 mins of voice. Speeds average 500k to 1.5 MB down 25 to 100k up depending on the time of day. This is done accessing mostly static web pages with occasional You Tube and flash web sites. Tether was more that worth the $30 for the download.