Huge cost savings for Canadians travelling to the U.S. with their cell phone

I've had a few clients run up thousand dollar phone bills while travelling into the U.S. For the past few years I've been swapping my Rogers SIM Card for an AT&T SIM card when I cross the border.

Here are the steps to avoid the outrageous $1.45/minute roaming charges from Rogers:

• Unlock your phone by purchasing an unlock code from http://www.gsmphonesource.com. This is required but only has to be done once. If you break your phone and get a replacement you'll have to unlock it again.
• Buy an AT&T prepaid plan from an AT&T corporate store. You have to go in person. Only the corporate stores will let you pick a number anywhere in the U.S. instead of just their local area. A prepaid plan only requires a credit card. The problem with prepaid is that you can only browse the web with the 100 Mb $19.99 data plan. It will not support BIS which is what allows your Blackberry to use it's built in software for email. Custom email apps like Gmail for the Blackberry will still work though!
• Alternative: Buy a monthly plan asking them to waive the $36 activation fee. Don't tell them you're only using it for a trip. Make sure there are zero penalties if you cancel it if you're "unhappy with the service during the first 30 days". Cancel it when you're done your trip. You must register the account to a U.S. address and it's faster if you have a US dollar credit card to pass the credit check. Pick all the options you want on the plan accordingly for minutes, voice mail, texting, and data. AT&T charges extra for tethering if you want to access the internet from your laptop via a Blackberry (or Android phone) with USB cable but this is cheaper than the $10/day most hotels charge for high speed internet in your room.
• With your Canadian SIM still installed call forward your cell phone to the new AT&T cell number. Note this incurs long distance against your Canadian cell long distance plan every time someone calls it. Alternatively, don't call forward and just check your voicemail frequently. Power down your phone. Remove the battery and slide out your SIM card. Replace it with the AT&T SIM card and test calling it from another phone.
• When you return swap out the SIM card, turn off call forwarding. If your email does not work visit http://rogers.blackberry.com or http://bell.blackberry.com and login. Enter your PIN/IMEI at the prompt. If on Google Apps you'll have to re-start or login to the blue Google Sync icon for your contacts and calendar to continue synchronizing.

End result? You pay as low as $29 for 200 minutes instead of $290 or $1.45/minute with Rogers. AT&T has unlimited plans starting at $69.99/month.

Surf the web via your Blackberry - no Internet stick required

Who likes to pay separately for their Internet stick and its data plan?

I've been using Blackberries to surf the web from my notebook (as tethered modems) for over 3 years yet still very few people know about it.  It's never been simple to configure.  There are no additional monthly costs outside of your existing Blackberry data plan.  Make sure you have a 500 Mb/month plan or greater or it's very pricey.

2 ways to make it work via a USB cable which also charges your battery:

• The old way is complex, details are here but it can be done over Bluetooth or a USB cable.
• The new way is to install Blackberry Desktop 5.0.1 or greater and simply click the IP Modem button but this works only with a USB cable

It works on Rogers Wireless and Bell Mobility.  Should work on Telus but I haven't tested it myself.

There's no need for buying software like Tether for Blackberry. I hope this helps a few people save some money.

Connect your computer to the internet via Rogers LG Eve GW620R Android phone

I was wondering if the tricks that work on my Blackberry for modem tethering to let your computer surf the web from anywhere would work on the LG Eve Android phone from Rogers... and it does!

I tested it on Windows 7 32-bit plus Windows XP on Rogers Wireless and the speeds over 3G are excellent.  These instructions should work for Vista too.

1. Install the GW620R LG Eve USB Drivers from the LG Support page
2. Go to Device Manager, Modems, LG Mobile USB modem, Properties, Advanced and add the extra initialization command +cgdcont=1,"IP","internet.com"
3. From Network and Sharing Center, Set up a new connection or network, Connect to the Internet, Create a new connection, Dial-up, Choose LG Mobile USB Modem
4. Dial-up phone number: *99#, User name: wapuser1, Password: wap
5. Optional Step: Dial up Connection Properties, turn off Prompt for name and password, turn of Prompt for phone number so that you don't have to click the extra prompt each time you connect.

Note that there are driver issues with Windows 7 64-bit so I doubt it will work but let me know if it does.

I initially tested PdaNet for Android which works fine but requires repeatedly turning on Settings, Applications, Development, USB Debugging, plus running the app on the phone and the computer.  It also costs $25 after the trial period.

This means there's no need to purchase an internet stick or run extra software to surf the web from your notebook from anywhere!