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2. Setting up Data Accounts for Nokia & Ericcson Phones.
3. Setting up Data Accounts for other Phones.
6. Why making a Pseudo Dial-Up.
8. Mail Client (PC and PocketPC).
14. Conclusion and Contact Information
This page was written for setting up a GPRS connection using a GPRS Phone and a PocketPC.
Why did I write this tutorial ? Well, Mobistar included a program for the PocketPC called "E-Mobile" that acts like a conduit
between the phone and the PDA. Unfortunately this program doesn't work like it should. I have a SonyEricsson T68i Phone
and an iPAQ with a Socketcom Bluetooth Card and yet the E-mobile program doesn't let me connect the two using Bluetooth.
The Phone and iPAQ are bonded correctly, all my other programs work using Bluetooth, but for some reason I couldn't choose the Bluetooth option in the e-Mobile program (see Picture 2).
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Off course I wasn't happy with this. After spending a lot of money on Bluetooth equipment I didn't want to use normal Infrared.
So I had to find a workaround.
The most important thing about the GPRS connection is that you have two data accounts. One for a WAP connection that you mostly use on the phone itself and one for an Internet connection that you use on a PDA or Laptop (or with built-in applications
on the phone itself).
So, how do we setup these Data Connections ? Well, if you have a Nokia or Ericsson phone, read the following paragraph. If not, skip onto the next section.
Ericsson or Nokia Phones : Dial the number 5222 on your mobile phone and follow the instructions. Shortly after that an SMS should arrive that will install the necessary Data Accounts for you. If this for some reason wouldn't work, follow the next step to make sure the SMS message was correct.
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Other Phones : This section is also based on the T68i phone (I don't have anything else to try it on). My webcam doesn't work, but
I found a movie on the net that displays which settings you have to choose for setting up a Data Account on the T68i. I assume other phones have a similar place where you can create the Data Accounts. If you're not sure about this, check your user manual.
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Click picture to download clip. |
If you didn't use the SMS or if it didn't work, then create two data accounts. Name one "Internet" and name the other one "M-World". If you select those profiles, you can normally change their "CID". Make sure the CID for the Internet connection is set to 1 and the CID for the Wap connection (M-World) is set to 2. These CID numbers will be needed later, these numbers let you choose which connection you want to use for dial-up for instance.
Setting up the Internet Profile :
1. APN : The first (and most important) thing we need to set up is the APN name. This name identifies to Mobi* which kind
of GPRS connection you want to use. If this name is not entered correctly, you will not be able to make a GPRS
connection. The APN Name for the Internet Profile is "internet.be".
2. User ID : Pretty obvious, the user ID is "mobistar"
3. Password : The password is also "mobistar"
4. IP-Adress : You don't have to enter an IP for the Internet connection. You will be assigned one by Mobistar itself.
5. DNS Information : You also don't have to enter any DNS information for this profile.
1. APN : The APN name for this connection should be "mworld.be"
For steps 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 : Use the same info as with the Internet Profile.
Like I've said, I mainly wrote this tutorial for people who use a GPRS phone in combination with a PocketPC. Configuring a Palm
PDA should be similar I assume although I do not have any experience with this. I also assume that people with a Phone/PDA like the Nokia 7650 don't have to make this Pseudo Dial-Up (see "Built In Mail Client"). This same procedure is also needed when using a GPRS phone with a Laptop or PC. Why do we need a "Pseudo Dial-Up" ? Well, the PC or PDA needs to interact with your phone like it does with a modem. It can't work like a normal dial-up though, because GPRS is an "allways-on" connection. So, to solve this problem, we use a fake dial-up number that tells the phone which GPRS connection to use. This is where the CID numbers (see previous) come in.
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Go to Start - Settings - Connections. Create a new Internet Connection and give it a name. There select which kind of modem you want to use. In my case this is 'Bluetooth Phone'. For you it can be an IRDA modem or a Bluetooth Phone linked to a certain com-port. Set Baud Rate to 115200 Bps. Click next to configure the Dial-Up number. The number is made up like this : "*99***CID#". Just replace CID by the CID number we specified earlier. For a normal internet connection this would be "1" in our case.
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On the next page, uncheck the 'Wait for dial tone' option. After this you can check whether the GPRS connection works or not. Just choose connect and you will see your PDA making a connection. Normally you should also see a connection being made on the phone itself. If the connection fails, this doesn't mean there's something wrong with your setup. I've noticed that GPRS requires a stronger signal than normal GSM, so you won't get a connection every time. I wish GPRS would work every time, but I guess we have to keep in mind this is a 'new' technology and that operators still need some fine tuning to do. |
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PocketPC or Laptop Mail Client :
Here I'll discuss setting up the needed parameters for using a PC or PocketPC mail client. I will use as
example my own PocketPC, although most settings will be similar on other platforms.
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Open up the program "Inbox" and go to Options as shown. There you will have to create a new account. Enter your e-mail adress that you normally use. In the next screen, type in your name. Below that enter your User ID and Password that is provided by your Internet provider (check with your ISP if in doubt). Check 'save password' unless you want to enter your password manually each time. You might want to do this if other people have access to your device. |
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Here you have to give the account you created a name and select which mail server you will log on to. Most ISP's use normal POP3 mail servers. If you use multiple e-mail accounts (like I do), it might be best to name it after your provider. (ISP1, ISP2 etc.). In the second screen we need to enter further mail server information. Incoming mail will be your ISP's mail server. If you're not sure what this should be, check with your ISP. The outgoing mail has to be "gprsmail.mobistar.be". While you're connected to the Mobistar GPRS network, you won't be able to use any other SMTP server. If you choose options, you will come to the screen shown in Picture 6. There you can tell the program how much you want to download for each mail message. If you choose something like 10K, you will mostly receive the full e-mail message, but not any attached files. This is best because you only have a monthly quotum of 10Mb with e-mobile. |
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Now your mail client should be configured correctly. Try connecting to the GPRS network and try receiving or sending
mail. If this shouldn't work, go over all settings again. Make sure that you have GPRS coverage and that your connection
is working. If it still doesn't work, try contacting me.
All other applications will work like with a normal Internet connection. In Internet Explorer you don't have to enter a proxy server or anything. If you're connected to the GPRS network with the Internet profile correctly, you should have no problem browsing the web, chatting on IRC or using instant messaging programs like ICQ.
Built-In Mail Clients (in Phone) :
Some phones or phone/pda combo's have built-in Mail and Surfing capabilities. On my T68i for instance I have a built-in mail
client. I configured it using the same info as mentioned above. This means that you just enter the same server information and
password etc. The difference is that with built in apps in the phone, you normally won't have to do the pseudo Dial-Up. Instead
there normally should be an option in the mail or web client that lets you choose which connection to use. On my T68i for instance
I can tell it to use the Internet Profile for GPRS or I can tell it to use a normal Dial Up connection. I assume that on the Nokia 7650 there should be a similar option. So after creating an Internet Data Account and after setting up your mail client, you just have to tell
the mail program that it has to use your Internet Data Account to connect to the web. I don't have a Nokia 7650 so I can't test it, thus feel free to send me one for testing purposes :-) If in trouble, feel free to contact me, but I advise you to first check your settings and
make you sure you have completely read your user manual.
Like Built In Mail clients, your phone Wap browser can use different connections. So first you have to set up the correct Wap gateway and then you have to specify which connection to use. In our case it would be the "M-World" Gprs connection that we
created earlier. Now for the Wap browser information :
Homepage : http://wap.mobistar.be (or anything else you'de like)
IP : 212.065.063.143
User ID - Password : Leave these blank. Normally your Wap GPRS profile should contain all the needed authorisation info.
Personally I prefer Wap over normal Web browsing on a PDA. Wap sites are smaller, so they load quicker and they are better
viewed on a PDA screen. Setting up Wap on your PC or PDA is easy. All you have to do is connect using the 'Internet GPRS' profile and then use a Wap program to browse Wap sites. There are several programs out there that you can use on the pocketpc
or pda. These are two Wap Clients for the PocketPC that I like : www.apachesoftware.com and www.ezos.com .
I have gotten some feedback that the pseudo dial-up doesn't allways work. I've had the same problem myself, 5 out of 10 times
the pseudo dial-up doesn't work like it should. I will try and contact Mobistar on this although it's very difficult to find someone
there who has some extended knowledge on the e-Mobile platform. Untill then you can try doing a pseudo dial-up to the number
*99# . I've tried this myself and I seem to get more succes with this number. I've also done some speed testing and my maximum
speed seems to be 21Kbps. Average speed is about 15Kbps. This is much slower than expected so I'll try to contact Mobi* about
that also. Untill then, good luck !
Conclusion + Contact Information :
Version : 1.0
Version : 1.1 (Removed Typo's)
Version : 1.2 (Added Troubleshooting)
Version
: 1.3 (Resolved Incorrect E-mail links)
Version: 1.4 (Minor Details)
Source : My main sources for information were www.ppcw.net and www.my2cents.info .
The video of the T68 phone was also taken from www.my2cents.info , so credits go to him for making it.
I hope this tutorial has been helpful in setting up your e-Mobile connection. You are allowed to distribute this information on
the web, but please always link to this document. That way the information is always up to date. In case you encounter any
problems, feel free to contact me but be sure to provide enough information on which hardware you are using and state the
exact nature of your problem.
Unfortunately, due to the fact that my studies (University and Microsoft Certification in MCDST and MCSA) take up
so much time, I’m not always
able to reply to every e-mail I get. I’ve
received some additional information from visitors which I’ll be adding to this
site shortly.
If you’re interested in employing me, or if you are
just curious about my CV, please
click here.
Kind regards,