In any case, I naively assumed that it would all be wine and roses, everything would work perfectly, and I would be able to easily do seemingly simple things like sharing my sweet new 3G connection over Airport with anyone else who happened to be working in my general vicinity. Upon eagerly tearing open the modem packaging and plugging it in though, I discovered pretty quickly that this sh*t is UGLY.

First of all, I couldn’t just plug in and get going. The Mac drivers for this thing aren’t part of OSX, and AT&T didn’t even bother to include them in the modem package. I had to go to some third party website and download them (support.option.com/att.) At least they took the time to write that in tiny type on page 30 of the manual.

Secondly, the third party application added a whole bunch of ugly, seemingly unnecessary network interfaces, and REMOVED all my EXISTING network interfaces. Clearly this wasn’t going to work. Not only could I not share my 3G connection with any other interface (since they’d all been disappeared,) but I couldn’t use any of my other interfaces at all until I disconnected the 3G.

[On a side note: googling the problem has indicated that this is also a major problem for Parallels and VMWare installs, which rely on adding network interfaces to get access to the host connection. Disappearing them all means that the guest OS can't access the 3G connection.]

But enough about the problem. Here’s my solution. Basically an updated version of the solution found here: Imperfect Workaround.

This works with the AT&T USBConnect Quicksilver Modem with DataConnect package, and Leopard (OS 10.5) on a Macbook Air.

1. Install GlobeTrotter software as indicated by Quicksilver manual (Download from support.option.com/att — download link is tiny somewhere in the middle of that big blank page.)
2. Plug in card and run GlobeTrotter Connect
3. Connect and ensure your card is working this way
4. Disconnect and quit GlobeTrotter Connect
5. Open System Preferences, and click on “Network” (Choose “Edit Locations” in the Location dropdown menu, then choose “GlobeTrotter Connect” and click the “-” button.)
6. Delete the “GlobeTrotter Connect” location
7. Delete all of the weird network interfaces that GlobeTrotter has added (mine were called something like ‘Icon 322 Modem,’ ‘Icon 322 Diag’ etc.)
8. Hit the ‘+’ button at the bottom of the interface list
9. Choose Interface: Icon322 Control. Call it whatever you want (mine is called ‘Evil 3G Control’)
10. In the right-hand pane, enter this information:
• Configuration: Default
• Telephone Number: ISP.CINGULAR
• Account Name: ISPDA@CINGULARGPRS.COM
• Password: CINGULAR1
11. Click the “Advanced” button.
12. In the “Modem” tab, choose:
    • Vendor: Other
    • Model: Option GlobeTrotter 3G
13. Leave everything else as-is, and click OK
14. Click Apply, the click Connect.

This should get you connected. I have found it to be very slightly tempermental, but not too bad. I’m not sure what will happen if you uninstall the GlobeTrotter application — if you try this, let me know what happens!

Leave me a comment if you got this to work, or had problems with it!

I’m here to tell you the good news. There’s hope, and it comes with a 15 day free trial.

First of all: it would be remiss of me not to mention GCalSync—an up-and-coming open source solution that lets you sync Google Calendars to Blackberries OTA. However, wonderful as GCalSync is, it’s a tad lacking in the Google Apps for my Domain arena (it won’t let me use my GApps login directly, and attempting to download calendar data from my “private calendar” URL results in all of my events showing up on December 31st, 1969.) That said, although I have not myself attempted it, I hear it downloads events from regular Google Calendars quite well.

But on to the main event: syncing a calendar (or, for an extra $40, calendars) to/from Google Apps for My Domain to your trusty Crackberry.

To achieve this mammoth feat, you will need to:

1) Set up an account with GooSync.

2) Tell them your Google account information. You will not be able to use their (allegedly) magical “auto-setup” utility, or their “you don’t have to tell us your password” Google Calendar authentication. This is the one thing that’s a little chancy about this operation—you do actually have to give GooSync your password to Google (choose the “I want to use password authentication” checkbox.) Therefore, you should likely not use the same password for Google that you use for your bank account, or the nuclear missile silo. Although if you ask me, any company that’s based in Wolverhampton Science Park is bound to be trustworthy.

3) Visit Nexthaus using your Blackberry’s default web browser and download and install their excellent SyncJE client software (http://www.nexthaus.com/bb/syncjebb.jad.)

4) Open the SyncJE client, select “Settings”, and enter:

• Server URL: http://www.goosync.com/sync/sync.aspx
• User Name: [your goosync username]
• Password: [your goosync password]
• Check “Calendar” and set: Foldername: Calendar

5) Hit Save.

6) Select “Start Sync.” When it completes, you should be able to see your Google Calendar events in your Blackberry calendar!

7) (Optional) Pay Nexthaus $29.95 to get a license so that you can sync for more than 15 days.

8) (Optional) Sync multiple calendars by upgrading your GooSync account (~$40 extra). Once you’ve upgraded, go to the “My Device” screen in your GooSync web console, and click the “Change…” link to the right of “Sharing 1 Calendar.” GooSync automagically loads all of the calendars you have set up as Shared Calendars in your Google Calendar account. It lets you name them, and events from that calendar will show up prepended with [calendarname] in your Blackberry calendar.

As you may have discerned, I am mightily excited about this. Now all I need to make Google Apps truly mobile is a Contacts sync (which GooSync says is in the works).

Note about my setup: I did this on a Blackberry 7130e on Verizon’s network.  To get it to work on a co-worker’s Blackberry Pearl with T-Mobile, I had  to configure their TCP to use T-Mobile’s APN: Go to Options > Advanced Options > TCP, and set APN to wap.voicestream.com.

For other networks, search for “[network name] WAP APN”.

But I digress. I got a Blackberry. Now I could install all of those lovely Java apps that Google is releasing these days, right? This was very exciting. Seriously exciting—I ripped open the box the minute it arrived.

Sadly, my euphoria was short-lived. After some back and forth with Verizon, my phone was activated and online. But, every time I tried to install a Java application (mobile Gmail, mobile Google maps, Opera Mini, etc., etc.) I got this error:

HTTP Error 406: Not Acceptable

The page you are trying to load is not supported by the browser. Please try loading a different page.

Details: 200: Application can not accept the content [text/vnd.sun.j2me.app-descriptor]

I’ll admit it, I pouted.

And then I did some research. And waited on hold with RIM customer service for about 3 hours.

What I discovered was this: my Blackberry was formerly part of a monolithic corporate network. It was chained to an Enterprise Account. The all-powerful IT Department bestowed their Security Policy upon it. And now, that Security Policy, much like a hot iron brand, is officially with it for life. Wiping the device cannot remove it. Kicking, screaming, and threatening to sue RIM cannot remove it. The original owner’s IT Department can remove it, by sending a new Security Policy, but that would involve figuring out who and where they are, and persuading them to do work that they have pretty much zero incentive to do.

The Security Policy seared onto my Blackberry does not allow third party apps to be installed. So, I would be right back where I was with my WM5 phone if it weren’t for the Awesome Power of the Internet.

Here’s your solution

If you are also having this problem, you may want to take a quick look at this page: http://blackberry.ig3.net/

Now, I’m still in a little bit of a pickle, because I don’t have a PC. Therefore, I’m stuck trying to make Parallels play nice with USB devices. When (and if) I get it all to work out, I’ll post an update.

The Update

The workaround is great—the only problem I had was getting my Windows running under Parallels to recognize my Blackberry. I finally gave up and just used an old PC laptop we had lying around the office.

[Update (02/27/2006): Speakeasy sent me a bill this morning that included an $150 “missed appointment fee”. That’s the final straw. I am never, ever recommending Speakeasy to anyone ever again. Sign up with Verizon, everyone—the same crappy service for 1/3 the price!]

[Note: I still recommend Speakeasy as a great ISP with fantastic customer service. I am treating this particular experience as anomalous because my past experiences have been so good. Still, be warned, Speakeasy! My beneficience only goes so far…]

Joe,

I just wanted to drop you a line to thank you for your help with my install, and also to let you know about a few things I think you could do to provide future customers with a more positive experience.

First of all, adequate communication with covad is absolutely essential. I missed an appointment even though I was at home solely because my buzzer is broken, and the covad tech had the wrong contact phone number for me. This despite the fact that I had called you to specifically mention that exact scenario as a concern, and to request that you update my contact information (as it was incorrectly listed in MySpeakeasy).

To add insult to injury, that was the second time I had taken the day off work to wait at home for the tech to come—the first time, covad rescheduled—but I was not alerted to this change until the daily update e-mail arrived. It was lucky that I took the time to actually read all the way to the end of it, or I would have waited around all day long instead of for only half of it. Equally lucky is the fact that I was able to check e-mail at all, thanks to a very temperamental open wireless network. Which brings me to my second point: phone communication with the customer awaiting setup is INCREDIBLY important, ESPECIALLY in the face of schedule changes.

Finally, and most importantly of all, you should immediately abolish the second technician visit from your setup. I was shocked and amazed to find out after more than two weeks without DSL that I didn’t need the second technician at all to start using it. I could have done that part of the install myself in approximately 27 seconds. I can’t really state this strongly enough. I, and probably most of your customers, depend greatly on high speed Internet service for their livelihood. The minimization of the period during which the customer is without the Internet at home is of the utmost importance.

I am actually stunned that I could have called you up 3 or 4 times to try to bump up my technician date without you ever seeing fit to mention that I could complete the install myself. I quite clearly remember articulating that the reason I wanted a sooner install was that Internet access was extremely important to me. I assumed, as I’m sure many of your customers do, that you wouldn’t want to waste a technician’s time with something that the customer could do very well on their own, or I would have tried it out sooner.

I’m not discounting altogether the idea of having a technician stop by to make sure everything is 100% kosher, I just can’t imagine why you wouldn’t help the customer get up and running in the meanwhile—if only to stop them calling and whining at you about how much they need the Internet!

All of this has been especially disheartening because up until this point, I have never received anything but the best service from Speakeasy. I pay the premium for your service because I don’t WANT to have to deal with the mockery of service that Verizon et al. offer. I hope sincerely that you will take at least some of this to heart, because I think you’re a great company, and I would very much like to see you wrest as much business as possible away from the service-impaired ISPs of the world. You’re not going to do that with the kind of service that I received.

Thank you again for the work you did on my behalf—in spite of the rant, I do appreciate that I now have DSL. And thanks for reading the rant (if you indeed did read it in its entirety).

Samantha