not arghhh!!
By basd on Jul 25, 2010 | In -arghhh!!
Tethered Verizon Blackberry Tour 9630 running OS 5 works with Cradlepoint PHS300 personal hotspot. An ultimate geek tool -- and no help anywhere to be found, so I'll give you some specifics.
...
For the first hour or so, I thought this was going to be an arghhh!!!+ product. Ie, did not work and the instructions are wrong/misleading. (The instructions talk about "amber" color for the indicator lights, but I have never seen anything but red and green. Initially, a lot of red.)FYI, Cradlepoint allows you to return or upgrade the product for any reason for the first 30 days. Any reason but negligently damaging the unit. (I'll be mentioning how difficult it is to get the battery in and out ...) I bought this knowing my blackberry was officially "not supported," so I would not have been inclined to return it anyway.
The problem with plug'n'pray is that it just works ... except when it doesn't, in which case you have no clue why it is not working. After some research, I had a few clues. The clues were (1) apparently no one has reported a Tour actually working with the PHS300 (2) Blackberry Storms working with OS 4.5 would not work with OS 5.0 (3) a Cradlepoint tech on a forum recently offered to help a forum poster get a Tour working (4) Cradlepoint was reported to be responsive and was allegedly working on a fix for OS 5.0.
- Got mine from Tiger Direct -- good price, but not clear to me I was buying hardware rev. 1 (circa 2008) and not rev. 2 (circa 2009).
- I messed with the modem scripting, etc., thinking that maybe I had to add the scripts (a la Barry). Didn't work.
- My next concern was that since OS 5 has been aggravating me with the requirement to verify generated bluetooth codes, maybe an OS 5 change required some connect verification the Cradlepoint could not respond to. I considered rolling back to OS 4.5, but didn't pursue that.
- HINT 1: BEFORE PUTTING THE BATTERY IN, PUT A RIBBON OR STRONG STRING UNDER IT. The battery is very tight, you will inevitably take it out. I tore up the paper casing on the battery getting it out and I was also extremely worried that I would break some part of the battery compartment using it for leverage to pull the battery. I didn't think of the ribbon idea until after replacing the battery for the third time, so I still have no ribbon behind it -- as the unit is now working.
- The only guide -- the quickstart guide, claims that the battery indicator should be green when power plugged in. Amber when charging. (Wrong on both accounts.) The instructions do not require charging the battery before use if you plug in auxiliary power. My battery indicator started on "red" and stayed red until the battery was fully charged (while plugged in) turned green if I unplugged the power. I then concluded I may have not installed the battery correctly and pulled it to find out. (wrong).
- The quickstart told me the WAN connection (blackberry) light should be amber until connecting and then green. Whaaaa! RED!!! Added problem is that I barely get a verizon signal at my home.
- I connected to the LAN (worked fine) and added WPA2 and passwords. Then I discovered the PHS300 can check for firmware upgrades -- but that would assume it has an internet connection, right? Dang.
- Went to Cradlepoint website via my regular connection. Found the 2.53 firmware update (March 2010). Downloaded. Installed via the Cradlepoint software (browse to location of the downloaded .bin package).
- Cradlepoint then advised it was successful and said not to use the back or refresh browser buttons as this could mess up the firmware install. WTF? Browser trying to refresh, but of course, the Cradlepoint reboot disconnected the lan. In addition, it wasn't about to reconnect, because I had added WPA2/passwords so my computer was attempting to connect via WPA2. However, the firmware upgrade reset the unit to factory mode -- eg., no WPA2. HOWEVER, GOOD NEWS, WAN indicator light was now green. Tour was now reporting it was in modem mode!
- Gave up on browser reload/crash firmware warning, closed browser. Deleted my cradlepoint/wireless connection on computer, added a new one (insecure mode).
- Connected LAN. Re-setup passwords, WPA2.
- Connected IPOD Touch. No problems. (iPhone/iPad lovers, you know what this means, of course.)
- Houston, we have lift-off.
As a geektoy, depending upon product longevity (has a 1 year warranty), I give this a 4.5+. As a consumer item, I say it is a 1.5 -- too many issues in the purchase (hardware rev. # anyone?), unsupported phones, plug'n'PRAY aspects, etc. But then again, which non-geeks even know what this product is or how to locate it, much less why they want one?
PS -- the battery indicator will in fact turn green when the battery is fully charged. Three green lights, Wahooo!!!
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