Using Windows Mobile phone from HTC as UMTS modem for Deskop and Notebook PC Computers

You don’t need PCMCIA card or external wireless modem - you can use your Windows Mobile phone as a very good wireless modem! Here we show how to do it!

If you need back-up connection at home (in case your DSL or cable modem are broken) or in hotel or underway - you can use your Windows Mobile phone as wireless modem! Here, in this article, we depict usage of Windows Mobile phone as UMTS modem but the same applies to other cellular technologies such as GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA and HSUPA. Of course it is possible to use PCMCIA card as wireless modem too, but these cards have tendencies to use up too much system resources and anyway some computers (like ultra small notebooks or desktop PCs) don’t have PCMCIA card slot.

Firstly, to be sure that ActiveSync installed in your PC will not be in conflict with your modem, disable USB connections in ActiveSync (uncheck the “Allow USB connections” checkbox):

Then unpack the USB modem driver from CD-ROM that was included with your Windows Mobile phone - to some directory, for example “D:\USB Modem”, that after unpacking/decompression should contain 2 files: USBMDM.INF (the modem driver setup), USBModem_Dialer.exe (helper program from HTC to initiate connections).

Then in your Windows Mobile phone click on application “Wireless Modem” in “Programs”, and click on “Start” button in this applicaiton (at the beginning all three squares - “Connection”, “Send Data”, “Receive Data” will be presented in black color):

Now please connect with USB cable your Windows Mobile phone to the PC (desktop PC or notebook PC or UMPC), and driver installation will be initiated, where you should select folder with the driver (in our example: “D:\USB Modem”). The “Connection” box in “Wireless Modem” application above will become yellow - to indicated that your Windows Mobile phone is connected with PC. After successful modem installlation a new modem should appear in your PC: “HTC USB Modem (WirelessModem)”. Once you see this modem you could use manual setup and special dial-up sequences with “AT” at the beginning, or you can use “USBModem_Dialer.exe” program provided with the driver, which is a HTC USB Modem Dialer that does the work for you:

… and with which you can easily dial the Internet connection using your Windows Mobile phone as wireless modem. The “Send Data” and “Receive Data” boxes in “Wireless Modem” application will now be blinking in blue and green colors (see above) when data is being uploaded or downloaded.

Please note: in case of problems you may want to uncheck “Preset GPRS connections” dialog box in “Options” dialog of “Wireless Modem” application in Windows Mobile. The word “GPRS” obviously is generic and refers to all types of connections including UMTS, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, although some operators may have different APN (Access Point Name) for different types of cellular data transmission technologies (but usually it is the same across all of them).

After successful dial-up with HTC USB Modem dialer you are connected to Internet and can use Internet connection in your PC very quickly and in much reliable way than with use of Bluetooth or infrared. So you see that your Windows Mobile phone is not just a phone, it’s not just a PDA, bu also a very good wireless modem, also available with high-speed technologies such as UMTS and HSDPA.