PDAPhoneHome.com - View Single Post - Tethering (Internet Connection Sharing) the 6800 to your PC

This thread has not seen much action for a while. I have been tethering with my XV6800 without any problem, using a USB cord (my laptop runs WinXP SP2 and does not have Blue Tooth). I used it through a recent trial where there was no WiFi and in hotels that did not offer free WiFi. To do this you need to start VZ's Access Manager on the laptop and Modem Link on the phone. It is important to open the phone's Comm Manager and turn off the phone's data link. Then click Connect in Access Manager. Works fine and the phone recharges the battery while tethered (assuming the laptop is not running on its battery). Costs $15/month, a lot cheaper than getting a card. And since most hotels that don't provide WiFi free charge $10-11/day, it pays for itself very quickly. When I contacted VZ to set this up they told me that I can call them later to turn it off and the monthly charge will be prorated for the days I had the function available. I did not ask but my guess is that this may simply be a billing thing, i.e., you get unlimited data tethering for the monthly fee; otherwise perhaps you get charged by the kb. In terms of navigating the internet this way I did not notice any obvious difference compared to WiFi or even my cable modem. While tethered you can still place and receive calls but you cannot sync wirelessly. As a practical matter, that means the phone will not sync with Outlook (for e-mail, calendar, etc) while tethered. This is not a problem since I can access that stuff and my office network on the internet. Once I disconnect the tether the phone syncs everything. The only annoyance is that while tethered the phone frequently reminds me that it is not syncing any data.

Note: My phone syncs wirelessly with my office desktop (using Intellisync), not my laptop. My firm does not use Exchange. If you sync with the laptop using ActiveSync things may work differently. The $15/month rate may be related to our corporate plan.