How to Use/Tether Your Cell Phone as a Modem

Recently T-mobile stopped supporting the tether feature for all their phones besides Blackberry devices and Windows Mobile devices. Reason being is the browsing experience these phones provide can be sometimes unreliable and somewhat bandwith compromising to the network. They won't shut you down if you are currently using them, but if you call for new setup instructions they will not be provided. Lucky you found me! I currently use my phone as a modem and I am a cell phone enthusiast who is planning on using this blog to give instructions and provide walkthroughs on how to fix common problems, or get around some common issues in this field. If you have any questions or walkthroughs you need please email me at justanswerjamie@gmail.com.

How To Use Your Cell Phone As a Tethered Modem.

First things first. You need software. The software for every brand of phone holds the drivers to have your computer recognize the phone as a modem instead of a mass storage device.

Motorola- Motorola USB and Charging drivers 32 bit
Samsung- Samsung PC Studio 3
Nokia- Nokia PC Suite

These are the most common and I will be adding more as the instructions are asked for.

Next thing is the correct data package for T-mobile. In order for your phone to work as a modem you need minimum the 24.99 unlimited Smartphone data package. Yes I know these aren't smartphones, but with the recent changes the cell phone tower actully pulls the imei off of the phone and will give an upsell message if you try to use another data package. You can ask for this package even if you don't own a smartphone.

Last but not least XP or Vista.

The instructions are pretty much the same but lookout for the notes for certain differences in Vista.


1. Download the software and install.

2. Close the software, the only reason we need it is for the drivers.

3. Plug the device to the computer. You should see the new hardware wizard for a few seconds.

4. On the computer go to Start>Control Panel. Make sure you are in classic view.

5. Open Phone and Modem options. You are going to see one of two things. Either it will ask you to input your location information in order to continue, or it will have 3 tabs at the top (Dialing rules, modems, advanced.) If it asks for location, put in your area code of your phone and click ok, you should now see the 3 tabs.

5. Click on the modems tab.

6. Highlight the modem (Samsung, Nokia or Motorola USB modem) and select properties.

7. *If using Vista on the general tab, click change settings at the bottom of the tab.

8. Click on diagnostics. Click query modem. What we are looking for here is a bunch of stuff to pop up in the box above the button, it doesn't matter what it says as long as it does that. That means we are talking to the modem and it is working correctly. If that happens move on to step nine. If you see an error that the port is in use by another program, or that there was an error communicating with the modem please make sure the software is closed, and any antivirus/firewalls are disabled at this time. (Don't worry, we will enable them later)

9. Click on Advanced.

10. On the Advanced tab you will see an empty field labeled "Extra initialization command" or something similar. We are going to type some stuff in that box. If the box is greyed out and you can't type, you are using vista and need to go back to the general tab, look towards the bottom and select change settings. Give windows permission to continue and go back to Advanced. Now you can type.

What you type here is going to depend on the device. The three I have listed only use this one. If you are using blackberry or another device, this will not work. Type this exactly as any typos will make it not work. And you can not copy/paste this as there is hidden code that will make it not work as well.

+cgdcont=1,"IP","internet2.voicestream.com"

Close this screen and go back to the control panel.

11. Open up Network Connections, or Network and Sharing Center on Vista.

Network connections-
Click create new connection
Click "Connect to the Internet" and click next
Click "Set up my connection manually" and next
Click "Set up my connection using a dial up modem" and next
Put a check in the box of the correct modem and click next. Make any other modem is not checked.
Connection name change to "T-mobile modem"
Click next
Dial up phone number is *99#
Click next
User name and password should be left blank, uncheck all boxes.
Click next.
Put a check in the box that offers to create a desktop shortcut.
Click connect or dial

Network and Sharing Center-

Click Set up a connection or network
Click Set up a dial up connection, click next
Choose the correct modem and select next
Dial up phone number is *99#
Username and password is left blank
Connection name change to T-mobile Modem
Click connect or dial.


It should connect after clicking connect or dial. Then you should open up internet explorer (or firefox) and test.

There are tons of errors that you can get if the settings are not correct. I will try to post more about DUN errors and possible fixes another day.