BlackBerry® PlayBook™

[TheSpoon]

Hi,

I was wondering if its possible to have my playbook connect to my laptop via bluetooth and use my laptops internet that way. (I already know the pb doesnt support ad-hoc) as my wireless doesnt reach all areas of my house.

Cheers

[John_Clark]

Sorry, that is not supported. The Playbook will only connect to a BlackBerry for Internet service.

[jerryg50 · Accepted solution]

Your laptop cannot act as a Bluetooth modem server. Most mobile Smart Phones can work as a Bluetooth tethered modem. If you have a Smart Phone that can act as a WiFi hotspot this will also work.

The Playbook can also be tethered using the bridge feature. The bridge feature works only with Blackberry phones that support the bridge software. The bridge mode for internet access is not as good and as fast as using it tethered to the phone.

Jerry G.

[newideas2005]

You also cannot use Appworld via Blackberry Bridge or apply system updates. 

[jerryg50]

Yes! The PB can only be updated with WiFi. This is an aspect I don't like about it.

It should have been designed to allow updates with tethering. That is one thing that disapoints me.


Jerry G.

[John_Clark]

Why?? I would NEVER trust a mobile connection to do an update that is so large and with the possibility of bricking the device....no way.

[jerryg50]

A properly designed mobile device that can do updates over the mobile network, such as the Blackberry phone; is supposed to download the complete file, and do a file CRC check, parity check, and then a full integrity check before executing the install. When you download files using your computer, the OS does this type of thing before it allows the install.

Jerry G. 

[John_Clark]

While I'm sure its possible you could download a 400MB file over the mobile network my guess is the carriers would cry foul and are the likely reason it doesn't work this way.

[knottyrope]

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John_Clark wrote:
While I'm sure its possible you could download a 400MB file over the mobile network my guess is the carriers would cry foul and are the likely reason it doesn't work this way.

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agreed

[jerryg50]

For people who operate tablets and tether to a laptop, it is possible to easily require a 3 GB or greater plan size over the mobile network. I use a laptop tethered to my Blackberry. I average 2 GB or greater per month of data usage just for the laptop. I have gone as high as 4 GB per month. A 400  mb to 600 mb file once in a while would not be an issue.

Jerry G.