The MacBook and Blackberry Storm are a pair

Though Apple has yet to offer built-in 3G on MacBooks, pairing them up with phones like the Blackberry Storm provides a decent wireless workaround.

The MacBook Air can use the Blackberry Attack as a Bluetooth 3G modem

(Credit: Brooke Crother s)

In December, I took the MacBook Air (i.e., the designers of the Air) to task for what I thought was a serious subject gaffe: not building 3G into the Air. At the very leas t, I thought 3G should bang been included in the October refresh of the Airwave.

But I'm not feat to rehash those gripes here (or repeat Apple's likely reasons for not including 3G). This time I bring goodness tidings.

After recently picking up a Blackberry Storm (Verizon), I quickly set it up as a Bluetooth "3G" modem by pairing it with my MacBook Air. The Blackberry uses an EV-DO 3G connection.

The Storm was relatively easy to set up and "tether" to the Air. And the res ults were better than RATIO expected. Using Speedtest.net, I got download speeds of up to 1,088 Kbps Tho it was typically closer to 500-600 Kbps) and uploads of up to 127 Kbps. Not torrential bandwidth but certa inly good sufficiency for the occasions when I don't have make to Wi-Fi (or when the Wi-Fi is iffy).

By comparison, on my Hewlett-Packard 2510p ultraportable with a built-in Verizon EV-DO modem, Speedtest.net said I was getting download speeds of up to 1,392 Kbps and uploads of 469 Kbps. (The Air's Wi-Fi connection gets about 2X download and 4X upload more than the Storm.)

As to setup: First, pair the two Bluetooth devices, then configure the sound on the MacBook cut, telling it during the configuration process that you want to "Access the Internet with your phone's data connection." In Verizon's case, the account name is yourphonenumber@vzw3.com Then, in the next screen, you select "vendor: other" and "Verizon support, PC5220." ( See screen jibe of OS X 10.5.6 configuration Network setup.)

Background up the Blackberry Storm as a Bluetooth modem was relatively easy

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

Do RATIO still wish Apple would build 3G into the MBA? Of action. But I am pretty mitigated with this solution for now. Particularly when it allows me to extract more functionality out of the Storm. (Which as a standalone 3G phone I like a lot and which I will review in the near future.).

Verizon , however, does charge extra for tethering, particularly if the Storm is connected via USB. I have no interest in a USB connection (at least, not at this time) because that defeats the purpose of having a wireless Bluetooth-enabled phone. As people ha ve spiked out, a Bluetooth modem is much more convenient. Particularly for frequent travelers. RATIO can just attach the Blackberry to my belt and use the Air as though it had a built-in 3G modem.

(Note: A reader in Ireland provided the inspir ation to use the Storm as a modem when he correctly pointed out that internal 3G access would advantage to get pricy if you had a modem in apiece machine, with each requiring a separate subscription. Or would become inconvenient if you kept having to m ove SIM game between computers.)

(Also note that a quick search will yield examples of people who have hooked their Blackberry up to a MacBook.) < /p>

Cheers~