Reader Christopher Mahoney is in a sharing mood, especially when it comes to his PDA.
Is it possible to share the DSL broadband connection I use for my iBook with my Bluetooth-equipped Palm?
From one Christopher to another, it is. Bruce McKenzie’s bioneural.blog offers instructions for sharing just such an Internet connection over Bluetooth. His instructions require some work in Terminal, as well as a fair amount of mucking about in the Mac’s and the Palm’s preferences, but after some trial and error, you might make the connection.
As if that lukewarm recommendation wasn’t enough of a clue, I have a better scheme in mind involving Mark/Space’s The Missing Sync for Palm OS. It’s a very capable tool for synchronizing your Palm device with Apple’s iCal and Address Book and Microsoft Entourage. (And unlike Palm’s HotSync Manager, The Missing Sync works with Tiger.) But beyond its syncing capabilities, The Missing Sync also makes it a snap to share an Internet connection between Bluetooth-equipped Macs and Palm devices.
After enabling Bluetooth on both devices, select The Missing Sync’s Internet Sharing Assistant (Help: Internet Sharing Assistant). Walk through Sharing Assistant’s instructions, and you’ll be browsing the Web with your Palm in no time.