Configuring AirTel GPRS on Windows Mobile

Recently I purchased a Windows mobile powered handset from Motorola. The model is Motorola Q 9h which is a smartphone loaded with many applications. As internet is ubiquitous these days, even on mobile you need a way to connect to the internet to access e-mails, read news, get stock quotes etc. As my service provider is AirTel, I checked with them regarding availability of internet access plans. As it turns out, they have three plans for internet access:

1. AirTel Live – This comes with limited connectivity. You can access the airtel online site and a few others like Yahoo. But there is no charge for this plan.
   
2. Net On Phone – This one provides unlimited connectivity to internet from your phone. There is a flat charge of Rs. 99/- for this.
   
3. Mobile Office – This plan allows you to access internet from your mobile as well as from your computer using the modem inside your phone. The charge varies based on the volume of data you access. The lowest plan starts at Rs.399/- which gives 100MB free downloads.
   

As I already have a broadband connection for my laptop at home, I did not need to access internet using my Mobile as a modem. So, I signed up for the unlimited Net On Phone plan. Now the problem started while I began configuring the settings for accessing GPRS. With some Nokia and Symbian phones, AirTel provides you a script sent to your phone which automatically configures your mobile for internet access. But this is not the case with Windows mobile. After I contacted the customer care, I was told that Windows mobile devices are not supported for AirTel GPRS. Knowing fully the knowledge levels of customer care executives manning these helplines, I asked that person for all the manual configuration data and noted it down. Then I started tweaking with these settings, and finally with some luck, got it working. So, if you have just bought a Windows mobile phone and don't know who to ask for configuring your GPRS settings, don't worry. Just follow the below steps to get it running on your phone:

1. From your windows mobile home page, select start menu, then settings, then select connections. Note that you may have to click more setting from the initial settings page to see the connections option.
   
2. The connection menu will show you some pre installed connections. You can delete these safely as you will have to configure one connection manually.
   
3. Click new from connections window, then enter the following details in the various options box:
   
   1. Description: Airtel GPRS
      
   2. Connects to: Work
      
   3. Access point: airtelwap.com
      
   4. User name: blank
      
   5. Password: blank
      
   6. Authentication Type: None
      
   7. Primary DNS: 0.0.0.0
      
   8. Secondary DNS: 0.0.0.0
      
   9. IP address: Blank
      
4. Select done. Now select proxies from the settings menu. Delete any present profiles and click on new. Enter the following options:
   
   1. Description: Airtel GPRS Proxy
      
   2. Connects from: Work
      
   3. Connects to: The Internet
      
   4. Proxy (name:port): 100.1.200.99:8080
      
   5. Type: HTTP
      
   6. User name: blank
      
   7. Password: blank
      
5. Select done. Now go back to your home page and open Internet Explore. Click on Menu, Select Tools and Select options. Select connections from the options menu and check the box next to Automatically Detect Settings.
   
6. Select done to close the settings. You are now ready to browse the internet.
   

Although, this tutorial is specific to AirTel, you should be able to configure GPRS for any other providers using these procedures. Just ask for the specific settings from you operator and follow the above steps. Have fun!!!