Surprise! Tethering laptop to BlackBerry works abroad!

ATHENS, GREECE -- Before flying here last week, I considered a wide variety of options for constant data connectivity and cell phone access. Buy a Greek phone and use a Greek carrier? Live in a cyber café and use VoIP? Satellite phone? Much to my surprise, it turns out that my BlackBerry Pearl and AT&T work just fine, thank you.

On my second major foray into the "extreme telecommuting," nomadic lifestyle, I find myself living in -- and working from -- Greece. I've been here in Athens for a week, and I've learned three valuable rules: 1) never stop looking for a better connection; 2) never give up on your U.S. carrier; and 3) never leave your Kindle behind. I'll deal with each of these in a three-part series.

I wrote about the first rule yesterday: Never stop looking for a better connection. Today I'll talk about never giving up on your U.S. carrier.

I've had my BlackBerry Unlimited data plan for about two years, which I first signed up for on Cingular, and retained it through the transition to AT&T. I use the data for surfing the Web and using e-mail on my phone, but also for tethering the phone to my laptop and getting mobile broadband access to the Internet. The way that works in practice is that I run the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software on my laptop, then plug in the phone via a USB cable. Then, using a modem setup that I configured as if it were an analog modem (username, password and "phone number" to "dial"), you connect your laptop to the Internet through the phone. The instructions for doing this are all over the Internet.

Because I have no access to AT&T here in Greece, only the local carrier which AT&T partners with to provide international access for AT&T customers, I assumed that there would simply be no way to connect with my laptop through my BlackBerry Pearl and -- in the unlikely event that it were possible -- I would at least need a different number for dialing.

But after a week in Greece, I finally got around to trying my existing setup just to see what happened. I was shocked to discover that it simply worked without modification!

The data connection is slow -- adequate for e-mail, and painful but doable for Web surfing. But because I had signed up for the AT&T Unlimited Domestic and International Data Plan, which costs $65 per month, I have unlimited data access through my phone anywhere I can get a connection -- from taxicabs, ferries and disreputable districts devoid of tourist-friendly cyber cafes and even from the Acropolis! The unlimited free data is something of a surprise, because calls cost an additional $1.29 a minute from Greece (and more from some other countries).

Another point to consider: The Unlimited Domestic and International Data Plan costs $65 per month only if you commit to a one-year contract. But because data is unlimited, and the early termination fee is $175, it's worth signing up for the one-year contract even if you're going to use it only for a month or two. The $175 is trivial compared with the savings you get from not paying extra for Internet access.

The AT&T Unlimited Domestic and International Data Plan also means that, without any effort on my part, people in the U.S. call my normal number and my phone rings in Greece.

That the BlackBerry-as-a-modem setup works abroad appears to be a little-known fact. I haven't seen anyone reporting that this can be done. I know it works in Athens. What I don't know is where it will work. I will be testing it shortly in Istanbul, Turkey, and on a variety of Greek Islands (hey, whatever sacrifices necessary for the pursuit of knowledge), and will report in this space what I discover.

Meanwhile, the larger rule of thumb when traveling or living temporarily abroad is: Don't give up on your U.S. carrier. They may have a plan that, without much additional cost, will give you anytime, anywhere access.