The Motorola Q has been a pretty good phone. The PDA has been just okay. Generally, load times are slow and the phone is subject to crashing upon moments notice. Battery life? If you don’t upgrade to the larger capacity battery, you better walk around with a USB cord in your pocket and snag a charge anytime you are near a USB power jack.
Several weeks ago, Motorola released an update to the Q that was touted to increase battery life, reduce crashes, and allow the use of the EV-DO through a USB connection. I have waited while a few sources tried it out [CEN, Gizmodo]. Tonight, I decided to apply the update. As CEN notes, the update was pretty painless:
1. Download two files from the Moto site (MSI & ZIP) executing them in the same order.
2. Disable WirelessSync Push on the Q, and restart it for old time’s sake.
3. Tether the Q to the PC with the USB cable.
4. Allow Windows to find the Driver for the “Motorola Flash Updater.”
The whole process takes about 25 minutes, and if you forget after 34 reminders that you will lose all of your data, here is another reminder to backup all of your personal data (not covered by wirelesssync). After the update completes, you notice a few changes to the GUI. Now the Start screen contains 4 columns of apps (as opposed to three), and a few wallpaper updates.
Most importantly, I wanted EVDO connect to work successfully. After I first got the Q, I ran an unauthorized hack and ultimately ended up irreparably crashing the phone. I had the Bluetooth connect working fine, and then because of the battery life issue, I wanted USB connection. I bounced between the two several times and the phone went to lala-land. Don’t tell Verizon, they ended up replacing the zapped phone, which in some ways they should since the phone altogether lacks a hard reset button.
Anyway, I called Verizon to check to see whether they supported Bluetooth and USB tethering for the EVDO connect. After escalating my call, the technician assured me that they did. I consented to the $15/month additional charge–I may have won the battle over the hacked phone, but they definitely won the war.
I downloaded the latest version of the Verizon Wireless Access Manager and installed the application. However, when I tried to connect to the Q, I received the following error, “A wireless phone was not found. Make sure that the data cable is securely plugged into your wireless phone and your computer. Also check to make sure the power to your phone is on and close all other applications that may be using the COM port.” I piddled around with a few troubleshooting ideas but could not get Access Manager to see the phone. I called Verizon tech support and talked to a guy who had me update my system USB drivers, but that did not seem to fix the problem. Then I called back and spoke with a very dedicated technician. Something about the guys that work at 11:00 on a Saturday night: they are much nicer and more dedicated to problem solving than the techs on Wednesday afternoon. Anyway, he fixed the problem by changing the connection on the Q. Start > Accessories > ModemLink and changing connection to USB and pressing “activate.” I then ran the Access Manager again and was able to successfully connect. Nice work, but I then found out that they do NOT support Bluetooth tethering–thanks for the fraudulent misrepresentation.
I tested the speed and was able to get 512kbps down and only 55kpbs up, but that is sufficient in those times when there is nothing else like, for example, driving to and from work.
