How to use a Nokia E61 as a broadband modem on 3 in Australia

I have been struggling to use my Nokia E61 as a broadband modem in Perth on the 3 network. After a frustrating day I have finally got it to work. There is nothing on the internet explaining how to get it to work and 3 care are totally unhelpful so I thought I would throw something together.

I am running Windows XP. Below is a point by point guide:

1. Throw away Nokia PC Suite because it does not seem to work - I couldn't make it work anyway!
2. You need to use good old dial up - just like you did pre-broadband days.
3. Goto Start > Connect to > Nokia E61 USB Modem # 2 (OTA) or similar.
4. Set-up the modem to dial *99# as the phone number (it works, believe me!)
5. On the Networking tab, untick 'Enable LCP extension' & 'Enable software compression'.
6. Goto Start > Control panel > Systems > Hardware > Device Manager > Modems : select your modem : Nokia E61 USB Modem # 2 (or similar) > Advanced > 'Set Extra initialisation command' to AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","3services"

Put a dial-up icon upon your desktop. Plug in your phone - I am using USB. Select PC Suite on your phone. Double click on your dial-up icon and ..... you should be connected.

Fire wood prices fall

Last year I was very pleased with myself when I bought a trailer load of firewood for $10. This year I have done one better and bought a trailer load or firewood for ....

$7 (about $2.50). However, I am going to use some of the wood to build some more raised vegetable boxes so it is even more of a bargain!