Connecting your Mac to the internet in Egypt

I have two questions... How is anyone in Egypt supposed to read this if there is no Internet? And if they did have Internet then why would they read this? Just wondering.

So, according to you Roberto, we should support the Mubarak regime just because it's an ally of US and doesn't threaten Israel? It's this kind of support for dictators that polarizes the masses and throws them straight into the arms of extremist groups. The Muslim Brotherhood played a very small role in these demonstrations and was very very cautious for many days. Some of their leaders were arrested soon as the regime tried to blame it on them but it's obvious to everyone reading the stream of news coming out of Egypt that they are a minor force. They might have taken part in some very violent incidents recently that do stand out in the media but as an overall influence they are not how some portray them. It's simply not Iran.

I'm surprised there isn't more satellite infrastructure in place. Here in Guatemala actual internet lines are limited in the large cities and non-existent outside. A lot of small towns will share a satellite connection between the municipal building and a few very bare bone internet cafes. The plus, of course, is that these satellite connections are managed elsewhere (usually The States) and are unaffected when Guatemala decides to suspend rights to "fight narcos".

I think that most people are missing the point of the limitations here. The only thing that is working in Egypt right now as I understand it is dial-up, i.e. The Matrix's key movie prop. The reporters and photojournalists who are filing reports are doing so through satellite uplinks, not through cellular or any other connection. You can tether your cell phone to your laptop, but that's just going to connect a cell phone to your laptop. It isn't going to get you online, because the cellular services are shut down, as are all the Internet services.

You need a regular old phone with a receiver, a dial-up modem and a phone cable. Then you need a number to dial to get on the Internet, log-in information, etc. If someone outside the country set up a phone bank and distributed the dial-up number, then something might be possible. But is someone in Jordan or Syria or Sudan going to set up a dial-up line for Egyptian opposition members? I think not. Their governments are not going to be interested in supporting what appears to be a viral movement in the Arab world and risk having it infect their own citizenry. And any person in those countries setting up such a link for the Egyptians would potentially risk their government enmity. It would have to be someone somewhere else.

Evidently the shut down may not be comprehensive. There are places that still have connections, but again, those may be the result of satellite connections somewhere. And they may not be publicly accessible (embassies, etc.) Of course there is Internet connection sharing with OS X, so if you can get one computer online, you can use a Mac as a hotspot. But that's still not very helpful.

I guess data plans aren't as popular as I would have assumed they'd be (or they have been cut off as well). It's pretty simple to tether you phone to your computer (either via wifi, usb or in some cases, bluetooth).

This was probably 8-10 years ago, but on a Mac with OS X and an old sanyo phone connected to sprint, I plugged in with a USB cable and I vaguely remember typing in at #777 in the terminal. 777 stood for PPP. I hope this is a good start for someone. I'm sure it's much easier now. There is an Internet connection app in the utilities folder that makes this easier I think. My Mac is off and I'm doing this from memory but im guessing you can also do this from network preferences with a Bluetooth modem connection if your phone supports Bluetooth. Not sure if this works with iPhone, but in my case, we're talking old USA CDMA phone and carrier.

Well I wrote it up anyways. It's based on my experiences getting it to work here on T-Mobile, but I just tested it with the numbers on twitter to France and free lines open to Egypt.

http://tatsuikeda.tumblr.com/post/3026305280/egypt-dial-up-bluetooth-modem-tethering-instructions

Connecting using a cellphone probably won't work - the methods described here will get you an Internet connection using your cellphone provider as an ISP. If they don't have internet, you don't either.
Attempting to use a dial-up modem over a cellphone likely won't work either -between the increased latency of cellphones and the highly-compressed audio stream, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a modem that worked.

This is not meant to be a political statement and yet, it will appear as such:

If a government, any government, can directly control all telecommunications; then at any whim of the "controller" you may find your access to the outside world severed - instantly.

It is one reason to demand net neutrality no matter where you live.

I support the process that is unfolding in Egypt - they are seeking a secular political state. We have had enough governance by religious "leaders" on this planet. It is time for real people who are not the worshipers of any particular ideology or dogma or political perversion to be the arbitrators of their national needs.

Cheers from Oz.

An old Airport Express Extreme, the white ones, have a built in phone modem. You can use fail up and still connect wirelessly to the AE.