Today, after a continuous effort of few hours eventually I got the GPRS working on my Sony Ericsson P990i handset. I got the GPRS service activated as I was finding some continuous problem with my BSNL broadband connection for the last two days.

Below are the steps to follow to get your desktop or laptop on the net using Airtel GPRS:

Activating GPRS on your Handset

1. Call at Airtel’s toll free number 12121-1-3 [Dail 12121 - hear the recorded message and then press 1 and then again, here the recorded message and then press 3]. There you are going to find an Airtel’s customer care executive. Just simply ask him to get your GPRS service activated and presently (February, 2009) it costs Rs. 299 per month or Rs.10 per day approx. You can get it activated or deactivated anytime (24×7, it takes not more than 4 hours) and you would be charged just for those many number of days.
2. Once you have the GPRS service activated on your cell phone, as mentioned above it generally takes 4 hours and once activated you will find a blue bar just on top of the signal icon in your handset. You might require switching OFF and then switching ON your cell phone to see and get this service activated on your handset.

Getting MO settings done on your handset

1. Next step is to get the MO (Mobile Office) setting on your cell phone:
   1. Browse to Main Menu > Tools > Control Pane > Connections > Internet Accounts” icon
   2. There you are going to find many Internet Accounts. If you are getting your GPRS service activated for the first time then you won’t find an Internet Account named “MO”. So, here we would require creating one. Click on “Internet Accounts” in the top navigation bar and then “New Account” and then “Data”
   3. Once clicked on the “Data” – it will ask you for the following:

Account Name – MO

Address – airtelgprs.com

And then click on the “Save” button and you are done with MO thingy. Now, if all correctly done then you must be able to see the newly created Internet Account named “MO” in the Internet Accounts list.

Installing the Modem software using the CD provided with your handset.

1. Simply insert the CD in your CD / DVD ROM Drive provided with your handset and follow the instructions to get the Modem installed on your PC.
2. Once you have installed the Modem successfully, go to Start > Control Panel on your PC and there you should find an option “Phone and Modem Options” > click on this option.
3. Once click on “Phone and Modem Option” it will bring you a dialogue box and there select the second tab “Modems” and it should list various modem detected or found by your PC. One of them should be “Sony Ericsson P990 USB Modem” if you are using USB cable – connect it and now, if your phone is connected with your PC using that USB cable then it must also show the “Attached To” option as “COMx” here x could be any number depending on the COM you are connected to.

Creating a Dial Up Connection on your system (desktop or laptop)

1. Click on Start > Control Panel > Network Connections
2. You will find an option “Create a new connection” in the left navigation bar, Once you have got the Network Connections Window opened with you.
3. Click on the “Create a new connection” and you will get a “New Connection Wizard” dialogue box.
4. Click on the “Next” button
5. Select “Connect to the Internet” and click “Next”
6. Select “Set up my connection manually” and click “Next”
7. Select “Connect using a dial-up modem” and click “Next”
8. Here, you might find multiple options but select (check) the option – “Modem – Sony Ericsson P990 USB Modem” and click on “Next” button
9. ISP Name – “Airtel GPRS” and click “Next”
10. Phone Number – *99***9*1# and click “Next”
11. Leave everything textbox blank over here and you can leave the check box as checked there or you can even make them uncheck depending upon your liking and requirement.
12. Now, simply click on the “Finish” button and you are done with your Dial Up Connection.

Now, you have the GPRS activated on your cell phone, your modem installed on your PC and your dial up connection configured on your PC.

Now click on the Dial Up icon named “Airtel GPRS” by you and you might find it on your desktop screen or Start > Connect To > Airtel GPRS. It must be showing a window with empty username, password and with a Dial number as *99***9*1#. Click on the “Dial” button and it will show you a dialogue box “Connecting Airtel GPRS” but you might not be able to connect it.

Here’s a few tips and tricks -

• take out the USB cable, restart your PC and switch off your handset, take out the battery, take out the sim and after a minute put the sim back and then the battery and then get it switch ON. Once it get switch ON, first connect the USB cable with your PC and then connect the other end of the USB cable to your handset. Now, on your desktop > go to dialup connection that is “Airtel GPRS” > open it > click on the Dial Button.

Check if it get connected to the internet now, if yes – you should be among the most happiest guys on this planet and if not, then there’s another trick for you to follow:

• In your cell phone, go to Main Menu > Tools > Control Panel > Connections > Internet Accounts and now check the sequence number for “MO” that is on which number this Internet Account is listed, is it at number 9? If not then note down the sequence number, lets say it’s 7 in your case. Now go to the dialup connection – “Airtel GPRS” and change the dial number to *99***7*1#. Please Note: we have replace the number 9 (only the last 9 in the dialup number) with 7. If in your case  the sequence number for MO under Internet Accounts on your cell phone is something else than 9 or 7 then replace the number 9 with that particular sequence number. And now, check again, by clicking on the “Dial” button for your Dial up connection – Airtel GPRS. If it works then you should be among one of the happiest guys on this planet for now and if doesn’t then restart your system and disconnecting your phone and USB cable and switch off your cell phone and switch it on again and then connect the USB cable back and try reconnecting using the Dial up connection. Now, it should work and I would like to see you among the most happiest guys , incase if it doesn’t work then try this out:
• On your PC, go to Start > Control Panel > Phone and Modem Options, second tab > Modems and then click on “Sony Ericsson P990 USB Modem” and click on the “Properties” button. It will further open up a dialogue box and now, click on the Advanced tab and check the “Extra initialization commands:” if it empty then input the string

AT+CGDCONT=1,”IP”,”airtelgprs.com”<cr>

And change the dialup number in the dialup connection “Airtel GPRS” to *99# and restart everything and try connecting to the internet using the dialup connection…

Now, surely I would like you to be among the most happiest guys on this planet but if you are not then better call at Airtel’s customer care number – 12121-1-3

Thanks for reading this article and I hope you must have got some solution for your problem through it.

ENJOY…!!!