Tutorial: Wi-Fi File-Sharing on BlackBerry PlayBook

Don’t want to connect your BlackBerry PlayBook through wires/cables for files? You will love Wi-Fi sharing then!

Its been couple of months I bought my BlackBerry PlayBook and if you ask me, how many times did I hook up my tablet to PC/Laptop, I’ll be happy to answer – NEVER. Yes, you really don’t have to connect your BlackBerry PlayBook to PC/Laptop unless you decided to backup your device or want a large sized file (1 GB) to copy or move from the BlackBerry PlayBook or copy/move to the BlackBerry PlayBook in shorter time or not in Home Network. I always transferred my files to and fro using Wi-Fi sharing feature on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Wi-Fi sharing should be always password protected for your data safety if in public network as well. Wi-Fi sharing gives an access to your tablet’s files just like a local drive on your PC / Laptop (Mac or Windows).

If you are activating your BlackBerry PlayBook (the setup wizard at first use) or updating the Tablet’s OS or even copying/moving files to another computer its not necessary to connect your BlackBerry PlayBook via USB to computer to get your work done, it can be done through Wi-Fi sharing if only under Wi-Fi. Goto settings on your BlackBerry PlayBook and select the ‘Storage & Sharing’ tab from the left window pane. Setup the Network Identification credentials what you want to display on a network so you can identify your devices under other shared devices on a network. After thus is done, go back to the previous screen and make the WiFi sharing switch to ON and also password protect your files for your own safety. Do not misplace the password as you have to wipe the whole device to uncover the security.

Once this is done follow the instructions:

NOTE: Your BlackBerry PlayBook and PC/Laptop has to be connected to the same WiFi network

For Windows Operating System:

1. Locate Network: On Windows 7, goto ‘My Computer’
2. Select Network on the left window pane, you will notice your BlackBerry PlayBook name.
3. If not, you need to setup ‘Network Identification’ on your PlayBook.
4. Go to settings and select ‘Storage & Sharing’. Now select properties of ‘Network Identification’.
5. Type in any details you want except ‘Workgroup’; where you have to fill the same Workgroup name of your PC (can be found in system information)
6. Once done, refresh Network window. You will find you PlayBook with the tablet network name you applied.
7. Double click your BlackBerry PlayBook drive. If prompts for password, enter your password you have set while configuring Wi-Fi sharing on your device.

For Mac OSX:

1. Click the Go tab from the navigation bar on Finder.
2. Select ‘Connect to Server’
3. Enter smb://yourtabletnetworkname OR enter smb://192.168.1.7 <– your BlackBerry PlayBook IP address

yourtabletnetworkname is the name you specified under settings > Network Identification

Enter the username and password you have set while setting up the Network Identification, if no password used, you can login as Guest by selecting guest option.

Now you will asked to choose the drive to mount, cert or media. Choose media as cert won’t be much of use unless you are installing custom certificates on the device.

You’re done! Everything wireless.