why do a lot of BB's unlock to every network except 3?

KingElvis

Internet is brilliant on my BB as long as 3G has good coverage...I can't fault it.

longwalks1

KingElvis wrote: »

Internet is brilliant on my BB as long as 3G has good coverage...I can't fault it.

Would that be on any network when the receptions great so long as 3G has coverage?

Just ordered on Virgin as was so so cheap

AbbieCadabra

KingElvis wrote: »

UMA = Unlicensed Mobile Access.

This "technology" enables you to make calls through wi-fi networks when your signal is low. The quality of said calls in not the only shocking aspect of this feature, they still charge you for the data even if you're using your own Internet connection.

In short, it's rubbish.

you don't get charged for it at all, info on Orange website. search UMA on here & there's some recent feedback - good & bad. i don't think i've seen any problems with call quality mentioned, lost connection or just not working seemed the main issues.

KingElvis

AbbieCadabra wrote: »

you don't get charged for it at all, info on Orange website. search UMA on here & there's some recent feedback - good & bad. i don't think i've seen any problems with call quality mentioned, lost connection or just not working seemed the main issues.

Sorry, I sorted got my terms wrong. Calls used over the UMA network count towards your monthly limit and they will charge you as usual if you go over them.

We have (had) 600+ users on Orange Blackberrys and the feedback on UMA was pretty poor overall. I'm sure as an indiviual user your experiences may be better but for business critical phones, it was pretty much useless.

AbbieCadabra

KingElvis wrote: »

Sorry, I sorted got my terms wrong. Calls used over the UMA network count towards your monthly limit and they will charge you as usual if you go over them.

We have (had) 600+ users on Orange Blackberrys and the feedback on UMA was pretty poor overall. I'm sure as an indiviual user your experiences may be better but for business critical phones, it was pretty much useless.

now, feedback on 600+ users is very interesting! was this recently that UMA was used? the reason i ask is that from what i've been able to find on various forums, UMA did seem more prone to problems when Orange 1st used it, but has seemed a bit more reliable recently.

interestingly, a T-Mobile rep told me that they'd looked into UMA but decided against it & they'll be launching a scheme similar to Vodafone's sure signal in the new year.

KingElvis

AbbieCadabra wrote: »

now, feedback on 600+ users is very interesting! was this recently that UMA was used? the reason i ask is that from what i've been able to find on various forums, UMA did seem more prone to problems when Orange 1st used it, but has seemed a bit more reliable recently.

interestingly, a T-Mobile rep told me that they'd looked into UMA but decided against it & they'll be launching a scheme similar to Vodafone's sure signal in the new year.

The main problem with UMA seemed to be when roaming into wi-fi areas the UMA would kick in and depending on wireless signal strength, the results would be all over. This combined with Orange's sometimes patchy signal made the whole thing pretty horrendous to support.......

Also people with a good Orange signal in a certain loaction would find themselves with a patchy wir-fi/UMA signal. You can disable UMA via the handset but then the point of UMA (poor signal in some users homes) was cancelled.

Like I said, this was a large company with 600 units to support and after switching them from Vodafone, the complaints we mainfold and a few months later I had the contract to move them all back again.

Hey ho.

Toe-Jam

AbbieCadabra wrote: »

you don't get charged for it at all, info on Orange website. search UMA on here & there's some recent feedback - good & bad. i don't think i've seen any problems with call quality mentioned, lost connection or just not working seemed the main issues.

You do get charged for it ! it comes out of your bundles as if you were using it normally.

And its very unreliable. Although when it works its ok. Sometimes there is a 1 or 2 second silence in the call. I called them about it and the problem is they don't have enough space on the servers for all the devices using it, so its first come first serve scenario. They are upgrading the servers due to be completed in February 2011.

They don't mention anything about THAT on their website, or i would never have joined. Having said that I've got 3 days in a row without it disconnecting (I rely solely on the UMA for my service at home), but that's the longest I've got since i got it 2 months ago.

KingElvis wrote: »

The main problem with UMA seemed to be when roaming into wi-fi areas the UMA would kick in and depending on wireless signal strength, the results would be all over.

The blackberry doesn't roam onto UMA unless you specifically set up that wifi network on the device its not like the iphone. So you cant just wander into your mates house or starbucks and it will start changing to UMA. The problem is , it just doesn't log onto the uma network 1/2 time because its too busy.

KingElvis

Toe-Jam wrote: »

The blackberry doesn't roam onto UMA unless you specifically set up that wifi network on the device its not like the iphone. So you cant just wander into your mates house or starbucks and it will start changing to UMA. The problem is , it just doesn't log onto the uma network 1/2 time because its too busy.

Again, as I said, that's from a single consumers point of view.

I talk from a business perspective, where most users have company wifi systems defaulted and the system is crap.

For the normal person it's probably ok.

Toe-Jam

Just an update on the UMA situation for those who are interested. I previously posted quite negatively on the UMA, and I was told that it was a server issue due to lack of capacity and that it was due to be upgraded on 17th November.

I can say that there has been a significant improvement in the stability of the service since this date. I've only lost my connection for 1-2 days in total (not consecutively) since then.

It is also worth noting that i've had my line speed increased from 1mb to 2mb which also might be contributing to it. Having said that the service only uses 100kb of bandwidth so on paper it shouldn't be relevant.