[1quickturbosix]

Okay, here is my dilemma. I currently have US celluar on a nationwide plan, 1000 minutes for 49.99. Well I was due for a new phone so I went with the BB 8330 Curve. Now I am originally from Iowa but recently moved to Minneapolis where US Cellular does not have coverage so I am on roaming, no big deal right, I have a nationwide plan. So I get the phone and do a *228 on it to activate, keep in mind US Cell is CDMA, it goes to a Verizon tower up here because it was roaming. Okay, end the call, it says activation unsuccessful, so I try making calls and using the browser and everything works fine so I thought no big deal.

This is where it gets interesting. Well the data was working but then it would stop working. So it would work fine for a couple minutes at a time then stop for like a half hour, the only way around this is to reset connections and then it starts working again (sometimes). So I call US Cell Tech support and sit on the phone with them for about 3 hours while they try to wipe the blackberry and blah blah blah. Well after 3 hours on the phone the guy says, "how far away are you from our regular coverage" I says about 45 minutes and I can be on one of your towers and not the verizon ones. He says " ill give you 75 dollars off your bill if you will just drive to this area, do the *228 and then everything should be fine". He claimed that when i activated it on a verizon tower something got messed up and it programmed the phone for their service.

So I drive to the nearest coverage area, do the activation call, I get a US Cellular message this time and it says ACTIVATION SUCCESSFUL! So I thought everything would be great and wonderful which it was for about an hour or so until I got back here to minneapolis and now it started doing the same thing, mind you it works better, but im CONSTANTLY having to turn my connections off and then restore them when the data fails.

Anyone have any suggestions what may be causing this? Does Verizon just suck? Is it because im roaming? Any input would be great!!!!

[carter17]

No verizon does not suck lol and as far as I know u can roam on data with ur bb should be no problem at all maby its just the phone have them send u a new phone see if that helps if not then idk ur just out of luck

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[socalstorm]

There is one other thing to keep in mind. Just because your carrier is CDMA and VZW is CDMA, doesn't automatically mean you can always expect to roam freely. The 2 carriers have to have an agreement in place ... and .... under certain conditions ... such as period of high usage ... a carrier may limit use of roaming to ensure their own subscribers have access.

[BigE4284]

US Cellular has roaming agreements with all of the major carriers, no EVDO roaming though. As others have said, when you're roaming you are a lower priority than VZW users on their own network.

How long will you be in Minnesota? If I were you I'd check with USCC support about their 50/50 rule. That is, USCC requires that half of your activity be on their network.

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[Guzman]

if you live in an area where USCC doesn't have coverage... you might want to consider a different carrier. Seems like VZW would be a good option lol

[1quickturbosix]

Well I checked with US Cellular and that 50/50 rule is something that was in their contract many moons ago when it cost them alot of money to have people roaming but it no longer applies. They do have agreements with verizon with the roaming.

Now they sent in a ticket to verizon once and they said it would have to be under EXTREME conditions that they would deny my data due to high volume or put me at a lower priority. Said you would have to be out in a rural area and have a mass amount of verizon customers come into the area, say for a convention or something, and they would all have to be trying to use data. Then they would put me at a lower priority. As far as being in minneapolis they said something like that would never happen. Verizon claims that everything should work fine for me up here.

They submited another help ticket with verizon's engineers to investigate the problem and are currently awaiting a response. US Cellular said the next step will be to try a new phone.

[ipodtouch1234]

I was just in mineapolis about 4 days ago. Mine worked fine even though I was roaming on verizon.

[jdm.lover]

I dont understand this!

[1quickturbosix]

I dont understand this!

What is it you dont understand?

[BigE4284]

Well I checked with US Cellular and that 50/50 rule is something that was in their contract many moons ago when it cost them alot of money to have people roaming but it no longer applies. They do have agreements with verizon with the roaming.

Now they sent in a ticket to verizon once and they said it would have to be under EXTREME conditions that they would deny my data due to high volume or put me at a lower priority. Said you would have to be out in a rural area and have a mass amount of verizon customers come into the area, say for a convention or something, and they would all have to be trying to use data. Then they would put me at a lower priority. As far as being in minneapolis they said something like that would never happen. Verizon claims that everything should work fine for me up here.

They submited another help ticket with verizon's engineers to investigate the problem and are currently awaiting a response. US Cellular said the next step will be to try a new phone.

If by "many moons ago" you mean "today" then yes. I don't know who you talked to but it's still in their Customer Service Agreement

U.S. Cellular

Use of Service
At least 50% of your monthly usage must be used in U.S. Cellular's licensed markets. Service is furnished for your use only; you may not resell Service to third parties. You may not use the Service for any unlawful, improper, harassing or abusive purpose or in such a way that interferes with U.S. Cellular's network, business operations, employees or customers. U.S. Cellular may, in its sole discretion, block access to certain categories of numbers (e.g., 976, 900 and international designations).

[1quickturbosix]

Hey man, I dont write the music, I just play in the band. Im just stating what a customer service rep told me, as well as one of the 2nd level tech support people. They said they leave that in the agreement but it was only put there back in the day when it cost them ALOT of money to have their customers roaming. The tech support guy said if this was still enforced, they would offer me the chance to get out of my contract and switch carriers. However he stated that they no longer enforce this and it should make no difference on why my phone is or is not working. He also stated that I am not the only person that still has US Cellular and doesnt live in their home coverage area. Both people I have spoke with said that statement should have been phased out a long time ago.

[jj97blazer]

Should have and was is two different things. If it's still in the agreement, then by law they have to abide by it. I would never want to leave uscc, and definitely not for verizon, but that's what it sounds like you should do. Maybe there are some other carriers up there. If you are roaming all of the time, there should be no problem with you getting out of your contract at no cost.

My 2 cents,
Jamey

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[1quickturbosix]

Yea, and I understand it is still in the agreement. I called again yesterday to see if there was a resolution from Verizon and they said that the "network engineers" are still trying to resolve the issue. So they then put one of the "network engineers" on the phone and they even said that there is no reason why my phone shouldnt work fine here. They are crediting my account for the downtime at least. They also think it may just be my phone, that something keeps timeing out on it. Becasue it will work for a couple minutes and then stop, but if I let it sit for a hour then it will work fine again. So the next step is to try a new phone and if that doesnt work then I will switch carriers.

And I could see where it might be the phone because when it isnt working and I try to go to the browser, it doesnt even show any arrows in the top right corner, like as if its not trying to even connect. Just says requesting at the bottom and then gives me a message after a couple minutes saying there was a communication error.

[Mr Fun]

Do you have the 8330 or the 8330m?

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[1quickturbosix]

Um, How do I tell the difference?

I poped the battery out and it just says blackberry 8330. No M on the end. Is this how I would tell?

[Mr Fun]

No, dial #4357* then hit the talk button and see what is says by model

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[1quickturbosix]

Okay, yes it is the 8330M. Whats the difference between the two?

[Mr Fun]

A lot of people are having bad radio problems with the 8330m, I myself experienced the exact same issue that you describe, even tough I live in a well covered area, I got mine exchanged via sprint insurance replacement, with the 8330, and I live happily ever after.

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[1quickturbosix]

Well I attempted to call them and have them send me a new phone to try that but they claim they cannot send one until the get a resolved ticket from verizon. So I insisted that they credit my account for all this down time. Which the agreed to.

[1quickturbosix]

Well to add a little more info to my dilemma. I traveled to Eau Claire Wisconsin for the weekend which is about 50 or 60 miles East of the twin cities and the phone worked perfect. I was still roaming, but the data worked flawlessly. It never timed out once. WTF!?

[Mr Fun]

When I had the 8330m it also use to work fine for hours, but I noticed that once it lost the data connection (like when I turned off the phone over night, going underground with the subway, or going to a place where there is no signal) it wont reconnect again by itself unless I tangle the radio on and off.

[ipodtouch1234]

Funny... my dad has the 8330m... we are both on uscc. If I hold our phones right next to each other, he typically has one more bar than I do.