[blue_and_bold]

I can think of only 1 reason why you would need WIFI on a BB, if you were travelling and could use wifi while saving $$$ not using your data. I know a lot of people are dying for WIFI and to those ppl can you give me 10 reasons you want WIFI?

[McCracken]

Faster than 3g/EVDO. Much, much faster.

[big.daddy]

cause everyone else has it:-)

[will_m68]

Where I work we have wireless through out the building, but I can't get a good signal for phone or data. At least I could get the data.

[thinkamp]

It's known to save battery.

[GlenB]

#1 - UMA so you can still make/receive calls if your coverage is poor
#2 - Faster data speeds

[Reed McLay]

The reason Wifi is built into BlackBerry is to support Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA).

Other devices have Wifi built in, but they can only use it for Internet access when in range of a Wifi signal. They do appreciate the high bandwidth while downloading multiple fart apps.

My choice of BlackBerry model depends of UMA access. I live in a sub 1 bar signal area, without UMA, I do not have reliable service. With UMA, I have voice and data service when my ISP provides me with a cable connection, about 99.9% of the time.

My national carrier, Rogers, claims to service 94% of Canada's population. That still leaves 1.8 Million Canadians without wireless service. Fortuatly, I am not one of them.

[larrygump]

right on reed......with tmobile we get 59.99 family time +unlimited UMA minutes for 9.99= 69.99......i was using 2000+ minutes with VZW for 169.00......and I get awesome discount on my text package.....14.99 unlimited sms/mms





1. I get much less arrogant customer reps from carriers currently offering WiFi .....far more willing to help and listen
2. Much cheaper wireless bills....Since UMA calling is most of my minutes now
3. 3G speeds everywhere on my 2G phones.....even if im in the stix
4. The flexibility of SIM card (I Love This)
5. Reliable free data on WiFi
6. Better streaming audio and video (See #3)
7. Even In my concrete bunker office we have WiFi and i have full WiFi signal...woo hoo

[lordcliff]

Tmo 3g non-existent in my town (shocker right) and my home wifi is wicked fast. Its nice to have in places with wifi hotspots also.
Its free.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[larrygump]

you still havent told me how you know its non existent

[stev32k]

I also live in a T-Moble dead zone. Outside in my front or back yards I might get 1 bar on occasion - even that is rare. Inside my house I have zero T-Mobile signal. I started with T-Mobile because my largest client has a plant where the only signal they can get is T-Mobile.

For a long time I had alltel and T-Mobile. I get a good Alltel signal. When I found out about the T-Mobile $9.99/mo unlimited UMA service I decided to give it a try. It has cut my phone bill by 60% from $210/mo to $85/mo. I dropped Alltel and cut my family minutes from 2,000/mo to 700/mo.

[lordcliff]

you still havent told me how you know its non existent

I went and googled t mobile 3G coverage map. Which brought me to coverage.t-mobile.com. Shows EDGE/GPRS in holland MI but no 3G. Closest is lansing according to this map. That over an hour.

3G in my town is non-existent (with tmo)

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[larrygump]

try it with a 3G phone before you render a verdict....that map isnt right.......trust me...i got friends in dunning outside of holland MI

[lordcliff]

You bring up a good point. I'll see what I can do before I bring it up again.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[RicanMedic78]

another reason = travel / ability to get online on a long flight thru in flight wifi network /ability to get online in other countries hotel, resort, hotspot locations

[blue_and_bold]

Cool thanks for the feedback. Good to know most people so far that have it use it because like lordcliff stated TMO 3g isn't the best coverage/service.

[larrygump]

Cool thanks for the feedback. Good to know most people so far that have it use it because like lordcliff stated TMO 3g isn't the best coverage/service.

uhhhh.....like 2 people said that.......lmao...might wanna fact check again

[hubermania]

Another reason for WiFi is to use UMA calling when you're traveling in a foreign country. International roaming for calls to/from your home country, $3+/minute; UMA calling for calls to/from your home country, priceless.

[RicanMedic78]

UMA is all well and good.... if the carrier supported it. And since TMO is the only one that does, UMA would be a mute point on verizon.... or any other carrier thats not TMO

which sucks

[wreckbuilder]

Boom . . once again I'm late on seeing a huge flash of light. This whole UMA stuff, I'm going to dig into the search feature but can someone give me a brief quick lesson. I have been with T-Mo for several years, family plan with 4 phones total, 1000 minutes, nights & weekends, unlimited messages with just dumb basic phones. Living in the Cincinnati area, am I seeing that if I get some 8320's or 8900's with the unlimited UMA package, my total bill may be the same or even lower and I could have wifi ? Is the UMA package the same as a "Data Plan" or would I have to add that too ?

Wow


RB

[Radius]

Boom . . once again I'm late on seeing a huge flash of light. This whole UMA stuff, I'm going to dig into the search feature but can someone give me a brief quick lesson. I have been with T-Mo for several years, family plan with 4 phones total, 1000 minutes, nights & weekends, unlimited messages with just dumb basic phones. Living in the Cincinnati area, am I seeing that if I get some 8320's or 8900's with the unlimited UMA package, my total bill may be the same or even lower and I could have wifi ? Is the UMA package the same as a "Data Plan" or would I have to add that too ?

Wow


RB

UMA is just the technology, anyone can use it but it counts against your regular phone usage minutes.

I know Rogers calls their plan TalkSpot, perhaps other carriers call it something different. Or they call it UMA, what do I know?

Anyhow, TalkSpot is the plan that allows for unlimited Wi-Fi calling to local or long distance areas within Canada. However, it has to be through one of their routers ONLY. It is meant as a home calling plan.

So if you travel overseas you should still be able to do UMA calling but as I said, it counts against your regular minutes as though you were calling from within your own city.

BUT... use some kind of MY5 plan and you can get some additional freebies like calling card access that costs nothing against your regular minutes.

As for the data plan, you need that for regular BB service but do not need it for any kind of UMA calling since it is done strictly through Wi-Fi. And that is always free from a data point of view.