Need carrier permission to use Wi-Fi? Why?
- A few days ago, I ran into someone in another forum, who said that with a reduced "economy" data plan, he can't use Wi-Fi
So I call bull****, googled around, checked manuals, and found this in my smartphone manual:
Originally Posted by BlackBerry Smartphone ManualIf you are in a Wi-Fi� coverage area and your wireless service plan supports it
Seriously?
I mean, Wi-Fi network is not even a carrier's network. A laptop with no connection whatsoever to a mobile network can go Wi-Fi, so why can't I use Wi-Fi without my carrier's consent?
What is the reason behind this? Security? Is it to prevent BES-reliant workers from going Wi-Fi all day?
It's not like you'll use your BlackBerry to browse the internet if you have a laptop with you03-12-11 05:04 AMLike 0 - That does seem odd. I've used wifi enabled bbwithout even having a sim card in. I would try pulling the sim and trying to connect to wifi without it. Maybe once the network is saved it will be ok. Unless the carrier issued device is crippled in some way, then maybe another carrier's os?
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com03-12-11 05:59 AMLike 0 -
- WiFi on a BlackBerry device is controlled by Service Books.
If your carrier pushes the WiFi Service Books to the device, then you can access WiFi. If not, then you can't.
That's what it means.
Typically, you need a BlackBerry Data Plan in order to get the WiFi Service Books.03-12-11 06:42 AMLike 0 - People use BB wifi enabled devices all the time with no data....has to be due to it being tied to BES.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com03-12-11 06:54 AMLike 0 - Well, no, not exactly. Here in Indonesia we're pretty loose in terms of "carrier". You can change carriers like you change underwear, literally. Even most people who use BlackBerry in professional environment are not tied to BES at all
His particular carrier imposed the "no Wi-Fi" restriction for "economy" dataplan. You need regular dataplan to make use of Wi-Fi at all. He actually tested it
Originally Posted by Motorcycle MamaIf your carrier pushes the WiFi Service Books to the device, then you can access WiFi. If not, then you can't.03-12-11 07:22 AMLike 0 - Pete6Retired ModeratorThis is a simple question with a simple answer.
You bought your phone, subsidized, from a carrier. You paid something like half the full retail price for it.
Your carrier would now like to recoup the rest of the cost of the phone by selling you a BlackBerry Data Plan. You cannot blame them for that. What would you do if you were selling half price phones inorder to sell talk minutes and data megabytes?
The Carrier sends out Service Books that enable various functions on your phone and network services. The one thing they nearly all disable is to allow WiFi without a dataplan.
Using WiFi with a dataplan is good for the carrier. Using it without a dataplan would be a financial disaster for carriers. Again, what would you do if you were a carrier?
Carriers are in it for the money. Do not expect favors from them.03-13-11 11:24 AMLike 0 - The other aspect of this is Carrier owned WIFI Hotspots. AT&T and T-Mobile have WIFI Hotspots that are "pay for". If your phone is with this same carrier, usually those charges don't apply to you should you choose to connect to that Hotspot.03-13-11 11:16 PMLike 0
- When you install the OS and turn on the mobile network the device is registered to BIS. You get the service books. You probably noticed that you got a registration email for each email address that you have in BIS.03-14-11 12:02 AMLike 0
- @Culex - Go to Options > Advanced > Service Book (that's OS5 - I don't have OS6 so your menus may be different). You will see that you have many service books - you pretty have one for every BlackBerry function. They are pushed when you register the device on the carrier's network. Can't live without 'em :-)
Posted from my BlackBerry using BerryBlab03-14-11 08:36 AMLike 0 - This is a simple question with a simple answer.
You bought your phone, subsidized, from a carrier. You paid something like half the full retail price for it.
Your carrier would now like to recoup the rest of the cost of the phone by selling you a BlackBerry Data Plan. You cannot blame them for that. What would you do if you were selling half price phones inorder to sell talk minutes and data megabytes?
The Carrier sends out Service Books that enable various functions on your phone and network services. The one thing they nearly all disable is to allow WiFi without a dataplan.
Using WiFi with a dataplan is good for the carrier. Using it without a dataplan would be a financial disaster for carriers. Again, what would you do if you were a carrier?
Carriers are in it for the money. Do not expect favors from them.
Business-side, it generates money, but I thought I only have to pay only for their bandwidth, not for some random ISP's bandwidth (Wi-Fi is provided by ISPs, right? Or is it?)
They are practically capitalizing on someone else's bandwidth! (Well, except if they also act as Wi-Fi ISPs, at which point I'll give up and accept that America is truly different from Indonesia)03-14-11 08:55 AMLike 0 -
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com03-14-11 10:03 AMLike 0 - Pete6Retired Moderator
I ran some numbers and it seemed that buying a subsidized phone on a 24 month contract was about 20% cheaper than buying a full price phone and then getting a SIM only contract.
I still went for the full price phone because the minutes+data contract was far more flexible. I can change it or cancel at the end of any month. I also get an unlocked phone.03-14-11 10:22 AMLike 0
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Need carrier permission to use Wi-Fi? Why?
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