[Suzuki boy]

Does anyone know if orange uk will be releasing an update to the 9860 torch to make it uma compatible? I live in an area where I have no network at all so uma has been extremely useful, in fact brilliant. However when I upgraded to this phone from a bb pearl in jan this year orange promised me that uma will be activated on the 9860! 6 months later still no uma. I virtually rang orange every fortnight asking when, each time I was told it's in testing and the software will shortly be released. The last conversation I had with orange was with a particularly helpful representative and although he couldn't give me a definitive answer when or indeed if ever uma would be available for the 9860, he agreed to sort me out another handset that has uma, trouble here is I love my bb and the touchscreen also not so keen on the alternative handsets. If uma is never going to be available for the 9860 then I will have to change handsets but if I do change and then orange do release the software required I will be particularly pissed off!

Is anyone in the same boat or can anyone please help??????

[DJ Reyes]

Orange UK dropped OS 7.1 a while ago. That gives you the ability to do Wifi calling. Been using it for a while.

https://swdownloads.blackberry.com/D...223C61B1B5AB89

[Suzuki boy]

Ah forgot to say that I have updated to the orange 7.1 release some time ago expecting the uma to be in it, however not. I'm led to believe that some of the other blackberry handsets that also got the 7.1 update that also didn't have uma were updated to something called uma-lite? yet nothing on the 9860.

[Stubbo]

Orange UK dropped OS 7.1 a while ago. That gives you the ability to do Wifi calling. Been using it for a while.

https://swdownloads.blackberry.com/D...223C61B1B5AB89

Not on the 9860 it doesn't

And suzuki boy, cant you roam onto T-mo to get a signal?

[Suzuki boy]

I wish I could stubbo, unfortunately I live in an area with no signal of any network. I'm starting to wish I went with vodafone and there sure signal dongle, least then I'd of been able to have the 9860. Although I had been told that orange maybe testing it's own version of the sure signal, won't hold my breath on that one.

[robsteve]

I just checked my son's 9860 on 7.1.0.428 and the wifi calling option is not there. It is a Rogers phone and we are on Rogers. My 9900 has had wifi calling since the first 7.1 OS leak. It worked well when I was traveling out of country this winter, the caveat being you need a wifi connection with good bandwidth.

[3Dee]

Er, my wife has been running 'wi-fi- calling' on the official orange 7.1 os on her 9860 for a little while now - it's definitely there (I'm looking at the wi-fi calling symbol on her phone as I type this), but to be honest it's quite patchy on both my 9900 and my wife's 9860 - not as solid in terms of a connection as UMA was.

[Stubbo]

What OS is she running?

I'm not calling you a liar here but can you post a screenshot, i definately didnt have this option when i had the orange OS

[TrespassersW]

I am informed by those in a position to know that wi-fi calling is dependent on the SIM Card being enabled. In the UK the plan is for all Orange branded BlackBerry devices to be enabled, plus all generic (unlocked) ones. Then the feature will be extended to T-Mobile devices. No timescale has been published for this.

[tonic27]

I would also like to see a picture of wifi calling on a 9860....I have been pushing orange on this since jan...
Paul.

[3Dee]

Right, have tried to attach a picture of the screen here, sorry that it's such a bad quality pic - my wife doesn't have a screenshot app on her phone so have taken a photo with the frankly terrible camera on my 9900 (with the image quality turned right down as a similar but larger picture just made my 9900 pinwheel like I'd asked it to tell me the answer to life, the universe and everything when I tried to attach it via the Crackberry app). The wi-fi calling symbol is in the top right hand corner - it's rectangular with a phone symbol and reception symbol (not that you can easily discern this from the picture!). The picture is in the calendar app but the symbol shows just the same on the home screen. The os is .342 (7.1).

[Stubbo]

I cant quite tell what that icon looks like from that pic! it does look like you are right though, wonder why i never got it!

I know if the phone is connected via UMA you normally see something like this..

http://www.firelogic.net/_/rsrc/1328...berry-icon.jpg

And fyi, screenmuncher free on appworld for screenshots

[3Dee]

Thanks for the tip Stubbo! The symbol isn't the same as the old UMA symbol, and wifi calling doesn't seem as effective actually (given that I'm in an area with good reception I'm even thinking of turning it off) - the range doesn't seem as good as with UMA, and unlike UMA - which would switch between a wifi and gsm signal mid call seamlessly - when you're connected to a call via wifi calling you don't switch over to gsm when you move out of range of the router, instead you're played a warning tone to indicate that the wifi signal is low and that the call may drop.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[robsteve]

What OS is your wife's phone on? My son's phone on 7.1.0.428 is missing the wifi calling option in the mobile network options.

[3Dee]

OS .342 (7.1)

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[dvc]

i loaded the above software on my Rogers 9860 and no Wifi calling, I am subscribed to the plan FYI

[tonic27]

What would be interesting is if 3Dee woul load an unofficial os of a higher version and see I it still works...would prove its not os fault.

[3Dee]

Sorry all, not only would my wife be seriously unhappy about that prospect, i'm a mac user so no unofficial os builds for me. Just call Orange and ask them to tell you what's up.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[tonic27]

I have and they don't know...all you get out of orange is testing software...

[tonic27]

Small update after a lenthy conversation with orange, they don't know why some models
Work and some don't, they don't don't when or if the 9860 will ever have wifi calling.
So they have ended my contract early so I can upgrade to 9900 free....not perfect result but not bad.
Paul.

[3Dee]

Just to dispel the myth once and for all that the 9860 doesn't have wifi calling on Orange, here's a screenshot

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[3Dee]

Tonic27 - I'm sure you'll like the 9900 if you've liked the traditional BlackBerry experience in the past - it's a great communication device (oddly, you can use the BBC iPlayer site on it too, unlike the 9860 which makes no sense whatsoever - I put this entirely down to the BBC being lazy and acting like the monopoly they are). I guarantee that you'll miss the camera though. It's really horses for courses - I love my 9900, my wife loves her 9860, neither of us would swap. Enjoy!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[Stubbo]

Finally! with todays 7.1.0.649 leak we have wi-fi calling!!

Its not the UMA i wanted but hey its a step in the right direction!

[intoxicating]

Great news,

I'm still on Orange 7.1.0.342 with Wifi calling so defo update now.

Thanks

[Blaenmene]

Does anyone have an update on wifi calling on Orange. I phoned Orange today and they state that the 9860 does not support UMA. I pointed out that their website has previously stated that UMA would be supported in February ( on one of their product support pages), but they do not accept this ! I queried the possibility of an upgrade but they declined - wifi calling is important to me as I have no mobile reception at home. Does anyone have a screenshot of the orange webpage that advised UMA would be available from Feb '12 ??
Many thanks.