[bcrowley18]

Is there anyway to expand the SMS messaging on the 8830 WE.
Thanks- newbee here

[anon(153966)]

Hmm, what do you mean? To allow more, or to allow LONGER messages?

If yes for longer messages, the device will do it automatically and split them into multiple messages...

[serg1133]

Yea im having the same issue , it automatically says field full once i hit 160 charecters. It wont let me continue. So i need to start another text to continue the previous one, its a bit tedious at times. Is there a way to fix this ? Please help. Thanks

[sonypoolplr]

I've noticed this as well. My old phone used to allow longer messages, but the 8830 doesn't. I would like to know if there is a setting or something I am missing.

[uscwest]

Unfortunately you have hit another Verizonism. They consider any text message longer than 160 characters an email, therefore that is your limit on a text.

[anon(153966)]

uscwest, I also wonder if their devices have the 4.2.* OS. I also thought that was something was needed to allow 'extended sms messages'...

[serg1133]

man that stinks ... blackberrys are great though just a few quirks here and there but devices dont have them. probably thanks to verizon i would think..

[[email protected]]

Unfortunately you have hit another Verizonism. They consider any text message longer than 160 characters an email, therefore that is your limit on a text.

Almost. This quirk is actually a software limitation, not necessarily a "Verizon" thing. For whatever reason, the BB can only send up to 160 characters in a text, which is considered just about normal on any VZW device. However, this is not a service limitation, but software, and there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason for it. Treos, Nokia phones, the Moto Q, and some LG's can send texts that are larger than 160 characters, and are parsed into several text messages based on the phone that receives them, within Verizon or not. What Verzion's rhyme or reason for this is (if not the phone manufacturer), who knows. This may just be something they've never put much weight into, since there are phones from different years active on the service that work in different ways. If you're really that disapointed with the limitation on the BB, you might want to give RIM a call, see what they have to say on it?

[serg1133]

Very true eduardjm. I worked for VZW for 3 years and Ive had blackberrys before. They , in my opinion, work the best for what I need them to do. Ive had LG phones and Motorola as well and they do, for the most part , let you go beyond the 160 character boundary. Its a small quirk but the good outweigh the bad IMO. All devices have good and bad points. I was in business sales for them and let me tell you that blackberrys rarely ever were returned mainly because of reliability and functionality. All good stuff thanks for the feedback.

[mkbb]

Verizon does have the capacity for longer messages, as I get them from other VZW users who use different phones.

I also noted that when used during international roaming that the 8830 switches its sms mode to allow for longer messages which it then parses into multiple messages. If someone has found a workaround to allow for the phone software to send messages to utilize the VZW maximum number of characters (which is at least 2x 160) please post it. It would be a money saver and very useful.

[odhham]

I have two Blackberry phones. One which I use in the US and the other which I use in the Caribbean. My Blackberry in the Caribbean (carrier is Cable & Wireless) allows you up to 918 characters in SMS as opposed to Verizon's 160. Soyes, it IS a Verizonism!

[audit]

My Blackberry in the Caribbean (carrier is Cable & Wireless) allows you up to 918 characters in SMS as opposed to Verizon's 160. Soyes, it IS a Verizonism!

No it's not. I'm on AT&T and have the 160 limit also.

[Bert336]

i am on alltel and own a 8830we and i also have the 160 limit =/

[rrrebo]

How SMS Works

Why 160 Characters?
SMS was designed to deliver short bursts of data such as numerical pages. To avoid overloading the system with more than the standard forward-and-response operation, the inventors of SMS agreed on a 160-character maximum message size.

But the 160-character limit is not absolute. Length limitations may vary depending on the network, phone model and wireless carrier. Some phones don't allow you to keep typing once the 160-character limit is reached. You must send your message before continuing. However, some services will automatically break any message you send into chunks of 160 characters or less. So, you can type and send a long message, but it will be delivered as several messages.

[Bert336]

umm

that still doesnt show how to allow the 8830 or any other phone to type past 160 characters...errr...160 is too easy to reach with the BB keyboard..

[dlnmorrow]

I currently am able to send SMS that have greater than 160 characters, the message is parsed and it does go thru. I do it regularly as I have unlimited messaging. I did wonder if the recipient was receiving the entire message and have seen that they had.
So I am not sure what allows me to do this and not other AT&T subscribers with the same device or similar. I've done it on many different devices to be exact.
I do know I dont save my msgs on SIM card and I have it set to send over GPRS preferred.

[rrrebo]

umm

that still doesnt show how to allow the 8830 or any other phone to type past 160 characters...errr...

No, but hopefully it cleared up some questions on exactly where the limitations come from and provided a better understanding of how SMS works. Sorry I cannot immediately solve your issue in particular. I have an 8300 on AT&T and I can continue typing up to a total of 6 160-character SMS messages without sending. Hope you find an answer.

[Bert336]

rrrebo. not fair 6 x 160 thanks for the input though.

EtherealLover: how do you have your options setup? do you own a 8830?


edit: nevermind just saw you own a curve so perhaps its only a 8830 issue

[yjustin]

I am sure that it is the phone software that keep the limit of 160 characters.
I am using telus, and tried my friends LG Shine (telus) and when I go over 160 chracs, it breaks into multi messages itself. But This blackberry Pearl which I am using, doesnt do that, just gives me error message sayging message full.

THIS SUCKS............

I wish I can fix this problem somehow~!

Please let me know anyone who solves this problem.

[email protected]

[mconk]

It is not a "problem". It is the design of the phone OS. There is no workaround to this.

All cell towers in the US allow for an open, undisturbed channel which allow for packets of txt to be sent/received with 160 characters or less. This channel was engineered, as stated in a previous post, to ONLY allow 160 characters.

So with that said, some phones allow you to continue typing after reaching 160, and some do not - forcing you to create and send a new message. For the phones that allow you to keep typing, that message, if over 160 characters, is broken down into several messages, each of which would contain 160 characters or less.

This is how the US cell network was engineered, and thus is why some phones allow typing over 160, and some don't. It is purely choice of the manufacturer and devs of the OS.

For the 8830, there is no way around this. Unless someone writes software to allow the message to exceed 160 chars, which would then be broken up into several messages upon delivery.

No further discussion is necessary on this one folks.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[adawg1203#CB]

It still would be nice for RIM to expand the character fields, as I agree with everyone else 160 is not nearly enough....BB's provoke lengthy meessages just because of the type of devices that they are.....This is an issue worthwhile of RIM looking into...

[hubermania]

tried my friends LG Shine (telus) and when I go over 160 chracs, it breaks into multi messages itself. But This blackberry Pearl which I am using, doesnt do that, just gives me error message sayging message full.

Fwiw my spanking new Pearl Flip 8220 breaks up SMS into 160 character pages.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[am39053]

Just out of curiosity, how does all of this compare to the Blackberry messenger which does not seem to have a limit? At least I have not found there to be a limit.

Why would the SMS have a limity but Blackberry Messenger doesn't?

[gtstang462002]

Just out of curiosity, how does all of this compare to the Blackberry messenger which does not seem to have a limit? At least I have not found there to be a limit.

Why would the SMS have a limity but Blackberry Messenger doesn't?

It is all in the port that the data is traveling over. The SMS port(channel as many are calling it) has byte limitations. BBM is using a different data port that is part of the BIS or BES data plan.

[gtstang462002]

It still would be nice for RIM to expand the character fields, as I agree with everyone else 160 is not nearly enough....BB's provoke lengthy meessages just because of the type of devices that they are.....This is an issue worthwhile of RIM looking into...

Write an email then.