Just bought a Bold 9930 on Verizon - Couple Quick Questions

Hey guys,

I just bought a used Bold 9930 to be used on Verizon. Will be upgrading from a Bold 9780 on T-Mobile. Couple quick questions:

1) I thought that I bought a 4g phone. Now I'm not so sure. I'm now reading some stuff that says the 9900 is 4g whereas the 9930 is 3g? The ebay listing said, "3G data capable, 4G data capable". The 9780 I'm currently using on T-Mobile is 3g and I was looking forward to a faster network, so this will be disappointing if it's not 4g.
2) I bought it used off ebay to 1) get a good price and 2) bring my own device to Verizon so I don't have to sign a contract. If the 9930 is only 3g perhaps it makes sense to buy the 9900 and go with ATT in order to get 4g? This is overall a 4-5 month solution until my company supports BB10.
2) Any recommendations with buying a used phone? Should I do a complete data wipe/reset? What's the best way to make sure I get the latest OS software?

TYIA,

Okay, lots of questions...

Real 4G is LTE. The only BB's that work with LTE are all the BB10 devices.
For legacy BBOS device (like 97xx, 99xx, etc), the best data service possible was HSPA+ on OS7 devices. HSPA+ was originally called 3.5G or 3.75G, depending who you asked, but is not the same level as LTE. T-Mo started a trend of calling HSPA+ 4G that other carriers jumped on as well. That's why in online forums like here at CB, you'll see people jokingly call it Faux G.

So what does it all mean?
CDMA carriers did not use HSPA or HSPA+. So any Verizon-compatible legacy BB does 3G, period. So that goes for the 9930.

If you decide to go for a 9900, please note there are 2 different versions for AT&T and T-Mo that use different radio frequencies. You cannot get 3G / HSPA+ service without the right one. Easiest way to tell is on startup there is a carrier splashscreen with logo.
On AT&T you can use a 9900 from AT&T or unlocked from Telus, Bell, or Rogers.
On T-Mo you can use a 9900 from T-Mo or unlocked from Wind Mobile.

How bad did I just confuse you?

Originally Posted by elite1

Okay, lots of questions...

Real 4G is LTE. The only BB's that work with LTE are all the BB10 devices.
For legacy BBOS device (like 97xx, 99xx, etc), the best data service possible was HSPA+ on OS7 devices. HSPA+ was originally called 3.5G or 3.75G, depending who you asked, but is not the same level as LTE. T-Mo started a trend of calling HSPA+ 4G that other carriers jumped on as well. That's why in online forums like here at CB, you'll see people jokingly call it Faux G.

So what does it all mean?
CDMA carriers did not use HSPA or HSPA+. So any Verizon-compatible legacy BB does 3G, period. So that goes for the 9930.

If you decide to go for a 9900, please note there are 2 different versions for AT&T and T-Mo that use different radio frequencies. You cannot get 3G / HSPA+ service without the right one. Easiest way to tell is on startup there is a carrier splashscreen with logo.
On AT&T you can use a 9900 from AT&T or unlocked from Telus, Bell, or Rogers.
On T-Mo you can use a 9900 from T-Mo or unlocked from Wind Mobile.

How bad did I just confuse you?

Awesome response, thank you for taking the time to spell it out for dummies (me).

This whole process has been nothing short of frustrating. I need to lay it out here, to vent, and to see if anyone has awesome ideas.

Summary

1) I'm currently on a BlackBerry Bold 9780 with T-Mobile. The 9780 is slowly dying.
2) I spend a fair amount of time in rural parts of the USA and T-Mobile's network sucks. ATT and Verizon work great in these areas (my brothers have those carriers).
3) Because of above I want to switch to carriers, preferably Verizon.
4) My company will not yet support BB10 devices. I do not want iOS or Android. I want to stay with BlackBerry.
5) My choice is thus the 9900/9930.
6) I bought a used Verizon branded 9930 from ebay. This is 3G only, apparently not even able to do HSPA/HSPA +. The 9900 with ATT can do faux 4G.
7) Because I'm using my company's BES service I need to get the BIS service from my new carrier.
8) Because I need BIS, I cannot do pre-paid service. ATT only adds BIS if you sign a contract (according to a rep on the phone). Verizon only adds BIS if you do MTM contract. My company may support BB10 devices in 4-5 months so I don't want to sign a contract. This eliminates ATT.
9) Best I can do with Verizon, even as a new customer and bringing my own device is as follows:
$50 for talk/text/1 GB shared data + $40 smartphone fee + $15 BIS service = $105 + tax per month. My company has a 22% discount off the $50 portion which saves $11 so my total is $94 + tax.
10) My current T-Mobile bill is $66 / month after tax.
11) The above seems like a complete rip-off considering I'm getting the same 3G and Verizon didn't have to subsidize a new device.
12) I would be at a simple $79 + tax WITH a brand new Q10 if my company would support BB10 devices.

Any surprise I'm frustrated?

Anyone have any bright ideas?

Sorry for the long post. This helped me vent/summarize my thoughts.

Carry two devices? lol :) But seriously, you could have the 9930 on the BES for work email unactivated and run a Q10... turn on WiFi hotspot on the Q10 to access BES with the 9930...? That's all I got.

Posted with my Playbook via Tapatalk

Do you have copious access to wi-fi?

I ask because there is an unadvertised Share Everything plan that was a promotional deal at one point, but some people on the forums are saying you can still get if you call Verizon on the phone and ask for it.

It's 300MB of data per month, unlimited talk and text for $20. With your employer's discount, you're looking at $15.60+$40+15=$70.60. Still more than you were paying at T-Mobile with considerably less data and no guarantee that you can even pull it off.

I know it's not much as far as advice goes, but it least it was free right?

The data isn't a big deal. I currently use about 50 MB per month. WIth BES the compression must be really good. Perhaps I'd use more on a good network (Verizon) but 300 MB ought to be just fine.

Anyone else have other ideas? This whole process has been disappointing. I don't think a good option exists for me.

The easy option is to just get a new Android phone but I really don't want to do this.

My desire to stay with BB is costing me $15 / month extra, plus $140 for a used device, plus using an older device and not getting LTE. Lame.

When you say your company doesn't support BB10, can I ask what that specifically means?
Is there an app made by and for the company that you must use that isn't available?

Otherwise, you're talking about getting your own BIS plan anyway; so, I don't understand why you couldn't just get a new Q10/Z10 on a regular data plan just like you would with an Android or iPhone.

Sorry if I'm missing something really obvious.

You will enjoy the Bold.

Originally Posted by elite1

When you say your company doesn't support BB10, can I ask what that specifically means?
Is there an app made by and for the company that you must use that isn't available?

Otherwise, you're talking about getting your own BIS plan anyway; so, I don't understand why you couldn't just get a new Q10/Z10 on a regular data plan just like you would with an Android or iPhone.

Sorry if I'm missing something really obvious.

It's a long story. Our company supports legacy BB devices for another 2 years. Our company supports iOS and Android. They use Mobile Iron and Touchdown to administer security on those devices. Even though I can successfully load Mobile Iron and Touchdown on a BB10 device I got shot down, multiple times. It's just not going to happen. Here's my whole thread on it:

http://forums.crackberry.com/bes-10-...leiron-810905/

If it is an unlocked device you can get a month of Verizon service, check their prepaid offerings, think its only 70 a month for a smartphone, and, keep your T-Mobile plan. You can pop the sim card in and just switch radios from CDMA for vzw and gsm for tmo
I did that for two years with 9630, 9650 and a 9930.
Pm if you need more info

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