Question: I live in Australia and I was looking at buying the new Blackberry 8320 from eBay in the USA.
Not too sure if it will work over here in Australia though - since it isn't out here yet. I read something on cnet that the wi fi only works on the T-Mobile network as well.
Over here we use GSM so I can't see it being a problem, I just don't wanna spend all that money to not have it work.
Question: I live in Australia and I was looking at buying the new Blackberry 8320 from eBay in the USA.
Not too sure if it will work over here in Australia though - since it isn't out here yet. I read something on cnet that the wi fi only works on the T-Mobile network as well.
Over here we use GSM so I can't see it being a problem, I just don't wanna spend all that money to not have it work.
Any idea if it will work?
All help would be appreciated!
The T-Mobile Curve has UMA, the AT&T Curve does not. It's not a network issue, it's a phone feature issue.
If you want to make Wifi calls, you would need to have a TMo Curve. It is unlikely that you will find a T-Mo Curve on eBay this soon after the launch of the TMo Curve. Let us know if you do.
wlf, I believe John is correct. I do not have an @home plan and was able to connect to a hotel's WiFi network and all calls that I made during those times, were counted against my anytime minutes.
Which of course explains why my phone works on UMA at the local shopping center's WiFi network which has nothing to do with T-Mobile.
My point is that you have to be a TMobile subscriber. It connects to TMobile's system through the wifi internet connection. You can't take a TMobile 8320, unlock it, put in an AT&T sim card and get UMA. It's NOT possible. It is network AND device dependent.
wlf, I believe John is correct. I do not have an @home plan and was able to connect to a hotel's WiFi network and all calls that I made during those times, were counted against my anytime minutes.
1.) That you were able to use a hotel's WiFi network says that John's point is wrong (assuming that your UMA notification icon was blinking rather than your EDGE icon). On the hotel's WiFi network, your calls were not transiting TMo's network and they're not suppose to count against you.
2.) The point about you being charged minutes is troublesome. In theory, UMA minutes are not suppose to count against your TMo plan minutes. I'd call TMo and question them about that.
1.) That you were able to use a hotel's WiFi network says that John's point is wrong (assuming that your UMA notification icon was blinking rather than your EDGE icon). On the hotel's WiFi network, your calls were not transiting TMo's network and they're not suppose to count against you.
2.) The point about you being charged minutes is troublesome. In theory, UMA minutes are not suppose to count against your TMo plan minutes. I'd call TMo and question them about that.
Once again, you are wrong about this. If you have UMA on ANY wifi network your calls still route through TMobile via the wifi connection. Look at your screen. It will say "T-Mobile - Wifi Network" (where "wifi network" is the name of the wifi network you are on.) It doesn't "Blink" either.
The calls will count against your minutes if you don't have the Hotspot @ Home subscription. If you subscribe to Hotspot @ Home then you get unlimited UMA minutes anywhere you can get UMA.
Yeah I'm not too fussed about using wi fi to make calls - obviously that feature is not going to work in Australia since it is for t-mobile network users only.
I just wanted to make sure the phone would actually work over here.
Correct. If you're not a TMobile subscriber it won't work. However, if you have a TMobile US account and take your 8320 to Australia and get a wifi connection and UMA you can make calls to the US for free (taken from your minute alotment if you don't have H@H.) It's a great system for TMo users.
Good luck with your 8320 over there! Wifi will work great for browsing.
wlf, I believe John is correct. I do not have an @home plan and was able to connect to a hotel's WiFi network and all calls that I made during those times, were counted against my anytime minutes.
In speaking with TMo's customer service department tonight I was informed that UMA minutes are indeed pulled from your minute bucket unless you have TMo@home in which case all UMA minutes are free. My apologies for any errors on my part on this point.
The only benefit to using UMA minutes without a TMo@home plan are potentially better reception, not any cost savings.
No need to apologize wlf No harm done. We are just sharing information. This is what the forum is for. We share informations. It is for us to take it or leave.
Teaching or sharing information is another form of learning. That's how I view things. So let us learn some more
Exactly. It basically puts a TMobile cell tower in your house, hotel room, etc. I was in Florida in a hotel room with no cell service a couple weeks ago. Plugged in my wireless travel router to the hotel's ethernet connection and had instant wifi/UMA in my room. Great phone service the whole time I was there.
Also, when I'm overseas, if I can get a UMA connection I can make free calls home to the US (pulling from my minute bucket but much cheaper than $2.99 per minute.)
And I think this forum has some guidelines about the number of links in a sig.
Fortunately the mods and a 99.9% majority of contributors in CrackBerry are class acts and oriented toward promoting a high-end site (not a site run by children as can be found in some sites).
I've found CrackBerry to be a far superior site to any other mobile phone forum and CLEARLY a better site than any other BlackBerry forum.
I've not noticed any contributor(s) in this thread breaking any rules relative to referencing good BB links. That's what CrackBerry is all about - knowledge and learning.
There does appear to be one participant in this thread who is here breaking the rules about not advertising ...
No Advertising Policy
CrackBerry.com maintains a No Advertising policy in the forums.
I'll put you on ignore. I recommend you do the same with me. I am really not interested in further discussion with you in this forum.
No harm done. We are just sharing information. This is what the forum is for. We share informations. It is for us to take it or leave. 