[Treatz]

Hey guys

quick ques for those of you on Rogers usning the 8900 on UMA without a subscription

do you find that every now and then you go to make a call and it simply fails, or you call your cell phoen to hear 1.5 rings and then Vm when you're camping on UMA?

i have this issue @ home and @ work

the Work router is a Rogers talkspot router, so that's "approved"
the router @ home is a WRT54GS

i'm running the stock ROgers OS which i dno't remember right nwo


does .109 fix this issue for you guys?

[ronag]

I setup my wife's 8900 to connect to our home router (a D-Link 614 I believe) and as soon as it connected to our home network, UMA showed up where it previously indicated EDGE.

Its worked pretty flawlessly as far as I can tell....my wife is Blackberry illiterate, and probably wouldn't notice if it went a little flaky for a while. I've had no problems getting a hold of her when she is at home (on our wifi network), and all her emails are coming through to the device.

One thing I was wondering is if UMA is indicated on the device and I do NOT have a subscription, but just works ....is everything good to go? Would I get hit with some additional charges??

Basically, what I'm trying to figure out is if I'm traveling out of the country, and turn OFF the mobile radio, but have wifi on AND get the UMA icon....am I pretty much good to go as far as free Long distance...regardlesss of where I am??

I realize that if it doesn't work (calls are not completed) I have no one to complain to as I'm not a subscriber...but wanted to get a "clearer" picture of UMA and any possible charges without learning the hard way

:EDIT: I just read the FAQ on Rogers website, but was wondering if anyone has tried using it outside of Canada, and what the results were. Even if the phone component won't work, will email work as normal when connected to WiFi only (outside of the Country?)

[Treatz]

my understanding is rogers blocks non canadian IP's meaning overseas UMA no workie

[aaamr#CB]

my understanding is rogers blocks non canadian IP's meaning overseas UMA no workie

This has always bugged me about Rogers... why should it matter where I am, as long as I have a decent internet connection, they should not care.

Also, the Talkspot subscription has (if I recall correctly) no provision for North America-wide unlimited... guess I will continue using my voip lines.

[Rippa]

Hey guys, i've been researching this same issue. I hope this answer gives us "some" insight to the issue.

After lots of research, i decided to confront Rogers about this issue. 1st I called tech support. I explained that i was at home using UMA. I had also disabled the mobile network. How was this possible. That asked if i had talk spot, I DON'T. They had no clue.

Then I called customer service. I was told that I needed talkspot. The also told me it wasn't available for 8900. So how does it work with my phone????

They have no clue!!!!!

Anybody know what's going on???

[gregerator]

Here's how I understand it. If you do not have talkspot then even when connected via wifi your minutes from your plan will be deducted. The advatage is 2 fold. Your signal should be clearer and you can do voice and data simultaneously. You would be charged for data if you do not have a plan. Another advantage is if your mobile radio signal is weak where you have a wifi signal you can use the wifi rather than hoping you hold onto the radio signal. As an advantage for the carrier, when you use wifi their load on the system is lessened. HTH!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[gm85]

Treatz:
If you are having a problem with UMA, it may not be a Rogers problem or an 8900 problem, but in general a VoIP problem.

VoIP has a very strict set of guidelines that need to be followed for a call to be successful. This is related to delay (the time it takes for the call to travel from your phone to the rogers UMA servers), jitter (the variation in delay) and packet loss.

The problem is that most networks are not designed for VoIP and I can see this being a bigger and bigger problem as people begin to use the UMA service. The two biggest factors are your internet connection bandwidth, as well as the number of devices that are communicating behind your router. If there is not enough bandwidth to go around, UMA/VoIP calls will simply fail.

Now rogers provides the talkspot router (as you mentioned) and the point of it is to provide priority to UMA/VoIP data. However, just like any device, there are limitations to how much it can actually assit. In a normal home environment, the talkspot router should be just fine and be able to reserve enough bandwidth for UMA calls. However if you are in a business envionment, there may not be enough bandwidth to go around to support everything the business is doing, as well as VoIP/UMA calls (Which is why you are running into call problems).

Something I should also mention is that on most networks, the traffic is burstable. So there may be one minute where barely any data is transmitted and calls can go through just fine. However a minute later, the network connection may be saturated by data transfer and you'll find that your call will fail.

[Benbow]

I find this UMA thing a little confusing also. Only today has my 8900 connected through UMA, even though I have had it hooked up through Wifi for the past week (I have Rogers as my ISP). Would there be any reason for it only starting now? I also do not pay for Talkspot.

[nate230]

yah i dont really understand how this works either, even after doing some research. my phone shows UMA at home as well when connected to my wireless. could i turn off the radio and it would still be able to call?

also i am going to florida next month. if i turn off the radio on the phone and just leave wifi on i could use the hotels wifi without having any data charges right? if i can connect to UMA i could call as well?

[aristile]

yah i dont really understand how this works either, even after doing some research. my phone shows UMA at home as well when connected to my wireless. could i turn off the radio and it would still be able to call?

also i am going to florida next month. if i turn off the radio on the phone and just leave wifi on i could use the hotels wifi without having any data charges right? if i can connect to UMA i could call as well?

From what I have heard, Rogers blocks foreign IP addresses form their network so I think you will be out of luck.

[faldo]

Questions - If I get my Blackberry 8900 unlocked will it be able to work on any UMA connection? Would I be charged by Rogers still? Would long distance apply if I were traveling?

[eykhong]

so does anyone have an answer as to how someone who does not subscribe to talkspot get UMA service? does it really work and does rogers get you in the end?

[aristile]

As I understand it, if you do not subscribe then the minutes come out of your normal monthly allotted minutes.

[Treatz]

just wanted to revisit this

I believe i solved my issue with UMA droping

Prior the network was:

Cable modem / Sonic wall router / Rogers wifi router

I always suspected the sonicwall router was causing the UMA / Wifi burps

so I reconfig'd the network

it's now:

cable modem / Wifi router / sonicwall router so the wifi router has direct unfiltered access

since i've done that my UMA has stayed lit and active all day today

[sikar]

I recently purchased a blackberry pearl 8120 with Wi-Fi. According to Rogers blackberry support if you have UMA enabled, data is not being billed but voice will use your current voice package minutes etc... So great, I turned off the Rogers EDVO/Edge network and only used Wi-Fi for data since I do not have a data package. Guess what a shock I received when I go my first monthly bill. Customer Service is playing hardball saying that I used the Data service EDVO/Edge (which I understand if you are out of range you will get charged, but I turned the setting off) . Anyway just a heads up, I now have data blocked from Rogers and fighting the Data charges. Just a Warning for anyone who thinks they will not be charged. This seems to be a grey area!!!

[RLP06]

As I understand it, if you do not subscribe then the minutes come out of your normal monthly allotted minutes.

You're correct, I can confirm this as I don't subscribe and have received a bill since I got my 8900

[RLP06]

I recently purchased a blackberry pearl 8120 with Wi-Fi. According to Rogers blackberry support if you have UMA enabled, data is not being billed but voice will use your current voice package minutes etc... So great, I turned off the Rogers EDVO/Edge network and only used Wi-Fi for data since I do not have a data package. Guess what a shock I received when I go my first monthly bill. Customer Service is playing hardball saying that I used the Data service EDVO/Edge (which I understand if you are out of range you will get charged, but I turned the setting off) . Anyway just a heads up, I now have data blocked from Rogers and fighting the Data charges. Just a Warning for anyone who thinks they will not be charged. This seems to be a grey area!!!

If you don't have a data package, you should not even be able to connect via EDGE, Rogers should definately give you your money back, its their fault.

[RLP06]

Questions - If I get my Blackberry 8900 unlocked will it be able to work on any UMA connection? Would I be charged by Rogers still? Would long distance apply if I were traveling?

Only if your 8900 was originally Rogers branded, if it is a T-mobile branded phone, even if you unlock it, it will not work with Rogers UMA

[aristile]

Only if your 8900 was originally Rogers branded, if it is a T-mobile branded phone, even if you unlock it, it will not work with Rogers UMA

This is true but there is also a way you can convert the UMA to work with a carrier other than the one your device is branded to. Horizon Wireless offers this service, among others.

[mczapata]

Question, has anybody trying to put a VPN connection on the BB, say, to your office in Canada (with a Canadian IP), route all the Wi-Fi traffic through it so Rogers thinks that you are always in Canada? Just a thought, I have not done it, but it is my next project (at least to research about it).

Your thoughts (and experience with VPN) will be welcomed

[fuc847]

Does anyone have very choppy connection on UMA?

I read somewhere that you can fix this by calling rogers to register you with a "UNC Address". You can see this on your phone advance settings, wifi diagnostics (advanced).

I called rogers but they know nothing about it...