t-mobile 8900 questions

A quick few questions before I submit my order on t-mobiles website.

1) UMA - I read the 8900 review here on crackberry which said

It expands T-Mobile's network by using Wi-Fi Hot Spots as extra antennas, and it allows free calling while in Wi-Fi coverage if you choose to add that service to your bill.

Without signing up for the free UMA calling, will the phone will still use any WiFi hot spot to increase it's signal strength or do you have to pay for the free UMA calling to take advantage of the increased network coverage/signal strength as well?

2) I see that the 8900 supports WiFi, do you have to sign up for a particular 'service' package to take advantage of it? T-mobile's 'Hotspot' service is what's confusing me, as it is not really well explained, and almost sounds like it's required to be able to connect to hot spots (or is it just for certain hot spots?).

3) Is there anyway to remove or hide the MyFaves so it's not always automatically visible on the home screen?

I wanted to ask here first before I talk to a CR, I don't always trust them. Thanks in advance from a soon to be crackberry addict.

You can use UMA without signing for an extra service. It will deduct the minues from your normal plan. If you add the 9.99 plan ypou will have unlimited UMA minutes. Hotspot just means you're within a UMA zone. Don't use MyFavs so no idea on that one.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

1. UMA is great... OP's profile says you have AT&T, and I don't believe UMA is supported on AT&T... however, on T-Mobile if you don't have a UMA calling plan ($9.99 extra) it still cost you minutes on your calling plan, but either way it does use WiFi for calling and I've had much cleaner calls while using it.

2. Using WiFi is great because it does not count against your data plan, and some people I know use their BB WiFi's without any data plan... on college campus', coffee shops, or any other free WiFi areas.

3. I have T-Mobile, but have never used MyFave, and have never seen it on my 8900 ever... I would first try to use DM to unistall any MyFave software.

You can minimize the my favs so they don't rotate on the home screen. I hide mine

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

2. Using WiFi is great because it does not count against your data plan, and some people I know use their BB WiFi's without any data plan... on college campus', coffee shops, or any other free WiFi areas.

Most excellent, that's exactly what I wanted to know.

Many thanks for the answers, time to go submit my order.

are you serious? so i could sit at home and use my own wireless network and it wouldn't cost me?

i could essentially cancel my data plan and just use my own wireless?

Yeah you can minimize its not a big deal at all i have my faves on my 8900 and its not a bother . I love th UMA feaure :D

To hide the faves icon go to the home screen and click on the faves icon. It will either hide or display the faves icon.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

im not worried about it... i have the unlimited loyalty plan. lol

I don't know about cancelling the data plan. I know some people get by without it but it seems to take away a lot of the cool stuff that makes blackberries awesome.
Depending on how much calling you do at home, you might be able to reduce your voice minutes.
Or drop your landline- they still have those right?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

If you drop your data plan then you can use WiFi for data. However if you do this then you will be limited to data in the range of a WiFi Hotspot. On top of that, you will have limited data as not everything works over WiFi. For example you will not get push mail, BB Messenger, etc. Also many 3rd party applications do not work over WiFi, they need a Blackberry data plan to function. You can find 3rd party applications to do something things but you can not get push mail or Blackberry Messenger without a data plan.

Also many 3rd party applications do not work over WiFi, they need a Blackberry data plan to function. You can find 3rd party applications to do something things but you can not get push mail or Blackberry Messenger without a data plan.

Damn, that's definitely a deal breaker. Guess I will be getting a data plan after all. Thanks for the clarification on that.

If you want to just use your wifi for data, you will be limited on what you can do, and where you can use the internet. There are some applications that will work with it, and others that will not. I tried going without a data plan when I got an 8320, and I felt too restricted on it.

Using UMA to increase your signal strength is definitely a life saver, especially for me. I would have horrible signal at work and school if it wasn't for that. I do not have the unlimited UMA calling added to my plan, but I am seriously considering adding it.