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Not sure why you guys are being charged for minutes. I use UMA which can only be used on GSM phones. Sprint and Verizon World Phones have GSM capability but they DO NOT support that option and as such if you are with Verizon or Sprint you cannot utilize UMA. However Tmobile and AT&T support UMA. AT&T charges a monthly fee to utilize the service and Tmobile does not. I utilize the service thru Tmobile and I am not charged for any minutes when utilizing UMA. I have used it both on cruise ships in the middle of the ocean where only wifi is available and internationally where wifi is available. The secret is this. Blackberry's differ from other phones with this loophole. Any other Tmobile smartphone that is capable of utilizing UMA you must leave both the wireless network and the wifi selections turned on. With a blackberry if you turn off the wireless network and only leave on the wifi you will NOT be charged for roaming or any minutes. This is what allows me to talk internationally and domestically for free.
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Enhancing UMA
Summary � An Asus router running TomatoUSB while configured as an Access Point + WDS and a second Asus router running DD-WRT and configured as a repeater bridge has improved UMA call quality.
UMA is fair to middling when at its best and irritating most of the rest of the time, but if you have a spotty wireless signal from your cellular company it�s an option. Asus routers have been the most reliable for me whether running their original firmware, DD-WRT or Tomato. However, my impression after running Tomato for a couple of weeks is that it locks into and holds onto the UMA signal better.
My main router is an Asus RT-N53 running TomatoUSB on 2.4 GHz only. I use WPA2 Personal security + AES encryption. (Even managed to set up a guest network with a separate SSID thanks to Rico Troubleshooting Encounter: Multiple SSID using Tomato USB firmware ). I set up the QoS at first but either by happenstance or my error the call quality was only so-so from time to time, so I disabled QoS and haven�t gone back to it. I haven�t needed to change any advanced wireless options (Wireless configuration settings for UMA - BlackBerry Forums Support Community ) but perhaps those tweaks would help in some circumstances.
My BlackBerry Bold 9900 (with static IP - all my devices have them although I�m not sure it helps) holds the UMA signal throughout the house even though the signal strength is lower in some areas. But I decided to use a second router in the basement (an Asus WL-520GU connected wirelessly to the RT-N53) for better signal coverage anyway, plus when you get started on this stuff it�s hard to stop! (I had tried the WL-520GU running DD-WRT with three separate routers configured as repeater bridges for a while, but the Tomato/DD-WRT two router combo I�m using now works better.) So, the downstairs router was initially flashed with Tomato USB as well and configured as a WDS, while the main router was configured as an Access Point + WDS. (How To Extend Your Wireless Network with Tomato-Powered Routers ). But even with the security reduced to the recommended WPA Personal rather than WPA2 Personal the downstairs router wouldn�t pick up a UMA connection. So I re-flashed it with DD-WRT, configured it as a repeater bridge (Repeater Bridge - DD-WRT Wiki ) and with the main router still configured as an Access Point + WDS it works just fine.
The DD-WRT instructions are clear only to those who are already in the know but they can be deciphered. The installed Asus firmware or the Asus firmware restoration utility can be finicky when trying to flash Tomato or DD-WRT but a TFTP2 tool helped me flash the initial .trx file, and then the Tomato or DD-WRT .bin file could be installed just by using the router�s firmware upgrade function.
All this stuff is marginally more confusing than it sounds but if I can get it done anyone can. I hope it's of some help and good luck!