Looking for phone to go with Playbook, but they require a Data Plan

Here I was so excited that it was time for a new phone and figured I would get a BB since I could bridge and remotely control my playbook.

Well, it seems with the BB I have to have a data plan to use it.

Not being a phone web user, I have to say that really kind of ticked me off. Another $20 a month so I can download apps on the phone?

So looks like I will be going android for the phone as I wouldn't use the bridge that often to pay over $200 a year for the privilege. I can pay as you go for data when I need it, cause I can go a couple of months and never use my cell phone, or maybe make 2 or 3 calls with it. And I can use the Android as a wifi hotspot.

Do any of you have phones and not use a data plan, just the wifi?

Yep - I use my 9800 with no blackberry plan, just wifi. Remote control etc works absolutely fine over bridge, and I've used a few apps over the wifi connection. My network doesn't support payg data on a BB handset, so it's essentially a dumbphone.

Check out Koodo.
My wife has a Curve with no data plan.

By the way, if you go with Koodo contact me. I can send you a code to get you $25 back on your Tab account.

you don't need a data plan on any phone. you will get the hard sell on it tho.

i used an 8320 for the longest time with no data. just wanted a keyboard for texting.

fido has voice only plans, so rogers should too.

Does Rogers have a to Go service like att? On att you have to go to the att store and have a regular sim activated as a Go sim. The only way to get to the internet is either wifi and get a BB plan.

I've actually dropped Rogers and am looking at other providers that offer pay as you go or the prepaid plans so I am not locked in to any contract.

Virgin has a good plan that includes unlimited long distance anywhere in Canada evenings and weekends. I was thinking about that one. I live out in the country so almost all my calls are long distance.

Figure I will be putting Dell Voice (when it comes to BB) on the phone and use that through wifi when needed. I have Comwave on my playbook and use SKype phone service over the computer, so I am well covered overall.

So I don't want a big plan of any kind. I only use the phone to any extent when I am at trade shows.

So looks like I can go for it then.

I was figuring on a Curve 9300 as I think that would do me just fine.

So thanks guys, looks like I can go for it.

Originally Posted by Barljo

Yep - I use my 9800 with no blackberry plan, just wifi. Remote control etc works absolutely fine over bridge, and I've used a few apps over the wifi connection. My network doesn't support payg data on a BB handset, so it's essentially a dumbphone.

Just wanted to check on this point. Can you download from appworld without data, just wifi?

all carriers have no contract plans.

my fido plan is $35 a month for 100 daytime minutes and free evenings and weekends. data and some calling features are extras. you can get cheaper than that, all no contract. they had an all in plan for $50. fido has no access fees too.

fido is rogers. koodo is telus. solo and virgin are bell.

the curve 9300 is a decent phone, but end of life really. there are newer ones around. the 9300 should come cheap otherwise.

don't expect any kind of wifi/voip/sip calling on your phone any time soon. i have a high level contact at rim (higher than some pimply faced geek watching the "data stream") and he says rim doesn't want to off carriers by allowing wifi calling. odd that rim protects the carriers and the users drop the products. it's not a licensing thing between say skype and rim. it's the carriers and rim.

Originally Posted by crackberryjill

Just wanted to check on this point. Can you download from appworld without data, just wifi?

You can download from AppWorld with Wifi no problem. Also you can go pay as you go with Windmobile in Canada with their MIFI 3G portable router. In fact I am typing and sending this via 3G using Windmobile. Data plan on phones are only mandatory if you are either a new subscriber or the phone you want needs to be in the subsidy plan. Windmobile had some generous plans in prior years. Coverage however is not great.

Originally Posted by crackberryjill

Just wanted to check on this point. Can you download from appworld without data, just wifi?

if appworld has been updated to run directly over wireless yes. at one time it needed bes/bis over wifi or a data plan.

you can always use the desktop manager to load apps from your desktop. if that's still available. again, it used to be, but i haven't done it in ages.

Originally Posted by amro

all carriers have no contract plans.

my fido plan is $35 a month for 100 daytime minutes and free evenings and weekends. data and some calling features are extras. you can get cheaper than that, all no contract. they had an all in plan for $50. fido has no access fees too.

fido is rogers. koodo is telus. solo and virgin are bell.

the curve 9300 is a decent phone, but end of life really. there are newer ones around. the 9300 should come cheap otherwise.

don't expect any kind of wifi/voip/sip calling on your phone any time soon. i have a high level contact at rim (higher than some pimply faced geek watching the "data stream") and he says rim doesn't want to off carriers by allowing wifi calling. odd that rim protects the carriers and the users drop the products. it's not a licensing thing between say skype and rim. it's the carriers and rim.

This is only true if you own or are buying a no term phone from the 3 major carriers;Bell, Rogers and Telus. The sub-carriers like Fido, Koodo and Solo do no but they are still tied to major carriers. Windmobile is a small carrier which also offer no contract. But really a no contract phone is really a gimmick unless you own your own phone or no term phone where you absorb the full cost of the phone. The phones then are also capable to be used outside of Canafa with other SIM cards.

May be possible to use the blackBerry desktop manager to download apps(such as the bridge) over your home intent connection. Perhaps someone else can comment on this?

Originally Posted by amro

all carriers have no contract plans.

my fido plan is $35 a month for 100 daytime minutes and free evenings and weekends. data and some calling features are extras. you can get cheaper than that, all no contract. they had an all in plan for $50. fido has no access fees too.

fido is rogers. koodo is telus. solo and virgin are bell.

the curve 9300 is a decent phone, but end of life really. there are newer ones around. the 9300 should come cheap otherwise.

don't expect any kind of wifi/voip/sip calling on your phone any time soon. i have a high level contact at rim (higher than some pimply faced geek watching the "data stream") and he says rim doesn't want to off carriers by allowing wifi calling. odd that rim protects the carriers and the users drop the products. it's not a licensing thing between say skype and rim. it's the carriers and rim.

So even though Dell says that Dell Voice is coming for BB, I won't be able to use it?

Then I guess it will be Android.

I am sure i downloaded the Bridge software over wifi....let me just install something to check......yup, AppWorld works fine over WiFi only..... I have a Curve 9380.

If the killer was the voice thingy, why was this not the question in the first place - it is not something you can do over Playbook anyway.......

Originally Posted by Bluemoonjules

I am sure i downloaded the Bridge software over wifi....let me just install something to check......yup, AppWorld works fine over WiFi only..... I have a Curve 9380.

If the killer was the voice thingy, why was this not the question in the first place - it is not something you can do over Playbook anyway.......

I didn't realize there would be any issue with the Dell Voice, and there still may not be. It comes available for BB phones this month sometime. My sister has it on her Galaxy phone.

As someone who doesn't use her cell phone a lot, except when at trade shows, I don't want to have an expensive plan. But from what I read in some of the phone forums, you had to have a data plan to download from appworld, you couldn't use wifi. Now that seems different with OS6.

I do make phone calls with my playbook using Comwave, but you need to have headphones on otherwise the speakers reverberate back to whomever you are talking to. Also it has a 250 minute limit, although I would never go over that anyway. Easier if I can do it on a cell as there are no reverberations to worry about and Dell Voice is free to a large list of Canadian cities.

Comwave does have a plan for the BB phones, so I might go that route. Its $30 year.

Take a look at Ting. I think they've got the best deal around. I've been with them for a month and am quite pleased. They use the Sprint network so coverage is good...at least in the states. They're headquartered in Toronto so I assume they must have pretty good coverage in Canada.

I don't have a blackberry data plan on my tour. I still have email, SMS, MMS, Browser, voice... Although if you don't have alot of time, tech experience on your hands I wouldn't try it. All of bridge works but the browser. If anyone could help me fix that I would be very happy.

Originally Posted by erkang

Take a look at Ting. I think they've got the best deal around. I've been with them for a month and am quite pleased. They use the Sprint network so coverage is good...at least in the states. They're headquartered in Toronto so I assume they must have pretty good coverage in Canada.

Believe it or not, Ting is not available in Canada. I guess the market is too small and widespread. Hopefully we will see it in the future.

I can connect to AppWorld and download on my wife's 9300.

The plan she has with Koodo is 50 minutes talk time anywhere in Canada, unlimited text and unlimited BBM. 50 minutes is plenty for her and it sounds like it would be plenty for you.
Dell Voice works over WiFi. I see no reason why the BB version wouldn't work the same as the others.

Originally Posted by crackberryjill

So even though Dell says that Dell Voice is coming for BB, I won't be able to use it?

Then I guess it will be Android.

dell's faq says coming for blackberry.

skype said coming for blackberry. that was years ago.
navionics said chart plotter app coming for blackberry. i gave up waiting 18 months after their press release. that was several years ago too.

the only point i believe something is coming for blackberry is when i can actually buy it or download it.

get your android device and be happy using the apps you want and need.

Originally Posted by crackberryjill

So even though Dell says that Dell Voice is coming for BB, I won't be able to use it?

Then I guess it will be Android.

Unless the Dell Voice app requires 3G data to work, I highly doubt that would be the case. So far the android app is able to go over both HSPA+ and WiFi, so I doubt it'd be any different for the Blackberry App.

as well, yes you can download apps from app world over wifi only without a BIS plan. I have friends who have updated certain functions of their blackberry through this option when they have not had full data plans (i.e only had a plan that covered E-mail and BBM).

Last but not least, I am pretty darned certain that Koodo wouldn't require you to have a data plan to activate your device, nor would Telus... actually I'm pretty near 100% certain that if you opt to activate your device with Telus or Koodo they wouldn't require you to activate a data plan unless it was a subsidized high end phone (read: anything but a curve) and it was to bring your total plan to over $50/month. Anything else would be just plain odd. It wouldn't surprise me if Bell and Virgin worked the same way on that.

That's my two cents, hope it helps you out there!

Originally Posted by amro

if appworld has been updated to run directly over wireless yes. at one time it needed bes/bis over wifi or a data plan.

you can always use the desktop manager to load apps from your desktop. if that's still available. again, it used to be, but i haven't done it in ages.

Appworld works fine over wifi as does email push. Blackberry data pkg is only needed to access the internet thru the cellure network.

I will probably be going with Virgin and the Curve. Which plan I will pick I'm not sure, but should suit my needs just fine. Thanks for all the input.

Originally Posted by flacko

May be possible to use the blackBerry desktop manager to download apps(such as the bridge) over your home intent connection. Perhaps someone else can comment on this?

And for others who are asking about WiFi and App World. I am a deployed Soldier, I have my PlayBook and Torch 9800. I do not have BIS/BES, I have a local providers SIM (only GSM, no EDGE, etc). I connect to the internet through a wired connection to my wireless router in my room.

I get updates for both my Torch and PlayBook, I can purchase apps for both devices. The only problem is location.... I sometimes have to use a Proxy to see certain Apps and install them (many posts about using a proxy on the forum as well).

Hope this answers questions about WiFi.

Originally Posted by crackberryjill

I will probably be going with Virgin and the Curve. Which plan I will pick I'm not sure, but should suit my needs just fine. Thanks for all the input.

Virgin didn't have the Talk & Text plans or the Tab when I got my wife's BB, that's why I went with Koodo at the time.
The difference I see now is that the Koodo plan also allows unlimited BB Messenger. My wife wanted this to allow PIN to PIN messaging with me and BBM with other family members. My employer blocks BBM but not PIN to PIN.
If you have no need for PIN to PIN messaging then the Virgin plan should be fine. Telus and Bell use the same cell towers so service should be the same with either.