[loki993]

Basically what the title says, think it will ever happen? I live in a marginal signal area and I get very poor signal in my house so this is something that would be very beneficial for me.

I know the other ones, 9700 i believe, do UMA, is that a software thing or hardware? Is there any other way? I know you can get a wireless extender from Verizon, couldn't the software somehow be integrated to the Bold and use the phone as the extender somehow? I don't know.

Just kind of wondering, if the Bold could somehow do calls over wifi it would be great I think, at least for me.

[ratsttam]

There is no reason why the 9650 can't. The blackberry software is already written and in use on the 9700. Oh wait, that's right, Verizon does not have network support for UMA. So your phone can't really connect back to them from the internet like t-mobile and At&t can do.

I have one of the extenders (sprint branded), and it works VERY well (Verizon's is the exact same insides, pointing to Verizon's servers). An advantage is that you don't have to leave your power hungry wifi turned on, as your phone (or any Verizon branded phones) will simply think they are near a regular tower. And in my speed tests, my phone downloaded at the max end of the 1x speeds consistantly (which is actually higher than the 1xEV speeds I get when I get in an area that has it.

Disadvantage is that it obviously only works where you put it.

[Pi Guy 3.14]

Just out of curiosity... if you're on wifi browing the web or whatever and someone calls you, what happens? Does it not go through or will it drop the wifi and go to the network to accept the call?

[loki993]

I wouldn't think it would do that. there should be plenty of bandwidth to do both.

[pcgizmo#IM]

Just out of curiosity... if you're on wifi browing the web or whatever and someone calls you, what happens? Does it not go through or will it drop the wifi and go to the network to accept the call?

I can browse the web over wifi and get the voice call over the mobile network. In other words, browse and talk simultaneously.

[Pi Guy 3.14]

Oh ok... that makes sense. So for the OP for example, wifi works fine and great for browsing but the lack of coverage affects the phone call aspect of it?

[pcgizmo#IM]

Oh ok... that makes sense. So for the OP for example, wifi works fine and great for browsing but the lack of coverage affects the phone call aspect of it?

Yes, that's my understanding.

[loki993]

Oh ok... that makes sense. So for the OP for example, wifi works fine and great for browsing but the lack of coverage affects the phone call aspect of it?

Yeah I guess. I have high speed Internet, so yeah I can surf, but normally I do that on my computer, but if I did it on the phone over wifi yeah it works good. So if I could call over wifi I wouldn't have to worry about my signal issues.

[papped]

UMA is carrier restricted. Has nothing to do with the phones.

Tmobile allows UMA, pretty much every other US carrier does not.

[Laura Knotek]

See these sites for lists of carriers that offer UMA.

UMA Today : UMA Operators

Generic Access Network - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[sj3]

Skype? It's my understanding that if we have this installed on our 9650 that wifi can be used for calls. I'm not sure if that's true because I'm too new, but if true, does it keep your vzw or Sprint phone number and use wifi to route incoming and outgoing calls when Skype is running? If true, that would be great for no-signal areas but I'm not sure how that would help unless one's voice minutes are limited. Thanks.

sj

[pcgizmo#IM]

Skype? It's my understanding that if we have this installed on our 9650 that wifi can be used for calls. I'm not sure if that's true because I'm too new, but if true, does it keep your vzw or Sprint phone number and use wifi to route incoming and outgoing calls when Skype is running? If true, that would be great for no-signal areas but I'm not sure how that would help unless one's voice minutes are limited. Thanks.

sj

Verizon allows Skype to Skype calls only over their network, not WiFi.

[sj3]

plkcable, thanks for the info. I had been curious how or if this worked. So, with Vzw, no voice-over-wifi? No cell signal, no calling, I guess. Oh well, there's always IM, email, etc. Thanks again.

sj

[Xopher]

I was wondering if IM+ for Skype would work over wifi (the half-duplex mode that it offers) with the 9650. I would think it would since it works for other wifi-enabled devices.