BT Openzone causes Reboots

I'm in the UK and have recently purchased an 8120. I also have free wi-fi minutes each month as part of my broadband package with BT.

I am able to use the wi-fi on various unprotected networks, and also on my own 802.11g at home as well as friends and relatives, without any problem at all.

However when I try to connect to any BTopenzone in my local high street or shopping centre, the following problem occurs. I can scan for networks OK, it will detect BT Openzone, it will start to connect for a couple of seconds, then:

Blank screen, white screen, flashing red LED, reboot.

I can repeat this error everytime. I have tried it on x2 8120's, an 8320 and an 8820. (i'm fortunate that I work for a uk mobile network, and so have access to other handsets to try).

My phone network is unaware of this issue, i've also spoken with my Blackberry dealer support line who are also unaware (they have escalated it to RIM for comment, solution or workaround).

Has anybody else experienced this problem, also if you are near an openzone network please try for me. Better still does anyone have a solution.

This only affects openzone sites provided by BT (eg near specific call boxes), and not openzone home networks which allow bandwidth sharing as part of the FON scheme.

Comments, thoughts and observations welcome.

Thanks
MSG

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Hi, I am also in the UK and have had exactly the same problem. The first time it happened I was standing close to a starbucks, tried to connect to their BT openzone and my 8820 started to reboot, red light flashing etc. I then went across the street to a restaurant and kept trying to get the Blackberry to boot up but it kept restarting. Eventually, a few hours later it came back to life, but the sim card had completely died.

Yesterday, the same thing happened again (having been issue a new simcard) - I suddenly realised what the the problem was and removed the battery until I was out of starbucks and far away. The phone booted up fine and the sim card was ok this time. This lead me to these conclusions:

The BT openzone wifi and the Blackberry wifi have serious problems, that, if tried too many times end up deactivating the sim card through short circuiting or something similar. As every time the Blackberry tries to boot up the wifi is still active and the BT connection is the last it tried - it keeps trying to connect to it and the cycle starts again. Anyone who finds themself in this position, take out the battery IMMEDIATELY, and wait until you are well out of range before restarting your device.

I feel Blackberry should seriously investigate this problem - the first time it happened I was left phoneless for over a day, when I needed it most.

I hope this helps anyone in a similar position.

I experienced similar problems in Bristol City Centre yesterday. My BB has been totally reliable for 6 months however when close to several street wi-fi points it went into a repetitive reboot sequence. When I left the area served by street wi-fi my BB again started working normally. Hmmmmmmm

Originally Posted by vandersloan

Hi, I am also in the UK and have had exactly the same problem. The first time it happened I was standing close to a starbucks, tried to connect to their BT openzone and my 8820 started to reboot, red light flashing etc. I then went across the street to a restaurant and kept trying to get the Blackberry to boot up but it kept restarting. Eventually, a few hours later it came back to life, but the sim card had completely died.

Yesterday, the same thing happened again (having been issue a new simcard) - I suddenly realised what the the problem was and removed the battery until I was out of starbucks and far away. The phone booted up fine and the sim card was ok this time. This lead me to these conclusions:

The BT openzone wifi and the Blackberry wifi have serious problems, that, if tried too many times end up deactivating the sim card through short circuiting or something similar. As every time the Blackberry tries to boot up the wifi is still active and the BT connection is the last it tried - it keeps trying to connect to it and the cycle starts again. Anyone who finds themself in this position, take out the battery IMMEDIATELY, and wait until you are well out of range before restarting your device.

I feel Blackberry should seriously investigate this problem - the first time it happened I was left phoneless for over a day, when I needed it most.

I hope this helps anyone in a similar position.

could bt openzone be pushing data to the BB that it doesnt like?

has a BT openzone customer spoken with BT regarding this?

BT sells Blackberries so I would contact their customer services as they may be aware of this problem and will hopefully have a solution for you.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com