[witsibaby]

I just upgraded two T-Mobile no contract phones to the Curve 8320 - I was told by three different T-Mo sales reps that the 8320 would connect to my home Linksys Wifi router for WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) Internet access, without subscribing to the T-Mo "Hotspots" $30 per month service.

Got the phones home, they could find my 802.11G router, would take the WEP key, but would not connect to the Internet ("access denied") with the BB browser.

We called T-Mo customer care and after several long research delays were finally told the phones could not use WiFi without the Hotspots service. I knew these were UMA dual mode phones, but ignorantly assumed that like any common WiFi enabled PDA, we'd be able to at least get simple wireless WAP access. No such luck.

Do any of you more experienced Crackberry BB abusers know whether unlocking the T-Mo 8320 would allow the device to access a WiFi router and get simple WAP Internet sites?

[anon(153966)]

No, no, no! I have the Curve 8320, and I have not got the Hot-Spot service, yet my Curve is connected to my LinkSys Wi-Fi! It works, and I can make calls...

Now, the difference with me is that I have the MyFaves, and thus all said calls are free. So, in your case, if you want the FREE calls, then yes, you'd have to get the service.

[wreckingcru]

I have really bad reception at home with T-mobile service but I'm very reluctant to give up T-mobile....

If I buy the 8320 from *bay or somewhere, can I use Wi-Fi calling without subscribing for the $10/mo service?

Also - could you use ANY wi-fi enabled phone to call over wi-fi and not use the gsm? (just in case you know)

[berrywhite]

I just got my 8320 last week and have no problems connecting to my Westell Wireless router. As soon as get neer my front door boom it gets me right on Wifi. I DONT have the "Hot Spot @ Home" service and it works great! Don't know why TMO told you that but it simply isn't true!

[witsibaby]

Thanks for the information, and I'll tell you about my Curve "learning curve" ignorances... The reason I couldn't get past the browser problem was that I was only seeing the default T-Mo t-zones browser. Finally, through "Options", "Advanced", and "Browser" I found the browser configuration option - changed that from "t-zones" to "Wi-Fi Browser" and - voila!!!! (Maybe I should have read the book???) Then, in the browser using the "Go to" option thumbed in "http://wap.google.com" What a beautiful thing.

I also just learned that the uma "Unlicensed Mobile Access" is lit up while I'm connected to my WiFi router, thus T-Mobile is utilizing my Internet connection for calls made while the phone is WiFi uma connected, and not the GSM cellular connection, and yet the minutes are still coming out of my package bucket. Oh well, I don't talk enough to use them up anyway. Now, if I could only get the Google Maps and Gmail gmm apps to work... I'll continue the struggle and appreciate the help you guys have volunteered!