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05-29-2010, 12:09 AM
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#21
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Spam Reporter
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xavieritzmann
Correct. Makes sense! Yes, I have the BlackBerry Unlimited International E-mail.
Nonetheless, I've gone across several forums where the issue of international data roaming keeps coming up and it seems to be a pretty wide phenomenon that people get thousands of USD in unexpected charges, with no widely known solution other than just turning off the entire wireless network data portion... but then that kills e-mail access too and leaves people incommunicado.
It would seem that such a simple solution as the one of killing the APN would be by now widely published across the forums. But it's not. Strange, uh?
Regards,
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Frankly, I don't want it widely published! LOL
Anyway, I've been in Afghanistan for nearly 6 months, and I have only had data charges pop up twice. Once, it was a charge for about 1 MB of transfer, so I called T-Mobile from my desk phone, explained to the lady that I had the unlimited int'l plan with my internet settings disabled so that "just my e-mail would work", and she removed the charges immediately. The other time was my fault. I performed a device upgrade and forgot to fix the settings before turning the mobile network on. I got hit for about 50¢ on that one. Everything else has been covered by the add-on because it goes through the blackberry.net APN just like e-mails. This is how T-Mobile differentiates for billing. If they see the blackberry.net APN, your add-on covers it. If they see epc.tmobile.com (if you tethered, for example), they charge you the per-KB rate. It's pretty straightforward.
The bottom line is, don't abuse the privilege. T-Mobile is by far the best BlackBerry deal in town. We only pay $20 extra per month to basically get unlimited usage internationally, and we can still tether for free domestically.
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05-29-2010, 08:11 AM
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#22
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Join Date: May 2010
Model: 9700
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Posts: 3
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Thanks, and best of luck out there.
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05-29-2010, 11:11 PM
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#23
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Spam Reporter
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: IAD
Model: 6230
Carrier: Voicestream
Posts: 14,524
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xavieritzmann
Thanks, and best of luck out there.
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No problem. Happy to help!
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07-13-2010, 08:41 PM
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#24
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Model: 8100
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Carrier: TMobile
Posts: 1
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Hello dc/dc,
Great info, can yo please elaborate on the tethering portion? Will it work with the epc.tmobile.com DISABLED and go through the blackberry.APN or will it recongnize thats its in tethering mode and revert to the tmobile APN?
Also when you select the foriegn carrier your currently roaming on selected on the Desktop MGR for IP modem does tmoblie still pick it up if their APN is disabled? Thank you in advance for your help!
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07-14-2010, 05:01 AM
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#25
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Spam Reporter
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: IAD
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ardeex
Hello dc/dc,
Great info, can yo please elaborate on the tethering portion? Will it work with the epc.tmobile.com DISABLED and go through the blackberry.APN or will it recongnize thats its in tethering mode and revert to the tmobile APN?
Also when you select the foriegn carrier your currently roaming on selected on the Desktop MGR for IP modem does tmoblie still pick it up if their APN is disabled? Thank you in advance for your help!
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No, tethering only works with the epc.tmobile.com APN. If you have it disabled, tethering just won't work.
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08-03-2010, 08:34 AM
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#26
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Knows Where the Search Button Is
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: FL
Model: 8900
Carrier: T-Mobile
Posts: 18
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DC how do you avoid incoming calls without being charged? Do you have call forwarding or voice mail turned off. I found out the hard way on Intl' data use. I'm always used my pearl 8120 with no problem and then got a unlocked iphone to try in the same way. Long story short got hit with a $2000.00 + bill :( even thu I did not intensionally use the Internet. There must be apps that run in the background. I'm still fighting with T-Mo over this. Be very careful and check your bill every other day when traveling.
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08-04-2010, 01:48 AM
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#27
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Spam Reporter
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jercdevil
DC how do you avoid incoming calls without being charged? Do you have call forwarding or voice mail turned off. I found out the hard way on Intl' data use. I'm always used my pearl 8120 with no problem and then got a unlocked iphone to try in the same way. Long story short got hit with a $2000.00 + bill :( even thu I did not intensionally use the Internet. There must be apps that run in the background. I'm still fighting with T-Mo over this. Be very careful and check your bill every other day when traveling.
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The calls aren't a problem. My friends don't call me, and the people that do usually hang up before it reaches voicemail, and it's also normally in the middle of the night when my device is set to not give any alerts. Unfortunately, I doubt you'll with T-Mobile. As I've said, only things that use the BlackBerry APN are free. Unlocked phones use the WAP/Internet APN. It's pretty straightforward.
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10-06-2010, 04:28 PM
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#28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dc/dc
The calls aren't a problem. My friends don't call me, and the people that do usually hang up before it reaches voicemail, and it's also normally in the middle of the night when my device is set to not give any alerts. Unfortunately, I doubt you'll with T-Mobile. As I've said, only things that use the BlackBerry APN are free. Unlocked phones use the WAP/Internet APN. It's pretty straightforward.
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Thanks for all the info DC. I'm in Kuwait headed to BAF sometime in the next week or so and I have the APN settings disabled. One question though, before learning about this great feature with the international BIS info, I had Tmobile unlock my phone thinking I'd get a roshan SIM card. Will having an unlocked phone make a difference or do I need to reenable the SIM card security so that I can ensure that I'm only using BIS. I only ask this because I had disabled the APN settings before leaving the states and was able to use the data plan at my layover in Germany even though I hadn't activated the international BIS yet (or maybe it was delayed since I didn't get the confirmation text until Kuwait). Either way, if you're in the general vicinity of where ill be at could you hook a brother up by PMing me your afg cell number if possible? Appreciate the assist.
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10-06-2010, 11:14 PM
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#29
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Spam Reporter
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mario_de
Thanks for all the info DC. I'm in Kuwait headed to BAF sometime in the next week or so and I have the APN settings disabled. One question though, before learning about this great feature with the international BIS info, I had Tmobile unlock my phone thinking I'd get a roshan SIM card. Will having an unlocked phone make a difference or do I need to reenable the SIM card security so that I can ensure that I'm only using BIS. I only ask this because I had disabled the APN settings before leaving the states and was able to use the data plan at my layover in Germany even though I hadn't activated the international BIS yet (or maybe it was delayed since I didn't get the confirmation text until Kuwait). Either way, if you're in the general vicinity of where ill be at could you hook a brother up by PMing me your afg cell number if possible? Appreciate the assist.
Posted via BlackBerryForums.com Mobile
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Having it unlocked won't affect anything... My 9700 was unlocked also. Be aware that you may see some charges for your usage in Germany.
Are you going to be staying in BAF or are you transiting on from there? I'm way out in East Paktika province.
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10-07-2010, 05:34 PM
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#30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dc/dc
Having it unlocked won't affect anything... My 9700 was unlocked also. Be aware that you may see some charges for your usage in Germany.
Are you going to be staying in BAF or are you transiting on from there? I'm way out in East Paktika province.
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I'll be in BAF just for some quick in-processing before I'm headed down to my temporary home down in Alamo (near Phoenix) More training there for a couple of months before being scattered to the winds (I'm on an MTT so who knows where I'll end up at to teach).
I did notice my Germany charges... I think I'm just going to call them and plead ignorance. On another note, am I seeing things or does slacker radio work out here? And that app also falls under the BIS service? I've noticed that just about all the apps that I've tried using on my BBM that connect out seem to have no problem working which is why I was concerned about getting hit with data rates.
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10-08-2010, 12:31 AM
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#31
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Spam Reporter
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: IAD
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mario_de
I'll be in BAF just for some quick in-processing before I'm headed down to my temporary home down in Alamo (near Phoenix) More training there for a couple of months before being scattered to the winds (I'm on an MTT so who knows where I'll end up at to teach).
I did notice my Germany charges... I think I'm just going to call them and plead ignorance. On another note, am I seeing things or does slacker radio work out here? And that app also falls under the BIS service? I've noticed that just about all the apps that I've tried using on my BBM that connect out seem to have no problem working which is why I was concerned about getting hit with data rates.
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Gotcha.
Well, I'll just tell you to be careful. T-Mobile hit me up for big fat roaming bill whilst I was on R&R in August. I went for 8 months with no extra charges in Kuwait, Afghanistan, Dubai, and Egypt using e-mail, Facebook, BBM and GTalk (all apps written by RIM) at various times, but a few days stop in Germany to visit my buddy at Ramstein netted me charges despite having the plan. I called them to get them removed, but they refused. The rep said that opening and sending attachments was not considered BIS usage. This is BS, but I didn't argue with him or pursue it any further as they log all calls now.
The point of all that is just to tell you to be careful. If you are using apps written by RIM, you SHOULD be OK, but it's not a guarantee.
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11-01-2010, 09:39 PM
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#32
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New Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
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APN - Browser question
Hi dc/dc,
thanks for your great help! It will save me thousands of dollars which just recently started appearing on my bill for roaming data charges.
i just want to confirm i completed the correct steps, i went to tcp/ip settings in advanced settings, and unchecked "APN Settings Enabled" and also erased the line after APN: ...is that all i have to do?
Also, can i use the regular browser (not tmobile browser) through this service, without getting billed for roaming? can i download from the web too?
Lastly, how do i know if an application runs through the unbilled or the billed service? Once my APN is disabled, will it still be possibile for any application to access an application and for me to be billed, or will it just not work and therefore i can not get any roaming charges?
thank you in advance for your help in clarifying!
Best,
AJ
Last edited by ajc79; 11-01-2010 at 09:49 PM..
Reason: clarify
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