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samcraig · 10-05-2006, 10:36 AM

Perhaps we can offer all our tips in this thread and get a sticky on it for those who travel abroad. I recently took a trip to London and here are my tips/execution:

I own a 8700c (locked) with Cingular. I left NY and visited London for 8 days.

1. The day of my trip I called Cingular and switched my unlimited data plan to unlimited international data and international roaming ($69.99 usd)

2. I had to resend service books after the change went through.

3. Phone was off during flight (obviously) so when I booted back up in the UK, everything was working correctly as expected.

4. Upon my return, I switched back to my unlimited data. I had to again resend service books after the phone call.

** It's a good idea to keep international roaming for up to 90 days (5.99 usd) until all the networks have billed accordingly to your cingular account to avoid added frustration/possible fees ***

My Blackberry bounced around on various networks (o2, orange, tmobile, vodaphone). Data was incredibly fast (3G networks) sometimes going as high as 980kpbs

I HIGHLY recommend googlemaps being installed. It was a major help for finding tube stations and streets/directions.

Using the above method, at least with Cingular, you will only get billed for the time the unlimited international plan is on your account (it will be pro-rated).

Post your tips/hints.

Make sure you post origin, destination, carrier, etc!

shaqinsactown · 10-05-2006, 10:41 AM

How did you get up to those speeds? I thought the blackberry 8700C was only EDGE capable, and that technology is not capable of more than 200K

jungleland · 10-05-2006, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaqinsactown

How did you get up to those speeds? I thought the blackberry 8700C was only EDGE capable, and that technology is not capable of more than 200K

Well, EDGE is different from the 3g in Europe and Asia ...North America is, and always has been, very behind on cellular technology

PaCharger · 10-05-2006, 10:56 AM

Great info/tip. I travel abroad a few times a year and this has always been a hangup for me. I'll be saving this in my HOWTO folder...thanks for sharing.

snowskier79 · 10-05-2006, 11:29 AM

Wirelessly posted (8700c: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

Great post; thanks for the intel!

jungleland · 10-05-2006, 11:31 AM

sorry, I commented on the second post in the thread and not the first..

I will echo the other comments..This is a great post and I am sure there are some more useful tips out there, so lets keep em comin'

samcraig · 10-05-2006, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jungleland

Well, EDGE is different from the 3g in Europe and Asia ...North America is, and always has been, very behind on cellular technology

Behind in adopting, but not behind technologically speaking. having worked in the industry once upon a time ago, I can assure you that the capabilities and network are here in the US, but the corporate world likes to phase in different technologies, so they can ramp up pricing structures as well. I.E. first we had txt messaging, then mms, and now video messaging. The capabilities to do all three occurred at the same time, but they were slowly brought into plans to make more profit.

Same thing goes with cable modems. If you notice, now several cable companies offer different speeds. Those speeds ALWAYS existed but there was a "choke" on the connection from day one.

vincentnyc · 10-06-2006, 12:05 AM

wait...so the 8700 is capable of higher speed? is that correct? i heard cingular already has hpsda (not sure if that is spell correctly) capable of 14 MB dl speed for mobile broadband in several limited location in usa for laptop use only.

if cingular decided to provide this to the blackberry...for those blackberry that has edge now...will they be able to use the high speed hspda? or do we need to completely buy a brand new blackberry devices that can use hspda speed? if yes, it will be sweet!!!!

RoadRider · 10-06-2006, 05:59 AM

Thought 3G was 2100MHz in Europe...8700 doesn't do 2100MHz

14pups · 10-06-2006, 06:16 AM

Additional tips:

- Bring an extra battery. Sometimes they die. Happened to me last summer in GER @ the WC. You'll never find one in a retail shop. (same here in the states)

- Bring a spare SIM card that has been provisioned for BB.

- If you want to make cheaper local calls bring an unlocked tri-band phone.
Buy a pre-paid SIM card off eBay. You'll know your foreign number before you leave the states.
(Its a hassle to keep switching SIM cards in and out of your BB.)

hth

vincentnyc · 10-06-2006, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoadRider

Thought 3G was 2100MHz in Europe...8700 doesn't do 2100MHz

if that is true...u r saying the original author here who said he was getting like close to 1 MB in london a liar?

vincentnyc · 10-06-2006, 06:54 AM

can someone here who uses a edge blackberrry either a 8700 or a 7103c who travel to europe can confirm that they were using a higher speed? i guess u can only see if u are doing tethering ur bb to a laptop to see the speed.

so can anyone confirm?

illmaticone · 10-06-2006, 08:55 AM

i think something is wrong here.

to my knowledge EDGE is EDGE, of course the network makes a difference, but there is a limit to EDGE.

"EDGE can carry data speeds up to 236.8 kbit/s for 4 timeslots (theoretical maximum is 473.6 kbit/s for 8 timeslots) in packet mode"

now i do agree that europes and japans networks are better than ours but to get those speeds of 980kbps, i think their network would have to be 3GSM (UMTS) which is another story. But the hardware on the blackberry does not support 3GSM...

Not trying to debate, trying to learn! Please correct me if i am wrong

here is a nice chart comparing different technologies

http://www.people.ku.edu/~mighty7s/U...20Wireless.pdf

vincentnyc · 10-06-2006, 09:48 AM

well doesn't sprint have a bb 7130e and the 8703e which uses evdo. these 2 model is similar to the 8700c and 7130c with cingular. as matter of fact the 8703e look exactly the same as the 8700c from cingular.

i have a 7130c from cingular. i heard ppl have unlocked their 7130c and use it on other network. since sprint uses evdo which have 1.5 MB download speed compare to edge...my bb 7130c could use higher speed also right? anyone here can confirm that? that they use the unlocked 7130c with sprint and using faster network?

jungleland · 10-06-2006, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vincentnyc

well doesn't sprint have a bb 7130e and the 8703e which uses evdo. these 2 model is similar to the 8700c and 7130c with cingular. as matter of fact the 8703e look exactly the same as the 8700c from cingular.

i have a 7130c from cingular. i heard ppl have unlocked their 7130c and use it on other network. since sprint uses evdo which have 1.5 MB download speed compare to edge...my bb 7130c could use higher speed also right? anyone here can confirm that? that they use the unlocked 7130c with sprint and using faster network?

WHAT!!!!! 7130C and the 8700c WILL NOT WORK WITH SPRINT OR VERIZON...two totally different technologies..One is CDMA and the other GSM

vincentnyc · 10-06-2006, 10:38 AM

but the 8703e from sprint look exactly the same as the 8700c from cingular.

jungleland · 10-06-2006, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vincentnyc

but the 8703e from sprint look exactly the same as the 8700c from cingular.

yeah, that's just the case...it won't work...

vincentnyc · 10-06-2006, 11:36 AM

if that is the case...how is this dude above able to get close to 1 MB download speed with edge over in london?

samcraig · 10-06-2006, 12:04 PM

I didn't tether my BB. While there (accurate or not) I logged into a few speed checking websites and ranged anywhere from 650-980. Over there, it never read "EDGE" but rather GPRS (or is it GRPS) Whichever - that's what the top right said.

vincentnyc · 10-06-2006, 12:45 PM

what speed website are u using to test ur blackberry then? can u provide a few? what is their link?

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Tips when travelling abroad with your 8700