[birdiebo]

After happily owning the 8700, 8100, and 8830, I waited for a "safe" 30 days before picking up the 8320. After reading so many glowing comments, my high expectations have been pretty much dashed. Since I am more puzzled than angry, I'd appreciate feedback/suggestions. So, here are my observations: 1. Build quality. 8100 and 8830 both seem "slicker" and more solidly built. The battery door is loose to the touch (but the screen seems secure and dust-free.) 2. Boot-up. The device takes consistently up to 40 seconds longer to boot-up than the 8100 or 8830...and I have not yet installed any new applications, other than the 180 OS. 3. Slow. There is a distinct lag in opening applications and in switching between them; on the other devices, it is nearly instantaneous. 4. Wi-Fi. Even after doing all the set-up, the device will not connect to the home router automatically..it has to be manually forced each time. BTW, TMO Customer Care has been as helpful as possible. Thoughts; comments? And, yes, I have already taken a valium! Cheers!

[John Clark]

As far as boot up, it has more to load on boot so it makes sense that it takes a little longer. I don't find mine to be noticeably longer but I haven't timed it.

My battery door seems tight but I use a Seidio hybrid hardcase on it so I haven't really paid that much attention.

I've noticed the lag when opening apps, especially the profiles. They are slow. This can also be attributed to the theme in use so try different themes.

Wifi has worked pretty well for me. 98% of the time the problem is on the router, not the device. If you can provide a little more info about your router maybe we can better assist.

[birdiebo]

John: Thanks for the response and explanation. Re: boot-up, I have six or seven extra applications loaded on the Pearl and on the 8830, and they are still much faster than the 8320 to boot-up, as well as to move from app to app. Also, it appeared to me that the app loading and switching of the floor samples at TMO was noticeably quicker.) As for Wi-Fi, the home router is a one-year old Linksys, which the TMO sales guy said would be easily and completely compatible.

[John Clark]

"One year old Linksys" isn't enough info. Can you give a model number?

The 8320 has a lot more to load with the wifi. It uses more memory just for the OS. It's expected that it would be slower than the 8830.

FWIW, I like mine.

[rjw3000]

If it's a year old Linksys, then there is probably a firmware update to it. I would recommend updating it and seeing if that helps the wifi part of your problem

[greeneggsandham]

I have recently been trialling 8310/20 from ATT and T-Mo, w/devices made in both Canada, and Mexico, respectively. Both have tight battery doors, no dust on screens, and I'd describe build quality as pretty good overall. IMHO, RIM needs to use better speakers and mics if they want to compete with Nokia on sound quality/clarity (edit: wh/is not to say that I find the bb's phone poor but only that there is some room yet for improvement in this regard).

I have several email addresses. I like the features of "Today" theme but the extra addresses seem to dog it down pretty noticeably compared to other pre-installed themes. I was talking with ATT rep and he told me that, per RIM, 8820 and 8310 have identical internals, i.e. processor and memory, w/exception of GPS. But then this same guy also mistakenly believe that the 8310 had wi-fi, so maybe take with a grain of salt... In fairness to him, this was 1st week that ATT started carrying the Curves.

[John Clark]

Greeneggs, this is an 8320 thread.....

Anyway, birdiebo, I would update the firmware as suggested above. Also, if you can provide a model number of the router that would still help. Here is what I did to get my Linksys WRT54G router working pretty much flawlessly at home:

Linksys WRT54G - BlackBerryFAQ

[greeneggsandham]

Originally Posted by rjw3000

If it's a year old Linksys, then there is probably a firmware update to it. I would recommend updating it and seeing if that helps the wifi part of your problem

Always a good idea to check for firmware updates when you're having problems, but also advise you read release notes because solving one problem sometimes creates another. If the update doesn't specifically address an issue you're experiencing, many times it's prudent to keep in mind the old addage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".....

I know they are popular due to inexpensive pricing but be that as it may, I'd never recommend a Linksys route as they've had more that their fair share of security issues. Various Linksys models over the years have also had known problems with time out issues, etc. and there has been more than one installation where I replaced them with business grade unit (e.g. Netgear WG302) and the problems disappeared.

That all being said, T-Mo tech support explicitly told me that the wi-fi was not supported on routers not procured from t-mo, as the t-mo units were "designed" for UMA. Upon questioning the rep couldn't provide me with any technical explanation beyond this, and talking with supervisor it looks like just a simple bit of priority queuing.

[John Clark]

My old netgear (wired only and not a business grade model) gave me far more problems than my Linksys ever has. *shrugs*

[Helmdawg]

Birdiebo, who is your ISP? That could also be part of the issue..

[greeneggsandham]

Originally Posted by John Clark

Greeneggs, this is an 8320 thread.....

Anyway, birdiebo, I would update the firmware as suggested above. Also, if you can provide a model number of the router that would still help. Here is what I did to get my Linksys WRT54G router working pretty much flawlessly at home:

Linksys WRT54G - BlackBerryFAQ

My bad, I made a typo. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, as I meant 8310 and 8320. I figured the battery door, build quality, and speed comments were relevant from each. Take home message being that build quality is pretty good on both units, from two different countries of origin. I've seen some comments elsewhere about the Mexico product being inferior but to me it's comparable to Canadian made unit. I didn't load a bunch of 3rd party apps, other than Opera, but did notice a bit of a performance impact when configured for several email addresses and using the Today theme.

P.S.; I did not have any problems with wi-fi w/my Netgear WAP. Did not test with @home or t-mo hotspots.

Originally Posted by John Clark

My old netgear (wired only and not a business grade model) gave me far more problems than my Linksys ever has. *shrugs*

A bit OT here, but yeah, gotta watch out for the "consumer" grade stuff, as IMHO, it's not "real" Netgear. Netgear produced quality consumer grade products when they were subsidiary of Bay Networks but then got caught up in the Nortel merger/buy-out, who let them languish. Now separate again and making good stuff on the business grade side. Rule of thumb, stay away from anything in a plastic housing. If it comes in "old skool" blue Netgear metal housing my experience has been that it's pretty good.

[birdiebo]

Thank-you for the comments and suggestions. Will retrieve router ID and post shortly. The ISP provider is Charter Cable, and their service/reliability has been excellent. And, BTW, the two other computers served by the router have very good, but not perfect, connectivity. On a brighter note, no one has suggested (yet) that it might have been a mistake to install the .180 OS.

[John Clark]

If you downgrade, install .175. It was a very stable release for wifi/uma.

[rjw3000]

Originally Posted by John Clark

My old netgear (wired only and not a business grade model) gave me far more problems than my Linksys ever has. *shrugs*

Same here, I have run across way more Netgear routers not behaving nicely with network cards than I have with Linksys over the years.

I agree greeneggs, the old school metal housing netgear stuff was solid, the plastic not so much.

[bscanlon]

I have a similar problem with a Blackberry 8320. It can manually connect to all of the Wifi networks on it's list, however it fails to automatically switch to them. I know it does a "best route" analysis and will go with the faster connection, but it seems that in cases where I have one bar of edge, it still won't swith over to UMA unless I do it manually. Has anyone experienced anything similar to this?