[c0ld]

Well if your not affected by the current issue (which is resolved for most customers now) then it should hold. From the fact you can connect at all you must have the correct firmware so it should be fine. If you lose the connection, either soft reset or as i said in the last post delete and re-pair the devices. Not to shift the blame but the UMA feature is built in by RIM not orange, so the best we can do is support it and escalate to RIM if we find an issue with it. For now i would just roll with it and follow what i said if the connection fails again and you should be fine.

[orange890]

Originally Posted by c0ld

Hi all

I actullay work for orange on the 3rd line support team, we deal mainly with network faults,mobile broadband, blackberrys and media technical support. While seraching forums for some info regarding a customers issue i came across this post and wanted to clear a few things up for you.

Firstly, the 8900 on orange does support UMA and orange tech support does support customers with UMA issues, however generic or other network models may not, this is down to the firmware version of the h/s not the software version as lellobello stated. There is no way to update the firmware on these devices.

Secondly use of UMA depends on the wi-fi router in use, back in the day the router had to support something called openISP in order to use orange UMA over anything other than orange livebox's, this has since changed and orange UMA can be used on any router that supports it (which is most of them)

As for Billing, well this is based on your standard network charge, so you basicly get billed the same way you do for mobile calls. Your bill will be no more or no less using UMA. Browseing over wi-fi is of course free as you are using your own wi-fi connection not our network.

Hope that helped.

Thanks for that, I am interested as I have both a 8320 and now a 8900.

My 8320 work every day without any issues via a BT hub. the 8900 does not and never has. Orange have told me now four different stories when I called them. One said we do not offer UMA anymore on these handsets when the latest call a helpful person told me that 50% of thier customers cannot recieve UMA but this will change shortly as their is an issue. I am, like a lot of others upset with the signal orange offer at home and need UMA to get a reception. I feel we need to be told one way or another. If it's the firmware then why if RIM say that 8900 support UMA if Orange have played around with that then Orange are to blaime, if it's Orange then they should say. I am not have a go at you, it's not your fault but as you have come on the site and Orange do no tell us, you are the only help we can get. Thanks

[orange890]

Originally Posted by orange890

Thanks for that, I am interested as I have both a 8320 and now a 8900.

My 8320 work every day without any issues via a BT hub. the 8900 does not and never has. Orange have told me now four different stories when I called them. One said we do not offer UMA anymore on these handsets when the latest call a helpful person told me that 50% of thier customers cannot recieve UMA but this will change shortly as their is an issue. I am, like a lot of others upset with the signal orange offer at home and need UMA to get a reception. I feel we need to be told one way or another. If it's the firmware then why if RIM say that 8900 support UMA if Orange have played around with that then Orange are to blaime, if it's Orange then they should say. I am not have a go at you, it's not your fault but as you have come on the site and Orange do no tell us, you are the only help we can get. Thanks

I am starting to get somewhere now. Spoke with Orange yesterday and apart from them telling me to do the same things as before, it would appear I am missing the part on the 'Network Options' menu. On the 8320 there is an option to choose 'connection preference, which my 8900 does not have. They told me to update but I am on the correct version '4.6.1.206' So they are now talking to RIM. What next.

[SMF]

There is a later version of 4.6 for the 8900 - see http://www.blackberryforums.com/gene...ml#post1483500

[RFCole]

I have a terrible Orange signal at home, and thought UMA would solve my problem. It took a while for the handset and router to 'learn' they could do this (as I've been told), but UMA started popping up on my h/s two or three days after I first got my BB. Unfortunately, even if I have 'wifi preferred' under mobile network settings, I can stand OVER my router and it will still jump back to a GPRS signal with one bar whenever it wants to. It also likes to switch whenever I try and make a call on UMA, which inevitably drops the call. Good in theory, but doesn't really work well for me.

[GraemeB]

8900 bought on vodafone unlocked for Orange, no UMA on this firmware

[SMF]

UMA is not firmware it's hardware. If the original network does not support UMA then the device does not and firmware won't change that.

[nickcushing]

I read the problems you have encountered with the 8900, and having gone through the same I thought my experience may help.
I spent the last 2 weeks explaining to different departments within Orange that the menu did not seem to have any reference to UMA. After tons of diagnostics and conversations with lots of different people, Blackberry 3rd Line support at Orange agreed that it is most likely a handset problem.
A replacement arrived on Friday, and connected to my home hub instantly.
If you have had no luck connecting to UMA with your 8900, I suspect you had the same duff handset as me, which most likely had the wrong firmware on.
I thought maybe I was being thick, but having now had a 8900 that is set up right, the connection is so easy and instant, it is fairly easy to tell if your phone is not working right.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by orange890

Thanks for that, I am interested as I have both a 8320 and now a 8900.

My 8320 work every day without any issues via a BT hub. the 8900 does not and never has. Orange have told me now four different stories when I called them. One said we do not offer UMA anymore on these handsets when the latest call a helpful person told me that 50% of thier customers cannot recieve UMA but this will change shortly as their is an issue. I am, like a lot of others upset with the signal orange offer at home and need UMA to get a reception. I feel we need to be told one way or another. If it's the firmware then why if RIM say that 8900 support UMA if Orange have played around with that then Orange are to blaime, if it's Orange then they should say. I am not have a go at you, it's not your fault but as you have come on the site and Orange do no tell us, you are the only help we can get. Thanks

[jay1967]

Orange UMA works fine on my 8900, i even use it when i,m in the USA, i get all my instant messeges, email, sms, phones calls all through wifi only with no roaming costs

[Scotchegg]

nickcushing, thanks for the advice - got my 8900 last Thursday, everything works except UMA, connects to several Wi-Fi routers I've paired it, can surf and e-mail through Wi-Fi but will not show UMA, switch of Mobile networks and try and make a call just get "restore radio connection" message, or at home where in half the house I simply get no orange signal get the "call failed" message.........
so the reason I had the phone, is for the one feature that won't work arrrggghhh.....
Spent hours on the phone to orange technical support, getting nowhere.
I'm missing the connection preference selection menu under Mobile network options, I just get Data, Mobile Network, and Network Selection (auto, manual) not the all important forth one.........

Based on your comments, I'll get on the phone and tell them to send me a new handset...........
Will let you know if this brings success.....

[Scotchegg]

SUCCESS!!
New handset arrived on Saturday Morning, after many many many lengthy conversations with Orange. The Tech department wanted it for testing so they could understand what was causing the probelms on an unknown population of handsets......"we don't want it to to be replaced like normal as it'll simply go into the system and we'll lose the evidence" they said "OK" I said, "where do you want me to post it then", they supplied an address but were not willing to send a new handset until the tech testing area had received it.......leaving me without a handset for an unknown amount of time.

Eventually, after a "you've admitted its faulty, please just replace it or I'm cancelling the upgrade and I'll be off to Vodafone" conversation - a replacement was despatched......the courier took the old one, so they've lost their precious evidence, due to their own processes.

Stuck my memory card and SIM card in, switched it on paired it with my router, swapped to UMA as soon it lost or struggled with the Orange signal, no messing.

Hope this helps other poor souls in the same situation I was........

p.s. Its brilliant and has sorted my coverage issue.

[Nick108]

I've been following this thread with interest for a while since I've had my Orange BB 8900 (six weeks) and experienced the same lack of UMA. After being fobbed off by Orange for a while now, they eventually replaced my handset (thanks for the advice), which worked corectly straight out of the box - and 'UMA' is actually listed within it's firmwear, unlike it's predecessor.

[mikg1]

hi for what its worth i have a BB CURVE 8900 ON ORANGE that had UMA access but it stopped working. Orange told me that there was an issue that would not be sorted within the foreseeable future. I went round brothers house and connected to his wi-fi and UMA worked, problem has to be my router so i went and looked, enabled upnp and gaming mode, IT WORKED.
this may help you or it may not, just thought i'd share

[GraemeB]

updated latest firmware and still no uma for orange..

checked router bthome hub but nothing standing out...

[rneilg]

Hi, I have been reading this topic on UMA, I have a netgear router and UMA always switches on when I get home. Also my parents have no Orange signal in their house but I have connected vuia their BT router and again I get UMA.

How does UMA work, if I have no Orange signal at all but a UMA connection through a router does this mean that I can still make calls?

Thanks for any help.
Neil.

[MidnightDraven]

Yes, thats what UMA is for. Making calls and sending texts when you have no signal.
I dont know the details of how it works, just that it does.

[aje2010]

I have 8900. it doesnt show the UMA or even WIFI when connected to wireless. Been messing around for months.
Found someone helpful in Technical team. Held ALT and pressed ESCR, found it was not Orange branded and therefore not UMA enabled.

I've wasted month messing around and only upgraded to this package/phone for UMA.

[The Limey]

I took delivery of my 8900 curve from Orange last week.
I am pleased to say that UMA works perfectly through my Belkin router.
This is a bonus as the Orange signal is a bit hit and miss around my home.

[digbym]

8900 UMA on Orange works with Orange Livebox at home, and at friends and family's houses on a whole range of wifi routers and braodband providers. But it doesn't work at the office - an Orange blackspot - which is on BT business broadband and a Netgear access point (WG102 I think).

Any ideas how I troubleshoot what's going wrong?

Orange say ask BT and BT say ask Orange!!