[Soapm]

Curious, do other non-TMO non-Blackberry devices work on WiFi?

I been on eBay most of the day and been seeing all kinds of devices like HTC's, Nokia E61i etc... All show they are WiFi capable but none are TMO devices. Is this cert problem meaning none of these devices will work on TMO WiFi either?

If so, I would think TMO is limiting their market since they have very limited good WiFi capable phones.

[jopfer]

Folks, it IS NOT the service books, trust me! Think about it. If anyone could use any WiFI phone with UMA on T-mobile without paying for the HotSpot@home service T-mobile would go broke giving everyone free calls.

At the moment, only T-mobile blackberries work on UMA HotSpot@home and there is some special code in the phone to make that connection work AND I'm pretty sure that it is some firmware that RIM puts into the phone.

[John Clark]

Wirelessly posted (BB 8860: BlackBerry8320/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Its not service books and its not the OS. Its most likely the vendor code on the device. That's what tells the system that its a Tmobile device. Simple and can't be changed. If it doesn't have a vendor code of 100, no UMA.

[jaylasad]

is there a way to change these codes on the device?

[John Clark]

Wirelessly posted (BB 8860: BlackBerry8320/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Originally Posted by jaylasad

is there a way to change these codes on the device?

Nope

[cwichura]

Originally Posted by jopfer

Folks, it IS NOT the service books, trust me! Think about it. If anyone could use any WiFI phone with UMA on T-mobile without paying for the HotSpot@home service T-mobile would go broke giving everyone free calls.

Except that's now how H@H works. Even if you don't have the H@H add-on plan, you can still use UMA. However, your minutes are deducted like normal, as if you were on the cellular network. Many people opt to get H@H phones without the H@H add-on plan. $20/mo buys a fair number of minutes in a standard mobile package. If you don't use enough minutes regularly every month to make up $20 worth of regular mobile package price, then the H@H add-on plan is actually a money loser for the consumer, rather than a money saver. Even without the H@H add-on plan, UMA is still a benefit for people as it helps ensure people have good coverage while at home(/work/friends'/etc).

I think ultimately T-Mobile would prefer as many people as possible connect via UMA, as it reduces their cellular network load. UMA saves T-Mobile money in cellular site infrastructure.

[John Clark]

I think he means if any phone worked then any wifi phone user on any carrier could use their service.


This is easy, folks. If it's not a TMobile phone (vendor code 100) with a TMobile US sim card you will not get UMA on TMobile.

Vendor codes cannot be changed on a Blackberry. Not possible.

[Soapm]

Originally Posted by John Clark

I think he means if any phone worked then any wifi phone user on any carrier could use their service.


This is easy, folks. If it's not a TMobile phone (vendor code 100) with a TMobile US sim card you will not get UMA on TMobile.

Vendor codes cannot be changed on a Blackberry. Not possible.

Is this vendor limitation exclusive to blackberries or do this apply to any WiFi device?

[user1001]

Originally Posted by Soapm

Is this vendor limitation exclusive to blackberries or do this apply to any WiFi device?

a device having the ability to connect to wi-fi does not mean it has the software/hardware needed to utilize uma for phone calls.