[animlmed]

Anyone else notice this? This morning, when I got up (my phone was on and charging all night), my signal said 1X. I went to a web site or two and still said 1X. About 9 am (est) suddenly 1XEV popped up.

[KonTiki]

Originally Posted by jaydie515

I haven't been able to download the firmware from the site. I'm getting an message stating my phone number is not a valid verizon number.... is the site still working?

I just checked it and it is working at 10:55. Let me ask an obvious question, are you a true Verizon customer? Did you port the number from another carrier?

[twomblys]

"Anyone else notice this? This morning, when I got up (my phone was on and charging all night), my signal said 1X. I went to a web site or two and still said 1X. About 9 am (est) suddenly 1XEV popped up."

In and out of range perhaps?

[KonTiki]

Originally Posted by jlarsen

. . .
Verizon:
The price will be $15 for as long as you want the service.

The service isn't free in any market. The feature is a profit center for Verizon so whoever is bragging that they have it for free in the forum is lying.

I did my upgrade Monday night late in the evening, and as I have stated before the rep did not know what I was talking about, the whole issue had to be escalated two levels of support to get it working, I did not have to give them a code they did what they had to do at their end and it worked, I asked and was told that there is no charge for this additional service. And by the way i did try using both installations to convert to modem use (Marks, and the VZaccess) and both worked for me, so as to not get things confused I did Marks from my desktop, and VZaccess from my laptop and both worked fine).

[Hanwei]

Originally Posted by twomblys

"Anyone else notice this? This morning, when I got up (my phone was on and charging all night), my signal said 1X. I went to a web site or two and still said 1X. About 9 am (est) suddenly 1XEV popped up."

In and out of range perhaps?

I just upgraded the firmware last night... and the same is happening to me... woke up this morning to 1X... then walked into the kitchen and suddenly 1XEV. Drove to my parents house about an hour ago... looked at my phone and it was 1x (notice the little x). Then I turned off the wireless radio...turned it back on.... and it then went straight to 1XEV. Weird. I'm now sitting at my parents house typing this and it's still 1XEV... I drove from Boston to Lexington... Always had EVDO with my Moto e815 around here...I'm in a pretty EVDO-saturated area. Oh well. We'll see how it holds up over a couple of weeks.

[Hanwei]

Originally Posted by jlarsen

Below is an e-mail thread with my rep:

Verizon:
Here is what you must do. Call back to customer service, 866-294-1329
and tell them to add the following:

Step 1- Tell them to add feature code, EVDSB onto the account.

Step 2- Anyone there that is doing voice and data on a Blackberry 7250
will need MNAI3 added to their line. This is the promotional price of
$15 per month that will only be available for a limited time.

Step 3- Anyone there that may just have a Blackberry 7250 with Data only
will need to use MNAI1 added to their line. This is the rate for lines
that are Data only for $30 per month.

Once these codes are added, go to:

http://vzw.smithmicro.com/blackberry/vzw402

This will upgrade you to the latest version of the software that will
allow you to tether.

The 71764 you mentioned in the below email pertains to another market
and is irrelevant in your case. The above path will get you all set up.
This is not a free service so I'm not sure where you heard that from?
Remember the $15 price for Blackberries that have Voice and Data on it
is promotional so make sure you take advantage of it before it goes up.

Me:
I got my information from here:
http://www.blackberryforums.com/showthread.php?t=19599

Some say you have to pay some don't it depends on which location your
billing is. If I just want to have evdo support can I just add feature
code EVDSB or does that require MNAI3? Nowhere on the forums are they
talking about a promotional price. If I get MNAI3 added within the
promo window will it be $15 forever or will it go up later?

Verizon:
The price will be $15 for as long as you want the service.

The service isn't free in any market. The feature is a profit center for Verizon so whoever is bragging that they have it for free in the forum is lying.

Both techs I talked to last night while upgrading my firmware said the broadband access is free. NO CHARGE. I also did not have to tell them any of the codes... they did what they had to do on their end and it works.

I really really hope my techs weren't wrong.. because it'll be upsetting to see a $15 charge on my next bill.

[NJBB]

Has anyone been able to get the bluetooth sync to work after the upgrade? Everytime I pair my laptop with the BB, under services it's blank.

[stonent]

BT Sync only works with Desktop 4.1 with OS 4.1. Only the 7100i, 8700, and maybe 7105 support it currently.

[cbutz]

Can anyone please give me more insight on the tethering with the upgraded VZAccess? My laptop won't find the phone and it doesn't come up as a modem. I am online with the highest tech support short of the manufacturer right now. He gave me the b2b line and I pleaded for help...

Any help is appreciated....

[abstractrude]

So, in order to use ev-do, do i need to have an unlimited plan? For example say I have the 20 MEG plan, which I do, is there anyway for myself to add EV-DO? According to Samir the Indian guy at verizon, there is not. I have to get the unlimited Setup.

[tomryan]

I think you are correct, BUT I also think it depends on the market. In my market, 1XEVDO is 0.00 monthly (confirmed via phone rep and my account access on verizon.com) with unlimited blackberry. A coworker of mine, had to upgrade to the normal unlimited blackberry (from the cheaper unlimited core plan he had) to get the "free" 1XEVDO.

Different Markets, Different Rates.. I've had the same issues with my cable bill!

EDIT: should also add that I am a consumer.

[matthewk24]

Are there other benefits to the new firmware? Not that EVDO and tethering aren't enough.

[twomblys]

I called back tonight and the 1st guy I spoke to understood and set me up.
There was a $15 charge for tethering.

[matthewk24]

Mark:

By the by, the link in step 9 no longer works. The link with the Desktop Manager and BlackBerryOS has the VZaccess software as well. http://vzw.smithmicro.com/blackberry/vzw402

[BB_WayCool]

I live in SE PA. As described a few pages earlier, I experienced the pain the has been detailed many times getting my upgrade to work along with the unlimited Broadband Access feature that I was assured replaced my unlimited data access feature at no extra charge. The good news is that the VZAccess software installed very quickly and immediately connected. I have my VPN running on top and things are great. Not quite sure what the deal is with the $15 tether charge as I never asked for it, nor was offered same. Yet I am writing this entry in tethered mode. Guess I will have to check my billing carefully to see what happened. Regardless, I am a very happy camper.

[twomblys]

1st impressions... browsing seems no faster, tethered speed is acceptable

[abstractrude]

the browser isnt faster because of the rendering by the device, not the network speeds. the only reason i want this god damn evdo is so my phone calls still go though when im instant messaging or web.god damn rates and plans and cell phone company bullshiters

[Ominx]

I just want to reiterate what you guys need to be asking for when calling tech support.

*** If you simply want to activate EVDO, tell them to add feature code EVDSB to your account. This is free EVDO allowance on the Express Network.

*** If you want tethered EVDO access this is feature code MNAI3 and costs $15 a month.

None of these features replace your BB Unlimited Data Plan. Your current data plan and pricing structure stay the same.

Hopefully Mark updates his guide with this.

[sbagdan]

OK, I have to let you all know what I went through to get this done. First THANK YOU to blackberryforums.com for posting the info on the 7250, EVDO and 4.0.2. I followed all the instructions, but my BB would always fail on the *22899. So I call VZ, and after 3 calls, 5 people and 4 hours, they put in a trouble ticket and told me it would be fixed by today (this afternoon). It still did not work, and when I called, I got soemone who said, "not our problem, go to your store, ticket is closed!!!!" I was infuriated!!!! I went to the Store in Woodland Hills, CA, and spoke with the Tech Manager, they first told me they do NOT fix BB, and then I explained the issue, and they got involved. They called and got 2nd level tech support, well to make a VERY LONG story shorter, after about 1 hour in the store, my phone now says "1XEV" (YEAH!!!!!) Wow, does this phone surf fast now! I have the EVDO PC Card for my notebook, but was told that there is NO CHARGE to use the Phone teathered, but you are using your allocated miniutes. So I am happy now, and all seems well.

Again, thank you to this site for all of the help and assistance with this upgrade!!!

[KonTiki]

Originally Posted by Ominx

I just want to reiterate what you guys need to be asking for when calling tech support.

*** If you simply want to activate EVDO, tell them to add feature code EVDSB to your account. This is free EVDO allowance on the Express Network.

*** If you want tethered EVDO access this is feature code MNAI3 and costs $15 a month.

None of these features replace your BB Unlimited Data Plan. Your current data plan and pricing structure stay the same.

Hopefully Mark updates his guide with this.

Confirmed.
This is what appears under my data portion:
Data
Unlimited Data Usage $44.99
NATIONALACCESS ROAM $0.00

And this is what appears under my Express:
EVDO ALLOWANCE $0.00
NATIONALACCESS ROAM $0.00

And on this matter:

sbagdan vbmenu_register("postmenu_129419", true);
Knows Where the Search Button Is

Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 69



. . .They called and got 2nd level tech support, well to make a VERY LONG story shorter, after about 1 hour in the store, my phone now says "1XEV" (YEAH!!!!!)

I have said from my fiirst post on this matter, you have to escalate the issue the lower echelons of tech support were not prepared when this hit the streets. I still believe that it was either leaked or released by mistake, but thanks to our sleuths we got wind of it before they were ready. The upper level support staff had apparently been at least given a bit of info on the matter and were able to help once you reached them. The other thing that happened I believe is that this all sort of developed in the evening, and I think that there aless techs available and the few that are are probably the newer ones getting the worst shifts making the whole scenario what it has been. If You are not going to use the BB for tethering to a laptop and do not want to pay the extra $15 per month I suggest you go to your own Verizon site and double check that you indeed have The express Network with no additional charge showing. Short of that you will be charged the $15.00.