[packetknife]

When: June 2nd until the 10th
Where: Wales (all), England (London, South), Netherlands (AMS)

Networks roamed UK: Vodafone, T-mobile, Orange, O2
Network roamed AMS: Vodafone

Overall: Fairly capable system when you're in one location for a while at a time (e.g. business) but starts failing apart rapidly if your touring around.

What worked: Voice, SMS, data
What didn't: GPS (no surprise there of course)

GPRS service was available in most of the locations I was at except more remote locations in Wales (Snowdon, Beacons, Anglesey). Sometimes the phone would get stuck on gprs or SOS until I did a 'turn off antenna' and back on. On days that I had fairly long distances between multiple destinations the phone would get stuck in SOS if I left it on while driving. And I would sometimes even have to do a soft-reset (not battery) to get it to come back. On days I stayed in the cities continuously this didn't happen.

Dialing using + and complete codes (e.g. 001, 0044) works fine. Voicemail works but you have to hit # to enter it, it's not transparent. Caller ID works generally too.

I did notice 'network time' seemed off in some locations by a timezone or three. That was just weird.

I could not get tethering to work abroad and VZW wasn't a lot of help here. I'll try again next time after reading around.

Ummm.... what else......

Oh yeah, call quality was just dandy and the speeds were OK. I was actually surprised at how nice the call quality was and without significant lag to the overseas calls.

Vodafone worked the best for me, T-mobile was second, Orange and O2 generally didn't work although I was able to get call off or two. Thankfully that is also the order in which I was getting coverage so it was only in unusual places I got Orange or O2 anyway.

That's all for now. Cheers, -Pk

[dc/dc]

Vodafone will almost always work the best in almost every country in the world.

[gnarlsberry]

Thanks for the thoughts packetknife, it's good to see that what I'm generally seeing is consistent with other users. I'm currently in the UK on business and have been here since 6/4 with relative satisfaction with my 8830. A couple of points/questions I'd make:

1) When you get to the dialing screen, whether through the answer button or call log icon, and you push and hold the 0 for the "+", it never seems to work the first time. I have to let it put the 0, delete it and then push and hold the 0. Could be user error, but it seems to do it everytime.

2) Caller ID is a 50/50, I've gotten a lot of Unknowns or Privates. This doesn't bother me too much, it gives me a reason not to answer.

3) I'd be curious to hear what you may find out in regards to tethering packetknife. I've been unable to tether as well, but started to question whether I should be able to (by both technology and service). I haven't put much effort in, as I've been able to get wireless to my laptop whereever I've been, but it's expensive...thankfully work pays.

Overall, I've just been happy to have a phone that works. Another suggestion I'd make is to make sure you call VZW global support before you leave the states, as I have collegues that didn't, their SIMs weren't activate on their accounts for whatever reasons and it was a pain to deal with abroad. I called ahead, got it taken care of and when I turned my phone on at Heathrow I got a connection immediately. Very happy, especially after traveling a bunch recently and being cellphone-less.

[packetknife]

Originally Posted by gnarlsberry

1) When you get to the dialing screen, whether through the answer button or call log icon, and you push and hold the 0 for the "+", it never seems to work the first time. I have to let it put the 0, delete it and then push and hold the 0. Could be user error, but it seems to do it everytime.

2) Caller ID is a 50/50, I've gotten a lot of Unknowns or Privates. This doesn't bother me too much, it gives me a reason not to answer.

3) I'd be curious to hear what you may find out in regards to tethering packetknife. I've been unable to tether as well, but started to question whether I should be able to (by both technology and service). I haven't put much effort in, as I've been able to get wireless to my laptop whereever I've been, but it's expensive...thankfully work pays.

1) I gave up and started pecking in + as if I were typing an email, I had the same issue.

2) Mine has been better than half but either way it's not bothering me. I did notice when I called back to the States my number would sometimes be blocked and in some cases the call was refused because of it.

3) I will post again, I'll get another abroad chance soon...

-Pk

[MikesTooLz]

the + problem you guys are having is easily fixed.
just use the trackball to scroll up to where you enter the number then hold 0.

[RickSE]

I had no trouble at all getting Verizon to connect in London. I did have a few times when the e-mails just stopped working for no particular reason, but that happens in the US and it is nothing that a reboot won't fix (although it is annoying) Inbound calls rang with a US ringtone 2 - 3 times before switching to a London ringtone. Internet and e-mails were reliable other than needing to reboot. Vodaphone was the best service in London. The one odd thing was that my voicemail indicator never worked. Three days after I got back to the States, my e-mail stopped working (again) and I did a hard reboot. Six voicemails from the prior week came through. All-in-all I was really pleased about the service - strong signal and decent performance. I just hope that the kinks requiring reboot get fixed with a patch soon.

[gnarlsberry]

Originally Posted by MikesTooLz

the + problem you guys are having is easily fixed.
just use the trackball to scroll up to where you enter the number then hold 0.

ah...so that's why when you delete the 0 and the cursor is in that line, it works. good looking out. thanks!

[Jase88]

I was recently in the London area (UK) using an 8830 as well...no issues either, although I found GPRS a bit slower for browsing than EVDO (obviously).

One issue I noticed with SMS: Once in a while a message would come in without any text (just the time header). Sender and the message body would be blank....not sure if it was the device or the network.

Battery life was great on GSM/GPRS...

[girish.n.wadhwani]

can anyone help me with verizon sms service center number which needs to be added under options. i accidentally deleted mine and i dont know what to do, i am in england. for 8830 worldphone from verizon.

it has 2 fields:

SMS Service Center Number:
CALL Back Number.

what should be written there.

thanks

Originally Posted by packetknife

When: June 2nd until the 10th
Where: Wales (all), England (London, South), Netherlands (AMS)

Networks roamed UK: Vodafone, T-mobile, Orange, O2
Network roamed AMS: Vodafone

Overall: Fairly capable system when you're in one location for a while at a time (e.g. business) but starts failing apart rapidly if your touring around.

What worked: Voice, SMS, data
What didn't: GPS (no surprise there of course)

GPRS service was available in most of the locations I was at except more remote locations in Wales (Snowdon, Beacons, Anglesey). Sometimes the phone would get stuck on gprs or SOS until I did a 'turn off antenna' and back on. On days that I had fairly long distances between multiple destinations the phone would get stuck in SOS if I left it on while driving. And I would sometimes even have to do a soft-reset (not battery) to get it to come back. On days I stayed in the cities continuously this didn't happen.

Dialing using + and complete codes (e.g. 001, 0044) works fine. Voicemail works but you have to hit # to enter it, it's not transparent. Caller ID works generally too.

I did notice 'network time' seemed off in some locations by a timezone or three. That was just weird.

I could not get tethering to work abroad and VZW wasn't a lot of help here. I'll try again next time after reading around.

Ummm.... what else......

Oh yeah, call quality was just dandy and the speeds were OK. I was actually surprised at how nice the call quality was and without significant lag to the overseas calls.

Vodafone worked the best for me, T-mobile was second, Orange and O2 generally didn't work although I was able to get call off or two. Thankfully that is also the order in which I was getting coverage so it was only in unusual places I got Orange or O2 anyway.

That's all for now. Cheers, -Pk

[Steve-hose]

I recently used it in Paris and Spain on Vodafone and it worked flawlessly.

[six2one]

hey guys, i have a quick question...does BIS work with the 8830 worldwide (w/ obvious plan) i just talked to my vzw rep and she said that she was unsure if it would work worldwide without BES. thanks!

[dc/dc]

Originally Posted by six2one

hey guys, i have a quick question...does BIS work with the 8830 worldwide (w/ obvious plan) i just talked to my vzw rep and she said that she was unsure if it would work worldwide without BES. thanks!

It should...

[six2one]

thats what i assumed, if it has service and a data connection it should be able to. this all came about as my rep tried to push us to BES, which would be fine if i actually had a windows server and used exchange, lotus, or groupwise. so internet service will have to do.

[Steve-hose]

I have BIS and it worked fine overseas.

[packetknife]

My BIS worked while I was overseas too. Of course things thought I was in the UK but that's not a big deal (e.g. Google). -Pk

[bbdak]

Hello,

I'll be heading to Greece shortly with a Verizon-based 8830 (with VZW-supplied SIM card). Has anyone tried this yet? I would appreciate any feedback and tips. I'll need voice and GPRS data access while there.

Thanks.

[Steve-hose]

Originally Posted by bbdak

Hello,

I'll be heading to Greece shortly with a Verizon-based 8830 (with VZW-supplied SIM card). Has anyone tried this yet? I would appreciate any feedback and tips. I'll need voice and GPRS data access while there.

Thanks.

Check your Verizon calling sheet to see what countries are covered. Probably is, but you own't be able to tether your phone as a modem but you will be able to surf thru the browser and get email.

[ofelas]

As far as GSM goes - anywhere that Vodafone has a roaming agreement for voice, data or both -
BlackBerry International Roaming Information - O2

[JRMillion]

I am in the UK right now, and headed to Venice Italy tomorrow.
Email is working very well so far.
I called the global support line, but wasn't able to get a good answer to this question.
Does using the BB Browser incur roaming data charges even if you are on the GlobalEmail plan?
The woman I spoke to seemed to indicate the plan covers emails ONLY and everything else: calls, sms, and browsing is billed separately.
I also asked about tethering, and she said it wouldn't even work. I tried, and confirm that to be the case.

[JT8D-217]

Originally Posted by JRMillion

I am in the UK right now, and headed to Venice Italy tomorrow.
Email is working very well so far.
I called the global support line, but wasn't able to get a good answer to this question.
Does using the BB Browser incur roaming data charges even if you are on the GlobalEmail plan?
The woman I spoke to seemed to indicate the plan covers emails ONLY and everything else: calls, sms, and browsing is billed separately.
I also asked about tethering, and she said it wouldn't even work. I tried, and confirm that to be the case.

Took my new 8830 on a 2 week trip to Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UK the first two weeks of June. Had a miserable time getting the damn thing to work - spent hours on the phone with the Global Help Desk. It actually did work about 1/3 of the time.
To answer your Q, during the intervals where it was working, I did a ton of web browsing. The 22 June bill from VZW showed "Data Usage - Global Roam (city name)" "Allowance = Unlimited" KB Used = xxx, Billed ---, Charged ---. In otherwords, $0.00 for browsing. If you can get yours to work, go ahead and use it. BTW, did not try tethering. Text messages were charged for at $.50 out / $.05 in