T-Mobile Blackberry Curve 8320 on Wi-Fi UMA and Edge
19 Comments Published December 20th, 2007 in Monkey Tech.Yeah, yeah, I’ve gotten really nerdy in these posts — it’s what I do to support the SIMIProject. So, I’ve finally decided to start jotting down solutions for IT problems that I’ve had to deal with.
This one was a really pain in a monkey’s butt:
After successfuly destroying my trusty Treo 650 after three years, I decided to go BlackBerry. Wow! I’m surprised I converted so easily. The Curve is just plain sweet. I chose this model because I was already with T-Mobile for the uber cheap monthly plans they offer and something caught my eye: t-mobile@home. This is the service that lets you use the wi-fi on the Curve to place and receive calls — basically, unlimited calling wherever you can hook up to a wi-fi connection for the added fee they charge ($20).
Excited as I was, I set up my phone and started playing with the connection features. Then… wuh? huh? The little UMA symbol that tells me I’m getting free calling switches to Edge — NOT free calling. Booooo! Lame! I spent hours googling the issue. I spent hours on the phone with various T-Mobile tech support people. “Well, we don’t support alternative solutions other than our own hotspots or the T-Mobile routers.” Boooooooo!
The problem I was having was that the phone would bounce between UMA and Edge even if I was sitting right next to the wi-fi router. In fact, sometimes it wouldn’t bounce to UMA at all. The only way I could get UMA to stick was to turn off the T-Mobile service on the phone (cool feature, by the way). Well, after dealing with two @home specialist (the second one called me by mistake not realizing that I just spent an hour on the phone with his colleague) I got my answer. It seems, the second @home specialist (who called me by mistake) knew a LOT more about this service than the first (I love talking to tech support people who know what they’re talking about — mostly).
It turns out that the Curve will choose whichever signal is STRONGER — not which service is FREE’ER. Seems logical enough. So, there you go. The phone is doing what it is SUPPOSED to be doing. Wouldn’t it have been neat if the first three T-Mobile tech support people had told me that?
A few additional things I learned along the way:
1. You can test the quality of your internet connection using the FREE java applet at http://myvoipspeed.visualware.com/ (make sure you see the applet moving on the lower half of the page — you don’t need to buy the software on the top half).
2. You can use that site to help optimize your router settings. Play around with the various features on your router and retest until you get all green lights on the test. If you can’t, your Internet connection could be the problem.
3. The UMA feature was designed for users who have craptastic t-mobile reception at home. The idea being, that your home wi-fi would always be stronger than the prevailing T-mobile signal. In markets like Los Angeles, you’ll get a battle royal on your phone and Edge will often win.
4. You need to make sure your firewall is not blocking ports 500 or 4500 (UDP).
5. The last guy I spoke to freakin’ LOVES his job and loves to share his wealth of info.
6. If you ask nicely, you can get lots of cool info that isn’t easily available to the general public like this from one of the @home Tech guys:
The HotSpot @Home service relies on the IPsec security protocol to provide secure calling over Wi-Fi. T-Mobile-branded wireless routers are configured to permit IPsec communications by default, but other devices may be configured to block IPSec. Similarly, the firewall policy on any router may have been configured (intentionally or otherwise) to prevent IPsec communications.
In order for IPsec to work, the following ports need to be allowed through the firewall in both directions:
- UDP port 500 (Internet Key Exchange or “IKE”)
- UDP port 4500 (IPSec/IKE NAT-T)
Many consumer-grade routers, including the T-Mobile branded Wi-Fi routers, include a simple check-box that will enable IPsec communications. This option is typically named ‘Enable IPsec passthrough’ or something similar.
For users of advanced corporate firewalls or home-built firewalls (typically running a UNIX-like operating system), IPSec may also require explicit rules to allow the following two protocols (independent of port) through the firewall:
- IP protocol 50 (Encapsulating Security Payload or “ESP”)
- IP protocol 51 (Authentication Header or “AH”)
19 Responses to “T-Mobile Blackberry Curve 8320 on Wi-Fi UMA and Edge”
- 1 Pingback on Oct 4th, 2008 at 6:23 am
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ok, i just registered for this community simply to comment on your “blog” or what have you. i had the exact same problem and was pleased to read your article. i am a nerd, and find that other nerds are more helpful to me 9/10 times. I have also spoken with the good people at the t-mobile tech squad and there was one gentleman in particular who told me about checking the box under the options>wifi connections>checking interaccess point handover. He also explained the port forwarding etc. very helpful indeed. i encountered your problem, however, and this post was the only thing that helped me. I award you one complimentary internet, and an additional internet high five sir. Keep it up. For the other crackberry heads out there, you can set your vpn to wap.voicestream.com for faster internet browsing outside of a wifi network and you can also use opera mini/ firefox mobile to see full webpages at an alarmingly quick rate.
Thank you for your very kind words. I, too, would like to award you one complimentary interweb for being an actual person posting a reply on this blog (or whatever) and not a spam bot pitching pills or, ahem, “extensions.”
Nerds unite! Together we can demand level 2 tech support without having to go through level 1’s script.
>It turns out that the Curve will choose whichever signal is STRONGER >— not which service is FREE’ER. Seems logical enough. So, there you >go. The phone is doing what it is SUPPOSED to be doing. Wouldn’t it >have been neat if the first three T-Mobile tech support people had told >me that?
Fortunately, *you* told me that!
Here I am, throwing DD-WRT on my Linksys router (not a waste of time by any means though), tweaking settings, fiddling with antennae, expecting that at some point, I’ll get UMA, and only UMA when I’m indoors. Now (thanks to you), I know that if I get a good EDGE connection on my BB 8320, it’s going to take priority! I suppose I’m wondering why the option to set “WiFi Preferred” on the Curve, if in fact, it really isn’t. But, in any case, I think I’ll give the tweaking a rest for the moment, realizing that if it works, it works. Thanks!
You’d think they’d mention that in nice big letters on their packaging… oh, wait, maybe they *want* us to use up our minutes… not sure why… it’s not like they make tons of money when we go over our minutes.
I might be a Sprint convert. They give me a decent 10-year-customer-loyalty discount each month, but after the fiasco of trying their Instinct, I’m looking at leaving.
So I’m trying T-Mobile and this BlackBerry for another week. My main reason for a WiFi phone is to use my cell at home. And if I can get a cheaper plan because I can use McDonald’s WiFi, all the more reason to leave Sprint!
But being new to BlackBerry and T-Mobile, I’m finding it a little frustrating. A lot of the BlackBerry screens seem… archaic? DOS-like?
Ok, my main question and comment to my geeky counterparts… is there an easy way or quick way to force UMA? I would have loved to spent the last 45 minute phone call initiated on WiFi instead of cringing how many minutes I just used!
Any thoughts, comments, raves about T-Mobile and/or BlackBerry while I’m giving them a trial?
Hi Kcsamerica,
To force UMA, go into “Manage Connections” and uncheck Mobile Network and make sure Wi-Fi is checked and up and running. However, be sure to do the reverse when you leave your hotspot.
I’ve been with T-Mobile for a few years. I stick with them because they’re cheap and I have an awesome plan (they no longer offer) but the signal is not as good as some and the internet speed is nothing to email home about.
Thanks Dr, I appreciate the reply. I like your way of thinking, ‘because they’re cheap.’ Although compared with my 10 year old Sprint plan at $50/month, T-Mobile’s comparable plan is $65/month. And I’m getting about 20% less minutes. So that’s why I’m trying/hoping this WiFi can and will work. (That and Sprint really got me $#!%# today! Grr!)
I get where you’re going with this suggestion and it makes sense. I was hoping for something less manual, maybe a quick click of a button or two — I’m hoping I can intentionally initiate a call on WiFi then walk away keeping the conversation going for however long, no worries of minute usage. But it seems it might be more trouble than it’s worth to manually turn on/off this option. Is there any BlackBerry programs to help automate it?
While I’m on the subject and being new to T-Mobile WiFi, I’ve tried initiated a call on UMA and received the tones that start the “…the number you have dialed has been disconnected…” message. But the tones only and they repeated three times then I was with a ‘call failed’ screen. This happened twice today. Any ideas? And any ideas why I can stand right next to the wireless router and only get two green bars for its strength? (I’ve set up connections with an Apple AirPort Extreme, D-Link, and LinkSys, all with the same results.)
Sorry to babble so much and have so many questions. I wouldn’t mind paying more for T-Mobile and getting the heck away from Sprint, but I want to make sure I know what I’m getting into, what to add or not add to my monthly services, etc.
Thanks again!
I hear ya. I’m actually paying $50 a month for 1,500 minutes with T-Mobile. That includes free weekends and evenings. I tried the hot-spot phone feature a week but dropped it when I realized that I would have to toggle my phone off and on. However, it still comes in handy when I’m at my in-law’s home where T-mobile has bad reception. I find I can still make calls via UMA — just not free calls.
The UMA manual option is HORRIBLY cheesy. However, that’s all I got after spending three hours chasing down various levels of T-Mobile support that took me completely around the world to probably four different call centers.
I am skeptical that the router makes a huge difference although, the T-mobile certified routers probably include a feature that prioritizes the voip-like call. The name of the feature does not come to mind at the moment. Quality something…?
I imagine this is where a lot of cell technology is going as many people are already canceling their land line service is favor of more minutes on the cell plans. Afterall, if someone is going to pay $99/mo for unlimited minutes with Verizon or Sprint why have a land line, too?
Here is my experience with T-mobile hot-spot wi-fi service. It works fine for me. I do not have a data plan and do not need it. I have 5 blackberries (is that the correct plural for Blackberry?) on my 700 minute family plan – 4 Curves and 1 Pearl. All were free, thank you, through a special deal with my company. I started with T-mobile in June 08. Thanks to text, mobile to mobile, 5 faves, and wi-fi I have not come close to going over my minutes and I am about to cancel my land line.
Here’s the deal. I have discovered that even when my phone shows EDGE, while at home or other wi-fi location, I have an internet connection. I have concluded that UMA must be working when a connection to the internet is established regardless of what the phone displays. I have no extra charges on my bill. I am not able to connect to the internet when not in a wi-fi area. I get a message stating that I need a data plan. I have the phone set to “wi-fi preferred” and I am sitting in my office less that 5 feet from my router and my phone shows EDGE. I am searching google for “monkeys typing shakespeare” and it works fine. I change settings to “wi-fi only” and the phone instantly displays UMA. Phone calls work fine under this setting.
I hope that this is useful information.
Now my problem. I can’t get google sync to connect. I have done a lot of research including several calls to T-mobile support and messages on google support. I do not know how to get past this message.
“login failed due to network problem, please check your settings”
I would like to sync my google calendar with the blackberry calendar.
I appreciate any help with this matter.
Thanks for all’s help; I wish I could be of help to you, undertone.
I returned my Blackberry to T-Mobile and might just go back to T-Mobile once I get things straightened out. I’ve been with Sprint for nearly 10 years and they’ve been giving me too many headaches lately. Although after threatening to drop them, I see they have some really cool phones on the horizon! Grrr, decisions, decisions!
P.S. Any experience with bringing your own unlocked phone to T-Mobile? Since they subsidize the costs when they cell you a phone and you pay it back with your monthly bill, it only makes sense your bill is cheaper when you bring your own…?
I’m not quite a nerd (I’m a wanna-be) but would appreciate some help.
After getting FIOS TV/internet/phone my Curve would not work in the basement anymore saying various things like “call failed” or “radio path not available”. I just successfully added a Linksys router as an access point to the FIOS router. Laptop can connect to the AP and browse the internet, etc. I am now trying to figure out how to open the ports per your post. I’ve logged into the Linksys router and am at the port forwarding screen. I’m just confused as to what address I’m sending the ports. This is going to sound extremely dumb… I’m sending ports 500 and 4500 to my Curve? And if so, how do I determine its IP address? Any other links or advice you could send me? Thanks for the post and thanks in advance if you can help me.
Who knew a year later this would be such a popular post entry…
Hi Kelzipan,
How are you liking FIOS? It’s not available in my area yet but I have mad bandwidth with Comcast (around 12mbps).
Anyhow, it’s not port forwarding you want. More than likely, your Linksys is not blocking those ports. Those instructions are more for corporate users with firewalls.
Your first issue is knowing if your Curve can see your Linksys. This can be done through the Manage Connections app. I’m assuming you already set up your phone to use the existing Wi-Fi network. In Manage Connections, select “Service Status.” That will tell you how strong your Wi-Fi connection is and if you have a UMA connection.
If you haven’t actually connected to your Wi-Fi yet, you can do it through the Manage Connections app as well. I hope this helps!
I’m sorry my post is no longer awaiting moderation.
I figured out my Linksys WRT54G has a checkbox at Security > VPN > IPsec passthrough. It was already checked. And the “radio path unavailable” seems to be some random T-Mobile error that is fixed by recycling power by REMOVING THE BATTERY (simply powering on/off does not work) at some unspecified interval (every now and then, daily, etc.) I don’t even know if I needed the AP now to bypass FIOS but everything is working. Continue using your powers for good and not for evil. Thanks for the IPsec heads up and take care all.
And apparently I don’t hit refresh enough either. Thanks for replying so swiftly. All is working. Yay UMA and boo to weird battery recycling needs. The FIOS is very fast. My old 20″ TV looked like someone had wiped it with Windex when we got FIOS for TV. Comcast looked good but this is much better. I imagine the HDTV is about the same for both though. 12mbps. Nice.
I’m still not a fan of the FIOS channel guide for the TV and the fact there isn’t a public (must be a registered user) web channel guide. Googling is my friend and now your site is too. Thanks again! And yes, this is a very popular post! 
Sorry in which way? Is there something you’d like to retract? Chalk it up to monkeys on keyboards.
Thanks for providing the solution that worked for you. My biggest pet peeve is when I’m googling for a solution to something only to find the PERFECT question with a follow-up that says, “figured it out!” with no what that figuring out was. Grr!
So, again, thanks for not being that guy.
Count me in for not refreshing fast enough…
Sounds like I’m going to have to get me some FIOS when it comes out in my area.
Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!
I started having the problem yesterday. I upgraded my Curve to OS 4.5.0.81 released on Oct 20,2008.
UMA has been solid. I took a walk with the dogs, talking on the phone and it stayed up in UMA.
I also use FIOS. Blackberry fixed it with their relase.
Holy smoke, this thread helps me. Have had tmo@home for about a year. Originally had connectivity UMA issues & after 5 tmo techs could not resolve. Ended up being a router software upgrade (with tmo linksys router). Cruising along (3 phones on account w/o issues). Even upgrades to 2 of 3 with new OS on BB curve … wife does not want upgrade :/ (i love the new video features).
Wanted to upgrade router to N-wifi for extended range, but was concerned not to have UMA. Doing my research, I found that DDRT supports UMA. Scored Linksys WRT150N Wireless-N for $42 (refurb) including S&H. Installed DDRT and had UMA running flawless. After slow tweaks over a month, my UMA stopped working. Realized (reading your thread), I had turned off VPN/IPSEC in router. Will enable this evening.
BTW, I can recommend the above router and DDRT OS install with tmobile UMA, works nicely together (though not supported by T-mobile).