Old School Users - BIS Trouble Today?

[47seijar]

I'm trying to get a 9370 running on pre-paid. I got the $45/month plan with 2GB of data. You NEED a data plan just to get BIS, which you need to use any of the BlackBerry data services (like email). After a 15 minute online chat with tech support they said BIS was down for upgrades and to try in 24 hours. Smells fishy to me, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now. Anybody else having issues with old BlackBerrys?

[47seijar]

After several fruitless hours on chats with tech support at Verizon I decided to head to my local Verizon store. Those guys are good - really know their stuff.

Apparently the definitive answer is you cannot have BIS on any pre-paid plans, with OR without data. I bumped up my $30/month no data plan (wifi only data) to the $45/month plan that includes 2GB of data. I was able to register my BlackBerry 9370 with the network - got the confirmation message on the BlackBerry - and my Host Routing Table populated. However, I still cannot set up email accounts. The only option remains Enterprise Activation. No good for me as I'm not on a corporate BES system.

So it turns out that on pre-paid, you can use the phone, send/receive text messages, and even use the browser on WiFi. But email is not going to happen on pre-paid. Newer BlackBerrys like the Q10 and Z10, Z30, and Classic,  running BB10 operating system, work fine on pre-paid but that's because they do not use the legacy BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) for data.

Pre-paid and BIS is NOT going to happen. Bummer. Of course there are probably six or seven of us on Verizon that even care these days.

[47seijar]

Conflicting reports are coming in. I've heard from several folks who swear they have had full BIS on their BlackBerry 9930 models on pre-paid. The exact same pre-paid plan I'm on now. So a 2+ hour call to Verizon tech support, three escalation to a BlackBerry specialist, and several runs through the call center playbook for repairs, and I know have an NDR ticket. That's fancy talk for "it's going to our most senior BlackBerry techs" and I should have an answer on my lack of BIS in a few days.

I could have a defective 9370.

My plan could be mis-provisioned on the Verizon end.

I could be doing something tragically stupid and causing my headaches myself.

I don't count out ANY possibility.

[47seijar]

So still no definitive answer from Verizon's BlackBerry support. In all fairness, I'm asking questions about legacy devices that are FIVE YEARS OLD. None of the carriers were ever great with BlackBerry support, and asking about ancient devices is hardly fair.

The answers I have gotten from some hard core BlackBerry users on the BlackBerry Support Forums is that none of the carriers offer BIS on prepaid plans anymore. Bummer.

[Tidbits]

I thought BB killed BIS like 2 years ago on their own. Maybe I misread that?

[47seijar]

They didn't actually kill it - they made it unnecessary for BB10 (and Android) devices. It's still there but BIS is withering from lack of use. Only OS 7 and older models use BIS/BES.

It seems that neither BES or BIS is supported on prepaid plans. On postpaid it is, and it's automatic. I can't get too honked off about it because I'm trying to use a 5-year old BlackBerry on a service for which it was never intended. And if they never intended for it to be used back in the day, what chance do I have of using it that way now?

BB10 and the Priv work like any other smartphone as far as data. You get your data directly from your carrier.

BB7 and older models got their data from BlackBerry, but through the carrier. Every time you used data services your carrier acted as a connector between your device and BlackBerry's (then called RIM, or Research In Motion) infrastructure in Waterloo, Ontario in Canada.

[47seijar]

You didn't need the history lesson - I remember you from back in the day.

But I love to trot out the old stories.

[Tidbits]

Yah I am aware everything went through rim. They also compressed the data so it was quicker and used less data. Similar to what Sidekicks did, but way more efficient. I remember my first phone my plan was $50 for 20 minutes and was $5 per minute overages. People today complain about prices being too expensive...

Yah it's always fun to talk about old tech stuff. It does shows one age sometimes.

[pherson]

Ah, the sidekick. Nice.

47seijar I'm sorry it's not working.

MY first love was blackberries. (Aside from the wife)

I had: a pearl, a curve, the storm 1 and 2. But left because the browser sucked. But loved BB tho.

[47seijar]

I forgot what a horror the old BlackBerry web browser was. Wow, what a kludge! And using 3G on a legacy BlackBerry doesn't help the situation. My iPhone is spoiling me. Going back to a BlackBerry like the Curve reminds me of camping in the wilds, roughing it without the modern conveniences of indoor plumbing, refrigerator, ect.

[BB9370]

IF anybody knows a trick or a secret to adding BIS to a Verizon prepaid plan I'd love a tip!