How unlimited is "Blackberry unlimited"?

[Ben10]

Hi

Can anyone provide me with more clarity as to how BB charges for internet usage...?

I keep hearing that BB offers "free" "unlimited" browsing. What exactly does this mean...? Can I download anything I want to and not get charged...?

I have also read that you are limited in terms of size when downloading via the BB browser. is this true...?

All responses will be gladly appreciated...

Many Tanx
Ben10

[stevovo]

I do know that if you view streaming video you get charged for it.

I'm still not sure if you get charged for "downloads" such as downloading yahoo messenger for eg.

[Jez123]

I can only comment on Vodacom, Ben10. If don't stream, only connect through BIS and don't use the "internet" APN, then you are okay.

There are limits on the size you can download at a time, but you can do well for sixty bucks a month :) Have a look through some of the posts in this forum for more detail - this subject has been covered before :)

[oronte]

Search for the Blackberry Bold Tips thread for answers to your question (first post).

[w1tw0lf]

All browsing via blackberry browser via the bis(blackberry internet service) server is free but limited 2.9MB download of file sizes. Some apps are programmed to use the bis server as well and is complety free to use like, Facebook, myspace, yahoo messenger, googletalk, googlemaps. That's just to name a few that I can recall now.

It also offers unlimited emails, sending and receiving with a limit of 2.9MB on attachments(for downloading attachments, won't be blocked).

The limits are to Vodacom at the moment.

[limnos]

What happens when I roam overseas, is BIS included? Or do I pay roaming fee?

[fismail]

Are you confirming that with Vodacom any file size larger than 2.9mb is not available for download to the handheld ?

:confused:

Do you have BES/BIS with MTN and have you tested this with them as well ?


All browsing via blackberry browser via the bis(blackberry internet service) server is free but limited 2.9MB download of file sizes. Some apps are programmed to use the bis server as well and is complety free to use like, Facebook, myspace, yahoo messenger, googletalk, googlemaps. That's just to name a few that I can recall now.

It also offers unlimited emails, sending and receiving with a limit of 2.9MB on attachments(for downloading attachments, won't be blocked).

The limits are to Vodacom at the moment.

[w1tw0lf]

I am on prepaid bis and whenever I try to download a file larger than 2.9MB being a file or attachment a message comes up and say the download exceeds the limit of 2.9MB.

[Jez123]

What happens when I roam overseas, is BIS included? Or do I pay roaming fee?

You pay - dearly. A friend of a friend recently returned from Kenya and received a bill of several thousand for roaming there. :eek:

[w1tw0lf]

You pay - dearly. A friend of a friend recently returned from Kenya and received a bill of several thousand for roaming there. :eek:

Roaming is bad :D Stay away if possible ;)

[bwana]

What happens when I roam overseas, is BIS included? Or do I pay roaming fee?It completely depends on your destination as you pay normal data roaming rates. For example if you went to the UK you'd pay R17.50 per mb if you used Vodafone but up to R221.55 for other networks. :eek: Thanks to the compression a mb goes a pretty long way.

[steve-rsa]

So for Gmail it will only charge if I download an attachment >2.9Mb? Reading the mail is free? , cos that is what I want it for (and www.carforums.co.za as it is websensed at work).

[w1tw0lf]

Yip the email wil still come though but when you try to download the attachment it will sa download to big. If www.carforums.co.za uses flash on their site, it wont work untill rim/bb launch their flash enabled browser which should be sonn hopefully.

[Dnoch]

Hi Guys

First off, if there has been a thread on this before, I apologise. I did search the forums first, but could not find a real answer to my question.

I am looking to get a new phone soon, and I have heard and read a lot about the blackberry. A major pull factor towards a blackberry for me is the unlimited internet thing.

Now I know that if you plug it into a PC, you get charged. Thats fine, I would use it all on-device, but believe me when I tell u that I would go mad with it. I would get a 16GB (or maybe 32GB) memory card and could easily download 200GB+ per month.

I do know that there is no torrent client that will work on a blackberry, and that is also fine, I have other plans...

My question is - when they say unlimited, do they really mean 100% unlimited? Would I really be able to download 100's of GB for R60 per month?

Has anyone had any personal experience on this? Would love to know how much you've downloaded on a blackberry without being charged.

Thanks

[bwana]

Fortunately Vodacom has started limiting downloads to 2.9mb.

[AntiThesis]

IIRC you can make streaming go through BIS can't you? There's a setting in the browser somewhere.

[bullfrog]

Fortunately Vodacom has started limiting downloads to 2.9mb.

Get a vps from an overseas provider, download files from torrents on there, zip and split the files into smaller 2.8mb files and download?

Then get shat on by other users for making the whole network slow.

[Dnoch]

lol, well a torrentbox is actually exactly wat i had in mind.
Not a bad idea on rar'ing the files. If i'm going to have to download these files 1 by 1 though, then it'll take forever... Just one movie will be 250 pieces. A HD movie will be like 4000 pieces. If there is a blackberry app to que files from an ftp server, that could be handy... *goes to google this

[crowbar2008]

Dnoch, anything over 2.9mb you will get charged for, and if you do decide to gett one do not get it on a voda con

Cause there edge coverage is pathetic.
I can hardly browse some times.

[MetalCut]

sounds to me like the unlimited internet blackberry deal is actually pretty useless then, i mean really, they cant say its unlimited if it is not FFS. the file restriction of 2.9mb alone cancels out the fact that it is unlimited internet. LOL another BS service from south africa.

[bwana]

sounds to me like the unlimited internet blackberry deal is actually pretty useless then, i mean really, they cant say its unlimited if it is not FFS. the file restriction of 2.9mb alone cancels out the fact that it is unlimited internet. LOL another BS service from south africa.If you cant see the value in it then it's obviously not the service for you - however plenty of people are more than happy to pay the r59 for unlimited browsing and email. :)

[oronte]

If you cant see the value in it then it's obviously not the service for you - however plenty of people are more than happy to pay the r59 for unlimited browsing and email. :)
Bwana is quite right it's not for everyone (honestly you can't expect everything for R69 a month)! But this service has saved me thousands of rands in internet fees so it was more than worth ten times what I'm paying for it. PS: This is how the service works throughout the world, not just in SA.

[Budza]

Do you okes have any idea how many megs you use when usage has been quite heavy for the month?

I decided to get a 3G contract (R89 for 300MB). On phone browsing using Opera Mini gets me quite far with that. I can also stream stuff and download whatever I want. For a few bucks more, it's more versatile- just wondering how much more (or less) value the BB service is...

[AntiThesis]

For a few bucks more, it's more versatile- just wondering how much more (or less) value the BB service is...

I think for a lot of folks it's more than just the browsing - it's the constant connection to everything like email and social networks that does it. I'd be interested to see how much traffic goes through though - perhaps there's an app that'll run in the background and measure.