It seems that I was able to resolve both issues by downgrading back to 7.1.0.284
Took more than a couple of tries... I ended up uninstalling ALL RIM software from my laptop, wiping bb with JL commander, downloading all new software to pc, uploading a 7.0 OS version from att to my bb, and than updating to 7.1.0.284 from T-Mo.
I'm sticking with this build for a looooong time.
