EDGE in Europe

[shlingding]

I'm in The Netherlands now, and and am not getting Edge on any network here. I have seen an 8700 user using Edge though (cant remember which carrier) - which makes it a bit strange. Is there anything I need to do with service books or something? I'm using an unlocked 8700c and I'm a TMO customer.

Many thanks for any insight. Once you've experienced Edge, there's no going back...

[dulcamara]

My understanding was that EDGE only made it to a small part of Europe, and that some kind of faster 3G data was deployed instead in most places.

I don't see EDGE enabled phones for sale in Europe (at least in England and Germany), but see lots of 3G stuff.

It's also not clear to me that US 3G is compatible with European 3G. I don't think the frequencies aren't the same.

[shlingding]

I thought so too - but I've seen an 8700c in Amsterdam with EDGE in caps... So it must be here, just dont know what to do to get it.

[lrdiaz]

I have not seen EDGE in the UK, and have tried on all four networks

[NJBlackBerry]

I have not seen EDGE in the UK, and have tried on all four networks
How disappointing; I am going there in two weeks and wanted to rely on my 8700 with EDGE... Guess it's back to GPRS for me.

[gadgetman]

As long as we can get our e-mail in Europe, not a big problem. Hey, we can get our e-mail in Europe, right???

[NJBlackBerry]

What country is Europe in? (JUST KIDDING)...

[shlingding]

Well I know its here. I did see an 8700 on edge. And the question is, if it is here, is there perhaps something else I need to do in order to get on it - like resending service books - or would that not have anything to do with it?

Europe's a beautiful country.... And Amsterdam is a great state....

[lrdiaz]

As long as we can get our e-mail in Europe, not a big problem. Hey, we can get our e-mail in Europe, right???
Absolutely, on the e-mail, and the GPRS internet is not bad at all.
Even a re-activation took less than 4 min. Had some BES problems when the Exchange admin decided to move some accounts to a different server.

[rjharary]

Well if I was in Amsterdam, I would be chilled out I would settle for GPRS.

[shlingding]

OK - now I'm told that Telfort DOES have the EDGE network... So it is in fact available. Would there be any reason why my 8700 wouldnt be getting onto it? When I switch to the Telfort network, I'm only getting GSM....not even GPRS...

[NJBlackBerry]

Pop out the battery.
If necessary, go into Option and fine the Network setting. Select "Manual", Scan for networks and select the appropriate network.

[cdalmeida]

I was in Spain and Portugal a few weeks ago and only had access to GPRS but I felt the data speed was actually quite similar to EDGE.

[gadgetman]

And you got your emails, right?

[shlingding]

doesnt seem to make a difference NJB.....

[patrickh]

If you get only GSM, it means that carrier doesn't have data agreement with your own carrier..

[gadgetman]

With GSM there is no e-mail presumably.

[indysully]

Pop out the battery.
If necessary, go into Option and fine the Network setting. Select "Manual", Scan for networks and select the appropriate network.

I have to do this when I am using my 8700c on Cingular in Dublin. O2 works great on GRPS, but when I want to send a SMS it does not work through O2 and I need to switch to Meteor.

The Cingular tech support person told me that I need to validate the carrier agreements for international locations and select the appropriate carrier for support from the Cingular site.

Sully