The Hosted Blackberry Enterprise Server Thread
aka "How To Make Your BlackBerry Better, Faster & More Reliable"

[Original: Feb 13th, 2004]
[Edited: July 4th, 2006]
...Your carrier or BlackBerryOS does not support TCP/IP?
...Want Wireless PIM Synchronization?
...Want Better Attachment Viewing?
...Want faster web access on a Blackberry?
...Want online web banking on a Blackberry?
...Get 100+ MB email space, breaking the 10 MB barrier?
...Be able to download software Over-The-Air?

Target audience

• Self employed indivudals.
• Individual users who just want to use a Blackberry to its fullest potential.
• Small corporations
• Deaf users who need the best wireless communicator
• People who want to bypass a slow BWC/BIS email server

Blackberry Attraction? What's The Big Deal?

First-time readers may be wondering what the hoopla is about. Blackberry phones have such good thumb keyboards and very good reliability. Email on Blackberry is generally vastly superior to everything else including other cellphones, other smartphones, PocketPC, PalmOS handhelds. Some invidual non-business users are starting to buy Blackberry because they really love its email; even if not as good for things like videogames. While not the Blackberry keyboard is much lauded to have an extremely good feel allowing some people to type as fast as 70 words per minute on a device that is smaller than a wallet. If Blackberry is so great for email, why shouldn't I also run other Internet applications on it like I can do on a PalmOS and PocketPC? An interesting piece of Blackberry history is that USA goverment prevented a USA company from shutting down the Blackberry network with a lawsuit [WashingtonPost.com link] -- despite that Blackberry is a Canadian technology. This is surprising, considering relations between USA and Canada since 9/11 -- it does underscore how good and addictive Blackberries are. According to news articles, Blackberries were deployed throughout the federal government shortly after 9/11 and the anthrax evacuations, to improve communiations during crisis.

Why Is MDS Required?

MDS means Mobile Data Services, which is explained on this web page at Research In Motion. MDS is a feature of BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). The simplest english to the layman is that MDS essentially makes full Internet access possible on your Blackberry. Without access to MDS, it is almost as if you are behind "The Great Firewall" that blocks all ports except for email and WAP, limiting your ability to use your Blackberry. The original market for Blackberries are corporations, and this is why a server solution is marketed. A medium and larger size corporation generally has no problem getting a Blackberry Enterprise Server solution set up. However, these days, the Blackberry market is diversifying and there are now more and more individual and self-employed users of Blackberries, and do not need all of BES features.

How do I get MDS?

If you're a big enough corporation, it's not a problem. You just need to buy a Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES). However, they are generally too expensive for sole individuals because they start at $995 for a 5-user license. Some discounts can be found through a reseller, but this still burns a huge hole in an individual's pocket. Not to mention, you will need a dedicated Internet connection at your home to run BES at home. Sometimes, a small group of people are so desparate that they have pooled their money and actually purchased BES to share amongst themselves. Today, now an easier option has cropped up: a hosting service! Just like buying inexpensive web hosting instead of having an expensive T1/T3 to your home, you can finally now get BES hosting today. Surprise! Preliminary checks on pricing like a very manageable monthly fee that's actually is less than an average telephone or cable bill.

Oh No, Not Another Monthly Fee!

Unfortunately, it's a lot more appealing for individuals and self-employed consultants than paying several hundreds of dollars and running a dedicated server at home. Blackberries are like Crackberries - they are the most addictive wireless Internet devices around - and you'll pay a premium to get the best mobile Internet experience.

Do I need MDS for realtime email?

No. You don't need MDS for realtime email; you can already use your blackberry.net / blackberry.com email address and you'll receive emails on it nearly instantly (about 4 seconds after clicking send on desktop). This does not apply to POP mailboxes you add to your Blackberry, which are on a 15-minute poll.

I only need email and don't care about MDS.

True, most people only need the great email feature of Blackberry and is happy to stick with it. But some of us want to be able to chat on instant messaging networks such as AIM, ICQ, and MSN. Others of us want remote access to our home computer for retrieving files, or want SSH access to their own Linux box. Some of us are gladly willing to pay tens of dollars extra per month to gain access to such features, but the service provider won't provide the feature.

Any Other Benefits of Hosted BES/MDS?

For one, you get wireless Outlook/PIM synchronization. If you like the thought of being able to add new addresses and calendar entries to your Microsoft Outlook, and have them automatically show up on your BlackBerry seconds later, you'll love having access to BES/MDS. Even your Inbox folder structure will be synchronized. You can even view image attachments too (Requires both OS 4.0 and BES 4.0). Another benefit is that your email Inbox will be much bigger than the one provided with BWC/BIS. Your email will likely show up faster, since BWC/BIS can be very slow sometimes when cell carrier servers get overloaded. And MDS Internet access is usually much more reliable than the TCP/IP stack built into BlackBerryOS4.

I can just use Rogers, T-Mobile, AT&T, NexTel, Telus Instead, they give me full Blackberry Internet access.

Great, if you're one of the lucky ones! For instructions on how to setup TCP/IP on a BlackBerry, see this thread. Recent Blackberry models such as 7100 and 7290 on these carriers are known to have full access to the Internet. Older BlackBerries upgraded to BlackBerryOS 4.0 also have full access to the Internet now. These carriers are great if you are in one of their great coverage areas. However, not everybody of us are in their good coverage areas and some of us need a Blackberry that can roam. For example, there is now GSM/GPRS coverage in Canada driving along inter-city highways between major Canadian cities, with certain providers in Canada. Other people want to still be able to receive email while travelling aboard.

How do I do Over-The-Air Downloads?

You launch the Blackberry Browser (or WAP browser) and click on any link that connects to a .jad file. These are tiny Java applications called Midlets. In technical terms, these are J2ME applications (MIDP 1.0). By having access to MDS, you can easily do Over-The-Air downloads of software directly to your Blackberry, just like downloading software to a modern Java powered cellphone. (Blackberry actually uses the same Java language). That means software designed for a Nokia or Motorola cellphone can work on your BlackBerry! Two of the most popular Over-The-Air download websites are Midlet.org and J2ME-Software.com. On some midlet download sites, sometimes you may have to masquerade as another cellphone or select "All Devices" in order to get access to a clickable .jad link on your Blackberry.

I heard my carrier is going to provide a public MDS/MDG service for free.

Yes, that's right. For more information, please see Configuring Internet On BlackBerry, which may be all you need, unless you want the extra features of a BES. Several carriers including Rogers, T-Mobile, AT&T, Nextel, and Telus now provide TCP/IP capabilities on BlackBerries! This is also called "Blackberry Internet Connection Service" internally at some carriers. Service books are often called "BlackBerry Internet Browsing Service". Additional carriers are already beta-testing this. Even with a public MDS, there are still the advantages of bigger email space and potential better performance using a separate BES/MDS hosting service. In the meantime, most hosting services are month-by-month, so you can cancel once your carrier provides Public MDS service. To help accelerate your carrier's deployment of Public MDS, call your carrier's Blackberry department and request support for Public MDS and tell them Rogers, T-Mobile, AT&T, Nextel and Telus now support it. As an example, tell your carrier about Verichat and WebMessenger instant messaging, and how it will improve Blackberry sales if users could easily install Internet applications on Blackberry. Point your carrier's support department to this thread, to help educate even more people at the carrier understand the need for Public MDS.

Is MDS/MDG Specific To Blackberries?

Not quite. All modern cellphones with access to the Internet, require a gateway of some kind. You may have heard of these in different naming conventions such as GGSN, APN, MDG, etc. In simple terms, they essentially make connections possible between a carrier network and an external network, such as the Internet on your mobile device (or even just a simple connection to a BES server). If you have heard of GGSN (APN) on a cellphone, then that's a network component similiar to MDG. More information about various gateway services is provided on this SourceO2 page and on this Motorola iDEN page. Only MDS is Blackberry specific, while MDG and GGSN (APN) is not Blackberry specific. In fact, MDS still uses MDG in order to connect between a Blackberry and a BES server, and then from there, mobile Internet connections are made through your company's Internet connection. Credit given to a forum member (Deefer) who recently gave an excellent explanation that made this paragraph possible.

Finding Cheap Access To MDS

A cheaper way of getting access to MDS for individuals. Individual self-employed people like me can't always justify paying $595 or $995 for a Blackberry Enterprise Server just to get access to web, chat, IM, telnet/ssh and other utilities that require MDS There is huge demand out there by self-employed individuals (like me) who want their Blackberry to be able to do full HTML, telnet/ssh, AIM/ICQ/MSN messaging, and other sysadmin utilities, perhaps to connect to their home computer, etc. People like me are willing to pay an additional monthly fee to gain access to additional applications such as instant messaging and being able to do HTML web browsing with color graphics. As long as it is not a large one-time fee such as $595 or $995, considering that a few Blackberry carriers and most non-Blackberry carriers already include full Internet service at no extra charge.

Blackberry Internet Applications For Consumers/Prosumers:

Here's a partial listing of BlackBerry Internet software available for BlackBerries:

• BlackBerry Web Browser FAQ
• BlackBerry Instant Messaging FAQ
• Blackberry Killer Software Thread
• Methods Of Email On BlackBerry
• Midlets On BlackBerry: Nokia/Motorola/Sony/Samsung Software

Optional Hosted BES/MDS Services

This is a small sampling of various popular BES hosting services. There are many others on the Internet that are not listed here. This list should give you a starting point for researching the best BES hosting service.

• Exchange My Mail
  Platinum Sponsor of BlackBerryForums!
  .
• Link2Exchange
  Platinum Sponsor of BlackBerryFOrums!
  .
• CityNet MyBlueberry.com
• Mailstreet.com
• eOutlook
• Lanlogic
• MI8 Corporation
• Bell Canada Hosted Exchange
• Intermedia

Oh boy, this post will be uneccassary once 4.0 BWC comes out :D

I cant wait.

List of Advantages for BES/MDS (despite 4.0 TCP/IP) was posted in this post. This post has now been moved to a separate thread:

BES/MDS Hosting Advantages even after Blackberry 4.0

What does this mean exactly... what is BWC 4.0? (assuming BlackBerry Webclient 4.0).. does this apply to Verizon?

Is this big change being rolled out to all carriers? Does this mean that we no longer need BES/MDS to truly browse the Internet, use Instant Messenging, Etc. ?

sthong,

Correct. A big deployment among almost all carriers will be happening over the next few months (as early as this fall for some of the carriers such as Rogers). This will allow Internet access on all Blackberries without the need for BES/MDS.

Another good reason for BES/MDS is to allow using your Blackberry on cellphone networks that do not support the Blackberry. Such as Fido Canada.
Blackberry working on non-Blackberry cell networks

[Edit: Fido appears to be a special exception in this case. This would not work on most other carriers]

for some reason, my corporate bes does not have mds turned "on." Is this normal? why would they disable this? I'm going to send an email asking for mds, we'll see.

Once 4.0 comes out, if I install it but they don't upgrade the bes to 4.0, will I still be able to use the companies bes but now have mds as well?

MDS may have been turned off because the admins may not be familiar with it. It's a rule of policy for a good security admin to turn off unnecessary features;

Yes, you will still be able to use BlackberryOS 4 with older BES servers. I'm using my OS 4.0 with Mailstreet right now, for example. They only have the older BES.

Mark
The link seems to be broken. Would you please lead me to the thread? This is exactly the information I'm looking for.
Thanks

Here you are..

http://www.blackberryforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=1474

Linked fixed.

This FAQ is overdue for an update. Eventually it will be updated. But I have so many things going on in my life now (personal, work, etc).

Why do I keep reading this everywhere? Is this true??

How come there is no mention in this FAQ of MyBlueBerry hosted by CityNet Computing :http://www.citynt.com/?

Can someone comment on this service. Also I am curious about one of there features:
Any opinions or comments on "Channel-On-Demand" ?

BassKozz,

I've had the service for more than a month. I haven't had any problems to speak of and the speed seems to be on par with the other hosted bes/mds services. Some of my colleagues have 7510's and the browsers retrieve data at about the same rate. My take on MyBlueberry's comments are that since they don't have a ton of customers, the bandwidth is pooled and they don't have backups or lag time. If you equate it to Cable vs DSL, it makes perfect sense. Ultimately, your performance will depend on the carrier. I'm on Verizon and although many back end features other carriers offer aren't available through Verizon, the coverage is excellent.

dacphilly

dacphilly,

I am looking for an actual speed comparison… I am currently on a blackberry 7750 VZW using MobileWeb4u (which I love, the service and support is awesome). But I am interested in this “Channel-On-Demand” to get faster access to my berry’s browser.

I ran a speed test using CNET’s (http://www.cnet.com/) Bandwidth meter, on my berry and it came to 57k exactly.

Is there any chance you could run that for me on your berry to see what you come up with ?

Thanks,
-BassKozz

BassKozz,

Loading those cnet pages on a handheld was worse than getting my wisdom teeth pulled! I came in at 38.3k, much slower than you.

dacphilly

ok, Thanks for doing that for me dacphilly.
I appreciate it.


Looks like MyBlueBerry's "Channel-On-Demand" has no effect on the speed of the MDS for VZW phones
-BassKozz

I'm sure speed will depend on the quality of the GPRS signal as well, so I don't know if there's much value in having your BES provider piping data two you faster than you'd see from your wireless provider in everyday situations.

For grins, I performed the test on my AT&T 7290 without any BES. Located in Manhattan with 3 bars of signal and that site pegs me at 193.6 kbps

Hmm, interesting results. Perhaps AT&T has Channel-on-Demand++

;)

Also - MyBlueBerry *IS* listed in the FAQ. They're also known as MyBlackBerry.us

Maybe I should switch to AT&T to do my BB browsing....
Otherwise, my connection is gawdoffle

-BassKozz

Hi,

Does anyone here use citynt.com MyBlueBerry MDS+ service? I am a Hong Kong user and use that with Hong Kong CSL. However, I can't connect to internet through their MDS. I am still solving this problem.

Could someone share their experience on the setting or comment on citynt.com?

y2kelvin

Hi, my problem has been solved after several days of conversation.

My carrier told me that I must subscribe a "Enterprise Service" before I can do the BES activation. That service charge me around USD40/month.
Since I am a Hong Kong user, could anyone tell me is that "Enterprise Service" a must before we activation the BES on other place such as in US?

By the way, support from citynt.com is great! They used both email and MSN to answer my answers. They also used VNC to connect my pc and tried to solve my problem.

Thanks for sharing.

Kelvin

Yes, you need Enterprise connectivity, unfortunately. You'll have to sign up for that.

Many North American carriers include Enterprise connectivity at no extra charge, but your carrier requires an extra charge for it.

My company currently runs Outlook 2000. Its seems that all the services listed require Outlook 2003. Are there any services I can use if I am stuck with Outlook 2000?

hagen21,

All the services sign you up for a separate exchange server/host. Unless your work is planning on getting BES for there 2000 exchange you'll need to create a new e-mail address for a new exchange account, you can then forward all of your e-mails from your works 2000 server to your new 2003 exchange account, if you decide to get hosting.

Hope this makes sense, maybe some one can explain it better. As I am a Newb also.

-BassKozz

At the risk of asking an issue that has been asked, but I missed in searching, is MDS available automatically with BES. I called a new advertiser on this forum, Link2 Exchange, and they were knowledgeable about the Exchange component but were not conversant regarding MDS, other than the person I spoke with said he used a Yahoo Chat program with no problem. I do not want to find myself unable to use MDS apps.
Thanks in advance

Question about the new BWC - I have heard that the claims are almost full BES features with the new BWC. I find this hard to believe. The key features of BES 4.0 are that you can synch wirelessly all your outlook data - contacts/calendar/notes/tasks. Anyone have any insight on how they are looking to structure the BWC to do this without exchange/notes/groupwise. Will people actaully store all their data on the website like yahoo accounts do? Of course this still does not offer the outlook integration.. Very curious on peoples take on this.

There appears to be some form of wireless addressbook synchronization already with BWC 4.0 at least on Rogers. I don't know how you export to your PC, but this competes against the Sidekick wireless addressbook sync.

However, it's not as automatic as BES 4.0 realtime wireless sync with Outlook...

I have had lots of support issues with T-Mobile and difficulties with other 3rd party BES providers. So I just want to say that I have had superior service from Link2Exchange. No, I have no incentive from them or any relationship but they have been extremely helpful to me. T-Mobile managed to screw things up on their end that required Link2Exchange to reset on their end and they did so without any grumbling. Just my 2 cents.... for anyone looking for a good BES provider.

Do any of these providers have BES/MDS only? I've got my own exchange and a review of their web offerings imply a pre-req of an exchange account with them which I don't really want/want to pay for since it makes the home exchange rather worthless. I'm the only bb user, not the only mail user.

MyBlueberry.com seems to do that.

Even MyBlueberry comes with Exchange. You can just ignore the Exchange mailbox, but you lose the wireless PIM synchronization benefits.

I would be very very careful with myblueberry. You're getting what you get for and you may waste your set up fee. It is likely a one man operation with few business ethics. Search for my post to see my experience and my opinion.

p.s. I would highly recommend Mailstreet. and the other ones have had good reviews as well.

Thanks, I need all the opinions I can get.

I've seen your posts and others that made me nervous about these guys. I'm leaning toward either mailstreet or link2exchange. I'm a MAC/Linux person, and like the mailstreet web interface to their exchange server. Does link2exchange have anything like that.

The prices, after configuring it the way I want, seem to be about the same.

I travel some, I've read that a hosted BES/MDS can work when BWC can't in some out-of-US locations. Why is that? Is it the difference between gprs and GPRS?

Millie grazie,

Hi anyone,
I have lot research around and I want get own Blackberry Enterprise Server and my question Blackberry Enterprise Server will work access email receiver and send on wireless?

I hope someone would help me to clear.

Thanks...

huh?
i'm not sure I understand your question, but judging from it, do you know how much a Enterprise Server costs and the technical know how required?

From another provider on Myblueberry.com:

----- Original Message -----
From: <pete.mcphedran@corefusion.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2005 9:21 AM
Subject: Re: coreFusion BlackBerry hosting...


> As far as I know, myblueberry.com is not a RIM business partner. They are
> not liste din the Partner directory and they are most likely not legally
> entitled to provide BlackBerry hosting services. Paying them for BlackBerry
> hosting would be comparable to taking an illegal cab at an airport, they
> are not licensed and you have no protection.
>
> We are a BlackBerry Alliance Member, we are the only organization (that I
> am aware of) that has exemption from the BES licensing that allows us to
> provide hosting services. The BES license explicitly prohibits hosting of a
> BES. We provide the same levels of service to individual users as we do the
> large corporations that we host for. If you would like some references to
> that effect, I would be happy to provide some for you.


Another provider that offer hosted services is http://www.itrezzo.com and http://www.sessionware.com

I've been studying the FAQs, and am still not sure what to do. I may have
missed something obvious.

I've been completely frustrated by Cingular and have just about given up on wap.cingular as an apn. I need to ssh to my desktop rarely, but when I need it, I need it bad. Cingular has done little but waste a lot of my time:

http://www.blackberryforums.com/general-blackberry-discussion/7645-success-cingular-tcp-ip-wap-cingular.html

So, I have some questions about the FAQs. I'm not sure what has changed
since 4.0 and BWC became options.

1. If I sign up for BES/MDS, can I forget about wap.cingular for
things like

ssh, PocketDay weather/stocks, IM, ...

and get them to work with MDS?

2. Is there anything that I'll need an apn for at all? Can I cancel the
media net $5/month plan cingular is making me use for the apn?
Do any of you BES people care about apn? The FAQ says that MDS
is like TCP/IP. Is the set up the same? Do I do this in
options->tcp?

3. The FAQs talk about roaming. Is this a problem in urban areas in
Europe and Asia? International service is a big deal for me.

Have I missed something about BWC? I'll be in Frankfurt and
Stockholm in two weeks, and email needs to work for me.
If the cingular BWC won't work in major cities in Europe, please warn me.


4. I'm a MAC/Linux person, and use my windows partition as little as
possible. It seems some of the hosted services let me run outlook
via the web. Is that right? Which are the most MAC-friendly? I use
yahoo for my calendar now, so switching to a hosted outlook won't
hurt too much. All my contacts live on the 7100g, so having them on
the web where they're easy to edit wouldn't hurt either.

It seems that for $25/month from mailstreet, for example, I can get
BES/MDS + web outlook + spam filtering. That seems to be the best
option for me, and some of the FAQs recommend it for MACs.

5. I'll probably need good tech support (and I'm NOT getting it from
Cingular). Which of these guys has that?

6. The FAQ talks about improved browser speed. Will I get a new browser
with BES/MDS or will the speed of the BB browser simply improve?

7. Will I need to reinstall the desktop if I don't plan to sync the BB with the
laptop where my windows partition lives?

Thanks in advance.

Hope u guys are ready for this. I did the speed test on cnet and i got 160.5kbps. Im usin a BB7520 on BoostMobile(Nextel)