This is my first post so I would like to start by saying "Hello".

I have been reading over the forums for two weeks, and was able to activate a Blackberry 7520 (Ebay $30), with my Boostmobile unlimited $50 plan.

I have updated the software to v4.1
I have removed the "vendor.xml"
I have installed "Gmail", "Stock Viewer", "BBLight", and "Opera Mini 3", and all of these applications are working great! I can read/send email, and connect to the internet with no issues.

The phone also works great!

It says I am actually connected to the Nextel Network, and "NXTL" shows on my phone

I have read that you can not send a SMS with this phone, espically with boost mobile, since I can not retrieve service books, and no BB services are offered by them.

I read you would send text via email, but when I go to email people it says "No message service configured"

I have clicked on both "Message services", and "service book" under Options-->Advanced, but nothing shows on either one.

However, is it possible for me to find a "work around" for this issue. I know I can probably use GMail and send emails to , but I would like to keep my email "strictly business".

Is there a SMS or MMS application I can D/L?

Is their another email program, where I can set up an email address similar to my phone number? I was going to try this but was unable to D/L the Yahoo Mail Program...

Let me know your thoughts, and thanks again for all the useful information on this forum.

There really isn't. SMS isn't dependent on having a BlackBerry data plan, it is simply an issue with the older iDEN BlackBerry devices to not be able to send mobile-originated SMS. The only one I know of that can send SMS is the new 8350i. The reason that you can't do it from the e-mail application on the phone is that you don't have a BlackBerry data plan, which, as you know, is impossible on Boost.

This device is very old, and I'd recommend getting an 8350i if you want to use any modern mobile services.

Dang, guess I will have to upgrade to a 8350i and get with the times. Just figured there may have been a 3rd party work around for text messaging, cause with gmail and opera mini working good, this 7520 has all the features I want.....except for text messaging. Thanks for your help!

No problem. Happy to help.

Workaround is not in BlackBerry's vocabulary thankfully.

DC/DC, there seems to be little info on the 8350i being converted to a boostberry, my current 7520 has gmail, and opera mini, working good. Will they work on the 8350i also? Also in another post I was reading it stated they were able to receive text messages, but unable to send them on the 8350i with boost. Has that issue been corrected? If not there would really be no reason for me to upgrade.

also would I be able to send text messages with "beejive" software?

It says "Save money by sending instant messages over your data plan and reducing text messages used. No SMS charges!"

I honestly can't tell you. I don't mess with workarounds.

No, BeeJive is for Instant Messaging, and cannot send SMS.

I have found a work around for this issue.
Services such as ipipi.com it will convert the text messages sent to your phone number to emails and since the Boostberry can access the Internet you would be able to check the e-mail and read text message. The service supposedly works the other way around, so by sending and e-mail it would convert the email to text. The service also support MMS, but they charge 10c per message.
I have not tried the service therefore can't guarantee that it works. my need of text messages is not that big.
Let me know if you guys find any other work around.

Sorry, but I honestly think that if more people tried and posted work arounds, carriers would not be able to to submit us to whatever is more profitable, instead of what is better to us, their costumers. After all they are providing a service and they should keep costumer service in mind.

I tired of reading awesome reviews of upcoming phones with inovating features, just to find out that when it comes to the market the carriers had cut the capabilities, because they can force their costumers to pay for a similar service, that these capabilities would provide for free and most of the times simpler.
I think that this behavior is a major hold back on mobile technology. For that reason I support any kind of mod or hacking, as long as it benefits the end user.

This How to will combat the email, internet and text messaging problem that you get when you plug in a 8350i into the Boost Mobile network.

Email:
I found that using the Gmail application works great for notifying you of incoming email and text messages (this part will be addressed last). All you have to do is run to Google Mobile and install the Gmail app to get all the functions of Gmail. It will even notify you of incoming messages if you go to your Profile and setup the alert options.

Internet:
I found using Opera mini is the best for getting around on the net if your not near a Wifi spot. If you go to http://mini.opera.com you can download the latest version there. How ever there is one little bug. The menu will not show up, I have read somewhere that if you hold the "Q" button down a list of available functions will show up. Which it does I tried it. You will just have to get by with this until there is a fix out.

I am not sure about BOLT Browser Bolt Browser as I find it very slow to load pages and hard to use on this device.

Text Messaging, SMS and Chat:
If you use a program called EQO EQO - Mobile VoIP, free texts, and free mobile IM with EQO it does all this. It does cost money to send a text or SMS to someone (.10 cents per) but it also has instant messaging which is free and easy to use. It will talk to Google Talk, AIM, MSN, Yahoo and Jabber clients. I chat on it all the time. Works great with wifi or not.

Forward incoming Text Messaging:
I copied this from another forum but if you wish to see the orginal post go here: HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - Text message work around for 8350i and all other (Boost iden) phones!!!!

--
I know we are not getting what we pay for in the texting department so I think I have found a way to go around it. I know this works on my Blackberry 8350i and I'm sure it will work on any phone that is able to download and use the google mail app, or if you want to send text/mms strait to your email.

1) Go to Cell Phones, Mobile Phones, and Wireless Calling Plans from Sprint and on the home page find, "Need to register for access?". The next page will ask you to enter your phone number to receive a text message. Enter your boost mobile phone number.

2) Once you enter your phone number you will be taken to a page that ask for all you personal information. FILL IT OUT COMPLETELY!!! <~~~Very important!!!! Enter a user name and password. The last segment of the page is, Set up account management. This is where the magic starts to happen. Under "Identify your phone:" , select your model and phone (8350i users select other). Then enter your SIM ID. At the bottom select the option "I am not the account holder"!!!! (It may sound weird but it is the only way to make it work since Boost Mobile uses a 4 digit pin and Nextel uses a 6 digit pin.") Of course click continue.

3) Go to http://mms.nextel.com/mms and sign in using the user name and password created before. Once in you can setup your MMS to be forwarded to an email address of your choosing.

I personally use the Gmail app. It only polls once every 30 min but at least I can get text messages with my Blackberry 8350i. Hope this helps.

Also It seemed like it may have taken 24 hrs to update but once it did I get all my messages on my email and my phone.
--

I hope that this helps all the people out there that are looking for a way around the problems of not having BIS or BES.

Thanks to Michael for posting this work around.

I want to install on my nextel blackberry 7520 running Boost Mobile Sim with web activitation my Gmail account.

I was told to install Opera Mini and it would like a snap – and of course it did not.

I am running the following softwares –

On the Blackberry – 1. version 4.1 that has a Browswer4.1 under Applications

On my laptop –
2. Blackberry Desktop Manager 4.1.1.9 which will not enable me to load any files onto the Blackberry

2. Opera Mini - opera-mini-4.2.13918-advanced-en-us.jar and opera-mini-3.1.13045-advanced-en-us.zip – and was told they are self extracting and will load onto the blackberry- which of course they do not

I have my blackberry connected to my laptop correctly etc. and frankly I am LOST.

First – Am I running the right software’s on the Blackberry, and the Laptop- Blackberry and the right Opera Mini

Second – If not which softwares should I run and then what programs should be installed or removed from the blackberry and from the laptop

Third – What else do I need to do

Boost said that they cannot do a reboot with a Blackberry. I read that I can remove the battery and do a reboot. I have done this.

There is no ICON on my blackberry for web or browser.

Please help me out with this if you can and I will return the favor by posting this step by step in the forum so others can make it work the first time.

You will never ever get an icon for the browser with a Boost Mobile SIM card.

The opera that you are using is too new for that device. Use opera 4.0 or lower and you should be fine. I have 4.0 on the 7100i. I used to run opera 3 on the 7520. Also try this with gmail to text message a friend. Example: Email <10 digit phone number>@messaging.nextel.com and see if they will recieve it as a text message. In your email request the person to reply. If it works setup contacts in this format in your gmail app.

I have the Nextel BB 7520 with a boost sims card. I am currently under
the unlimited 50 plan. These are all the apps that I have (I don't
have the links, but u can google them to find them...that's how I did
it):
1. Opera mini 4.2 and 3.1. Downloaded 3.1 from the desktop and 4.1 via
OTA. How did I download OTA? We will get back to that later. LoL
Anyways, with both browsers I can go back and forth between 2 web
pages simultaneously.

2.Nimbuzz 1.1- this free instant messenger will integrate all of ure
IM's (Google talk, aim, yahoo, etc.) into 1. It disconnects a lot tho.

3. Webmessenger- This does the same az Nimbuzz, but it runs more fluently.

4. Gmail 2.0.6- Download this app so that u won't have to go to ure
browser to check ure messages. Az far az the text message issue: Go
to gmail on your pc and click on "settings". Click on the forwarding
and POP tab. Now in the "forward a copy of incoming mail to" box, put:
YOUR BOOST . Now all incoming mail will go
straight to your phone. So if your facebook, myspace, etc, is set up
with your gmail, your phone will now be notified when you get a
message, comment, etc. U can also send texts to phone carriers through
your gmail. Here are some sms gateways:

Alltel

Ameritech

ATT Wireless

Bellsouth

Boost

CellularOne

CellularOne MMS

Cingular

Edge Wireless

Sprint PCS

T-Mobile

Metro PCS

Nextel

O2

Orange

Qwest

Rogers Wireless

Telus Mobility

US Cellular

Verizon

Virgin Mobile

When the recipient replies, it will come straight back to ure gmail and phone.
It would be wise to copy these sms gateway into your notes on your BB.
That way u can just copy & paste when composing a message
Also, my gmail app has the ability to have 2 accounts open...so u can
use 1 gmail for business and 1 for personal.

5.Google Maps 2.3- The directions are great! I also downloaded this
OTA, but u can also google the alx file for destop manager download.

Now in order to enable your phone to download OTA (Over-The-Air...or
from your phone browser...just in case you were still lost), the
process is very simple. U must 1st google the BB 7520 service books.
Download them to your DESKTOP on your pc. Then u go on your phone to
Options>advanced options>applications. Delete your browser if u have
one. Ure phone will then have the option to restart. Select "yes".
After your phone iz done restarting, Open up ure Desktop Manager and
restore the Service Books on your phone.
After u restore, go to the application loader and select the "Browser"
and the "Javascript Package" and install. If u have done the procedure
right, u will now be able to download Pics, apps, & games directly
from your phone browser.

So all in all I have all of these apps and unlimited minutes for just
$50 a month. I couldn't ask for a better phone experience. Oh yea here
iz a tip: (HOLD)SHIFT+BACKBUTTON will allow u to use your scroll wheel
to cycle between different apps all at once! This is how I copy and
paste a number from my adress book to my gmail. Or how I cycle between
my two opera mini's without closing neither one. U can actually have
ALL the apps on your phone open at the same tyme. It will take some
getting used to...but you will get the hang of it.

Thanks for all the tips. I just bought a 7520 with all the aps already on it off ebay. I also have the $50 boost unlimited plan. If the sms was working i would be the happiest customer. But you cant have it all ....this is good enough for me.

why don't you just use the MMS it is better anyway? I have it on my phone and I love it.

You can't use MMS on Boost.

Well good news for all those who are not able to send mms i am sending mms from my boostberry all i did was read on so many forums and i had read before about service books and all stuff something told me that i need to download all the service books i look for and follow all steps on this forum:
just follow and download everithing on this forum and you will be sending mms natively in just 10 minutes.
Tis forum will tell you so many tricks for BB7520. Enjoy sending mms natively from your Boostberry 7520

MY E-MAIL IN ON HERE FREWAY14
SEND A EMAIL AND I'LL REPLY WITH LINK TO WEBSITE

THIS IS THE LINK TO HOW TO SEND MMS NATIVELY FROM BOOSTBERRY AND HOW TO DOWNLOAND ALL SERVICEBOOKS AND MANY OTHER TRICKS FOR BB7520...ENJOY IT
BoostBerry Tutorial: How to get MMS, Broswer, and Email working natively! - BlackBerry Forums at CrackBerry.com

freway14, please do not make useless posts just to get your post count up. They will be deleted. If you want to get more posts, welcome newcomers, post some help for someone, post something relevant somewhere.

hey i gots it all figured out lol but your all gonna have to give me something in return !

Blackberry 7520 i got this all figured out now its really easy to do lol and i now have sms and im able to download ota lol if u wanna know email me at *****regulatorc2d@aol.com***** and ill tell you how

I am new to this and was wondering why you say his post were useless...they seem to lead to helping unless he had other post here that were deleted that i dont see here...like i said i am new to all this forum stuff and dont want to make the same mistakes and post what i shouldn't

yes you can use mms on boost i have a 7520 and the mms texting works the internet work two way also the phone

Has anyone figured out to get the contacts off the sim card to install in the boostberry?

Hi, I have a Nextel 8350i using Boost. Here is what I had working on it: Native Blackberry Browser, Operamini, Blackberry Maps, Nimbuzz, Gmail, BB MMS, etc. The other day I was trying a new application called Turn Radio On. It did not seem like it was working so I deleted it even though the message said it was in use and did I still want to delete it. I deleted it. Also, I was trying to change my signal bar back from numbers to bars and may have hit the wrong keys before I hit Alt, NUMLL. Well, because of my carelessness, I cannot get on the internet, I cannot receive or send calls, mms, gmail, etc. Under Options, Advanced, Mobile Network it says Data Services On, Mobile Network 100316. Also under Advanced, in Host Routing Table it says No Entries. I am using Desktop Manager 4.7, Nextel 8350i, Boost service, and until last night everything was working fine. Except for I could never get Shangmail to work. I made a very dumb mistake! I was wondering what to do next? Should I delete my service books and then reinstall them? I tried taking the battery out numerous times and even used quick pull a few times but all i get is the Wi-Fi signal logo. I hope to get this phone back to normal with the understanding that it is a tool to communicate with not a toy. If anyone can help thanks!

Ok guys..this is my first post here, but I have been reading post after post trying to figure out how to get texting to work on boostberry. So, now that mine works, I figure its only fair to give back to the community.

Now, there may be steps here that an expert would say are not needed, but this is what I did/have to/on my phone and it works - so this is my method.

Make/Model: Blackberry 7520
Carrier: Boost $50 unlimited

Required Apps: Blackberry Messenger
Required PC Software: Blackberry Desktop Manager

1. On your phone, go to Options->Advanced Options->Service Book. While holding the ALT key, press S-B-E-B. You will get a return about some legacy option - this is fine. You can go back to your main screen now.

2. Go to this page - www bamed dot org/2009/08/01/my-boostberry-boost-mobile-on-a-blackberry-with-browser-and-mms-working/ - Scroll down and in the article just below the second advertisement you will see "I’ve collected several service books that had all the hacks I needed to work and combined them into a single file located here". Click on the word "here" and download the zip file, these are the service books you'll need. Unzip the folder to some location that you will remember.

3. Connect your phone to your pc and open bb desktop manager. Click on "Backup and Restore". You may want to back up your data first. If not, click on "Advanced". You will have two windows. On the right window, I scrolled down until I saw "service books", clicked it once and cleared them. Then, just above the left window click "File" -> "Open" -> and open the "browserandmms.ipd" file you extracted. It should now be in the left window. Click it once to highlight, and between the windows click the lower arrows to pull it over to be added to your phone. Select "yes" at all non-error prompts to finish the adding the new books.

4. Once complete, just go back to the main menu on the bb desktop manager and your phone screen should go back to your apps screen. Disconnect your phone and you will see two new applications - NOL Browser and Hotspot Browser. These DO NOT work. I may be ignorant but I just assume that somehow they are needed to make MMS work. Your phone may also need a moment to reconnect to the wireless network so be patient.

What you CANNOT do with this fix (as far as I can tell):

1. You CANNOT us Blackberry Messenger whatsoever. You CANNOT request contacts by pin. You CANNOT receive requests by pin.

What you CAN do with this fix:

1. For any contact in your address book, highlight them and click the scroller. You should now see the option to "MMS Your Contact". When you click "MMS Your Contact", if you have an email address and phone number saved for that contact, it will give you the option to email them or message them.

2. When you send an MMS, it will be From: yournumber at myboostmobile dot com.

3. When you receive a message, it will be located in your "Messages" application.

Mine works and I hope yours does too.

but now I have a question of my own if anyone has a moment. and yes, i have done some searching but havent been able to find an answer that works for me.

i am trying to get my contacts from my boost sim phone book. when i go into address book->menu->sim phone book, it just says "Boost". There are no contacts and no option to copy. If i hit enter with "Boost" highlighted, it calls some 888 number. Anyone know how i can get my phone numbers to "import" into the BB address book?

thx in advance