I got a Blackberry 8700g a couple days ago and have had nothing but trouble getting RAMBLE IM and OPERAMINI to work.

When I run RAMBLE IM it errors out "INVALID CONNECTION STRING - UNABLE TO OPEN CONNECTION"

When I run Operamini it tells me that it was UNABLE TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET and asks me to visit their site for help.

I've tried updating the TCP settings to WAP.VOICESTREAM.COM but it still won't work. I'm new to this so there must be something I'm overlooking...

PHONE: 8700g
SERVICE: T-Mobile

Did you try those same settings but in lower case?

Also, do you have a BB data plan on your account?

Ah maybe that (data plan) is the problem. When I called T-Mobile to have them "register" my phone with my account I didn't sign up for a data plan. Once they setup my phone I was able to access the internet so I didn't see any reason to pay a monthly fee for a plan.

You will be fine using it with no Data Plan, except on those applications that require it.

Itake it these programs (ramble IM & operamini) require a data plan to work?
Sorry if I ask dumb questions here, I'm a noob at this whole BB stuff.

I would not waste time with OperaMini. It is no better than the BB browser. In several tests, it was slower loading. I also suggest the same with your IM program... the BB IM works quit well. I use it all the time. I use a lot of 3rd party apps (about 30 at the moment), but I have found that very few are better than the BB counterparts. 73

On a whim I decided to upgrade my BB to the latest OS available (4.2.1.114). After I did this I tried to run both applications (Ramble IM and Opera Mini). Opera Mini connected just fine but I still get errors trying to use Ramble IM (it now says "INVALID CONNECTION STRING: Open tunnel - FAILURE").