what? you can call anywhere with it... why wouldnt you be able to?

I use UMA everywhere in the world I go. As a matter of fact, I carry a Linksys portable Wifi access point, so, I can hook up to any hotel rooms wired internet, and have a Wifi zone in my room. I can then make calls over Wifi, and my nromal cellphone number (with my 8320), as if I was on the T-Mobile network anywhere in the USA.

I was just in Costa Rica, where free Wifi is almost everywhere (even restaurants), and, instead of paying exhorbitant Costa Rica roaming fees, many places I went (including a few restaurants) I hooked onto WiFi, and, made and recevied calls being charged as if I was in the US. I have odne the same in Europe, Asia, Australia, S America, and the Middle East. I love it!

Just to clarify: do you have TalkSpot? If not, then what you are saying contradicts what John and Cory are saying here, no?
(Side question: do you need UMA to be able to use wi-fi in different places?)

zGuy you dont need the option to use UMA... see i dont have have the talkspot option on my account yet i make calls via UMA all the time at home... when you dont have the option is just uses up your regular airtime minutes... but if you have the option (for rogers for example) you can get the unlimited local call talkspot, or unlimited in canada talkspot... so whenever you are connect on UMA, and make a call its unlimited and doesnt use your regular airtime minutes... BUT that UMA works anywhere in the world... so if i am in england and want to call home to someone in my city, i connect via wifi and call through UMA and its like i was at home, and i am just using my regular airtime minutes...

make sense?

The issue is people think UMA gives you free calling from your device over UMA to other countries.

UMA is another means of connecting to your carrier and you will be billed for calls made to other countries. For example I am on T-Mobile in the U.S. if I call the U.K. while on UMA I still pay long distance just like I called from GSM / EDGE. The benefit of UMA comes into play when I travel to the U.K. and am on UMA and call back to the US it is free because T-Mobile just sees me as in the U.S. and the U.S. is my home calling area.

UMA just simulates your home calling area.

I probably just created a lot more questions.

good job troy... thanks :P

No, I have T-Mobile USA, and I don't think I said anything to contradict the others above.

Sorry, but how is it any better than this for $40/year?

magicJack

And magicJack doesn't charge for LD!

Either way you have to stay within range of a computer connected to the internet.

If your goal is to cut the cord on your homephone then magicJack is way cheaper. If your goal is to avoid roaming charges then I suppose it's ok but you have to hunt for connectable wifi connections. If you are using a hotel wifi connection and have a laptop then you might as well just bring along your magicJack stick. I guess if you are sitting in starbucks in Houston and you home connection is Halifax then you don't need to carry around a laptop.

Am I crazy?

I wouldn't jump into magicjack without reaserching the ripoffreport about magic jack

No way to contact MagicJack.
They don't respond to e-mail.
Terrible customer service.

Sounds like a good deal to me... NOT.

Still sounds great as a backup line to cell phone and perfect for travel. Hard to get 'ripped off' for $30 imo.

Thanks, after re-reading your post I got it (quick inquiry: the Linksys portable Wifi access point, do you need a computer for the wifi-blackberry connection and, if so, does it work with a Mac?)

No computer needed for Wifi Blackberry, and, yes, I use it with my Macbook air

Hey Jeff, got any SS Rolex Daytonas for auction?

Thanks!

Excellent

not at an airport or hotel ?

no calls?

no... UMA will not work on a carrier unless the device is from that carrier...

if i had a tmobile 8320 i would not be able to use UMA through rogers... its a built deep into the firmware like the flashscreen and cannot be changed

JeffHarris,

I'm sure you know some of this but this is a re-cap since I noticed that the FAQ doesn't have an entry for UMA.

While you need a device from the carrier for it to work on that carrier, UMA is only available through the following service providers:
- T-Mobile USA (HotSpot@Home service)
- Orange UK (Unique service)
- Rogers/Fido (Talkspot service formerly called "Home Calling Zone")

UMA is built into the phone software and 4.6.1.94 is now available to download through the Rogers Blackberry site (if you haven't seen this already in another post) so you can try it but it won't help.

There are five criteria to make UMA work on your phone.
1. Your phone has to support UMA
2. Your carrier has to support UMA
3. The correct vendor id for that carrier has to be built into the phone's firmware
4. The correct certificate for that carrier has to be on your phone (this is normally in the phone software already).
5. A wi-fi router that supports IPSEC (and any other tweaks that may be required)

If you don't have all five of these, UMA will not work.

I also had a T-Mobile 8320 and wanted to use UMA on Rogers. The software was definitely there for it to work but the vendor ID prevented the connection to the right secure gateway. I even tried to install the right certificate for Rogers just in case but I was out of luck. The phone software automatically tried to go to T-Mobile (as directed by the vendor id) and was being denied. Even if the current software you have doesn't include UMA (as you are suspecting) you could get the proper software loaded (4.6.1.94 definitely has it) but I don't think T-Mobile Germany has a UMA gateway (unless they happen to use the T-Mobile USA gateway but I doubt it). If that doesn't work, you will have to wait for the T-Mobile USA version of the 8900 so that all the above criteria can be met. In your case, the Rogers 8900 won't help either.

For some of the other questions on this thread, think about UMA as being a cell tower in your Wi-fi router. It is an alternate transport mechanism to EDGE using the internet and if you see tje "UMA" indicator on your phone, instead of EDGE, the appropriate connections have been made back to your carrier and you are properly using wi-fi to make calls. If you cannot get UMA to work or you are out of wi-fi range, you are forced to use EDGE and the normal cell towers.

Any of the UMA plans from the various carriers are specifically for UMA use because you are basically saving them cell tower usage. If you use UMA and chose not to have the plan (be it local or national) you are using your regular EDGE minutes. For some people with lots of minutes, this may make sense.

The interesting part of this service is that the wi-fi router doesn't necessarily have to be in your house. If any Wi-fi router that your phone can connect to allows IPSEC traffic (what's used to make that internet connection to your carrier) and you have the right phone, of course, than UMA will work. As others have stated, it can be in your house, at work, at the library, or overseas. The same connection to your carrier is being made and it doesn't really matter to them where you are because you are not using their cell towers.

In my particular case, I simply don't have any EDGE signal in my office at work. Since I have an abundance of wi-fi and UMA works, I can now finally use my phone there. This really has nothing to do with saving money but I can now be reached and make calls and that's why UMA is important to me.

Hope this helps,
Santo

Thanks - this helps a lot.

So, it seems the answer is defnitely not now, but, there is hope for a hack (i.e. is point 3 and 4 fixable - it must be in some manner - it got in the phone to begin with)?

I think, in the end, my use for UMA abroad is so valuable, it will for sure merit me getting another Javelin when T-Mo releases

Hope for a hack....