I provisoned my 7250 with EVDO from the first day it was made available, at which point I also upgraded to the new software. Yes it took almost 30 minutes to reboot but I have very limited third party software ( Do you have a lot? ). However, my BB has been solid, no stability problems of any sort. Solid connections, no sound problems of any sort, no bluetooth issues, no rebooting on its own, so from my end I do not see how you can say it is less stable. I think some of those issues come from conflicting software if at all.

I provisioned as well on the first day. I have had no stability issues, but I have had infrequent DCRs.. However, I had them before (I live in a fringe area of every provider (had cingular, had 0 coverage, know someone who has tmobile, and they have almost 0 coverage)). Overall, I am quite pleased with the update. Truth be told though, I am more interested in the updates to the OS (like the new calculator) and am awaiting 4.1 to finally "hide" my sent items..

While EVDO is nice, it makes 0 difference for email (with respect to what I would consider "normal" use). It does make a nice difference when web surfing, the pages load very nice and it appears to load most pages faster than an 8700 I've played with at work (when we were BES activating it for someone).. BUT, I don't use the web enough to make it worth my while (except when waiting in the car with the sleeping kids, while my wife runs into "one" more store..

I had the opportunity to test an 8700 side by side with my 7250, and as far as speeds where concerned my 7250 was faster surfing the web. I cannot vouch that will be the same everywhere but the tests I conducted were in Wayne, NJ.

To me the surfing speed, the tethering option(though I seldom will use it, is nice to know its there), and the calculator improvements made the difference. I have to say that I used to get the connection denied errors albeit infrequently previous to the upgrade, and have never had them since. It seems to me that a lot of these errors and complaints that people have are more due to their location rather than the phone or the upgrade itself.

after dialing ##000000, should the 3 usernames be my phone number? 2 of them are but the EVDO line is not. it is a number that starts with 000

The 7250 I provisioned had about 6 third party software packages and is a heavy use device with massive call logs etc. The phone took about 60 minutes to reboot, I thought it was dead. After everything was provisioned and working it crashed and rebooted itself after 15 minutes of use. Since then (last night) it has worked without a crash. However, this morning there was ANOTHER problem. Overnight and this morning the unit was not getting any email delivered. The unit indicated 1XEV all caps with NO DCR indicator. So I sent a PIN from the 7250 and as soon as it sent out the PIN the handheld received about 20 emails all at once that were obviously qued and ready to roll. The unit for some reason did not seem to be registered on the network until the PIN was sent. Funny thing was that it was working just fine last night. Anyway, all is well right now...but I still standby my opinion that the new OS is not as stable. If I continue to have problems with the handheld I will probably roll it back to the previous OS which was rock solid.

As another note my personal use device is a 8700c unlocked on the tmobile network. Just for kicks I played around with the evdo 7250 head-to-head with the 8700 EDGE, and it is pretty clear that the EVDO network is MUCH faster than the EDGE network. However, the time to complete page draw was pretty similar, presumably because the 8700 has a much faster processor. Also everything was much quicker on the 8700, BBMessenger, composing email, switching between applications etc everything MUCH faster on the 8700. BBLocal also ran much faster on the 8700 eventhough the EDGE network is slower. The 8700 also rendered webpages much better, much more usable. Needless to say the 7250 owner has major 8700 envy right now. When the 8700 series drops on verizon we will have a true beast of a blackberry; EVDO on the 8700 will be sick.

Does anyone know if this EVDO feature makes browsing from the PHONE any faster? I am not using the phone for tethering. I simply want faster browsing from the PHONE. Will this upgrade offer improved browsing speed? Thanks.

Yes, browsing will be much faster from the phone with EVDO enabled.

i just called verizon, they said EVDO would not make a difference in browsing from the phone. Only for tethering...

where did you get your information from?

From using my evdo enabled 7250.. If you do a search (skim this thread), you will see that others have stated the same..

I particularly like how much faster Idokorro ssh is.. very nice indeed!

I installed the new software on my 7250 with Verizon, installed without a problem, dialed *22999 and it updated, resent the HRT and that worked.

If i pull up a web page on the phone now it flys! Havent tried it as a modem yet but I already have a VZW Broadband card, i mainly wanted this to test for my other blackberry users.

Good job Verizon!

Did you have to call verizon first to change your plan?

Search for the speed test discussions. Mine went from 144K to 700+ K after the upgrade.

For those wondering about Sprint and EVDO:

I got the 7250 yesterday and when I activated it they had to put an evdo code onto my account. And while looking for software updates on the Sprint website I found an update to 4.0.2 for Blackberry. I am installing it right now but I won't be able to get to an area covered by EVDO until later this week. I hope this helps other Sprint folks.

any information on the 4.1 update for consumers?

I preformed the upgrade and only had issue with "message services' missing, which i called verizon and they reinstalled it 4 me.

I didnt tell them about anything and my 1XEV appeared automatically(was there before I call them), so im assuming they had it on my features already...

-updated
I now have 'Data connection Refused' :(

Thanks for everyone for figuring this all out - I put the new software on yesterday using your instructions, and I had NO TROUBLE AT ALL

Just one thing for everyone to remember saying "Verizon told me that ...":

Since when do Verizon customer service peons (i.e. the lowest level of "defense") know anything?
Nothing against these poor people, but they just don't get half the information they need. I personally rather trust what people find out themselves right here in this forum than what the first customer service person tells me.

On the other hand, the guy in the store was right when he said that the BB 7250 did not support tethering (in it's original version) - I tried plenty...
New version does it just fine

Oh, on our account Broadband was already enabled, at least for my phone. Not sure if my rep in the store put in on when I talked about tethering while getting my phone...

So again thanks so much to everyone for your work!

BTW: My boss and his partner were very eager to find out how I did it, hehe... So I sent them a link to this thread

Be easy on me! This is my first post and I am FAR from a blackberry expert..

I followed all these steps in order. Calling Verizon was easy, they asked no questions and flipped the switch for broadband and tethering.

Followed evrything else in order, all the expected happened and was corrected.

Brought up VZacess, it recognized the blackberry and went into Modem Mode, connected, then booted me for not having the correct password.

OK, I check the ##00000 option and it has not saved the vzw password. Enter it and save it again, get the dreaded DCR.

Snooped around, but made no changes.. now I have nothing, nada, not a tidbit in my host routing table.

Anyway to correct this with out calling verizon back?

Have you tried resending yourself the service books from Your BES account?

not on a bes. (If you are refering to an Enterprise Server)

Mine came from verizon about 5 mos. ago with 4.0. I just wanted it for personal email and remote surfing. It has worked fine for that.

Can you see what shade of green I am. LOL!

Well, I did nothing but move out of the area I was in yesterday, and my HRT is full to the gills now.

I must have gone into an strong EVDO area and it dumped?

Before the dreaded DCR, I was bouncing from 1XEV to 1X, 1x and DCR.

For what it is worth, I have DOWNgraded back to version 4.0 of the 7250 firmware. The reasons are:

1. Shorter battery life, especially in roaming areas
2. Less reliable bluetooth support (phone crashed a few times trying to answer calls via UConnect).
3. Problem w/ Task dates when syncing. The complete date wound up being a whacky 3096 year.
4. Trouble placing calls in roaming areas.

I'm sure some of this was solvable if I worked at it, but my 4.0 firmware is pretty reliable and I don't tether my 7250 (have a EVDO cell card for my laptop), so the EVDO speed wasn't worth much to me.

Keep up the great work in this forum! I'm glad to have the resource for playing w/ my Blackberry.

I am sure others might have this, too, and I wonder if there's a solution.
Out of the blue and at seemingly random times my phone will show Data Connection Refused. I know I can fix it by dialing ##000000 and entering the SIP password vzw, but that requires a reboot which takes quite some time.
Does anyone know of a way to stop this from happening or a faster way to fix it?
Thanks!

I just turn the radio off, wait for it to fully shut down, and then reenable it. Works every time.

I really experienced the battery issues for the first time yesterday though, I went skiing, and the constant signal issues caused a dead battery (from fully charged) in less than 6 hours!!!

I guess its time to get the extended battery.

After trying for weeks and getting the same "only for business customers" was finally able to get someone on the phone who enabled tethering for me. All I can say is wonderful. I installed the new software on the first day it came out months ago with no problems and now that the service is active I am a happy camper. Used it Friday here in NY and all weekend in DC.

Thanks for all the details on how to get this setup.

Shawn

Thanks, I'll try that next time it happens.

And I have had battery problems, too, when leaving the berry in my locker. But I have had that with my personal cell phone, too. I'd say if you know you won't have reception, turn the radio off to save battery.

KonTiki, I am from NJ too...and i just picked up a 7250. I called to have the broadband access added today, they did it, pushed the browser to me, all is well surfing is fast... but the EV doesnt show up. Mind you I didnt do the 4.0.2 upgrade, cause the reps told me the phone was a go for evdo... i just go this yesterday.

I tried it, and it didn't work

So I still have to re-enter my SIP password and reset the berry to get back.

Does anyone know what this error actually means or where it comes from?

Weird thing is that it happens randomly. I am beginning to suspect that it happens right after the berry loses connection and tries to re-connect. One of the first times I got it was after in the morning after I had turned off wireless over night and turned it back on, the other after it had been in a locker for a few hours without connection. But this morning (again after disabling wireless) it did NOT do it, but last night just after I received an SMS...
Seems very random.

Is there actually any support (I mean _capable_ support!) for the new software, or do we have to wait until it releases as an official version for everyone?

Sounds weird - I doubt it comes with EVDO. I would always seriously doubt most things that sales reps tell you - they don't get enough info...

Well right now the web is working its fast, do I risk loading the new software?
Some background info, I initially loaded the "BlackBerry_Desktop_Software_v4[1].0_SP1EN.exe" onto my desktop, tried connecting the to bb, it said nothing found or something. No big, I then download and load the 4.0.2 upgrade (114mb) "41013dt-MultiLang.exe" and install it, I then launch desktop manager and go to about it reads: 4.1.0.10, i am not sure it upgraded anything.. am I doing something wrong?

Without 4.0.2 you are not getting EVDO access..

Tomryan, Ok, so since i ran the 114mb download and installed it, what do i do from there? provision the BB and thats it?

follow the directions linked to at the top of the thread.. but yes, reregister to get the new prls (*22899) and maybe the hrts.. (though I didn't need to do this)

again, read the directions

Tomryan, i am following the instructions, the problem is when I connect my bb to the pc, run the desktop manager, and then click on application loader, it says there is no system software was found for your device. There is no option or anything to install anything let alone a new OS version. any ideas?

did you download and install the os update from verizon's website as referenced in the directions?

Yup got it, i uninstalled everything and started over. installin the 4.0.2 now. thanks for your help man.

DONE! It worked! Thanks for all your help!

Interesting..

I never got rid of my DCR. This week has been busy and frankly, I haven't had time to deal with it.

Today, my cell rings and it's Verizon on the other end, inquiring about recent account changes, and apologizing, but they should never have added the broadband access as my 7250 isn't EVDO capable. This is odd...THEY initiating a call to me.

"Oh?, it says it is on my bill. Directly under "equipment" it shows my blackbery and is titled "7250 EVDO". That is also what I was told when I bought it.. you are telling me it isn't?"
"Oh, can you hold please?" They go away..

They transfer me to data support after a 5 min hold. To make a long story short, I played ignorant, told them I didn't understand why I was told it was when I bought it and they have it noted on my account it is. Finally got the guy to admit it was, but the system did not support it yet and he didn't know when it would.

I told them nothing of thier website having the OS or my upgrading to it. I just told them I have gotten a DCR since I was switched on. He jumped thru the hoops and after he went thru everything on his list, he told me to go into a store. (I knew I was going to roll back, so I just told him I would and left it at that)

One guy on sunday told me two weeks, this guy doesn't know and TWO reps switched my Broadband on.. I haven't a clue if THEY have a clue, but..

THEY called me, so I am not sure if something is up there.. maybe they are trying to reel in the "Mistakenly" switched on accounts.

I rolled back to the 4.0 OS and have my data connection back..all is as it was.

I'll try again later.

Screw that, I see it on the website as being offered, and also I called in about 5 or 6 times yesterday to the data guys until I knew what I was talking about. EVDO still working on my BB. This is great.

One thing I did notice after the upgrade is that it takes forever and a damn day to charge the battery. Anyone else?

Yes. Takes forever to show a charge and battery doesn't last as long as it did prior to the upgrade.