[matthewbunce]

I've spoken to Orange today and they have informed me that the 8900 is not supported on their UMA service, only the 8320 and 8820. This is the opposite of what I was told when I question the lack of UMA on the Bold and was told the 8900 would support it when it was release. My partner is using an 8120 via UMA/Wifi without any problem and she is on Orange. Has anyone had any luck getting UMA to work on an Orange UK 8900?

[Cory Scheuer]

why dont you try... connect it onto your wifi router and see if you get a capital UMA on your device, if you do then UMA is working on your device and your provider

[matthewbunce]

I tried it at work on both out internal and internet only wireless networks. It connected to the networks and allowed me to browse via wifi but did not swap over to UMA. However, when I tried it at home on my wifi network it connected and swapped over to UMA. What would be stopping UMA from working? The internet only wireless network has no firewall rules or similar blocking outbound access.

[lellobello]

UMA ability is part of the firmware, not the OS. If your phone is not UMA enabled in the factory (usually from the carrier), there's apparently no way to get it to work.

see here:
Blackberry 8900 UMA Support on T-Mobile USA with T-Mobile Germany phone - BlackBerry Forums at CrackBerry.com

[BB8900awesome]

lellobello

That wasnt his question. The 8900 is a UMA enabled phone.

I think the issue may be with the router, if you are getting it at home but not on those other routers then there is an issue with those routers. Either they are blocking the ports needed for UMA or something of the sort. But if your UMA is working at home then I would think all is good!

[AndyThorogood]

I am looking to use a 8900 with UMA on my orange Livebox, can you confirm that got UMA to work with orange though your home router, is it a livebox?
Thanks

Andy

[matthewbunce]

I've been using my 8900 on UMA on a number of routers and ISPs without any problems for the last couple of weeks. Orange will not offer any support for it as its not a certfied Orange Unique phone but it does work.

[AndyThorogood]

Thanks Matthew, I was sure it had to work as it supports the UMA/GAN standard of all the others. Just a shame the Bold doesn't as its 3G also. Its got to be marketing an politics at orange... just like they haven't released a new ericcson phone with 3G and UMA, which they sell in France.
Cheers and will let you know what Orange say when I push them on the 8900 support

Forgot to ask, are you using orange broadband and router at home?

[YetiUK]

I have just ordered a 8900 through my business rep, and he told me Orange will support UMA on 8900 on the next firmawre upgrade. The UMA works fine, as I was using it on my personal BB before I sent it back.

Yeti

[Casper TFG]

I have BIS - Orange business

UMA seems to work.

I moved from an o2 8900 to an Orange 8900 JUST to get UMA.

I live in a patchy phone reception area in London and when EDGE and GPRS both disappear UMA pops up to the rescue..

Not very nice quality but seems to work..

I don't thinks its got all the sophistication of USA UMA - I wouldn't trust it to 'seamlessly' hop over from UMA to GPRS / EDGE as I walk or drive away from my house. (I need to test that!) But perhaps it will come in handy on trips abroad.. One can only hope - and THAT what I want it for - I am sick of getting killed on outside UK work trip phone bills

No one knows anything about UMA in the UK - especially not the network operators!

As for the billing - on these forums those speculations lead to epic arguments and contradicting opinion.. I think it is NETWORK dependent - so its no use a German or US based person trying to tell you... But good luck finding someone that works for Orange UK that actually KNOWS the answer.... You might just have to wait and see how your monthly bills come out to really find out for sure..

Post your news on it here and good luck..

[AndyThorogood]

I just ordered an 8900 for Orange UK (home) I had emailed the sales operator who I had got pricing from previously requesting the 8900. When she called me she said that she thought that the 8900 did not support Unique but on enquiry to her 'data team' they said yes no problem! and yes the order has gone in, 8900 arrives next week....

[Soylent Green]

Sorry if I'm being a bit thick here, but what is the difference between WiFi, UMA, EDGE and GPRS?

My Orange 8900 links fine to my home router (Sky Broadband)-labelled as UMA in top right of screen- and is pretty fast, but out and about I still appear to get online via wifi even though I have not attached to a local router?

[MidnightDraven]

Wi-fi connects like a laptop does. will only work in range of the router.
UMA allows for calls to go through wi-fi. when connected, UMA can connect back to your router to use for calls over wi-fi while still getting data.
EDGE is the american version of GPRS in uk.
They are 2G. and in caps means connected for data over mobile network.

[Dazza1976]

I have just got a 8900 through Orange. They provide both my mobile and broadband. The 8900 switched seemlessly to UMA when i get home and I'm in range of my livebox.

[c0ld]

Hi all

I actullay work for orange on the 3rd line support team, we deal mainly with network faults,mobile broadband, blackberrys and media technical support. While seraching forums for some info regarding a customers issue i came across this post and wanted to clear a few things up for you.

Firstly, the 8900 on orange does support UMA and orange tech support does support customers with UMA issues, however generic or other network models may not, this is down to the firmware version of the h/s not the software version as lellobello stated. There is no way to update the firmware on these devices.

Secondly use of UMA depends on the wi-fi router in use, back in the day the router had to support something called openISP in order to use orange UMA over anything other than orange livebox's, this has since changed and orange UMA can be used on any router that supports it (which is most of them)

As for Billing, well this is based on your standard network charge, so you basicly get billed the same way you do for mobile calls. Your bill will be no more or no less using UMA. Browseing over wi-fi is of course free as you are using your own wi-fi connection not our network.

Hope that helped.

[Jeggerleg]

Yes that did help but my problme is that UMA seemed to work a few days ago but no longer does so. SMS messages seem to be sent via the router but when I'm in network range I can no longer either make or receive phone calls. Unless of course I switch Wifi off.

[c0ld]

Does UMA show in caps on the h/s? which router are you using? what happens when you try to make the call? when people call you what "tone" do they get i.e busy, or dead tone? Atm orange has a few issues with UMA affecting customers, so if i cant get it working then it will most likly be down to this issue.

Are you able to delete the paring and re-pair the h/s to the router?

[Jeggerleg]

Originally Posted by c0ld

Does UMA show in caps on the h/s? which router are you using? what happens when you try to make the call? when people call you what "tone" do they get i.e busy, or dead tone? Atm orange has a few issues with UMA affecting customers, so if i cant get it working then it will most likly be down to this issue.

Are you able to delete the paring and re-pair the h/s to the router?

Yes it does show in caps. It's a Netgear router and if I try to make a call I get a failed call message on the BB. I have tried ringing myself via landline and get an engaged tone, with mobile I get a network busy error message.
I haven't tried deleting the pairing.
If the thing had never worked I probably would have thought nothing about it. If I want to use the phone at home to access the 'net I can, so the wireless connection to the router is OK, but I can also use my laptop so why would I want to use the phone for that in any case.
The problem really arises if I forget to switch Wifi off when I'm at home - I can't be contacted on my BB.

[c0ld]

Right then tbh it sounds like your one of the unlucky ones that is affected by the current issue with UMA, its only affecting a small number of customers and is intermittent, you might find if you delete the pairing, soft reset the h/s and pair it again that the service will come back, but you could lose it again tomorow. We are sending these examples to Rim to deal with so if i was you i would call orange tech support (156/157 from your h/s) and they will escalate this for you.

[Jeggerleg]

Now tried doing a battery out reset and the ability to make and receive calls via UMA seems to have returned - but for how long????