Hello,

Thinking about picking up an 8320 but I travel extensively on business into Mexico. I'm currently with Verizon and have an 8830 on the old North America Voice plan with no roaming/long distances but the data charges are steep!

Was thinking about going to the 8320...my signal with Verizon goes down here but I always have access to wifi...I was wondering whether if the 8320, unlocked or on T-mobile will work in Mexico...I'm reasonably certain from reading through all the posts that I'll have data coverage/emails via wifi regardless of on t-mobile or unlocked using a mexican sim...BUT...will UMA work in either of the above scenarios???

Raedy to pull the trigger on the 8320...I'll be patiently waiting for all your comments!

Thanks in advance.

UMA will work on any wi-fi, assuming that you have UMA service and can access the wifi. If on wi-fi all data and voice services will use the wi-fi connection and are not charged against your minutes or plan.

All calls made or received by UMA are no-charge.

International calls made over UMA are charged at US rates to that country, regardless of where you make it from.

Not quite true, unfortunatly. UMA calls are charged against your minute plan if you don't have the Hotspot@Home plan. If you have H@H then you get unlimited calling. UMA calls will work either way, just a matter of what minutes are used.

In order to get your email you need to have a data plan. So, if you're using it unlocked with a mexican sim you'll need a BB data plan on that sim. If you use your TMo sim card you can use wifi connections for email, phone calls for free.

Actually, you will not see UMA on your phone if you do not have H@H service. It will only show wi-fi.

Nope, sorry, not true. I don't have H@H and I have a rock solid UMA at home.

H@H only gives you unlimited UMA voice minutes. If you don't have H@H then your minutes are still subtracted from your minute plan.

Also not true, unfortunatly, you can have UMA on your phone without H@H service, the difference without it is that your minutes are used versus unlimted...

I dont have H@H and I do see the UMA at home, now you say it charges your minutes if you dont have the H@H plan, but what if you use it on the weekend or nights, that wont matter will it? Since those are free minutes right.

It's whatever your plan is. If you have free nights and weekends then you still have free nights and weekends regardless of UMA or GSM/GPRS/EDGE.

Here is my situation...

I got the T-Mobile D-Link router and have it connected to my cable modem... I get a UMA connection and do not have the H@H plan...

The minutes I use on UMA are deducted from my plan.... Why do this you ask???

I have spotty coverage inside my apartment... When connected to UMA via Wi-Fi, I do not have to worry about the spotty coverage anymore!!

Kris

Gotta love having your own cell tower in your house! Everything works over UMA. Phone, sms, data, BBM, email.....Gotta love it.

I get good cell coverage at my house, but it's still very cool!

Thanks guys...very helpful as always...I'm actually in the same boat as LunkHead...I have an apartment here in Mexico near the property I oversee and the reception is horrible, but great WIFI!!!

I have a Curve on a Mexican sim with BB data plan and an 8830 with the international BB plan, I have the feeling the 8320 and the wifi at home would work for me...whether on t-mobile or unlocked with the mex. sim not sure...oh well, decision time. Thanks again to all for the help.

JV

I get good coverage in my house too. My favorite part of UMA is being able to still have the data features of the BB while on the phone.

I have terrible coverage inside my house which is why UMA is so important to me. But I've noticed it comes and goes more often than I'd like. Right now, for example, I've got no UMA, only EDGE. I'm trying to figure out why this happens. Is it a T-mobile thing or could it have something to do with my router? I have a Linksys WRT300N and I don't have the H@H add-on. I also have my connection preference set to WiFi preferred. When UMA works, it works great. But I'm not happy with how inconsistent it seems to be.

Read all the wifi faq's if you haven't already. You'll likely find your solution in there.