[webberry]

I have heard that people with Cingular phone/Blackberry combo units who travel out of the RIM service area and into a gsm or gprs-only area do not get automatically reconnected to the RIM network when they return to the RIM service area.
They end up having to reset the Blackberry by removing and reinserting the battery to resume the ability to send a receive e-mails.
Is this normal?

[dev]

There is nothing strange about a GPRS/EDGE behaviour, in fact it acts the same as a
regular LAN. When the user connects to the GPRS/EDGE network (asking for data services and IP address for an APN) this address is given to the user for as long as the user requires it AND the user maintains a GPRS/EDGE data session (PDP Context) by staying in a coverage area AND sending data on a regular basis. The following are some key points to remember:
• Devices will get an IP address assigned and there is NO lease time for this address.
• When a user goes out of coverage and needs to re-establish a GPRS/EDGE session a
NEW IP address will be assigned to that user.
• If a user is traveling around the GPRS/EDGE network it will be handed off from base
station to base station. The IP address will be maintained as long as the user remains in a continuous coverage area and does not drop the GPRS/EDGE session.
• IP addresses are handed out by the GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node) component on the GPRS/EDGE network.
• If there is no communication from the device to the network (transmit/receive data or routing area updates when traveling from base station to base station) then the
GPRS/EDGE network will end the GPRS/EDGE session of the device after a set time period of silence. In this case the user MUST re-establish a GPRS/EDGE session
and as such will get a new IP address assigned to them. This usually takes the form of a soft/hard reboot.

[webberry]

OK, so it's "normal."
It's extremely ugly and non-user friendly to have to do this "fix" of removing the battery to connect again.
The device should check for network access automatically so you will reconnect as soon as you are back within the connection area.
Users who can barely check their e-mail on a PC are not not going to want to know about the GGSN dropping them automatically, but not reconnecting them automatically.
At least there should be a "reconnect" button rather than battery removal and reinstallation.

[Berry One]

How about just turning radio off and on?

[nesbbj]

Use this combination of keys and the device will do a soft reset. It is easier to do if you have the user put the device on a table and push the buttons. Press . Just have them hold the first two buttons down and then press the third button and the unit will reboot. Now some phones don't support this feature so either turning the unit off and on or turning the wireless off and on should work.