vB Easy Archive - Will Blackberry ever have 3G support?

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Will Blackberry ever have 3G support?
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Posted by: StrykeBack

Its one of the main things holding me back. Currently i have one of cingular's 8125 older smart phones and looking at either going with a new razr2 and getting off the smart phone wagon or the brand new blackberrys look nice but i'm betting the browser is pretty slow without 3g support.

Obviously its data network must be quick enough for that navigation and maps program?

Posted by: GDH

Well,depending on whom you believe, there will be a 3G BlackBerry (9xxx) sometime next year.

I use a Pearl on AT&T, with only the EDGE coverage, and I think its fine. And I mean fine, not bad, not great, just fine. Example, I just reloaded this page and it took a bit under 10 seconds to fully load. Not too slow, it actually kind of helps to make the browsing more direct. You wander off in linkland less when you're on a slower connection.

I use the web on this phone constantly, at least 2-3 hours a day of solid browsing, and it holds its own.

Maps work well, I haven't used GPS, but Google Maps is quick enough.

Tethering is a different animal, though. A speed of 115 kbps may be fine for mobile browsing, but not on a PC.

Posted by: Massonite

Go CDMA man, EVDO is smoking fast compared to EDGE

I tethered my 8830 and can download a file around 200 k/second, as in the speed the computer reports during the download. Very nice

Posted by: DubDub

Verizon and Sprint both have BBs that work on EVDO which is a 3 G network. Rumors abound that GSM (ATT) will have one sometime next year. T-Mo hasn't begun to build out its 3G yet, rumored to be on the 700 mhz band. There are 3G BBs in Europe (8707v) but they won't work here in the US as they are on a different band than we use.

I really don't think 3G will make a lot of difference with the BB. You might get some increased speed in browsing, but the biggest gain will be if you tether. The BB processor isn't that fast and most web pages aren't set up for mobile browsers which will negate a lot of the speed increase. Email will arrive as it always does.

Posted by: ski1ski1

Quote:

Originally Posted by DubDub

T-Mo hasn't begun to build out its 3G yet, rumored to be on the 700 mhz band.

Actually it's no rumor, and T-Mobile 3G will be on the 1700 and 2100 mhz bands, not the 700 mhz band. The 700 mhz band has not been assigned to any carriers yet.

Also, T-Mobile already has their 3G built in many markets, but it has not been turned on yet because the government is late in releasing the frequencies to them. T-Mobile will be announcing their 3G support very soon. They already have a couple of headsets (not Blackberries) that support 3G.

Posted by: hillstrubl

January they'll be an 8300 series 3G HSDPA Blackberry on AT&T

Posted by: jase88

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/109)

Quote:

Originally Posted by hillstrubl

January they'll be an 8300 series 3G HSDPA Blackberry on AT&T

Do you have a source for this?! I've not read anything mentioning it before now...

Posted by: DubDub

Quote:

Originally Posted by ski1ski1

Thanks for the update on T-Mo. I had heard they were bidding on the 700 mhz spectrum for their 3G, but I guess that report was in error?

Posted by: ski1ski1

Quote:

Originally Posted by DubDub

Thanks for the update on T-Mo. I had heard they were bidding on the 700 mhz spectrum for their 3G, but I guess that report was in error?

Yes, many carriers are bidding on the 700 mhz auction this January. I don't think T-Mobile has been confirmed as one of the bidders. But T-Mobile is not relying on 700 mhz for their 3G implementation. Plus the 700 mhz band will not be available until the middle of 2009.

Posted by: archer6

Quote:

Originally Posted by StrykeBack

Its one of the main things holding me back. Currently i have one of cingular's 8125 older smart phones and looking at either going with a new razr2 and getting off the smart phone wagon or the brand new blackberrys look nice but i'm betting the browser is pretty slow without 3g support.

I would not let the lack of 3G stop you.

RIM has the BlackBerry optimized for the fastest connection possible on EDGE, I have a few 3G phones, as well as my BB's and there is not that much difference. Yes, they are a bit faster, however the BB is very usable the way it is. I think you would be surprised and find that you can do very well with a new BB. Then when they finally decide to include 3G in future new models, you can upgrade.

Cheers!

Posted by: LilCoop2

Quote:

Originally Posted by StrykeBack

Obviously its data network must be quick enough for that navigation and maps program?

Sure is! Browsing is pretty decent, too. I use the Opera Mini browser, as opposed to the BlackBerry browser. The BlackBerry browser is really not that bad though - I just don't like the way pages look in the browser. IMHO - Opera Mini does a better job of keeping a page looking the way it should, but yes - at the cost of a bit longer of a wait for a page to load.

Go with the BlackBerry!!! Become one of us

Posted by: Shemmy

Back when I had T-Mobile, I once had an issue where Google Maps told me there wasn't enough bandwidth to get traffic information. Given that I drive a lot for work, that certainly turned me off and made me swich to a carrier with a higher speed network.

Posted by: ski1ski1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shemmy

Back when I had T-Mobile, I once had an issue where Google Maps told me there wasn't enough bandwidth to get traffic information. Given that I drive a lot for work, that certainly turned me off and made me swich to a carrier with a higher speed network.

That message was given when you are on very old GPRS data connection. It does not give that message on a EDGE connection which is a lot faster.