Page Plus Uses Verizon's Blackberry Internet Service

I picked up a new never activated Verizon Pearl online, and will hopefully be able to get BIS fully running on it. For me it will be extremely handy for travel in the US, as the $1.20/mb data sure beats the $8/mb I pay my Canadian carrier for roaming. I have unlimited data in Canada and never hold back my BB use, and I rarely go over 20mb/mo so this should come in quite handy.

From those who got never-activated-before BB's running smoothly on BIS, what do you think the best order of getting started is?

These are all the things that need to be done, I'm just wondering what is the best order of doing them:

1. Activate PP line with the Blackberry's ESN
2. Call PP and activate data on the line.
3. Program the phone
4. Go to Verizon BIS site and create new account

So, is that the right order? Or should it go 4,1,2,3 or 1,2,4,3..... or something different?

Please reply with any ideas, I would especially like to hear from those who have BIS up and running properly on their phone.... by that I mean functioning push email, blackberry browser, blackberry pin-messenger, and NOT just being able to use Opera Mini, etc.

Thanks

Ordering shouldn't matter much. My order was 1, 4, 3. Well, I think that was my order, but "programming" the phone could mean different things. I couldn't get the books to push until I went in my phone and did... something? Also, I didn't have the call PP and have them activate data, it already was activated, and it should be for you as well. So I would put calling PP to confirm data is activated be step 1 of troubleshooting if it isn't going.

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Originally Posted by kybalion

Ordering shouldn't matter much. My order was 1, 4, 3. Well, I think that was my order, but "programming" the phone could mean different things.

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By programming I mean the *22890 :)

I am definitely excited to attempt to get this up and running when the BB arrives :)

Thanks

Well I just got my Pearl up and running perfectly on Verizon BIS. This is definitely the best prepaid BB solution in the US if you don't need unlimited data... It is great for me as a Canadian where roaming is $8/mb, so PP's $1.20/mb is excellent!

First I started a new PP account on the Pearl's ESN (This was a new, never activated Verizon Pearl).

Then I went on to the Verizon BIS page (https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=vzw) and created a new account with the PIN and ESN. I then set up a new .vzw.blackberry.net email account as well as adding a couple other email accounts I want to use on the phone.

Then I programmed the phone using the *22890, and followed that up with the first call to "initialize" the PP service.

After a battery pull, when the phone turned back on, icons for all the email accounts I added as well as the BB browser were on the screen automatically, just as when you activate a BB with any monthly carrier.

Simple as that, the whole process took just a couple minutes. Everything functions perfectly - the BB browser, BB PIN messaging, all the email accounts as well as the Verizon blackberry account, and multiple other apps I downloaded (facebook, msn messenger, gmail, google maps, google talk).

BB's use little data, so unless you go nuts with the browser or downloading, it's an excellent use of PP data!

...now if only they offered some cheap data packages!

Mike

Thanks for the update. I'm also thinking that at $1.20/MB is a reasonable price. Compare that to an iPhone where you are paying $60/month no matter what your usage. That would be about 50MB/month of usage. I'm not sure what is typical - but if you limit your web-browsing to WAP websites, you won't get near that much data.
You could use Boost @ 30cents per day is a good price. But you can't get a blackberry working with SMS.
Or Inpulse at $1/day with no voice minutes... and Page Plus has a pretty good deal.

On my regular BB, I have unlimited data so I don't hold back at all. I do prob 20-30 emails per day including the odd picture, a fair amount of blackberry messenger and the occasional msn / google talk. I also use the facebook app and occasional mapping on google maps and bb maps, as well as daily browsing...usually on espn.com. With all this I average about 20mb/month usually less. Since this BB is only used a few days a month it won't add up to a lot at all for me. Nice to have a fully functioning BB in the US w/o having to pay for a second monthly plan or roaming on my Canadian BB.

It would be nice though if they came out with some sort of say 50mb package for $10 or $15/mo :) We did finally get text packages so hopefully data isn't too far off.

Mike

First off, sorry if this is a long post - I'm a recently registered member (though I've been reading for a couple of months) and I'm just trying to be complete.

I wanted to post my experience regarding activating and using a BB (both BIS and BES) on PagePlus. In short, I believe I was successful in activating a used BB 8830 (with clear ESN, but questionable PIN) on PagePlus with subsequent activation on a BIS and workplace BES. Here's what I did:
* bought used BB 8830 (on CL) after asking seller to verify that ESN was clear
* unsuccesfully attempted account creation on Verizon's BIS using PIN (account already existed for PIN)
* took a chance and activated on PP (much thanks to Avenue)
* once activated, I was able to setup an account on the BIS
* successful initial activation on workplace BES, but before 24 hours had passed, I stopped receiving workplace emails

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to troubleshoot it because the USB port on the BB was faulty, and I haven't had a way to charge the device. I believe the two issues are unrelated and hope that once I have a replacement device I can troubleshoot more effectively. (Currently, I'm still negotiating with the seller on the defective BB). I was encouraged by the previous reports that BIS activation was possible, but really needed a BIS and BES solution.

I'll post an update when I get a new device. Feel free to PM for more details. (Thanks much to Avenue and the rest of the forum members for all the great info!)

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Originally Posted by funnee!

... I was encouraged by the previous reports that BIS activation was possible, but really needed a BIS and BES solution. ...

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You might want to reconsider your involvement with PP and BES. BES uses a much higher quantity of data bandwidth than BIS alone - usually double or triple simply due to the amount of additional types of activities occuring. (IE: Sync of task and calendar items as well as mailbox deletes/moves/changes etc.) so your data bill could easily be $45+ per month in data access fees alone. Others have reportedly got by on ~$15 a month with basic BIS service only with extremely limited web browsing, so I believe that's probably the limit to anyone's ability to stomach PP data rates.

On the other hand, if your one and primary concern is staying out-of-contract then perhaps you can still find PP palateable (sp?). Don't forget that T-Mobile does offer a kind-of prepaid no-contract option on their BlackBerrys by way of their FlexPay system which basically costs the same as a contract plan plus $5 per month.

--Kidd

I just activated Blackberry on Page Plus, and it's working GREAT! Thanks to the help of the others above that posted how they did it. Here's what I did. Hopefully it will help someone else be successful too.

1) Bought a brand new in box Blackberry 8330 on ebay. (I didn't know to ask about it having a clean ESN and PIN, so I didn't ask)
2) I went to http://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=vzw and attempted to create a new account. The system wouldn't let me create an account. It told me that my device was not registered. (That's a good thing! It means that my PIN hasn't been used.)
3) I activated the 8330 with Page Plus (through Ugly Eric - great service by the way)
4) I called *22890 to program the phone. The automated call programmed the phone in about 30 seconds.
5) I called Page Plus customer service (800-550-2436) and made sure that data was turned on for my account. The customer service rep didn't say if it was already on or not, but said it was on now.
6) I made a phone call on my Blackberry 8330, just to try it out. (It worked fine.)
7) I called *22890 again to program the phone. It programmed fine. (I did this because I thought that having the data turned on would make it different for programming. I don't know if that's true or not, but it worked.)
8) I went back to the Verizon Blackberry site (http://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=vzw) and created a new account. This time it accepted my PIN and ESN and created an account for me. I added a couple of my email accounts, including 2 verizon emails, a Yahoo account, and a vzw.blackberry.com email account.
9) While I was on the Verizon Blackberry site above, I also clicked on the Service Books link in the left-hand menu and selected Send Service Books. this sent the proper files to my phone. In moments I had email account icons on my phone and messages waiting for me confirming the creation of my blackberry email accounts. I also had a browser icon.
10) I rebooted my phone by removing the battery.

When it rebooted, I didn't see anything different, so the reboot may not be necessary, but I do know it won't hurt.

Good luck to those setting up their Blackberries on Page Plus. This is an awesome service and a great forum helping us get the best of it.

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Originally Posted by tom2112

7) I called *22890 again to program the phone. It programmed fine. (I did this because I thought that having the data turned on would make it different for programming. I don't know if that's true or not, but it worked.)

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Just FYI,
You don't need to reprogram the phone when data gets turned on.

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Originally Posted by livedog

Just FYI,
You don't need to reprogram the phone when data gets turned on.

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No, but you do need to do a battery pull and (re)send the service books to get BIS to deliver messages (had to do it again yesterday with a new phone number).

I have a blackberry that I set up with Page Plus to see if it would work for me and be less expensive than my vzw blackberry account. Well it works fine only I can't log in to change email addresses and such anymore. I already had an account tied to the pin so when I activated with page plus it just worked fine. When I try to log in with my user name and password it won't log in. I can send the password via pin but not via username. It is so strange. Like the username is associated with another pin and vice versa. Or,....is this just because it already had an account?

Had a fully functioning Blackberry running for the past month on PP, but suddenly all Blackberry services stopped working. No more email or web through the BB browser. Can't log in to BB site. Phone and Opera still work. Anyone got any ideas why this might happen? :confused:

Hi Everyone, I need an expert to help me out. I have a blackberry storm on page plus that i havent used the internet before. I decided to get it ready since the new plan is coming out. It was on verizon and i called them and they deleted the email so i could make a new account. I did that then registered on blackberry verizon site and it let me. I sent service books and it did nothing. I then was thinking that maybe the old service books were a problem so i deleted old service books. After i did that now my applications are working but it deleted my browser I must of deleted its service books and im not getting service books when i tell it to send em from the blackberry site. I think i can get it working just need to figure out how any help would be so greatly appreciated. I can get MMS and applications work so i know page plus turned on internet data so what do i need to do. TYVM TO WHOEVER CAN HELP.

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Originally Posted by roba

Had a fully functioning Blackberry running for the past month on PP, but suddenly all Blackberry services stopped working. No more email or web through the BB browser. Can't log in to BB site. Phone and Opera still work. Anyone got any ideas why this might happen? :confused:

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The past couple of days I have suddenly not gotten emails delivered. I just tried to log into my BIS account and got the following message:

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Cannot log in:

Your BlackBerry® Internet Service Account is suspended or deactivated. Please contact
your wireless service provider at 1-800-922-0204 or wirelessdata@verizonwireless.com.

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What's going on? I no longer have web access either.

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Originally Posted by 1Jordan

The past couple of days I have suddenly not gotten emails delivered. I just tried to log into my BIS account and got the following message:



What's going on? I no longer have web access either.

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Yep, my wife's BB account gives the same message. Opera still works, but not BB browser, no email. ^$&%*# it!

Hope this is a temporary thing, but I suspect it is not.

Sounds like they ran a house-cleaning script that killed all accounts not on Verizon from the database. :(

--Kidd

I hope it is temporary. My BB is pretty much worthless without push email.

I sent an email to that VZW address to see if I could get it reactivated but I'm guessing they will just want a VZW account # or something before they will doing anything, which I obviously don't have.

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Originally Posted by AlexKidd1977

Sounds like they ran a house-cleaning script that killed all accounts not on Verizon from the database. :(

--Kidd

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This sounds likely to me. The question is if they're now actively searching for non-VZW accounts on a regular basis or it they're just doing a sweep every once and a while.

If they simply deactivated the BlackBerry feature on the account instead of blacklisting the device, one could hope the PIN was released and is still able to be reused on a new account, whether it be on VZW or a reseller. I don't see us getting a free ride like this any time soon, and I'd like to pass on my 8830 to someone who'd actually use it now.

It's a shame I had dumped more money in my account right before they killed BIS access for everyone. Now I have to find a way to burn through all that cash I wasted.

I will be amazed if they release those PINS. Will be interesting to see what happens, but I see someone sitting upstairs saying "That will teach 'em".

Hopefully some people will realize that you just cant run across a great thing like this and then constantly talk about it, thread after thread after thread. I also wonder how many people have called up PP over the past months asking for "help getting their Blackberry accts to work right"

Was nice while it lasted. But it is surely over.

I just loaded up with a PIN recently as well...

I am thinking of selling my BB now. Surely, once the new owner gets the phone on their account they will be able to reset the BIS account, right?

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Originally Posted by 1Jordan

I just loaded up with a PIN recently as well...

I am thinking of selling my BB now. Surely, once the new owner gets the phone on their account they will be able to reset the BIS account, right?

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I would think so. They'd probably have to yell at a few phone reps at Verizon for a bit until they relented, but I would imagine they'd eventually give in because saying no would mean they're turning down ~$80/month. I read around online and it does seem like people have had success with that before.

But ultimately, there's no guarantees on whether they'll release it or not. So I guess if you sell it slap a big "Buyer Beware" on the description.

I think if you sign up for the Unlimited nationwide plan Talkntext plus 20 MB for $39.95 per month. it will be your best option, this plan will be launched on 08/06/2009.

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Originally Posted by jad2008

I think if you sign up for the Unlimited nationwide plan Talkntext plus 20 MB for $39.95 per month. it will be your best option, this plan will be launched on 08/06/2009.

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This is Page Plus' new plan, right? I don't think this will change anything as PP BB users will still not have a BIS and VZW account.

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Originally Posted by Wireless

Hopefully some people will realize that you just cant run across a great thing like this and then constantly talk about it, thread after thread after thread. I also wonder how many people have called up PP over the past months asking for "help getting their Blackberry accts to work right"

Was nice while it lasted. But it is surely over.

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Unfortunately, this is true.
It was great when it was a little known secret but I am positive there were dealers who started to use it as a selling point to normal consumers who inevitably called VZ and PP when they needed tech support for their blackberries.

It may very well happen to QNC if people keep bundling the hacks when they sell pageplus phones and service to people who come into their shops off the street.

Things like this shouldn't be advertised. If someone wants to undertake the steps on their own to get these things working on their personal phones that's great. But dealers selling it as part of pageplus services is idiotic and will only lead to what you saw happen with the Blackberries last week.

Well, maybe we can put together a Blackberry cdma workaround pack of independent non Rim apps like how the Boostberry guys did. Any ideas anyone? It ain't the same, but beats the hell out of a completely crippled Blackberry...Mini opera of course, don't know if teleflip substitute beltic.com would be of any use on a cdma Berry...not familiar with their sms system. Believe it is different from iden. Iden is mms yeah?
Any other suggestions?

Tom, have you been able to get mms and bb pin working on pageplus? I assume bb pin would use data and wouldn't be a lot.

thanks

Ive Been Calling Allday And No Go They Never Answer The Phone And The Other Number I Call Says It Cant Be Reached ? Someone Please Help

Dont go blaming us Dealers. I dont even tell people about the internet. It is a headache. I simply sell it as $40 for Unlimited Talk and Text... There might be a bad apple or 2 in the bunch but it doesnt make us all bad...

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Originally Posted by icebook

Unfortunately, this is true.
It was great when it was a little known secret but I am positive there were dealers who started to use it as a selling point to normal consumers who inevitably called VZ and PP when they needed tech support for their blackberries.

It may very well happen to QNC if people keep bundling the hacks when they sell pageplus phones and service to people who come into their shops off the street.

Things like this shouldn't be advertised. If someone wants to undertake the steps on their own to get these things working on their personal phones that's great. But dealers selling it as part of pageplus services is idiotic and will only lead to what you saw happen with the Blackberries last week.

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