Data Roaming

Hi All!

I need some input on data roaming pls. First time going over with a blackberry. I have to have constant e mail contact so diabling my e mail function is not a option. At R128/MB i am a it worried about data cost. I can respond to my mails on the hotel wifi but i need to read mails as they come in. I will not download attachments though.

I here horror stories about people coming back with major bills. I i handle my mails like i stated above, would the costs still be major? I won't be doing any web browsing ect

Thanks

Who is your carrier?

Sorry! I dont know why the post popped up in the wrong section. Pls move

Wrong section... Just buy a pay-as-you-go SIM in the other country. Data is cheap over the sea.

Yea,R4000 for 10 days out the country,buy a sim card there,don't do roaming,just log into a wifi point when u are there...

How will buying a new sim effect my e mail settings on my phone? Its all work related so dont want to go through too much trouble. Do not mind a fairly higher phonebill but dont want to come back to a R20 000 bill just for reading my mails

it shouldnt have any affect as alot of the time the new carrier will just message you new data settings with out u knowing

Are you running bis or bes (standard blackberry internet services) or (blackberry enterprise services) in the event its the latter changing sim card will wipe your phone, enterprise services keep data security at a premium.

Using blackberry internet services its as easy as getting a new simcard at your overseas destination and ensuring bis is loaded. You shouldn't loose any stored metadata on phone and all your email authentication settings will remain intact.

(for bes)
What i would do is try get your hands on another blackberry, go to your office tech department and tell them you need pop3 login details for your email account (not imap) test it here before you leave then when abroad get your new simcard ensure bis is loaded and setup the pop3 account and also to sync every 5min or so. That way you'll pay local data rates which i presume to be much cheaper than local rates but irrespectively the data uses ports that aren't blocked on bis so you sont pay per mb and use the blackberry data apn

(for bis)
Get the details mentioned above, just incase but it should be as simple inserting new simcard ( with bis be sure to pay for prepaid bis service and get the provider to activate it while you're there) and all settings should remain intact.

I cannot say what exact settings the bes server you connect to is running (in the event you are using bes) so it differers greatly but get the pop3 settings and you will be sorted

Im not entirely too sure about the way BB mail works (if it HAS to go through the BIS service or not), but if your mail is dependent on BIS then you wont be able to activate BIS overseas without 1st deactivating it here on your local carrier, since the same BB cannot be BIS active on 2 numbers simultaneously.

Alternatively if you using gmail or some equivalent then you can just purchase a sim overseas and use 3G.

The problem is my work mails goes through BES. Our company enterpize server is in Europe and all mails gets bounced from there.

When receiving mails but not downloading the attachments, could the costs still be that high?

That may be a bit of an issue? Which country are you going to? Usually when I go overseas, and i need internet access, I just look for the nearest hotel, mall shops, basically do a wireless network scan wherever you are (even in the streets) and you're bound to find an open network. lol you dont even have to go inside

I go abroad quite often and it is expensive and if you run BES you can't buy a sim because as you know you have to get an activation pin and like my company won't do that if the phone wasn't wiped.

Abc01 what i said above i have personally done with my bes 9900, it works. I used an windows application called bbsak cloned and backed up my phone and got the settings from the work. Jetted of to thailand, used a network called 'happy' and the guy instore who sold me the simcard setup bis with my email settings and i was good to go.

Came back home 4 days later and restored the phone inserted original sim and was as if nothing happened

You could use another blackberry. If you dont wanna do the clone method but both will work for you situation

Im heading out to South America and then on to Europe. I went to a couple of vodacom shops to ask for the low down on data roaming. I had as many different opinions as the nr of shops i visited. It is shocking how much these people know that take your money with a smile each month. At this stage swopping sim cards does not look like a option. I will just avoid downloading attachments and browsing. Will reply to mails through wifi connections. Dont mind the extra money on calls, just the data that worries me.

Thanks for all the input guys. We must be the country with the highest call and data bills? or am i wrong?

Trust me bud, even with out downloading attatchments and turning data off for 75% of the day overseas,I still got charged R4000,my bill is usually R500 a month, u are going to get punished.

A week in the US usually runs me R5000

Eish thats too much for my liking, is it mostly data charges even when only downloading email headers ? Virgin mobile in the states has prepaid uncapped data plan simcards you could purchase when doing work there, might save you a bit of dough ?

Let me just say this, I saw the bill but I have a company phone so I anyway don't care. Phone calls are very very expensive.

vega5 wrote: A week in the US usually runs me R5000

Ouch! I will be spending about 3 weeks abroad. Guess the company will have to cough up then

ABC01 wrote:

vega5 wrote: A week in the US usually runs me R5000

Ouch! I will be spending about 3 weeks abroad. Guess the company will have to cough up then

How is the bonus calculated? income - expenses type thing?
Lift the veil, in the end you work for yourself - saving money doesnt go unnoticed - that i can tell you.

jackrabbit1 wrote:

ABC01 wrote:

vega5 wrote: A week in the US usually runs me R5000

Ouch! I will be spending about 3 weeks abroad. Guess the company will have to cough up then

How is the bonus calculated? income - expenses type thing?
Lift the veil, in the end you work for yourself - saving money doesnt go unnoticed - that i can tell you.

I hear what you say. That is the reason i am asking these questions. Believe me, i am not want to waste money, especially not somebody else's. I need constant contact with my clients while travelling. Taking calls and making them will have to carry on as normal so there is no way around that. Swopping sim cards just seem like to many potential hassles. I will however take another blackberry with which does not have activated mail functions. Will check mail through wifi then. This should help with keeping costs down

jackrabbit1 wrote:

ABC01 wrote:

vega5 wrote: A week in the US usually runs me R5000

Ouch! I will be spending about 3 weeks abroad. Guess the company will have to cough up then

How is the bonus calculated? income - expenses type thing?
Lift the veil, in the end you work for yourself - saving money doesnt go unnoticed - that i can tell you.

It could always have been more