Blackberries back on Page Plus? 01/23/2011

[Kitty]

I wrote the subject line of this message with a ? mark at the end, because we are not sure about this yet, but read on....

We are not announcing this in any official formal manner. Recently, over the past few weeks, we have seen more than a few customers starting to put blackberries on the Page Plus Network again. At first we thought it might be coincidence, you know, just the one or two that slip through randomly out of hundreds, but then we noticed 5+ in the past week (more than the past 3 months combined).

So, we went ahead and tried a few blackberries ourselves, and sure enough, we were able to get them onto the network and do Over-The-Air Programming with them. It appears, as of right now, that you can do an ESN Change to, Port Onto, or Activate a Blackberry (CDMA Device) ESN, as long as it is clear/clean, on the Page Plus network. We do NOT know why this is the case. They are supposed to be a banned device.

*** We do not know anything official about this yet. We have not heard anything from Page Plus about this yet. We are NOT announcing this officially, we are just letting everyone know what we've noticed.

We will be investigating this further later today (Monday, 01/23/2011), and will post more about this on our forums at this thread link:

http://www.kittyforums.net/showthread.php/915-Blackberries-back-on-Page-Plus-01-23-2011

Please understand the following:

* Page Plus has NOT made any formal announcement about this.

* This MAY just be a glitch in the system that MAY be fixed soon, we don't know.

* Page Plus does NOT provide support for blackberries, neither does Kitty Wireless, they are a banned device, as far as we still know right now.

* Feel free to try your own Activation or ESN Change at your own risk, and expect to provide your own support.

* We have successfully activated, OTA programmed & tested multiple blackberries in the past 24 hours, and we're not sure why they work if they are still banned?

Stay tuned to this thread on KittyForums.net for the latest: http://www.kittyforums.net/showthread.php/915-Blackberries-back-on-Page-Plus-01-23-2011

We will publish more information there when we get it/as it becomes available.

Thanks,
Kitty

[yokem55]

What's a huckleberry? Is that like a star-tac? ;-)

[Kitty]

So far, tonight, since our message a bit ago, we have 8 reports of activations successful with OTA completed.

AND, even BEFORE we sent out our message, someone else was already talking about this on HoFo:

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1697960-Reporting-dealer-violations-to-Page-Plus/page2

See post #16 in this thread above. So before those folks on HoFo go screaming at KW about this, they better check their own posts history HOURS BEFORE we announced our findings. There is something to this whole thing, we just don't know what it is yet.

Kitty

[Cardiac]

While I am sure that it is cool for some folks, I won't be parting with my Androids. Is there an advantage to a Crackberry over an Android? Especially since you can't use
the push mail or whatever the heck it's called on the Blackberry?

Bob

[southcarolinaboy]

I'm with the poster above. Now if BIS works then yeah this will be huge!

[blaster668]

I think one advantage is the availability of low priced handsets for some older models.

[tmason68]

Yeah, and its a matter of preference. There isn't really a Droid similar to a Blackberry Curve for those that like a QWERTY keyboard but not the slide out kind. The Droid Pro is too scarce on the secondary market to be a viable choice yet.

[southcarolinaboy]

Since BB's use WAY less data than other smartphones, I am hoping that if PP allows BB's, they will offer some kind of BB plan like the one that was discussed on here a few months ago. The 250MB plan. That I would jump at and get me a Storm on Ebay! lol. :cool:

[tmason68]

Since BB's use WAY less data than other smartphones, I am hoping that if PP allows BB's, they will offer some kind of BB plan like the one that was discussed on here a few months ago. The 250MB plan. That I would jump at and get me a Storm on Ebay! lol. :cool:

Would you pay $30 extra for it? Just curious. For example, if there was a BB plan for 1200/1200/250 priced at $60 a month, would you sign up for that? I doubt it will ever happen, I am just wondering what that data is worth to the BB crowd.

[southcarolinaboy]

I would gladly pay an extra $30 for the data part but I would need unlimited texts :) I would blow through 1200 in a week. lol. But yeah, to get Verizon coverage, $30 seems good. I have a BB with Boost now and I am a few days away from my 30 day mark so I am probably sending it back to HSN where I bought it this week. I love the BB, but Sprint's native coverage is not good where I live. The only carrier in my area with REALLY good coverage is Verizon.

[anjers]

IF by chance BB's are coming back to PP, I am on the bandwagon to coming back to PP :)

[yokem55]

Yeah, and its a matter of preference. There isn't really a Droid similar to a Blackberry Curve for those that like a QWERTY keyboard but not the slide out kind. The Droid Pro is too scarce on the secondary market to be a viable choice yet.

There is the Moto Charm on T-Mobile, which from what I've heard feels a lot like an Android version of the Q. Sadly it doesn't look like Moto is making a CDMA version though.

[rrb]

Is there an advantage to a Crackberry over an Android? Especially since you can't use the push mail or whatever the heck it's called on the Blackberry?

The big advantage is battery life.
Others:
BB keyboards are excellent.
The devices weigh less than many other smartphones.

Blackberry Enterprise server (corporate BB servers) will not work.
Blackberry Internet service will work, if you enter the proper settings.
With BIS, you should be able to get push email from your POP and IMAP accounts.

I do not know whether you can get push from non-BB, Outlook or Exchange servers over Pageplus. (You might need to have Outlook Web Access enabled on the server, for example.)

[tmason68]

Yes, push mail works on Page Plus (at least on Androids).

[Micallen]

Yes, push mail works on Page Plus (at least on Androids).

I was juuuuust getting ready to say that. I think it worked w/ the Omnia too. I just didn't leave it set up that way.

[Cardiac]

I have my email from yahoo and gmail set up through K-9 mail on my Droid. I use the native Droid email program for my account at Frontier, and it does a fine job. The Blackberry just seems kinda like an Ozone if someone wanted a nice QWERTY keyboard. Personally, I'm hooked on Swype.....

Ebay has some great deals on Blackberries right now, on both the Curve and the Storms.....Better jump on them before everyone else catches on ;)

Bob

[tmason68]

Folks looking for Blackberrys could also post a WTB ad in the For Sale forums. I am guessing there are a few BBs gathering dust that might become available.

[southcarolinaboy]

Any confirmation on this yet?

[tmason68]

No. Do you have a Blackberry currently? If you do, I would just try to activate it and see what happens.

[southcarolinaboy]

Not a Verizon Blackberry. :-(

[tmason68]

Someone with a Verizon Blackberry for sale please PM southcarolinaboy stat!

:cool:

[rrb]

I am tempted to buy a "good" BB Pearl or Curve here for $32 or $49 (includes shipping) to try on pplus:

http://www.recellulartoo.com/Shop/Control/fp/SFV/32873/seo/1/page/1/sfv/32873/scat/450845/prods_per_page/192

The prices may not be the absolute lowest, but they offer a 30-day, money back guarantee if you do not like the phone or if it does not work properly.
They even refunded my return shipping, which is rare. I have bought three phones from them, and they provided excellent CS. No hassles, unlike eBay.

This is the same company that works with the "Cellphones for Soldiers" program. You donate your phone, working or not. They either resell it, or recycle it for parts. The program gets a chunk of the proceeds to give prepaid calling cards to soldiers stationed overseas.

[southcarolinaboy]

If I knew PP would allow BB's with BIS, I would buy the MINT Storm from that website. $114 is a good deal.

[rrb]

Kitty, were you able to get Blackberry Internet Service to work on the BB you activated?
It should just be a matter of entering the right settings (called 'service books' by RIM).

[southcarolinaboy]

Don't the service books come from the carrier when your phone is registered with the BB Network?

[Micallen]

You can't register w/ BB network while on Page Plus (I.I.R.C.). You can still get internet via the method rrb mentioned. I had a Pearl on PP a little over a year ago.

[Kitty]

Kitty, were you able to get Blackberry Internet Service to work on the BB you activated?
It should just be a matter of entering the right settings (called 'service books' by RIM).

BIS does not work on the devices. It never did way back when before they were banned either. There WERE some blackberry service books that were custom coded for Page Plus kicking around, a year ago, but not sure if they are still available or not.

[southcarolinaboy]

I think people should just get a Palm Pixi Plus. You can buy one on ebay for well under $100 BRAND NEW, everything works on PP and IMO, webOS is way better than Blackberry OS.

[tmason68]

Wait...I thought you loved BB's? Has the whole world gone mad?

[imaplowboy]

If your phone has ActiveSynch or something similar, you can hook up to an MS Exchange Server, ActiveSynch offers a direct connection as an option but will warn you (Well, mine does anyway) that you could have a big data bill or use up your data allowance real quick. I have mine set to check the server every 30 minutes when I am online and I can always Synch manually.

Since I rarely use the 3G, I use WiFi in most cases, it works for me.

Jeff

[southcarolinaboy]

lol. I love BB's. But only if everything on the BB works. If I were to come back to PP, I would get a Palm over the BB since everything works and because it is a really good smartphone.

[southcarolinaboy]

And really the only BB I want is the Storm 2. :-)

[tmason68]

You should get a Droid. :-)

[southcarolinaboy]

If I could find a cheap Droid X, I would. lol.

[tmason68]

If I could find a cheap Droid X, I would. lol.

Good luck with that.:cool:

[southcarolinaboy]

Ok, Ok. A cheap Droid Incredible :-)

[tmason68]

Ok, Ok. A cheap Droid Incredible :-)

You've got a better shot at that. I think someone here on KF is selling one. Perhaps you should look in that For Sale forum.

[southcarolinaboy]

I saw one on there for 250. that's not bad. now if i can get a refund for my boost bb, i might look into gettin one!

[tmason68]

I am sure the good people at Boost would be more than happy to give you your $ back. :-)

[southcarolinaboy]

We shall See :-)

[rrb]

Some Kitty-haters are coming unglued because they have been flaming people just for asking the BB question, and are now caught off-guard. (E.G., Icebook in the Tech section on Jan 19, lecturing OP for not reading a year's worth of old info ;-)

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1698542-Blackberries-back-on-Page-Plus

[Kitty]

Some Kitty-haters are coming unglued because they have been flaming people just for asking the BB question, and are now caught off-guard. (E.G., Icebook in the Tech section on Jan 19, lecturing OP for not reading a year's worth of old info ;-)

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1698542-Blackberries-back-on-Page-Plus

Yeah, they're really coming unglued. First, last week, when we announced the 3% Rate cut, they called us liars, trouble makers, etc. Then it was confirmed by many other sources.

Then, today, when we told everyone what we had noticed with blackberries, it was all rumor to them, swearing we were lying, just causing trouble, yet today, more blackberries have been activated TODAY than in the past 6 months combined. Hmm, still rumor?

Some people on HoFo just are not very nice people to others. They would not be very good sandbox playmates. :)

[luckystreich]

Some Kitty-haters are coming unglued because they have been flaming people just for asking the BB question, and are now caught off-guard. (E.G., Icebook in the Tech section on Jan 19, lecturing OP for not reading a year's worth of old info ;-)

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1698542-Blackberries-back-on-Page-Plus

Not to mention Mark Ivy... The dude .... "like totally" needs to get over himself. He was crying sour grapes too today. He basically created his own branded pre-paid a while back piggy backing off of Platinum Tel. I doubt PP is even a huge part of his biz-ness.

[luminositydesigns]

I'm a pretty new member to KW...just activated a RAZR V3m last week. My contract with Verizon is expiring (finally) mid Feb. For a couple of years now I've been using a BB Storm but with all the "BB Banned!" info I bought the RAZR. I figured my Storm days were over until this morning. What/when should I check to see if PP will allow this phone? Do I need to do an ESN check before I port a number? I just don't understand the process or timing very well yet. Your advice and expertise will be appreciated!

[Kitty]

I'm a pretty new member to KW...just activated a RAZR V3m last week. My contract with Verizon is expiring (finally) mid Feb. For a couple of years now I've been using a BB Storm but with all the "BB Banned!" info I bought the RAZR. I figured my Storm days were over until this morning. What/when should I check to see if PP will allow this phone? Do I need to do an ESN check before I port a number? I just don't understand the process or timing very well yet. Your advice and expertise will be appreciated!

We've seen over 50 people do new activations with a new number, or ESN Changes of an existing number, to a Blackberry device today.

If you are looking to move the phone number that is on the RAZR right now, over to a Blackberry, you would just do an ESN Change.

If you are looking to port another number in from a different provider, to the Blackberry on Page Plus, you would just do a port request.

Either way, we're not sure how long this phenomenon will last - it could be permanent, or it could be a hole that gets plugged tomorrow, we just don't know yet. :)

Kitty

[luminositydesigns]

We've seen over 50 people do new activations with a new number, or ESN Changes of an existing number, to a Blackberry device today.

If you are looking to move the phone number that is on the RAZR right now, over to a Blackberry, you would just do an ESN Change.

If you are looking to port another number in from a different provider, to the Blackberry on Page Plus, you would just do a port request.

Either way, we're not sure how long this phenomenon will last - it could be permanent, or it could be a hole that gets plugged tomorrow, we just don't know yet. :)

Kitty

OK, I'm leaning toward porting the number over from VW. If/when that goes through without a glitch, would that mean that PP would honor that into the future with my automatic pin renewals?

[Kitty]

OK, I'm leaning toward porting the number over from VW. If/when that goes through without a glitch, would that mean that PP would honor that into the future with my automatic pin renewals?

We absolutely cannot commit to anything or tell you what Page Plus will or will not honor. The only thing we can say for a fact is:

* Blackberries are officially still considered a banned device, unsupported. Even though the ban on them seems to be gone, the official stance has not changed.
* Page Plus will only ever, always, honor their own devices, with their plans on them. Anything outside of those parameters is "unsupported-you're-on-your-own" territory.
* Historically speaking we have not see Page Plus "boot" any devices that were ALLOWED ON, off the network, for any reason, except the user doing an ESN Transaction that got it booted.

I hope this helps, but as with everything in this prepaid market, the only things that are supported, honored, promised-kept-on, are the actual Page Plus Approved handsets.

Kitty

[luminositydesigns]

Thank you for an honest, straight forward, professional response, Kitty.
Luminosity

[Hofo Reject]

Dear Kitty,

Thank you for activating my banned Blackberry.Now I can die happy.

The End.

[Kitty]

Dear Kitty,

Thank you for activating my banned Blackberry.Now I can die happy.

The End.

hahhaa... LOL :)

[prepaidcelluser]

Just had an interesting conversation.

I called PP directly to have them do an ESN check on an eBay Blackberry Storm for me. No sense buying it if it won't activate, anyway.

I gave the CSR the ESN, and he was able to see that it was a Blackberry Storm. He said that yes, it appeared to be free to activate on PP, but said he was not able to activate it since it was a BB. He said, "Some dealers have been able to get them activated, and this one does appear not to have any blocks on the ESN, but we here at PP are not able to activate Blackberries. You might see if you can find a dealer who can do it for you."

[Kitty]

Just had an interesting conversation.

I called PP directly to have them do an ESN check on an eBay Blackberry Storm for me. No sense buying it if it won't activate, anyway.

I gave the CSR the ESN, and he was able to see that it was a Blackberry Storm. He said that yes, it appeared to be free to activate on PP, but said he was not able to activate it since it was a BB. He said, "Some dealers have been able to get them activated, and this one does appear not to have any blocks on the ESN, but we here at PP are not able to activate Blackberries. You might see if you can find a dealer who can do it for you."

This does not surprise me. The OFFICIAL stance, internally at Page Plus, is that blackberry's are still banned devices. We've heard this from a few other customers who tried to call and get it done as well.

Kitty

[carpediemnow]

Well, at least we had a CSR who was straightforward about it. That explains the dealers on ebay selling Blackberry Storms w/ Page Plus on it.

I think that we have regained one more long lost element in PPC's byod puzzle.

Now if we could get the prepaids back , official or not, life would be grand.
Oh yeah and maybe have a few more new Verizon mvnos pop up as well...just to keep PPC on their toes...

[tmason68]

Dear Kitty,

Thank you for activating my banned Blackberry.Now I can die happy.

The End.

Wait, does this mean you aren't using your Ozone anymore?

[Hofo Reject]

Wait, does this mean you aren't using your Ozone anymore?

Nah,I like the Ozone,especially if I can figure out hoe to get a cooked ROM on it.But it has been valuable business wise and paid for itself several times over so far.

I put the blackberry on as a backup.I'll play with it a bit,I'll keep a few bucks on it and keep it active.

I think the Ozone is a great first smartphone.Everything is there,and I think the more you dig into it,the more understanding about smartphones in general you get,because of the fact that you have to do a little work to get things the way you need them.

The blackberry thing was like a thorn in the side,and Kitty extracted it.

[Smh]

Was just able to activate a curve with no problems.

[tmason68]

Did data work? I've got a friend with an 8530 that she isn't using right now. Just wondering if data was easy to get working.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[Smh]

Did data work? I've got a friend with an 8530 that she isn't using right now. Just wondering if data was easy to get working.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Battery was was completely dead so I didnt get a chance to do anything else yet. Will report back later.

[tmason68]

Is your wife happy?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[Smh]

Is your wife happy?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

She doesnt know I got it yet. :p

[Smh]

Dont know much about these blackberrys and how they work but I was able to put on opera mini and its working fine. Facebook app not so much.

[rrb]

Did you get email set up? Do you get email pushed to the BB?

[Smh]

Did you get email set up? Do you get email pushed to the BB?

No but I still havent really had a chance to mess with it yet.

[Reno]

Got BB on the way off Ebay, cross my fingers. With the start of this thread and Viewing Verizon Prepay that sells BB I thought I will give it a shot. If not I got it at a good price on Ebay and I can re-list it and make a couple bucks or break even.

[Reno]

OK, Got my BB programed today on PP. No problems. So many phones so little time.

[Reno]

Just updating this thread, as we started another one on programing issues so I will direct you to this thread, good information there.
http://www.kittyforums.net/showthread.php/1031-Need-Help-to-Save-My-Blackberry

Cheers!

[mtran2011]

I have just literally registered this forum ID only to say thanks to Kitty for activating my BB today. The activation took about 3 seconds after I sent in the electronic form; it was excellent and lightning fast, fully automatic I guess. After one year waiting for a lift of the BB ban, I'm now happy to have my BB on pageplus. Thanks Kitty and thanks the forum for sharing info on BB ban.

[Kitty]

I have just literally registered this forum ID only to say thanks to Kitty for activating my BB today. The activation took about 3 seconds after I sent in the electronic form; it was excellent and lightning fast, fully automatic I guess. After one year waiting for a lift of the BB ban, I'm now happy to have my BB on pageplus. Thanks Kitty and thanks the forum for sharing info on BB ban.

Thank you :) We appreciate your feedback! Welcome to Kitty Forums, too!:)

Kitty

[southcarolinaboy]

Has anyone successfully gotten their internet and Gmail working on a Blackberry yet?

[Reno]

OK, The wife has the BB 8330 and she has had a dozen phones in her life, and the BB is her favorite by far. But she is a Grandma and likes to get MMS from the kids. So a lot of why can't I have MMS on my BB. I did my best and when I found the BB service book fix for her phone the link was gone. Hours of hunting. So I gave up and ordered her a Palm Pixi Plus. She doesn't want the PPP! She wants the BB. More research and phone calls and emails and i found the answer and it will keep me out of the dog house.

The Answer to setting up the BB 8330 for Page Plus. He has hundreds of good feedback and I talked with him and he says it will do the MMS for that phone.

The reviews say he is correct and many happy customers.

The link:PAGE PLUS FLASH SUPER CD FOR ALL BLACKBERRY 8330


http://cgi.ebay.com/PAGE-PLUS-FLASH-SUPER-CD-ALL-BLACKBERRY-8330-/290407609347?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item439da47403

I have mine on the way. Thank God!

[Kitty]

Interesting :) We ordered a copy too.... :)

[dollymadison]

I have a BB Pearl that doesn't have the browser service books on there, although I can receive MMS. Go figure. I can't figure out how to load the Service book for the browser though. I want to get the regular browser working, then dl Opera Mini, and use ShangMail for push email. Smh had Shangmail and Opera Mini already working on the BB Curve when I bought it, but I have decided to use the Pearl instead. Only I have no browser! :mad:

[foosball]

All it takes is the right service books. I've been giving them to members for free and this Guy is charging $9.95 for them. Guess I'm in the wrong business.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[Reno]

Foosball, I'm I missing something with your service books? Because I though I used your service books and everything worked fine other than MMS. I looked at that service book several times and I think it was another member said he got MMS with your service books. And I went back in and didn't see anything stating MMS. It was just a browser service book. And that works great. So please post it again and if you can highlight the part of MMS service book fix. I know many of us would be happy to save the $$$$$. But you got me scratching my head. I'm an old guy and I have been known to not see things all that good.

Regards

Reno

[dollymadison]

I know it takes the right service books but I am clueless as to how to load them.

[Micallen]

I know it takes the right service books but I am clueless as to how to load them.

You need Blackberry Desktop Manager (I remembered.)

[foosball]

There is a mms service book in the ones I have. I couldn't tell you if they work or not as I have never tried them.
Everybody that I have sent them to have said they work though.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[southcarolinaboy]

Can someone send me the MMS Service books for BB? Thanks!!

[Kitty]

Look in the blackberry subforum :)

[foosball]

For anybody that doesn't know how to install service books this will explain.

http://bb.anworm.com/enable-blackberry-browser-without-bisbes-2/

For anybody using the ones that I have sent, you need to backup the service books on your BB first, in case something goes wrong.
Then delete them and install the ones I have sent you.

[jjbuck22]

OK, The wife has the BB 8330 and she has had a dozen phones in her life, and the BB is her favorite by far. But she is a Grandma and likes to get MMS from the kids. So a lot of why can't I have MMS on my BB. I did my best and when I found the BB service book fix for her phone the link was gone. Hours of hunting. So I gave up and ordered her a Palm Pixi Plus. She doesn't want the PPP! She wants the BB. More research and phone calls and emails and i found the answer and it will keep me out of the dog house.

The Answer to setting up the BB 8330 for Page Plus. He has hundreds of good feedback and I talked with him and he says it will do the MMS for that phone.

The reviews say he is correct and many happy customers.

The link:PAGE PLUS FLASH SUPER CD FOR ALL BLACKBERRY 8330


http://cgi.ebay.com/PAGE-PLUS-FLASH-SUPER-CD-ALL-BLACKBERRY-8330-/290407609347?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item439da47403

I have mine on the way. Thank God!


Did this get everything working for you? I am mostly interested in the wifi and mms, the ebay price has gone up to $25 so just want to make sure it works. Thanks

[Kitty]

Did this get everything working for you? I am mostly interested in the wifi and mms, the ebay price has gone up to $25 so just want to make sure it works. Thanks

We bought this as well, but have not had a BB to try it on since we got it.

Kitty

[chuckt]

Has anyone actually tried this cd on a BB and if son what were the results? talk, text, MMS, data? I ffor one would be interested to know. Thank you.

[Kitty]

Has anyone actually tried this cd on a BB and if son what were the results? talk, text, MMS, data? I ffor one would be interested to know. Thank you.

We have not tried it. Just haven't had time - and we don't have any blackberry's in-house to try it out.

Kitty :(

[Hobo]

I would be interested to know if it worked as well. Maybe Reno or someone else could reply.

Has anyone actually tried this cd on a BB and if son what were the results? talk, text, MMS, data? I ffor one would be interested to know. Thank you.