The real reason the BlackBerry Storm doesn’t have Wi-Fi or tri-band HSDPA
You might have guessed it, but the reason is Verizon! We confirmed this a little while back with one of our really top-level sources (you know who you are!) and they did, in fact, confirm our suspicions — Verizon said hell to the no, we don’t play that up in here! Now, before the flamewars start, I will publicly say that although it might not be crystal clear, I love Verizon. Personally, Verizon has the best voice and data network in the US. Did you hear that? I lovez me some VZW.
With that out of the way, it’s pretty clear Verizon’s stance with Wi-Fi, but no tri-band HSDPA? We can only assume Verizon thought that with tri-band HSDPA, people would be unlocking these things left and right to use the devices on AT&T and Rogers. That would take out a decent chunk of their data revenue, but at the end of the day, are that many people who now can’t get a 3G Storm but rather a 2G one going to port to Verizon because of it? That remains to be seen, but all Storm first-hand impressions aside, this thing not having Wi-Fi at the very minimum is a major pain in the ass. Does anyone remember the “leaked” Expansys photo that had the Wi-Fi indicator in it? Funny, right? And to the commenters who will start saying, “It’s the best data network, you don’t need Wi-Fi!” You’re dumb, ignorant, and stupid. Plain and simple.
In my opinion, the fact that it doesn’t have wi-fi makes me choose the iphone instead.
I wish it had wi-fi. I was about to buy it, but my friend told me, and I was so mad.
I wonder how many time this guy looked up words in his bitchtionary to
Rag on someone about his “negativity”. What a assclown. There is negativity.
I’m pissed this phone doesn’t have wi-fi. I’m in canada. I go into a basement
And I’m in the the fucking stone age
there’s now micro Sd WIFI card you can buy around 109.99$ approx…
The Blackberry Storm 9520 is scheduled for release with Rogers (in Canada) and will have Wi-Fi.
For all you Wi-Fi haters, try to get into the current century. All Smart Phones should have Wi-Fi for convenience if nothing else.
I am amazed at how many people missed the fact Verizon does not WIFI on their phone for one simple reason.
Data capable phones can bypass the carrier altogether by using Skype and other voice over IP applications.
Sure, you can use the existing data plan to bypass it as well, but a dedicated WIFI connection is much faster for voice.
Verizon also wants to control the data input to the phone for some simple marketing reasons. If I know the stats of what your downloading each month, day, year, season, etc…, I can resell this data to other companies.
No WiFi, no cigar, no sale.
Seriously Murphy if your service goes down and you really need to call someone use a damn hardline, there are more than just cell phones in the world
Verizon is not the greatest network. If you think Verizon is the greatest network then you’re a victim of marketing propaganda. I have Verizon in Los Angeles and I have nothing but trouble with the network. Dropped calls…. skipping in conversations… unstable connections… and PLENTY of dead places… in Los Angeles. I’m always saying, “Can you hear me now? No? How about now? Ok.. I’ll call you back.” I’ve tried different phones and Verizon tech support and no luck. You know what would be great when I’m in a location with a dead spot…… WIFI
WiFi FTW.
Everything else = FAIL.
I have a BB 8830 world edition with a limited data plan. I sure could use WiFi with my home network to reduce my data costs. I hear that 8830 supprts WiFi but I don’t see anyway to configure the phone to use WiFi. Does anyone know how this can be done ?
I could not have said it better myself!
Your right
Wow, the flame wars go on. I have to agree with ‘The One’, he has good points but I’ve had beef with a carrier or service but like them a lot. Nobody is perfect. I think VZW has good coverage but seriously, they do nickel and dime for everything and they do seem to strip good features out of their phones. My girlfriend is right beside me and has awful coverage on her brand new Storm and it would be nice if it had Wi-Fi, but it sadly doesn’t (PS, every other smart phone that has come out in 2009 has Wi-Fi, at least, for the most part).
And lastly, in defense of ‘The One’, I’ve met plenty of people with bad grammar. Also, I don’t usually proof read comments to non-sense articles that I probably just skimmed anyway, who cares. Go flame about something else and shut up if you don’t have a come back that is legit. You don’t need to make ‘low blows’ on off topic things to try to gain an ‘upper ground’.
All you people make me laugh because chances are you never knew life back when we only had beepers, or even before that when all we had was home phones with no called ID! That’s right, NO CALLER ID! and we had to pick up the phone and talk to the person on the other line. Now everyone complains when they aren’t “connected” 24/7 and cry when they can’t see a new comment on Facebook RIGHT NOW, and God forbid they have a heard attack if they can’t Twitter about the bowel movement they just had on the N train… You people are all ridiculous. You have a phone that can connect you to anyone in the world at any given moment when you are practically anywhere, so if it doesn’t have a signal once in a while just take a deep breath and go to your happy place and remember that there are people out there that get thru everyday life without Wifi, text mesages and a million other forms of “communication” (and I use that word lightly) which never seem to bring anyone closer together… I’m done!
NO WI-FI??? ridiculous
No wifi???
BoyGenius is just that… A GENIUS! Whether you agree with his points of view or not… He knows his shit…. More than anybody! That’s why you read BGR! If you can do better, go write your own blog… Haters! You’re the best BG, thanx for always providing the stripped down truth on everything.
that’s why we don’t have iphones because of VZW rules or some kind of money obsession.
and other things like the logo …
But this is how VZW works we have to deal with …
i love VZW lol
It is now July of 2009. Pretty clear why Verizon doesn’t want WiFi now! To have any PDA phone you need to buy their data plan. If the phone has WiFi it is another reason why someone would want a smart phone without having the data plan forced down their throats from Verizon. The only reason is to eliminate competition for their data plan.
The reason Verizon doesn’t allow WiFi has very little to do with their fear of losing revenue. It has more to do with network security. Verizion is very strict in this regard, which is why they didn’t approve the use of Googles open source Android OS on their phones. Since Verizon can’t control or monitor traffic going over a 3rd party WiFi connection, they are afraid it would potentially expose their network to hackers and viruses.
I have been playing with the Blackberry storm for three days and I have to tell you, the VZW 3G network sucks. Last night at home I totally lost a signal-no phone or data. Away from home I have a connection but downloads are soooo slow. I would be happy to utilize WIFI hotspots, but mot with the Storm. I will be returning this Storm. My wifi will beat their 3G network hands down. Back to my old PDA. I am working on a Samsung SCH i760, that doesn’t require a data plan.
Don’t bother waiting for the storm, the key board sucks. It sticks and freezes, I’m on my third replacement.
That’s interesting you say that they won’t allow wifi on this phone because of security, when all of their blackberry phones have wifi capability.
If they wanted you to have it, they’d let you. Verizon is pretty good but they piss me off when it comes to this kind of bullshit. Same thing with my USB727. They disable the GPS. What the hell for?
In reference to your comment made about the wifi on the storm. That’s a Storm 9500 not the 9530 offered in the U.S. to us verizon customers. Vodafone’s 9500 Storm runs on a Gsm network rather then the CDMA that we use on verizon. It sucks because Vodafone own’s 45% of verizon wireless.
I just got a STORM and im pissed! i had no idea it didnt have WIFI. WTF?!…