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.
@ Nate,
“There are no other Blackberry CDMA devices with Wifi because no other CDMA has the ability to tell a company like RIM what they want with a phone. Verizon has more subscribers than any CDMA network, therefore they get to call the shots on what gets included on CDMA devices”
Ok, now that you are done with your opinions, will you introduce a fact please??? You sound like you spoke with RIM, and RIM told you, “well, because Verizon told us not to include wifi, we don’t have wifi for any CDMA carries”. HAHA, nice try though
@murphy tha dog,
I sort of agree with you. I completely disagree with what BG said in this article, with the facts that I listed. However, I can see how wifi could benefit some people. It’s not a deal breaker for me at all. I had the Iphone, and wifi drained the battery faster, and it’s not even offered in most places, and when it is, it’s not free many times. However, many other people can benefit from it, and I understand why they are disappointed. This is something that people shouldn’t be arguing over…..some people benefit from wifi, and with others, it makes o difference at all.
Actually I’ve covered most of the US by now, including Alaska (Yes, I took a vacation there) and to most of the areas my family and I have been to from Texas to Alaska and so on, we got better service on ATT then Verizon. We’ve also experienced better performance on our phones and have had better customer service from ATT then Verizon.
Which goes to prove, nothing, each one of us have different experience with the different carriers. Though I think we can all agree the service that sucks is T-Mobile.
I love reading the ignorant comments on here. Some people are so misinformed that it’s hilarious. If Verizon crippled wi-fi on their phones, then why are there vzw phones with wi-fi? Hmmm…doesn’t make sense to me if that was the case. Also, both versions of the storm doesn’t include wi-fi. I guess Vodafone has something against wi-fi as well even though they have wi-fi enabled phones as well. Lastly, there’s not one CDMA blackberry with with wi-fi to date. That means no Sprint, Alltel, or other cdma carriers have wi-fi enabled blackberries. So, either it’s RIM or all of the CDMA carriers that doesn’t include wi-fi. It’s not just a VZW thing. People need to get their facts straight.
The fact is, there isn’t a single RIM CDMA device that’s been released with wifi.
It doesn’t take a conversation with a RIM exec to prove that.
I’m not saying RIM couldn’t make devices with Wifi for other CDMA carriers if they wanted to. However, that would require them to manufacture different devices. Based on their releases, it looks like RIM doesn’t see any benefit in doing this.
Does anyone know, and I mean KNOW, whether VZW will lock down the GPS in this beast? It’d be nice if they made good on their “any app/any device” promise they made about 8 months ago.
@Derek,
I heard that is was unlocked, but after reading the internal manual that was online it looks like aGPS will on be available to VZ Navigator and GPS only for BB Maps. Which means that you can’t install http://www.blackberrytracker.com on your device and use it.
This is another reason I am going back to AT&T and getting the Bold. They don’t cripple the phones like VZW does.
I heard that is was unlocked, but after reading the internal manual that was online it looks like aGPS will on be available to VZ Navigator and GPS only for BB Maps. Which means that you can’t install http://www.blackberrytracker.com on your device and use it.
This is another reason I am going back to AT&T and getting the Bold. They don’t cripple the phones like VZW does.
What are you smoking?
Without WiFi No DEAL!
This means no use of a hotspot for faster downloads, no connection to your OWN home network, NO VoIP when traveling.
WiFi is unmetered, unfetered and faster that ANY 3G network period!
There are loads of applications that run on phones to connect directly to your computer or another phone for sharing files and gaming over the faster WiFi connections.
Try using SlingPlayer over 3G! The connection is slower than WiFi and metered, as unlimited IS NOT unlimited!
Smartphone without WiFi is NOT so smart!
@Derek
the rumors have been stating that standalone gps will not be crippled. It will work with blackberry maps and maybe google maps. aGPS will be locked to VZnavigator supposedly
So, this may be a dumb question, but will it be on EV-DO?
Sorry but VERIZORN sucks!! T-Mo rocks for having the great phones, the best priced plans, and for NOT locking features/functions on their phones. Oh did I mention that more and more of their phone have WiFi? T-Mo HotSpot is the best feature ever!! If you travel internationally, you don’t need Intl’n plan or swap SIM (even though T-Mo does unlock your phone for free). I could call home over Wifi in Portugal from several bars/restaurants that had open WiFi. Who would not want that?
no i think verizon is an ok company but they do manage to cripple their phones though. why does every phone have that same crappy menu unless its a data device? messaging, tools, vcast etc… but the storm not having wifi is a slap to customers face.. all they are doing is basically forcing people to get data and rely solely on verizon for it. even though att 3g is faster than verizons (when you are covered) they still manage to include wifi which is MUCH FASTER THAN 3g.
With no apps on the Blackberry that competes with the iPhone or Android it is no killer of anything! With no WiFi it will take a serious backseat to better devices!
Do you think there will be a GSM version of this phone later? with WI-FI?
None of the Verizon customers care about WiFi because if you actually NEED WiFi in the first place you aren’t with Verizon, you have at&t. Why? Because you travel internationally and first off have to have GSM, and to avoid paying international data you need WiFi. There are very few people in the US who really need WiFi. The majority of BB owners are simply pulling email anyway, with the occasional webpage. 2g BB is really about as fast as a 3g regular phone anyway for basic web browsing.
Still though, it oughta have WiFi.
@ Ryan: The Omnia has wifi
@ fizz: The Storm has unlocked GPS that you can use with any app that supports it
@ BG: Not sure where u got your info, but wifi isn’t excluded because of a general “hell to the no!” policy. Keep an eye out for that Niagara.
Come on guys… you can do better than that. Everyone who knows anything about the cellular industry knows that 3G is simply a marketing name and not a real name for technology. To say that the Storm doesn’t have “3G” is ABSOLUTELY INCORRECT. EDGE on AT&T = 2G. 3G on AT&T simply means the next generation after EDGE. EV/DO REV-0 = 2G on Verizon. 3G on Verizon is EV/DO REV-A which is FASTER than AT&T’s 3G network. Don’t discount the Storm by saying it’s not 3G when in fact it IS with EV/DO REV-A (Verizons 3G network).
Geeze BGR get it right.
Show us the devices on VZ that have WiFi! They get it removed before sale on just about every phone including Windows Mobile phones!
Apparently, none them have smart phones!
Oh and for the record, Douglas may be on to something there about unlocking tri-band HSPA…I guess we’ll wait and see.
Are there any current Verizion customers saying bo-who to no Wifi on a blackberry? I don’t honestly know the answer and I am not asking this just to make a point, like when we were all kids and our parents would ask us if we did our chores when they knew we didn’t. I never hear about anyone thinking about leaving Verizion because lack of Wifi yet I hear many reports of people not wanting to go with Verizion because of no Wifi.
I know how we all still like to bad mouth those phone companies we used to have but things in the wireless industry changes so fast and anything that happen 2 to 4 years ago is ancient history. People are still complaining that Verizion has poor customer service when currently they have better customer service out of everyone including Tmobile or how T-mobile has poor coverage when infact compaired to others they are the same are even better.
As it was said in earlier post, I also feel that Wifi is not needed on a blackberry unless you are with Tmobile and would like to take full advantage of UMA with unlimit VoIP or you have piss poor ATT data coverage. When being with Verizion none of the above apply.
@ Eric
Best comment ever.
“BOYGENIUSREPORT.COM is the FOX NEWS of tech blogs. Unabashedly biased; yet, inexplicably exhibits a lack of self-awareness.”
I enjoy reading BGR daily for the breaking BlackBerry news, I just take all the opinions with a grain of salt since BGR has h@rd on for iPhones and AT&T.
@Firefly
I was referring to the fact that the Storm doesn’t have USA 3G bands (850MHz/1900MHz). Sorry I wasn’t clear, but yes, it of course has Rev. A for Verizon users.
Wondering if anyone can clear out some confusion… is their wifi built in to the storm, and Verizon has it software disabled, or did Verizon tell RIM not to include wifi technology at all?