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.
After reading this entire thread because I have too much time on my hands, I feel the need to chime this in…..
1. How many people posting currently or have owned their own business? Lets say random poster has a lawn service but only cuts the grass, no weeding or edging which another guy who works the neighborhood is doing. Then random poster goes out and spends a quarter of his yearly revenue on the best weed trimmer/edger on the market. Is random poster going to do the weeding and edging for free when there is demand for it? Hell no! Why? Because its a business and not a hobby and he needs to recoup the investment made to provide additional services to his clients. Why would VZW spend billions upon billions in network investment build outs and maintenance only to give away everything for free? Its basic business principles.
2. I saw a few posters mention double charging and also one or two referenced their cable company…..your cable company runs the connection right into your home, agreed? Good. What does the cable company give for free? After they spent billions on pipes for broadband internet that comes directly out of the same little coax hole that connects to the cable box, did you get free internet? Didn’t think so.
3. In the VZW/Smartphone vs iPhone/AT&T argument, the iPhone has wi-fi, we accept that. But guess what? Regardless of carrier, you still have to pay for the f*cking ridiculous data plan which makes the point that the iPhone has wi-fi and at&t provides better value to its customers as a result of it an invalid point.
4. I just called my brother who is a sales rep for VZW in the New York Metro region, which could be considered a fairly tech savvy region and asked him how many people come into his store asking for/bitching about wi-fi and it was basically none because the only people that give a shit are the people like myself/you who reads this shit and feels the need to get on their soapbox about it which is an extremely, extremely small percentage of the population.
5. Not for nothing but I read/respond to sensitive and proprietary emails and do my mobile banking and on my Curve and enter the info into my expense tracker which is also on my phone and I’d rather do it on the secure VZW network than the free Starbucks/Panera/random public connection so Harry the Hipster Hacker Douchebag sitting over in the corner can’t steal my banking info, read my email and possibly steal clients or their info, hack into my Fantasy Football account and drop my best players off my team, or know that I’m watching porn on my BlackBerry while drinking a $44 latte. Why does no one take that into consideration?
6. You can use Bluetooth to transfer files between your PC/printer/file server/etc. I do it all the time with my MBP because the BB software for Mac sucks and costs money.
7. Lastly, the cellular carriers that don’t make their customers take the BlackBerry plan, I mean offer wi-fi on the devices, deserve to go out of business because RIM makes a monthly royalty off of every BlackBerry activated on every network, data plan or not. That is their business model and main source of revenue, something Apple copied and when made public was described as revolutionary. The only people I know that have/want a BlackBerry without the data plan are mindless sheep that want a BB because that skank Lauren from the Hills has one, Lindsay Lohan was pictured in US Weekly snorting coke off her battery cover, or anyone else who saw one in a TV show or movie and wants to be cool while also being a retard. I cant wait for Jack Bauer to use one on the next season of 24 so the rural militias can get up to speed and dump their iDen for BlackBerry Messenger while patrolling their compounds. Not having the data plan is like buying a Porsche and only driving the speed limit….you look cool because you have a Porche but in reality, you are a douchebag and have piss poor financial sense.
The more wifi on the cellphones the better. I can’t hack The Network, but it is so easy to get into your wifi pda’s. My techie friend does it for fun. Pulls up your pics, call logs, etc. Those little spb password locks are so easy to crack. I love wifi. Long live the unsecured network.
This is one seriously gone-to-crazy’s off topic that I’ve ever witnessed. Why are you so emotionally invested? Do you own stock or something?
/unsubscribe
“Dear lord. I’ve only been coming to this website for a little over two weeks now and I can already feel the hate for Verizon.
I got my whole family to join me on Verizon from ATT, and they have never been happier with their cell phone experience.
If I had a nickel for every time I had coverage when my friends on ATT or TMobile didn’t I could have retired before finishing college…
Maybe it’s simply the fact that you people don’t ever leave metropolitan areas, but try getting out in about with that horrible ATT coverage and you’ll learn a thing or two.”
My house is 40 miles NW of Boston and Verizon can’t get 1 bar anywhere on my property. AT&T gets 5 bars in my basement. Stop your generalized statements, it doesn’t depend how far from a city, it depends on region for which carrier is best. In both of the places I’ve lived (NYC and MA) AT&T is much better than Verizon for coverage. I have nothing against Verizon, and I WISH AT&T could have the Storm, although I’d probably just want to try it and not buy… But seriously, VZW isn’t even usable to me, and if I ever COULD get service here (Sprint has that signal amplifier) WiFi would be a must to get decent download speeds. No WiFi = no phone if it’s Verizon or Sprint for me.
Verizon is the only carrier of the “big 4″. But seriously, I’ve never heard such arrogance when I called their Customer Service. They do have a good network in a lot of places, but in the TEN years w/ AT&T, I’ve never had any real problems and I’ve lived on both coasts.
Paul,
You are one pathetic losers my friend, not only was more than half of the stuff you posted wrong, but I honestly think you made it up. and to the idiot who said “I have a friend who works at RIM”….please save me the one year quotes and put your mouth out there. I have proven over and over again to be a good source of information fo this site, and every time i come here to post and see nothing but completely idiotic bafoons arguing back and forth trying to make a point based solely off a word they thought they heard(IE. the i770 was dropped by verizon when they actually just sold 20 thousand of them as a business deal….good call dumbass PAUL). or conveniently forgetting that the Vodaphone(arguably a larger carrier world wide than Verizon) also has no Wifi, and that because of that RIM MAKES MORE MONEY. Jesus it’s like all of you idiots think that the phone makers and carriers are non for profit organizations trying to bend over backwards for myopic idiots like paul to get a device.
Paul,
Verizon may have crippled phones at one point, but one that same token ATT also at one point was Cingular, a company well known for some of the worst abuses to customers in the industry. which facilitated the trade back to ATT…this isn’t news, and this doesn’t matter right now. past behavior does not guarantee future results. if Verizon launches all of the BB they plan(a PTT, a Wifi enabled, and a bold clone, ALL have been provided, with documents, to BGR over a month ago…still no posts oddly) I will 100% guarantee the wifi one will not sell worth shit, thus proving the point that there is JUST NOT A MARKET FOR IT. just as the other Wifi phones really were not big sellers. Wifi is for poor people who can;t afford netbooks, real laptops, or cell-modems. if you are going to sit and connect to a hot spot I would just as soon take out my Macbook Air, use it for a while, and put it away. instead you want to surf the web on a tiny screen….wise choice, good job, now go jack off to surfing the web on your neighbors internet because you are a broke ass joke trying to be a baller on a budget using wifi and trying to ditch the data plan.
Damn there are some pissed off peeps here! The more features the better!!!!
“Verizon is the only carrier of the “big 4″. But seriously, I’ve never heard such arrogance when I called their Customer Service. They do have a good network in a lot of places, but in the TEN years w/ AT&T, I’ve never had any real problems and I’ve lived on both coasts.”
I’ve been with AT&T since October 2000, taken my phone from California to Maine to Florida, pretty much covered everything… And, the same as you, I’ve never had a problem. When I went to the south (drove to Atlanta from Massachusetts) I noticed the service was spectacular, couldn’t get anything less than 5 bars anywhere you went. Up here in the northeast, I range from 3-5 but always have service when I need it. I don’t understand the VZW boys ragging on AT&T for anything but 3G, and if that’s the case good luck getting 3G in foreign countries (oh wait, I can and VZW can’t).
Not all of their devices lack Wi-Fi. The XV6700 and XV6800 have it and maybe 1 or 2 more I’m missing, but that’s pretty much it. I think it’s unfortunate that Wi-Fi isn’t included in more phones. Yes, VZW’s network is great, but in college, some of my classes don’t get a good signal, and Wi-Fi would help alot.
@ Paul
Your argument about shutting down your home network is seriously misleading and wrong. (mine just happens to be secured by encryption so that people are not piggybacking my connection or looking at my files). I think I’d notice someone sitting in front of my house in a car with a laptop out. You can’t honestly sit there and say that there isn’t a difference between a secure home network and an open wi-fi network in an airport. Ludicrous!
Not everyone travels the world as you seem to do so you represent a very small sample of those who say they NEED wi-fi. Great for you. I guess I just don’t see how someone spends so much time in hot spots, doesn’t have a laptop to work off of. Your iPhone crashes while you are on a trip and your done. Ya got nothing.
My point is this…why are all of you bashing each other over personal opinions. Personal attacks are unwarranted just because my opinion differs from others. Who really gives a shit at the end of the day. I slept fine last nite, despite others having different opinions about the iPhone or the Storm without wi-fi.
I would not switch to AT&T for the iPhone simply because people that I know that have one who live in the DC area complain all the time that their phones kick out of 3G ALL THE TIME and that’s NOT what they paid for. If people want a gaming device with wi-fi, get an iPod touch and get a cheap phone. Costs way less. I use my phone to talk on, to send messages, and to view webpages. But that’s just me.
One goog fearure about the Storm is that you will be able to use it as a stand alone USB dongle broadband modem for your laptop. Apple & AT&T forbade this feature and removed an application that was specifically built to fulfil that need. Verizon isn’t the only one that prohibits us from unlimited goodies!
Well if you take a look at VZW’s devices there are devices with wifi….So I don’t think this claim is valid.
Verizon does have the best coverage of all the North American carriers. They spend a lot of money building a network infrastructure. However, Verizon takes way too much control over the devices it sells.
Number one being the stupid VZW bastardization of the phone OS. Number two, the lock down all of the good features. GPS with Maps and directions? Nope, you have to buy their service. WiFi? Nope.
Wifi is essential. It is MUCH faster than any 3G data network.
I have to agree. I spend literally hours on my blackberry doing trades (Etrade), Remote Desktop Manager and many other tasks. I also develop for the BB and quite simply, the fact is that BBs do not “require” WIFI because “most” applications are written to the specifications that RIM ask their developers to write to. There are compression routines and streamlining routines that cut down on overhead tremendously. I have found in many cases that I can get better performance on ATT Edge, then with many WIFIs. Also with the shift of people using applications that are local to the devices, that cuts down on the heavy bandwidth requirements.
…that last line in the article is wholly unnecessary.
fact is, my last two verizon wireless phones had fully-functioning wifi and i’ve never once used it.
not one time.
zero.
and most people that i know that have vzw phones with wifi rarely, if ever, use it, if at all.
unless i’m doing intense, full-on web-browsing, i don’t need wifi speeds. and if i’m doing full-on web-browsing, i’m not doing it on a mobile device. fact is, for 99.9% of the reasons that one would need to access the web with their phone, 3G speeds are more than satisfactory.
the argument i keep reading most often is that when youre at home at work you jump on the wifi and blahblahblah.
YOURE AT HOME. YOURE AT WORK. IS THERE NO DESKTOP/LAPTOP THERE?
bg & the rest of the wifi whiners need to shut it.
Wow 190 post.
The Blackberry is a powerful business tool even with or without Wifi.
I said this all before, but the only reason why RIM even started putting WiFi on Blackberries was because of T-Mobiles request to have them add UMA support to the 8320. Besides having WiFi for UMA it wouldn’t make since for Rim to add it. Why wouldn’t Rim want to add Wifi while other smart phone such as the Iphone, Windows mobile and Android phones do? We all know its about the money. Htc and other windows smart phone manufactures strictly make money by selling phones. By adding Wifi they can sell more phones and make more money. Now don’t get me wrong Rim does make money by selling their phones but that’s not where the big money is. Rim makes and will continue to make money month after month from all blackberry users subscribed to their email/internet services. Rim adding Wifi to a devices could jeopardize future and long term profits. Verizon didn’t strong arm Rim not to add Wifi it’s more like T-Mobile and ATT forced Rim to add it.
From the patheic loser me: The guy that has been attacked from every direction by the Crackberry attacks and kool-aide drinking Verizon guys or gals that should work for the company.
First off saying I lied or was wrong about what I posted without proving any details is what 12 years olds do. The facts I posted was basically that WiFi missing in action on the Verizon supplied Blackberry Storm is NOT a plus. It is a negative.
I have never seen my iPhone faster than 500kbps on ATT. I have not had any issues with dropped calls or any other and I have traveled around the country and out of the country. What is more the issue here is this device, unlike the Storm has Wifi! Which I’ve seen it up to 7 meg. NO 3G is that fast. PERIOD.
No 3G connection exists in my OWN house, office or campus that can with WiFi on speed that is unmetered and unfettered. NOT running VoIP over 3G, active file sharing, head-to-head gaming, or downloading and uploading files anywhere near as fast!
FOR ME and many others NO WiFi, No DEAL! I need a “smarter device.”
If you think 3G is all that for everything, great. Cancel your broadband in your home and get a Verizon 3G USB modem (I own one, company supplied) and see how that goes.
The iPhone and the Andriod phones have hurt Veriozn and RIM. Apple HAS surpassed then in unit sales and IS now the number 3 cell maker in revenue.
IF SOME of you want to believe RIM is a bigger company than Apple, I am sure glad you are not my broker! AGAIN this is NOT a Pro Apple – RIM and Verizon sucks post. BUT some of you that like to attack without any fact checking might want to go take a look at a financial page once in a while instead os spending all your time here attacking and sounding stupid. Apple happens to HAVE a larger Market Value than RIM or Verizon for that matter. Check it before attacking and sounding stupid to readers that know this.
All I have done here is agree with BGR post. If you don’t agree attack him and stop reading.
All the facts I posted were from Verizon’s OWN Wall Street Quarter numbers. Check them yourself.
NEXT, AT&T is NOT the worst company known to man, but a decent plumber. There 3G network is not as vast, but I have not had any issues in our family after switching as we have 3 iPhones in our house.
The iPhone IS a good business tool, I use it everyday and run a small consulting business and also work for a large company. I also have a supplied Blackberry Curve on Verizon. The network is fine, but the device HAS NO WiFi and that is a determent. The Blackberry, you love has recently been outsold by iPhone and will continue to be challenged.
Without improvements and features like WiFi it may not compete well with iPhone and Android.
Verizon ALSO knows this, and it is now being reported it may sell the Storm at a loss for under $100, just to compete.
IF you want just hate everything that is not RIM or Verizon, there is a word for that, FANBOY is the most used. I would just say your are being myopic and drinking kool-aide.
There is no denying the facts! NOW, if you like go read about the Storm on some other sites with more even handed comments like over at Broadband Reports.
Uh – I’m still wondering how anyone can justify being on a cdma network.
Who cares about the rest of the pros and cons.
Sprint – writes rude emails to customers and boots them from their contracts. Their billing practices are insanity with their constant “errors”.
Verizon – neuters their phones and double charge the consumer in every way. I scoffed at the fact that vsw customers had to buy their version of navigation with the 88xx and rendered the navigation on the phone useless without it.
Tmobile – lags with the 3g implementation and constantly lags with the release of new phones – I believe they released the curve a gazillion years after at&t
At&t- heh – new phones constantly. But their data plans are higher than their biggest gsm carrier (tmo).
They all have issues.
Get over yourselves and quit getting butthurt when something is aid about ur carrier. no one ran over your dog or took ur lunch money.
Its news like all others – things to be said aren’t always what you want to hear but unbiased opinion is what journalism should be and luckily is on this site.
The more I think about it, the more the decision to omit wifi is a strange one. As someone mentioned a while back, you cant buy a smart phone without a data plan. So Verizon is already getting thier revenue regardless if you use verizons network or wifi. Further, Verizon, you would think, would encourage people to use wifi, thereby reducing the amount of stress on its own network.
As for the those who do not beleive wifi is important; remember that airlines are now installing wifi networks on many of thier planes. This will be such a revenue boom that they will continue to install them in thier entire fleets. That means, users with wifi enabled smartphones will be able to access the internet and get email. As good as the vzw network is, it doesnt go to 30000 feet.
Regardless of what any of us say one way or the other, we’re not the average consumer; if we were, VZW wouldn’t be around to have this argument about. I think VZW is lame for crippling phones, but based on their sales, not many people care. It is also easy for us to say other carriers are better than VZW because most of us are in major metros where there is an option. However, I know a lot of people who wouldn’t be able to have a cell phone if it weren’t for VZW. That’s one of the reasons their service is more expensive, they have a more extensive network and build out their network in places other companies refuse to cover.
For the people who are saying VZW wouldn’t have any sway with RIM since CDMA is only really in America, Blackberry is only the phenomenon we see it as in North America, it’s not a huge thing in a lot of other countries (yet).
To be honest, I think VZW is kinda confused about the identity of this phone. The fact that there’s no wifi, but there is international data support shows me they were thinking about corporate customers. When corporate customers use their devices internationally, VZW makes beaucoup bucks and companies pay it. Most of the people who have Blackberries are using them for e-mail and other low-bandwidth applications, meaning they don’t really need the speed of Wi-Fi in the US.
This isn’t an iPhone killer, I agree, but the iPhone is no Blackberry killer either. They are for different demographics, and comparing them is a waste of time.
I like wifi because I refuse to pay 5 bucks a minute to make calls when I’m out of the country. Corporate clients don’t worry about that.
Last thing:
Wow, the only places I’ve seen more hateful arrogant comments with so many lies are in discussions about religion and politics. It’s really lame that so many people are countering facts about the phone with personal attacks attacks on personal opinions. Chill out everyone.
I was waiting to change my curve for a storm… It will be a longer wait. 90% of my time I am traveling and verizon just doesn’t have many agreements with world carriers. The reson I need WIFI is that I hate paying roaming charges for use of the net while in other countries. I have never even been able to switch chips in Verizon phones and use them while i have been long term in an overseas location – most of the time I can’t even get email. GPS – is a must have if you want anyone to know where you are — other than downtown. My best luck so far is with PORTA – a south american carrier that has many agreements and good coverage and links in the States. I will do without the Storm and carry my computer with me — sadly everywhere.
From Broadbad Reports:
“Verizon hopes that the new Blackberry Storm will help them retain/regain customers who’ve either already defected for — or are currently lusting after the iPhone. The device may be offered at a subsidized price point for as low as $100, though it sells for as much as $500 without a plan or contract. However, it looks like the folks at Verizon made a conscious decision to not include tri-band HSDPA so there would be less hacking and porting. The lack of Wi-Fi is also a deal breaker for many people.”
On BGR they also report Vodafone Offering Storm FREE in some countries to compete with iPhone!
Am I still lying? Or is BGR and Broadband reports and several other sources lying?
Still think WiFi, apps, do not matter?
Yeah, I thought so! HaHaHa
@ GotAllPhones:
For you! No all agree after 12 million iPhones have been sold, your point is fine FOR YOU. Not EVERYbody. I respect your opinion.
Only wish others on this blog would respect others that no WiFi is a deal killer.
@JHJ:
Absolutely correct!
@Tommy L:
Great points maybe you have restored my faith in the commenters here.
@Jdslim:
You may think Blackberry is a powerful business tool, but how does this fit the Storm. It has NO WiFi and no international support. Seems if the business person you are talking about does not travel!
IT is clearly RIM attempt to stop losing customers to iPhone. They even gave up on the so conveted mechanical keyboard to do it after jumping up and down that virtual keyboards were NO good.
RIM makes good phones, but to say the iPhone can not be a business tool (like some have said here) is crazy. iPhone supports Exchange, has tons of business apps, has a superior browser, and WiFi. Also supports international travel out of the box!
Verizon is said have to deeply discount the Storm to compete and Vodafone is giving them away for free. If it WAS only the network that mattered, why would this happen?
iPhone and Android have shaken the mobile phone industry to its core by creating new devices that are more like a mobile computers than ever before. Like it or not, “IT IS NOT THE NETWORK” alone that matters.
RIM may well find themselves still behind after the release the Storm. It is no killer of anything, except the “myth” of the mechanical keyboard being a necessity.
Notice they are selling the Bold at full price that is little more than an incremental upgrade to the Curve.
I just had a moment of clarity and realized that I am a douchbag.
My sincere apologies to anyone who read my pointless, grammatically incoherent drivel. I’m even thinking about leaving my mom’s basement. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
@ J:
Basically consumer choice makes people move to the company, device or service that they feel is better for them. Many many have defected to AT&T and others just because of the nickel and dime tactics of Verizon and lack of choice on phones.
Tech saavy people do their research and buy from who has the product they want! They use the Internet.
12 million iPhones have been sold in 2008 alone, NOT one on Verizon’s network! Android is also not going to be offered anytime soon. Verizon’s churn rate has gone up in this quarter and their debt is rising as they buy customers to compete!
These are the facts. All they need to do is offer people what they want, if not they go elsewhere.
Verizon has a great network and crappy phones. They still are clinging to a closed model. They will have to open up soon or risk losing even more customers. Giving away the Storm will not help, it will only increase their debt ratio.
CDMA has already painted them into a corner. No WiFi is just plain stupid. The mobile web will grow faster than might think and if they do not change they will lose more customers. It will be open up or die.
The kool-aid drinkers that some how think only Verizon is good are crazy. AT&T is the largest US carrier with many happy customers. T-Mobile is small and has little in 3G yet and they have many customers that will not switch.
Having the more wide spread 3G is great for Verizon, but try calling their customer service, getting a more innovative mobile device or traveling with them!
So far Verizon has managed to totally MISS to of the most innovative mobile devices to come to market in years, iPhone and Android. More are coming.
Sitting there being re-active instead of proactive is not a great business plan. Watching RIM’s stock and market share drop and acting like it is the only show in town is just dumb.
What you are missing is that the future is NOT in voice it is in data for mobile devices. Who wants a rural phone company or customers that mostly make ONLY phone calls? Having heavy data users that pay an average of $95 per month (AT&T iPhone users) is way more desirable.
Also BB software for PCs suck also. Free Mac version of this suckware is coming according to RIM. Windows Mobile is not so hot either I own both of these.
Apparently you may have never touched an iPhone. Transering files over Bluetooth is slow and gaives you a distance of about 33 feet!
I transfer files from iDisk, my servers, and any of my desktops from anywhere. Over WiFi I can do this in seconds at WiFi speeds over 8GB or more. 3G can not do this and Bluetooth is great for audio earpieces, not a whole lot more.