BlackBerry

[k_monins]

Hi there, I am going to Florida for a few weeks shortly and was wondering if my facebook and bbm will still work. I am on a pay monthly contract, if it will work, how much extra will it cost?

Thanks

Kelsey

[jeffkinn]

It will work but you will have to pay significant roaming charges from America. The cheapest thing to do is make sure roaming is off and use a WiFi connection.

However I don't think BBM will work on WiFi as it needs to be connected to the Blackberry BIS servers.

[pau1j]

Hi Kelsey.

If you have data services on & set for roaming (and your account is good for roaming) both Facebook & BBM apps will work in the USA but data use over there is expensive (http://campaigns.vodafone.co.uk/goingabroad/costs.php?country=130&tariff=1) at £3.00 per MB.

To be certain that the BB uses no data you will have to make sure that Data Services are Off (or, at least, Off When Roaming).  All smartphones are constantly polling backwards & forwards with small amounts of data.

A recent thread discussed data settings & wifi when abroad.  There was some debate as to whether BBM will work over wifi - mine does (even with the Mobile Network switched off & Data Services disabled) but one of the other posters said not.

BBM is pretty light on data - I think it works on a push basis the same as BB email.  However, the Facebook app will be constantly checking the server (and using data in the process).  I would suggest disabling the app and using the website maybe once or twice a day over your hotel's wifi.  I know the cold-turkey approach will be difficult  but it's better than returning home to a huge bill!

My sister-in-law went to Mexico last year and came back to a bill of around £200 (not Vodafone I hasten to add) ... thanks purely to Facebook!