Blackberry Network down FML

[DRJ1014]

This morning I lost all my data services. Right now I can only get on the web through Opera Mini and make and receive phone calls, BBM, AIM, SMS, MMS do not work at all...


http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/22/blackberry-services-down-in-north-america-yet-again/
http://www.dataoutagenews.com/2009/12/22/north-america-bis-outage-12-22-2009/
http://www.blackberryforums.com/net...2-data-outage-12-22-bbm-email-internet-4.html

 

[MJZ]

Yep. Spoke to Sprint about a minute ago, and it's just BlackBerrys. I can't get any data at all, not even from Google Maps.

 

[Vinnard]

How is it that just blackberries go down? I don't get it.

 

[keenan]

How is it that just blackberries go down? I don't get it.

I don't get it either, but for some idiotic reason all BlackBerry services are run by RIM and not the provider. It makes a lot more sense for me (at least ignoring RIM's data mining and so on...) if the phone itself just had an IMAP client or whatever, but that's the way it works.

Single point of failure for all of North America FTW!

 

[oldpablo]

Yeah that's one of my biggest reasons I don't want to use a blackberry. They're good and all, but having that middleman requirement just seems illogical.

 

[novadude]

I can understand things like BBM and email running through RIM's network, but why bother duplicating carrier features like SMS/MMS/internet? All of those should be available sans the RIM network to prevent complete loss of functionality from everything but the phone.

 

[Woofer00]

I don't get it either, but for some idiotic reason all BlackBerry services are run by RIM and not the provider. It makes a lot more sense for me (at least ignoring RIM's data mining and so on...) if the phone itself just had an IMAP client or whatever, but that's the way it works.

Single point of failure for all of North America FTW!

Single point of failure is also a single point to secure, which is why it's considered so secure for corporate/government use.

I can understand things like BBM and email running through RIM's network, but why bother duplicating carrier features like SMS/MMS/internet? All of those should be available sans the RIM network to prevent complete loss of functionality from everything but the phone.

Also for security, at least on the BES end. The consumer-grade BIS service probably should be permitted to run on a separate internet.
SMS/MMS aren't duplicated, those just go over the carrier. BBM is a faster and less battery intensive IM client than AIM and GChat - it's push messaging rather than constantly staying in contact with the servers.

 

[keenan]

Single point of failure is also a single point to secure, which is why it's considered so secure for corporate/government use.

You mean 'secure' as in all your traffic goes through RIM without the company's control? Seriously?

BES and routing all traffic through a company's infrastructure instead of over the provider is obviously indispensable to corporate security, but that isn't the case here. And for personal phones, it's just downright stupid. I don't want RIM to have my e-mail account details, or have access to my mail as it transits to my phone, and there's no technical reason for it that I can see.

 

[Woofer00]

You mean 'secure' as in all your traffic goes through RIM without the company's control? Seriously?

BES and routing all traffic through a company's infrastructure instead of over the provider is obviously indispensable to corporate security, but that isn't the case here. And for personal phones, it's just downright stupid. I don't want RIM to have my e-mail account details, or have access to my mail as it transits to my phone, and there's no technical reason for it that I can see.

I was only referring the BES side of the RIM network for security. On the BIS side, there's definitely a benefit to sending your account details to the network - it's called push technology, and it conserves a considerable amount of battery life as compared to frequent email polling or constantly staying in contact with the IM servers (whether they be AIM or GChat) through pull. Push is also much faster if you need to get messages as soon as they hit your mailbox.

If this isn't the case, then perhaps you don't really need (or want) a Blackberry (I would hazard a guess that this applies to 90% of BIS users. [sidenote: all statistics made up on the fly are correct 67% of the time]). A WinMo or other mobile architecture platform might be better suited to your needs, or maybe just a Blackberry that isn't registered to any personal e-mail address, only to the default address the carrier provides (this IS possible, you know).