General BlackBerry® Functions and Features

[stripe]

Hi all

Can I use BIS (and download apps) without an email address (as a user name) as all my email accounts have 20 character "gibberish" passwords that are changed every month and stored with an encrypted password manager to save remembering them. so I do not want to use them in Blackberry as my user name and password. blackberry also gives a warning that I might not be able to access my accounts from anywhere else after they are imported

cheers

stripe

[jerryg50]

I am trying to exactly understand the question, so I will try...

Get an email password that you can use. A hotmail, or Yahoo, or any public email address should work. Then use a password that you can easily remember.

The system needs a real email address, in case you get locked out or there is an issue the system can email you corrections, or a re-activation path. 

[stripe]

Hi Jerry

I just spent 25 mins writing a detailed post about my problems, but it would not post, I had to log in again and the post was lost.

I am not attempting to re write it in case it happens again

obviously I am too old/stupid to use this forum let alone a BB

anybody any suggestions on what to do next?
Don

[sdgardne]

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stripe wrote:

anybody any suggestions on what to do next?

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Hello -- yes, follow what was suggested in message 2 in this thread...

[stripe]

Hi sdgardne

thanks for the reply

I tried to follow that advice by creating a blackberry email account and was told that was not acceptable.

I have provided an email account for messages to be sent to, but refuse to give blackberry the password, but BB says I have to, which I refuse to do. (security reasons)

why do I have to give BB a password to my email account?

also all my important emails are recived encrypted using gpg, why would I want blackberry to show an encrypted email when on a bb device I dont think you would be able to decrypt it.

also could BB encrypt an email with gpg and then send it? If not it is pointless having BB act as an email client.

so why is it mandatory to provide an email password when creating an ID?

is there a guide on how to set up and use blackberry as I just cant get to grips with it.

Don

[sdgardne]

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stripe wrote:

I tried to follow that advice by creating a blackberry email account and was told that was not acceptable. 

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That is correct...well, sort of. "Not acceptable" would be more harsh than I'd use. Rather, "not recommended" would be what I'd say. Here's why...if, for some reason, you forget your BB ID credentials and need them reset, then that's done by the system by sending you an email to the account registered to the BB ID. But, for security reasons, those password reset emails ARE NOT delivered to the BB at all, so you must have non-BB access to that email account in order to receive and process those password reset emails. Typically, the hosted (e.g., @BB or @Carrier) email accounts are ONLY accessible from the BB itself...which creates a Catch-22...you must receive and process the password reset email, but that email cannot be delivered to the BB, so you can't receive and process it. Hence, using a non-hosted email account is the recommended method, so that you can access it from other than the BB and receive/process those password reset emails if they are required.

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stripe wrote:

I have provided an email account for messages to be sent to, but refuse to give blackberry the password, but BB says I have to, which I refuse to do. (security reasons)

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For what you are talking about (creating a BB ID), you do not need to give the email credentials to anyone. Rather, you create the BB ID and register it to that email account, but all you give is the email address, not the password. You do, of course, have to create a BB ID password so as to complete the BB ID credentials...but that can be a different password from your email password.

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stripe wrote:

why do I have to give BB a password to my email account? 

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Only if you are attempting to configure the email account so as to receive emails from that account on the BB do you need to give the credentials. BB's do email via a system called BIS -- BlackBerry Internet Service. BIS is not on your BB, technically. Rather, it is hosted by the carriers and RIM. The BIS system checks your email for "new stuff", and since that's done from the server-side, there is no traffic to the BB generated for the act of just checking for "new stuff". But, to do that, BIS requires the email credentials.

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stripe wrote:

also all my important emails are recived encrypted using gpg, why would I want blackberry to show an encrypted email when on a bb device I dont think you would be able to decrypt it. 

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You don't have to. There is no requirement to integrate any email account to the BB itself.

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stripe wrote:

so why is it mandatory to provide an email password when creating an ID?

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As I said, it's not. The act of creating your BB ID credentials is 100% separate from the act of configuring BIS to integrate an email account to the BB.

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stripe wrote:

is there a guide on how to set up and use blackberry as I just cant get to grips with it.

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There are many...start here:

• http://worldwide.blackberry.com/gettingstarted/?CPID=OTC-GETSTARTED?lang=en

But please remember that BBs are very different from any other mobile device on the market. They are the most secure of all mobile devices, and have many enhanced services that work very differently from other devices (email is just one). So, please don't go into this expecting your BB to work just like, for example, an iPhone...they are very different devices.

Plus, we are here...many of us volunteer on this site for the exact reason of helping out other users with exactly the things you are seeking information on. That's why this site exists...so that users can help other users.

Good luck!

[stripe]

Thanks for the answer

this is my first and probably last mobile device

thanks as well for the link I have looked at that site and its just beyond me (thanks for trying though)

forgetting the BIS ,
is it possible to set up the device so that it will accept an IP address assigned to it via dchp from a router so that it can be used as a voip handset?

thanks again for the help, I know its down to me that I just cant get a handle on the way the OS works

Don

[sdgardne]

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stripe wrote:
forgetting the BIS ,
is it possible to set up the device so that it will accept an IP address assigned to it via dchp from a router so that it can be used as a voip handset?

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Maybe...there are several "ifs"...

• If you get past the BB ID creation...BB ID is deeply integral to the BB, and needs to exist.
• If you then have a mobile service provider that supports UMA...that can enable you to use your mobile number via WiFi.
• If you further have a VoIP app that is compatible with your specific BB (model number, OS level) and can function via WiFi...but you have to check the VoIP app you intend to use.
• If you associate your BB to a WiFi network that does not block this particular traffic.

Then you might be able to do what you've asked about. Sorry for replying back with complications, but it is what it is...

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stripe wrote:

thanks again for the help, I know its down to me that I just cant get a handle on the way the OS works

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If you can't get past the BB ID, then you pretty much won't be able to do anything with the device at all...

[stripe]

Thanks for that answer

just out of interest, could I set up a BB ID on line as a different interface may help? and would I have reset my phone before doing this?

I don't know if my carrier supports UMA but if I connect the BB to my router and if the WiFi has a better signal than the GPRS network it will send all of its traffic over my internet connection and call it "a signal boost" (luckily I have unlimited internet)

thanks again

Don

[sdgardne]

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stripe wrote:

just out of interest, could I set up a BB ID on line as a different interface may help? and would I have reset my phone before doing this?

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If you have not yet actually created the BB ID and associated it to the BB, then see this KB:

• KB24062 How to create a BlackBerry ID

If you have associated the BB to a BB ID, and the one you now create is different, then you must WIPE your BB in order to change the association between it and the BB ID:

• KB26694 How to change the BlackBerry ID on a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet or BlackBerry smartphone

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stripe wrote:

I don't know if my carrier supports UMA

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Nor do I, but hopefully they do! Perhaps you can ask them?

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stripe wrote:
but if I connect the BB to my router and if the WiFi has a better signal than the GPRS network it will send all of its traffic over my internet connection and call it "a signal boost" (luckily I have unlimited internet)

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Yes, a BB will "favor" WiFi over the carrier data network for services that can function via WiFi. But, many services require the BIS account to be active, even if the pathway in use is WiFi. Email for instance, will not work via WiFi unless there is indeed an active proper BIS account on the BB...it will use the WiFi channel, but it must have access to the BIS servers, and that access is only granted to BBs with an actual proper BIS account.