BlackBerry Web Connection Issues

The web functions in TMJ are designed to run 'out-of-the-box' on most handsets, however since BlackBerry phones are often heavily customised by the mobile network provider, the web connection settings sometimes need to be altered to allow TMJ to successfully connect to the internet.

Added to this is a further complication with 'corporate' phones, which are often further customised by company IT departments using BlackBerry Enterprise Server. This effectively links the BlackBerry to the company network, which can affect a application's ability to access the internet.

The TMJ-Mobile/BlackBerry connection settings are found in Menu/Web/BlackBerry Web Settings. There are 6 main options:

1. Default (Use Phone Settings)
This default setting will attempt to connect using the phones basic built-in connection settings.

2. WAP 2.0
This searches through the BlackBerry 'Service Books' (as listed in the BlackBerry Options/Advanced Options/Service Book) to find a valid WAP 2.0 configuration. Not all handsets/operators provide a WAP 2.0 gateway so this may not be available in all regions.

3. Direct TCP
This settings tries to establish a direct connection to the TMJ server without using a proxy server.

4. Enterprise Server (BES/MDS)
If your BlackBerry connects via a 'BlackBerry Enterprise Server' (most likely if you work for a large company) then this option will attempt to access the TMJ site using the BES as a gateway. (Note that the gateway must be configured to allow web-traffic, which may not be available if your Company operates a strict security policy).

5. WiFi
Forces the device to connect through WiFi only. (Note that a Wifi access point must be available and connected for this to work, so is not suitable for live tracking)

6. Manual Settings (WAP 1.0)...
If none of the above settings work then you may need to manually specify a WAP 1.0 gateway. The gateway settings vary depending on network provider and comprise a WAP Access Point Name, Gateway IP Address and Port number, and may optionally also require a Username / Password. Try a google search for 'blackberry wap apn settings' for your providers settings.
The final option in the Manual Setttings screen Extra BB Connection String allows further explicit control codes to be appended to the connection URL, and is intended for debugging or those familiar with BlackBerry/J2ME development (see the BlackBerry JavaDocs and this BlackBerry Forum thread for further info).

Additional options:

7. Auto-detect WiFi (Only available on platform 5.0.0 and above)
When selected, if a WiFi network is currently connected then this will automatically be used in preference to the above options. (There is then no need to set Option 5 unless you *only* want the phone to connect over WiFi and not via GSM, etc)

8. Test Web Connection
To find the best connection method for your phone, try each setting 1-6 in turn, then select this function to send a test transmission to the TMJ website. Monitor the Text/General/Snt-Rcd-Fld field to check the status of the current transmission. Note that a transmission may timeout for several seconds before it returns a success or failure, so be sure to wait for any previous transmissions to complete before trying again.

Alternate Settings in BlackBerry Options

If all of the above options fail, it has been found that some providers APN settings need to be entered into the BlackBerrys built-in configuration, rather than trying to set them in TMJ. For this firstly ensure that the Connection Settings above is 1. Default (Use Phone Settings) then use the built-in BlackBerry Options/Advanced Options/TCP-IP functions to set the APN and Username/Password (if applicable).