WMM for AirPort Extreme (802.11n) - UMA T-Mobile not working...

I've ALSO just purchased two Blackberry Curves and have been trying, unsuccessfully and to no avail, to set these up w/my Airport Extreme 802.11n. My Airport network is WPA/WPA2 secured. When I called T-Mobile support the PDA/Hot Spot specialist said I couldn't connect my Blackberry using VOICE (though I could previously connect using data, using only my WPA PASSWORD), he said I needed to put in my pre shared key (PSK, which you can find under Airport setup utility--click on manual--and go to base station, equivalent network password). I meticulously typed that 64 digit number in three or four times and then even sent it to my Blackberry in an e-mail and copy/pasted into the Wi-Fi setup on the Blackberry. STILL it doesn't work....

So what now??

also interested in this... thinking that if i buy the TMO router for 50, can run that and the
airport extreme as a bridge and use the TMO router only for the UMA and then use all internet type
traffic on the airport. Previous post here listed some details on that. Unfamiliar whether or not
the TMO router is MAC capable as far as setup goes. If it's a typical linksys router, should be
able to adminster settings via webpage interface but not 100% sure. Funnel the cable modem to the TMO
router, then funnel the ethernet cable from that to the airport and then so on...????

How, though, can you bridge the two while still maintaining the security of your Airport network? I actually thought of this very thing--bridging the two--but I'm at a loss for how to do it smartly and correctly....

Just been reading the Apple and Blackberry forums (and other googled sites)... seems that nobody can make this UMA/voice over Wi-Fi feature work w/their Airport Extreme 802.11n routers. I, for one, am NOT willing to sacrifice the features provided by my AE just so I can use a cheaper, less secure router, so.... I called T-Mobile and cancelled my Hotspot@home service and will mail back their router. I'll continue to check out what's what and when Apple comes out w/a soft/firmware fix or T-Mobile does some magic, then I'll sign up again for HS@H.

Until then.... let us know if anyone else finds a fix....

Add another confirmed issue here. I drove T-Mobile up the wall with this. Apple really needs to sort this out.

Just to re-iterate, I have a BlackBerry 8320 and the UMA feature is unusable via my 802.11n router at home. It works flawlessly with every other router/network.

Poor show!

...as did I, unfortunately. Something like 12 calls in less than four days' time. STRANGE THING is that my Blackberry Curve constantly shows WiFi w/UMA (capitalized... has to be that way for voice, says T-Mobile) and a very STRONG signal. So the phone's receiving, and the network's putting out. However, comma... when I dial voice, everything craps out. EVERYTHING. WiFi goes away and, get this! All voice goes away, too. Heck, at least w/out the HS@H configuration I get some voice; with it though? No dice. Nothing.

APPLE... HELLO... YOU LISTENING???? We're some diehard, faithful Apple fans here... why don't you fix this issue so you can RETAIN customers and keep us all happy and in the lead as far as all this modern technology goes. Unfortunately, you sometimes dissapoint... and you're often never heard from again on the respective issue.

Sad. I really love my Mac and AE network and my three iPods, etc....

I ditched my airport setup inlieu of a workaround. Used my Linksys with my network and it works flawlessly. Until the 7.2 upgrade is fixed and the WMM option is availblae on the airport, will stick w/ the linksys. I value the UMA functions of the 8320 too much to switch to the airport which hasn't worked to its failed expectations.

I shot this across... let's see if anything comes of it:

~*~

To: media.help@apple.com, sjobs@apple.com, BSerlet@apple.com
Subject: a rather pressing Airport Extreme (802.11n) issue

i'm not sure if the person receiving this email will have any power (or will
care enough) to do anything about sorting this problem out, but hey...
better to try and fail than not trying at all, right?

anyway... here goes:

i am a die-hard apple user- heck, even a long-time stockholder- and recently
bought an airport extreme (802.11n) router for my house. it worked
flawlessly and i thought it was the best thing since sliced bread... well,
until i picked up a UMA phone from T-Mobile.

UMA is a service that routes your calls over WiFi. for some reason the UMA
service worked everywhere except over my Airport Extreme base station. as a
surprise, it even worked over my neighbour's older Airport Extreme (802.11g)
connection.

i swapped base stations (ie, brought his base station to my house, connected
it to my network) and it worked. so, it is an issue that is clearly
isolated to the new 802.11n base stations.

thinking it was only me with this issue, i dug around the internet and found
this discussion:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1152014&tstart=15

(if you want more, just google the keywords 'airport extreme UMA')

obviously there's no resolution and people are getting quite peeved that a
state-of-the-art base station can't do something than an older base station
can clearly do. so, can someone please look into this?

thanks!
pramit

~*~

OUTSTANDING, Pramit!!

I, too, have been a long-time Apple/Mac fan, and I TOO--because I believe(d)? in the company so much--have been an Apple stock owner for YEARS.

I agree. Apple really needs to step up to this. I'm not willing to sacrifice network security or ease of use (i.e., w/ an AE 802.11n) simply to get WiFi on my phone, but it WOULD save me a ton of $$--and give me cellphone connectivity I simply can't get from my house (out of network range).

Let's see what Steve Jobs et al at Apple Corporate do to fix this major problem.

Taz

Just a heads up that a very helpful fellow from Apple emailed me today following up on my email (and this thread). He said:

"+I am one of the Hosts for the Apple Discussion Forums and have been asked to try and gather more information about your issue for our engineering team. One of our engineers (likely in response to your email) contacted me in attempt to learn more about your situation. There were a few questions and details that our engineering team are requesting.+" and then requested a bunch of info (shown below). He wrapped up with "+Thank you for providing any information you can so that I can forward that up to our engineering group.+"

So, looks like this is on their radar and hopefully this will be resolved with a future firmware update.

This is the info he wanted (and if yours differs, please chime in):

AirPort Base Station Model:
AirPort Extreme with 802.11n (Gigabit Ethernet)

Serial Number:
6F732A **

Firmware version:
7.2.1 (updated the day I bought it, ie 9/20/07... receipt attached)

AirPort onfiguration file:
Attached

Phone make:
BlackBerry

Phone model:
8320 (T-Mobile)

Phone firmware:
v. 4.2.2.171 (Platform 2.5.0.24)

And here's the latest. I sent him the info and he replied with:

"+Thank you very much for your response, I will forward this to the requesting engineer immediately.+"

Ladies and gents, we have progress. I will keep this topic updated as things develop.

Also, there's a little moral here... being nice and courteous (and going all-out to be heard) does get you somewhere.

Hoping for a fix soon!

I don't seem to have the same problems as you guys with my bb 8320 ( I may be wrong). I can connect and make calls over the network fine (UMA). My only problem is switching back to the edge network when leaving my wifi connection. it says that i should be able to switch between the two with no problems but i continue to get disconnected. This is not to say that sometimes when connected via UMA that I'm not disconnected because i am. I just want to know how to make sure my calls switch between the two with out disconnection.

the trick is to NOT use the PSK and to just use your normal password. I tried to get the PSK working and it just didn't happen. each time I'd get a message saying that the security key was incorrect. Then I typed in my network password (case sensitive) and it worked!

I've tried BOTH the PSK and the plain text password. I, too, received multiple errors, multiple times, trying to use the 64-digit PSK password. When I used the plain text password, it allowed me to connect to the network, but would NOT allow me to make voice calls. DROPPED EVERY SINGLE TIME.