(AT&T) - difference btwn "Smartphone Personal" & "BlackBerry Personal" data plans?

Hey all,
My wife is on my Family plan. I have an iPhone 4 and she has a BlackBerry Bold 9700.

I'm not good at deciphering cell phone plans but I understand that she and I have a shared phone plan, a shared messaging plan, but then individual data plans.

I grandfathered into the iPhone unlimited plan.
She got defaulted into the "Smartphone Personal" data plan = $30.00 and unlimited data.

I see an option for "BlackBerry Personal" data plan which is also unlimited and $30.00.

a.) What is the difference between the two plans?
b.) Will changing from "Smartphone" to "BlackBerry" data plans affect my iPhone data plan?
c.) Could being in the "Smartphone" and not the "BlackBerry" data plan be why we haven't been able to get the BlackBerry Messenger, Email setup (Gmail), and other functions working on her phone?

thanks in advance.


*edit: when I try to choose "BlackBerry Personal" data plan to replace "Smartphone Personal" data plan, I get this:

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

The following features added to your device are in conflict with an existing required feature:

BlackBerry® Personal

The following features are required for your device and cannot be deleted:

Smartphone Personal

Please click the 'Continue' button to return to the Manage Features page to make another feature selection for your device.

Click to expand...

it's basically saying I can't remove "Smartphone Personal" data plan and that it's a required feature...

A) One is for a blackberry, the other is for other smartphones
B) No- why would it, it's for your wife
C) Possibly

You're probably better off calling AT&T since they can figure out what's going on with your wife's phone, which seems to be the real problem

indokyne said:

Hey all,

c.) Could being in the "Smartphone" and not the "BlackBerry" data plan be why we haven't been able to get the BlackBerry Messenger, Email setup (Gmail), and other functions working on her phone?

Click to expand...

Yes. When you're on the Blackberry plan, the carrier will provision your wife's blackberry with the service books it needs to communicate with RIM's servers.

entropism said:

Yes. When you're on the Blackberry plan, the carrier will provision your wife's blackberry with the service books it needs to communicate with RIM's servers.

Click to expand...

got it. I guess I"m going to have to call in since my attempts at addressing the service books issue has gone fruitless when trying to do it under normal methods.

It won't even let us get into BlackBerry Internet Services.

Indo, nothing personal, but I'd go to a store and do it there. Some people are proficient with smartphones and can work around it with AT&T's fairly idiotic tech support, but I think having the guy at the store SHOW you what was being done might make this an easier experience. It sounds like you've been dealing with this issue for a while now, and to be honest, I'd have made sure it was working from day 1.

This is why I ALWAYS recommend going to the store to purchase: They make money, you get a better experience.

thanks entro for the tip. Yea, I've had my share of incompetence over the phone and having someone in-person would probably be more effective. I've got locations nearby so I think I'll give it a go.

My current issues are -
No ability to use the PIN system on her phone,
no BBM,
Can't setup any email services
etc etc

I'm almost positive all these issues are rooted in the same thing...

They are. Without service books, you can't do ANYTHING blackberry related, pretty much limited to talk and text.

The blackberry plan includes the APN information for BIS. Get it changed. you dont need unlimited data for a blackberry anyway. its all compressed by BB.