I had a problem with my BlackBerry Curve 8900 (T-Mobile — yeah, I know) recently  The WiFi completely died, would not connect to any networks. It would see the networks and accept the security keys and such, but would not fully connect. After a lot of settings review, I finally decided to wipe.

It wasn’t so bad, actually.  I used the BlackBerry Manager software to do a full backup, then used the wipe command by going to Menu –> Options –> Security Options –> General Settings –> Menu –> Wipe Handheld, and I was back to defaults within a few minutes.  When I applied the backup, I got everything except my apps back.  I reconnected to my preferred WiFi hotspot here at the office right away!  Not sure what was wrong there,but I was back on track.

My next stop was ÜberTwitter to reinstall my most-used app.  So far, so good!  Then I reinstalled WhatsApp (the chat app that my girlfriend and I have been using), and my WiFi died again shortly thereafter.  I uninstalled it after awhile, and my WiFi eventually started behaving again.

I’m not sure if WhatsApp actually killed my WiFi, but the app and my WiFi certainly seem incompatible.

I’m currently installing Opera Mini to replace the (essentially worthless) built-in BlackBerry browser.  I apologize for the alliteration.

In more exciting news, the BlackBerry Torch featuring BlackBerry 6 touchscreen OS is now available!  I’ve made the decision to jump from T-Mobile’s poor network coverage (well worth the $200 to break the contract), and until recently, was resigned to getting an iPhone; but with this sexy new darling from RIM on the market, I just might remain a BB user.  I’ll make my decision this weekend, when I go to a store for a demo.