ok ok ok everyone posted yesterday about the availability of BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express Edition. I previously mentioned some info about the impending release but lets dive a little deeper ...

First off, remember that BES Express is effectively BPS 5.0. You'll get most of the base functionality that BES touts, but expect some limitations. Just like BPS never got past SP4 of 4.1, expect there to be limited functionality going forward. Yes you're getting BES ... but you're...

I previously posted about changing a MAC address using a BB on the plane ... and I'm sure this violates some ToS, but why couldn't I just use my BB to connect to WiFi on a plane with Tether?

This weekend I flew around the country and had some free WiFi codes so I didn't try ... but I could save $2 per use, AND get both my BB and laptop connected by using this.

Like I said, I didn't try it this time ... but I think I will next time!

Whatcha think?

I can't be the only one in this position... I use a single BlackBerry, a 9700 provisioned on at&t. I've previously had Cellular One, Sprint, VoiceStream, Verizon, and T-Mobile; however this isn't a discussion on which carrier and why. They each served their purpose at the time.

What all of the carriers currently share is the ability to use BIS + BES functionality on a single device. We all love this functionality, and it allows you to carry a single device for both personal...

... does it? Should each BES have it's own administration account / mailbox?

Simple answer, Yes. Here's why, for any environments with multiple BES:

1. Single points of failure are never good (if that mailbox is unavailable, no services will start / restart)
2. It is recommended to keep each BlackBerry users' mailbox close to the BES ... same goes for the administration mailbox
3. Do you have different groups managing different servers? Different accounts help with this management

...

Read the full details at KB17542 - How to reload missing BlackBerry smartphone data into the BlackBerry Manager ... however here's an example of how to actually use it.

Download the BRK Tool SyncRequest.exe and run the command: SyncRequest -n SQLServer -db BESMgmt -sync "Handheld Agent" -value_type emailaddress hdawg@port3101.org

Where:

-n = hostname of SQL server hosting your BlackBerry Configuration Database
-db = name of your BlackBerry...