We have received a few Blackberry-related questions as a result of our first post on Blackberry Tips for Beginners. We wanted to make sure we took the time to address these questions, because they are common questions, and there are other readers who might have the same questions.

How to Turn on the Radio for a BlackBerry?

My battery died and now it says the radio is disabled and I can’t figure out how to turn it back on!
A: When your Blackberry battery gets low, it attempts to save power by shutting down services. Since the cellular radio uses a lot of power communicating with your carrier’s network, it’s an obvious choice for the device to shut down first.
Even though this feature annoys some Blackberry users, it is well thought out, because you can conserve some battery power and still have access to your email, calendar, and other Blackberry applications that do not require a network connection.
Before attempting to turn the radio back on, make sure that you have charged the Blackberry for a while, preferably to a full charge (for the health of the battery).
1. Once the battery has been charged, from the main screen choose the Manage Connections icon. Note that the icon in the upper right corner indicates that the cellular radio is currently off.

2. When the settings window pops up, scroll down to Mobile Network and click on it. The Blackberry will attempt to connect to your mobile provider’s network.

3. When your Blackberry establishes a connection to the Mobile Network, the word On will appear next to it in green letters.

4. Click the Escape key (curved arrow) to return to the main screen. Note that the icon in the upper right corner indicates that you are connected to the wireless network, and displays your signal strength.

How do I Setup Email on my BlackBerry?

First you must determine if your email will be delivered to your Blackberry via a Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) or the Blackberry Internet Service (BIS). Typically BES email is administered by businesses and government agencies.
If you want to set up your email on your organization’s BES, you will need to contact your Blackberry Enterprise Server administrator.
A: If you would like to set up your Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, or mail from a POP or IMAP account, you can do that via the Blackberry Internet Service web site. Every wireless carrier with a BIS has a website that users can access to set up their email accounts.
You should be able to find this information in the documentation that came with your Blackberry, from the RIM website or by calling your provider.
Before you attempt to set up your BIS account, make sure your Blackberry is registered on the network. To do this:
1. From the main screen click on Settings, Options, Advanced Options, and then Host Routing Table.
2. Click on the Blackberry key, and choose Register Now from the menu.

Once you’ve registered your Blackberry to the network:
1. Load the site in your PC’s web browser.
2. Click Create New Account.

3. Agree to the Terms and Conditions by clicking on the checkbox and then clicking I Agree.

4. Enter your Device PIN and Device IMEI. This information can be found on the box your Blackberry came in or under the battery. Click Continue.

5. On the Account Setup screen, enter your desired User name, then enter a Password and Confirm Password. Click Next.

6. If there is a username conflict, the Account Settings – Suggestions screen will load giving you alternate usernames or ask you to provide another username.
7. On the Add Email Account screen, you can setup an E-mail address or Create a Blackberry Device Email Address (bottom half of the screen). The Device Email Address is a free email account given to every BIS user.
Email sent to this account gets pushed directly to the Blackberry. Enter a User name and click Next, your new address will be created, and then the main BIS window will load.

8. If you would like to add an additional email address (Gmail, Yahoo!, etc.), click Set Up Account.

9. Enter your Email address, Password, and Confirm password, then click Next. Your account will be added to the BIS. You can add up to 10 email accounts to the BIS.

Please note that you can set up new email accounts directly from the device, but it is more cumbersome and difficult to use for new users.