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Cellphones that Work Everywhere?
spoonist asks: "The vast array of available wireless protocols in the US is quite
bewildering: CDMA, TDMA, GSM, AMPS. I spend most of my time in urban areas. Major providers appear to be rolling out GSM, so that seems like the way to go. I also spend a lot of time hiking and climbing in rural areas and like having my mobile phone in case of an emergency. My ancient analog phone gets a signal in all but the most remote of areas
LONG after friends' digital phones loose their signals. Are there any dual mode mobile phones that can talk both GSM and AMPS? Also, I occassionally travel to Europe. From what I understand, GSM in the US uses a different frequency from the rest of the world (WHY!?!).
Are there any phones that talk European GSM, US GSM, and AMPS?"
You could use satelite phone. It has the best cover, albeit being expensive.
hth
Last time I was in Greece, I just went into a Vodaphone, bought a prepaid SIM, installed it and I was on my way. Easy as pie (mostly :-)
By the way, for all the admins that are wondering... The GPRS data latency makes using your laptop to ssh in your *nix boxes workable, but frustratingly slow. The phone works great with linux tho-
For payphone.
Sheesh.
I have a rather old Nokia 5120iA and it is able to use both analoge and digital networks and auto-switch between them (with digital as the default). It ain't got any nice features that come with new ones, but it makes phone calls (text messages and games, but that's it).
First I would recommend looking seriously at the CDMA network or one of the other 2.5G networks. There is going to be a shift away from GSM over the next few years towards 3G (third generation) phones. While the uptake isnt quite what has been expected in Asia, it is comming.
There are dual CDMA and AMPS phones available here in Australia that were introduced to cover the phase out of the AMPS network. They support all new digital features, including short message service (SMS), call forwarding, call waiting, caller identification and voice privacy.
GSM doesn't like hilly regions, so if you are planning regular trips into "hilly" regions then CDMA or AMPS would be a better system. However if you are a "city slicker" then GSM is for you!
A quick google search allowed me to find quite a few CDMA/AMPS phones.
Does it go on forever?
I think it's because the 900MHz spectrum was already set aside as unlicensed. It's the frequency used by many cordless phones and baby monitors.
--Be human.
And what about 1800MHz? GSM (in europe and maybe elsewhere) uses both bands and most (all?) GSM cellphones available here nowadays are so-called 'dualband' i.e. can deal with 900 and 1800MHz frequencies.
Because not only is the US the best nation in the world, it's the best DAMN nation in the world and we don't take sh*t from nobody!
The thing is, there's so many of you GSM freaks claiming that GSM is the "world's standard". But that's total bullshit. It's Europe's standard. It's also not necessarily better than the rest of the competition.
Frankly, I'd rather have the best system possible than be able to use my phone when I move to Europe. I mean, it's going to cost me thousands of dollars to move there, anyway, what's another $100 or so for a new cell phone?
I think for example Nokia 8990 should (and does) work pretty good even in the States. If you're more "robust" just buy couple of different cellphones that do the trick. Why? 8890 costs quite a bit.
Yes, we GSM freaks are just plain wrong - except that the statistics show that GSM has 71% of the world digital mobile phone market and 68% of the whole market (analogue and digital). GSM is available in 157 countries from 438 operators (hint: there aren't 157 countries in Europe...) See http://www.gsmworld.com/news/statistics/index.shtm l for the details.
CDMA has some benefits and it is gaining market share against GSM in some markets, but GSM is in no way a European standard, although it originated in Europe. And 3G of all the various flavours will be CDMA based, even for current GSM operators.
As for moving to Europe - you're right, you might as well buy a different phone since you will need a new mobile phone service anyway. If and only if GSM is a good option for where you live and travel in the US (analogue or CDMA may be better for you), it may make sense to get a tri-band GSM phone that works on any GSM network in the world. Tri-band GSM is also good for Americans who travel a lot outside the US, particularly in Europe, Asia and Australasia.
In Europe, Dual band (900-1800) GSM phones with support are usually sold these days. This includes the older and newer European and Asian GSM frequency. Many offerings include so called "world band" GSM phones with 900, 1800, and 1900. This should be the GSM soulution for you since it works pretty much everywhere in the world where they have GSM, includin the States.
I am sure you can find this type of phones in the States too, you will see Google gives you many answers.
-Kvorg
I have a GSM Tri-band phone. (900, 1800, and 1900MHz) and it works on all GSM networks.
I found I could roam all over the US using my Australian (Optus) SIM card, it just got billed to my account, and the rates were not unreasonable. (I was pleasantly suprised.) Europe and Asia are not a (technical) problem either. Receiving calls is more difficult, a pre-paid local SIM will help there. (My Ericsson "T28 World" phone dosent do AMPS, but I dont need it.)
Just make sure that if you pick up a GSM phone, it does Tri-band, and you are covered. If you can find one that does AMPS too, all the better.
Anyone who considers arithmetical methods of producing random numbers is, of course, in a state of sin.-John von Neumann
If you used the "English" system of measurement, then surely your units of measurement would be the same size as in Britain? In which case, why are your weights lighter, and your measures smaller? And are distances the same?
Personally I recommend a tri-band GSM phone. That will cover you in nearly every country in the world.
:)
CDMA is a good standard.. Very fast data compared with GPRS (CDMAx1=144Kb/s theoretical vs GPRS=40.2Kb/s) but over all, I find that its limited use globally makes it way too restrictive for my use.
With Tri-band GSM (800/1800/1900) you cover all five major continents. You're covered for Europe, Africa, Asia/Pacific, and Nrth America. Very useful if you just want a phone. Due to the limited release of GPRS, you may have to rely on 14.4Kb/s GSM Data (9600bps in some places) or if you're lucky, HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data) at 42.0Kb/s (mostly in Europe).
There are also phones like the dual band Treo 270 (GSM 800/1900) (also note, the Treo 300 is a CDMA phone) that will cover you for Europe, Asia and the Nrth American continents but when you're on Safari in Africa somewhere, its not usable.
AMPS is pretty limited. In fact, most places have phased it out by now with it kept purely for backwards compatibility and it has a very limited life span now. I'd say good luck buying a phone now that could still handle it and works across all regions. New Zealand (my backyard) has phased it out a long time ago, TDMA replaced it before CDMA replaced that. GSM was the catalyst for that progression when Bell South (who has since sold their GSM network here to Vodafone in the early 90's) originally set up shop in NZ in the 80's.
I personally run around with a Nokia 7650 (dualband 800/1800). I don't go to Canada too often so that when I do, its viable to rent a phone. I am intending to purchase a Nokia 3650 (GSM/EGSM 800/1800/1900) next year to solve that problem. That and MMC cards are sorely missed in my 7650.
The convenience of being able to just plug a sim card in to any phone is a huge bonus. Makes number portability a real sweet deal
GSM uses three frequencies, depending on which bastardization you use: 900, 1800, and 1900 MHz. One is Europe's standard; the other two are used in the US and Canada because the American government enjoys giving away frequencies without stopping to think what they're used for elsewhere in the world. In this case though, I think the Restoftheworldian frequencies are reserved for military use.
Anywho, you can purchase phones that support all frequencies, but they cost more. The Motorola V60 is such a phone, as are any expensive Nokias. You may be looking for a 'world phone', as some people advertise them.
You can also get tri-mode phones. The phone I'm going to pick up next week is such a phone, and has digital 1900 MHz reception if it finds a Telus tower; if not, it looks for a digital NB Tel/Aliant tower (local telco's cheaper PCS service), and if not that, then analog, if any (and most of my country's population is covered by analong at least, with the exception of my roommate's hometown, about which I mock him).
Your best bet is to find a good cellular provider (Verizon in the US), and go in and ask THEM. THey have all the answers about the phones they offer and the services that go with them. Slashdot is a bad place to go for anything but theoretical discussions and anecdotes.
Good luck.
--Dan
If you want a phone that will work almost anywhere checkout AT&T's Siemens TDMA/GSM tri band phone TDMA/GSM tri band phone /a> . AT&T's TDMA coverage is by far the most in the U.S (compared with GSM & CDMA) and it can also be used where AT&T is sprouting up their new GSM network(CA, TX, FL...) not to mention Europe, Asia, South America.... The only country I can think of is perhaps South Korea they're using CDMA. So if you don't plan on going to South Korea. It would be a good idea to buy one off the net (costs more) that does not come sim card locked, You know, that way when you're on you're in Italy or France you can still use the same phone, it would be just a matter of swapping out sim cards with the providers that reside in that country. Also you could switch over to T Mobile at anytime.
Also clearing up some mis stated comments earlier:
"CDMA is a good standard.. Very fast data compared with GPRS (CDMAx1=144Kb/s theoretical vs GPRS=40.2Kb/s)"
GPRS is actually 171 Kb/s theoretical, using all 8 time slots of course, However in actual use the speed is much less than theoretical, as always with any technology especially in its initial use actual is far from theoretical. Also CDMA 1X is what I believe he's refering to, CDMA is only about 19 kb/s, this is because 2G is circuit switched(time based) not packet switched like 2.5G and up.
"First I would recommend looking seriously at the CDMA network or one of the other 2.5G networks."
CDMA is a 2G standard ->CDMA 1X is 2.5G -> CDMA 2000
GSM is a 2G standard -> GPRS is 2.5G-> WCDMA or EDGE is 3G
When you hop on a network provider with GSM this is what they'll offer you as an upgrade path to 3G over the next years. When you use 2.5G (GSM/GPRS based), you would still use GSM for voice, but GPRS for data.
It's not a question of what are service providers going to, but a question of which path they choose first and then which Generation have they upgraded to. At the minimum they must have either 2G (CDMA or GSM).
Actuall I *like* imperial measurments for every-day things!
Saying my "my large penis is 150mm long" doesen't have the same ring as "my giant 12 inch cock"
Saying you were in a "10K race" sounds suspiciusouly like a Special Olympic race, but "a 5 mile run" - now that's some distance.
and "I'd like 300 millleters" is just gay. "Gi'me a Pint!"
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
Saying my "my large penis is 150mm long" doesen't have the same ring as "my giant 12 inch cock"
Of course it doesn't: 150mm is closer to 6 inches than 12. Much. Pretty average in fact.
but "a 5 mile run" - now that's some distance
No it's not: 10km is ~6.2 miles.
"Gi'me a Pint!"
And a pint is more like 475ml. So you're okay there. But only if it isn't American beer.
Sigh. You know, it takes practice to get this anal.
In mathematics, one does not understand things, one merely gets used to them.
--VonNeumann
This from the country with the "World Series". Sorry, couldn't resist it.
But only if it isn't American beer.
Preficae that with mass-produced, and wer're in agreement. Thare are a lot of micro-brewerys here in the states that produce excelent beer. Small breweries are going extinct in most part of the world - but where I live, in the North-West US, I can walk to two different mom and pop breweries.
We're actually becoming beer snobs 'round here - you know it's bad when you start to think of Guiness in the same vein as Budweiser* - Mass produced crap to get people drunk.
*real "Ceske Budejovice" is quite good - the American bastardisation is piss-water.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
IIRC believe 1800MHz phones work in the US. The coverage isn't as dense, tho. Buy a tri-band if you want US & int'l service.
--Be human.
I have the Motorola 120c and it works great and is web ready. The Web only works on digital networks, but other than that, it works fine on Digital and Analog networks.
It's a meta first post.
Hey, Canadians play in the World Series too! ;)
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
And Cubans, too!
(It's only been 7 seconds since you hit reply, grumble grumble...)
Why do you care if the phone is GSM? That is the technical standard. I care that my phone works where I want to use it. GSM, CDMA, AMPS, TDMA (others?) are technical standards, and it the the phone companie's job to figgure out which is best and how to switch people to it. You problem is getting clear calls in various locations. Figgure out where you need a phone, and use it there.
Many US carriers will rent you a phone that will work in Europe, with your number, even though they don't have a GSM network.
The only advantage of GSM has over the others from a consumer stand point is anyone can remove their SIM card and put it in a different phone. (Thus you can buy a US phone, and if you travel get a europe only phone for use there) That is only an advantage that consumers need to care about. (In truth, GSM was an early standard, that like most got some things right, and some wrong, but it happened to win. Windows won the OS war long ago, but it was never the best)
Quit looking at the phone companies problems, and start looking at coverage areas, roaming charges, minutes, roaming coverage, and cost. That is what you care about.
As an aside, if you find one plan you like, but it doesn't cover everywhere, call the provider, they can only build so many towers per year, so they have to decide where. If you tell them that you want coverage someplace they might put a tower there in 6 months or so. It is worth a shot, it might or might not work.
Cell phones are a commodity item now anyways. What do you think you're gonna have to pay for an "all network" phone? A metric ass load thats what. And don't forget the golden rule of multifunction devices: They'll do most things OK, but won't do any one thing *good*. Why not just purchase separate phones?
.sig wanted: Must be concise, funny, and display my cleverness.
GSM and CDMA are the current contenders in the US, with VERY few GSM handsets offering analog (AMPS) capability. Verizon and Sprint are CDMA, T-Mobile (nee VoiceStream) is GSM. Cingular and AT&T are currently migrating from TDMA to GSM, I recommend avoiding them in their TDMA markets. (I sell these things, all carriers in the Philadelphia market, where both are currently TDMA, but AT&T migrates next month)
Nextel uses iDEN, standing alone. Good digital voice service, minimal data capabilities right now, but coverage density on par with the others. (mid-atlantic area, at least)
AMPS towers are no longer being maintained/built TTBOMK, but they still provide considerably more coverage geographically in the eastern US (don't know elsewhere) than any of the digital services.
If you can find a GSM/AMPS handset (and a carrier that will support both, or just GSM and emergency use on AMPS) then you will probably be well served. Otherwise look to Verizon's CDMA/AMPS network. Sprint has similar coverage, on a different frequency from Verizon [of course!] but their customer service and support practices are atrocious. (Like often $3 per customer service call, and shutting off service 2-3 days after activation!) If passing a credit check is a problem, see Sprint, otherwise move on.
If multinational roaming is in the cards, GSM is probably the only contender, (check gsmworld.com for lots of info) and more than half of the current T-Mobile handsets handle it. (3 motorola, 2 samsung)
j
... one of these. GSM roaming where it's available, satellite where it's not.
I work for a cellular equipment company. To help get our newbies/co-ops/etc up to speed, I put together a brief explanation of the standards and how they evolved into the current mess. You can read it here.
By the way, my company made one GSM1900/AMPS850 phone, the CF888. From what I can tell, it did not sell very well, and operator support was a little sketchy (there are a lot technical details to get inter-network roaming to work properly).
// Alan Porter
If Europe would remove the laws that prevent operators from implementing CDMA, your percentages would be much different.
Not sure about any such laws in Europe, but CDMA and GSM coexist in Asia, and GSM is still the market leader there. GSM is in over 150 countries...
go with GSM. I used ti live in Germany, until about 4 months ago. My GSM phone worked everywhere but the U.S., and that was just because I was too cheap to buy a tri-mode phone. If you live in an area where GSM is available, you are good to go. Interestingly enough, my service in Germany was provided by TD-1, the big bad momma to the new(here, anyway)T-mobile. It's a new company that used to be part of theGerman Post Office(Bundespost). Seriously, if you shell out for a tri-band GSM phone, it will work anywhere in the world. Another option, (and probally cheaper) would be to buy a phone were you go. GSM service iss cheap, in Europe anyway. All incoming calls are free. You only pay to call someone else or use SMS. Calling another net is where the real bite comes. In Germany the best deal is the prepaid phone, from the post office. They even sell them in the airport (Frankfurt, anyway)gas stations, etc. I bought my phone for less than $50 US, and kept it until I left. Interesting to look at the providers programmed into the phone when you get it. I had somethiing like 200+ GSM nets to choose from, in every part of the world.
Try GAIT phones. They are phones that support GSM + TDMA (and therefore AMPS also). What GSM/TDMA frequencies they support depends on model.
GAIT phones were created so that Cingular and AT&T have a smoother migration path to GSM/GPRS for their TDMA markets.
Here are a few GAIT phones I know of:
FYI, here in the US we use GSM1900, TDMA800 and TDMA1900. TDMA isn't widely used outside of North America bcause TMDA800 is basically Digital AMPS. Hence most TDMA phones should support AMPS also.
The rest of the world use GSM900 and GSM1800. There soon will be GSM850 available globally, which allow GSM850-compatible phones be used worldwide. Though I'm not sure if a GSM800(US) or GSM900(non-US) phone can use the GSM850 band.
One more thing about the phones I mentioned:
They all support AMPS, TDMA800/1900 and GSM900/1800/1900. So they can be used just about anywhere in the world with a cell signal.