Slashdot Mirror
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-
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.
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.
You might well find that it's no more expensive to send sms from another country than when you're at home. Either that, or fractionally more expensive. I think for Orange on the tariff I'm on it's 6p in the UK and 8p in Europe to send an sms.
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
This from the country with the "World Series". Sorry, couldn't resist it.
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.
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.
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.
... one of these. GSM roaming where it's available, satellite where it's not.
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...