BlackBerry Forums Support Community
              

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 05-31-2006, 11:33 AM   #1
hnsimpson
BlackBerry Extraordinaire
 
hnsimpson's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: NC
Model: 8130
OS: 4.5xxxx
PIN: pm me for it
Carrier: Verizon
Posts: 1,039
Question Verizon: Why CDMA?

Please Login to Remove!

Why does Verizon stay with CDMA when so many other countries and carriers are GSM?

What is the difference, and is either network better for any reason?

-simpson
Offline  
Old 05-31-2006, 11:53 AM   #2
jungleland
BlackBerry Extraordinaire
 
jungleland's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Model: BOLD
OS: 5.0.0.348
Carrier: At&t
Posts: 1,376
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by hnsimpson
Why does Verizon stay with CDMA when so many other countries and carriers are GSM?

What is the difference, and is either network better for any reason?

-simpson

Verizon does have Hybrid phones that have both CDMA and GSM technology. GSM in america is not developed enough to be a GREAT service. Verizon is a GREAT service. I have heard that they plan on building up their GSM network here in the americas within the next few years. I have also heard that they will stick with CDMA, so who know...


And yes, CDMA is BETTER. Much more reliable. However in Europe, their GSM is far more advanced than ours. As is always the case, Europe's cellular technology is always 3ish years ahead of ours here in America..
Offline  
Old 05-31-2006, 12:17 PM   #3
PCW
Thumbs Must Hurt
 
PCW's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ventura County, CA
Model: Droid
Carrier: Verizon Wireless
Posts: 161
Thumbs up Soft cellsite handoffs!

Do a Google search on CDMA soft handoff, for starters. That is but one reason why CDMA is considered a superior technology by many.
Offline  
Old 05-31-2006, 12:22 PM   #4
jungleland
BlackBerry Extraordinaire
 
jungleland's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Model: BOLD
OS: 5.0.0.348
Carrier: At&t
Posts: 1,376
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by PCW
Do a Google search on CDMA soft handoff, for starters. That is but one reason why CDMA is considered a superior technology by many.


Here ya go...

http://www.gemplus.com/techno/cdma/
Offline  
Old 06-01-2006, 08:06 AM   #5
takeshi
BlackBerry Mensa
 
takeshi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Houston
Model: 8310
Carrier: at&t
Posts: 7,741
Default

There are definitely factors beyond the technical aspects to consider. I wouldn't really worry about the underlying technology so much as the practical quality of coverage, pricing, customer service, and how important international travel is to you.
Offline  
Old 06-01-2006, 08:31 AM   #6
joe allen
Thumbs Must Hurt
 
joe allen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Model: 8330
Carrier: Verizon
Posts: 120
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by hnsimpson
Why does Verizon stay with CDMA when so many other countries and carriers are GSM?

What is the difference, and is either network better for any reason?

-simpson
We use verizon broadband pcmcia cards for our laptops. somebody in the office had a cingular account and wanted to use their card. i ran a speed test on both. the verizon card was near cable internet speed and the cingular card was running at about 3k (took a couple times to even load the test page). i work in cincinnati, oh which is a medium to large size city. i use cingular for my wife's phone and they do have good phone coverage here, but the data seems to be a bit sketchy. we ended up canceling the service for that card. after 4 hours on the phone trying to figure out why it was barely working i was put on with someone who said that my area does not have the high speed wireless yet (i assume that is there "G" network). they still charged us the cancellation fee since we had the card a month before installing it.
__________________
Joe - 8703e

"Blackberryland is a much happier place than Palmville"
Offline  
Old 06-01-2006, 08:07 PM   #7
phonemonkey
Thumbs Must Hurt
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: NY
Model: 9630
Carrier: Verizon Wireless
Posts: 147
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jungleland
GSM in america is not developed enough to be a GREAT service. Verizon is a GREAT service.
Cingular is the largest mobile phone company in the US in terms of subscribers and really high-speed (EDGE) data coverage. Yes, EVDO from Verizon is faster, but the coverage is weak even around many metro areas (NYC and Philly, just to name two). Would you care to elaborate on why GSM in America isn't "developed enough?"

Quote:
And yes, CDMA is BETTER. Much more reliable. However in Europe, their GSM is far more advanced than ours. As is always the case, Europe's cellular technology is always 3ish years ahead of ours here in America..
How is CDMA "much more reliable?" While Europe may have a year (maybe two) head start with UMTS and 3G handsets/datacards in general, it is starting to become available in many major US markets. It's not like we're on AMPS and they're making video calls from their mobiles.

I know it's not the best idea to feed the trolls, but this posts like this bug me -- FUD just stinks.

Please don't start on a rant about how awesome imperial measures are compared to metric, or how Cingular CS burned you but Verizon is l33t, etc. I'm just asking you to defend your post with some concrete facts.
Offline  
Old 06-01-2006, 08:17 PM   #8
phonemonkey
Thumbs Must Hurt
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: NY
Model: 9630
Carrier: Verizon Wireless
Posts: 147
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by joe allen
the verizon card was near cable internet speed and the cingular card was running at about 3k (took a couple times to even load the test page). i work in cincinnati, oh which is a medium to large size city.
It sounds like you had a bad EDGE card, or an old card with only GPRS. You should have seen around 120Kbps (15 kilobytes/sec) if you had an EDGE-capable card in a EDGE service area. That's about 4-5x slower than I usually can get with Sprint EVDO, but I'm more likely to get 1X than EVDO when travelling. And that is usually slower than EDGE.

I bet if you went a half hour out of town, that you would lose that VZ speed advantage.
Offline  
Old 06-01-2006, 11:10 PM   #9
Winston S.
Talking BlackBerry Encyclopedia
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Model: 8900
OS: 5.0.0.509
Carrier: T-Mobile
Posts: 272
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by phonemonkey
Cingular is the largest mobile phone company in the US in terms of subscribers and really high-speed (EDGE) data coverage. Yes, EVDO from Verizon is faster, but the coverage is weak even around many metro areas (NYC and Philly, just to name two). Would you care to elaborate on why GSM in America isn't "developed enough?"
I'm not an advocate for CDMA but from what I have heard the GSM is more developed in Europe. I think that's it's just deployed better in Europe. There just seems to be a lot more area for us to cover in the U.S. and many areas in the U.S. still fair better with an analog signal.
Offline  
Old 06-02-2006, 05:46 AM   #10
joe allen
Thumbs Must Hurt
 
joe allen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Model: 8330
Carrier: Verizon
Posts: 120
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by phonemonkey
It sounds like you had a bad EDGE card, or an old card with only GPRS. You should have seen around 120Kbps (15 kilobytes/sec) if you had an EDGE-capable card in a EDGE service area. That's about 4-5x slower than I usually can get with Sprint EVDO, but I'm more likely to get 1X than EVDO when travelling. And that is usually slower than EDGE.

I bet if you went a half hour out of town, that you would lose that VZ speed advantage.
i live 45 minutes north of the city and the verizon card is just as fast there. the cingular card is brand new. it is there 3G Option GT Max card. the problem is that cincinnati apparently does not have the luxury of the edge network. cincinnati is not that great of city (putting it nicely) so i don't blame cingular for not investing in it.

i still have the card in my office. since we can't get any kind of refund on it i will most likely have to trash it after it sits on a shelf for a couple years.
__________________
Joe - 8703e

"Blackberryland is a much happier place than Palmville"
Offline  
Old 06-02-2006, 06:31 AM   #11
digital/blasphemy
No longer Registered.
 
digital/blasphemy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: 'Bama
Model: 8700g
Posts: 200
Default

It all boils down to what you need basically.

I use GSM with T-Mo because they don't charge me outrageous fees for data, and no additional charge for tethering. Also, my travels take me out of the country where I can't use verizon CDMA
Offline  
Old 06-02-2006, 04:08 PM   #12
phonemonkey
Thumbs Must Hurt
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: NY
Model: 9630
Carrier: Verizon Wireless
Posts: 147
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by joe allen
it is there 3G Option GT Max card. the problem is that cincinnati apparently does not have the luxury of the edge network. cincinnati is not that great of city (putting it nicely) so i don't blame cingular for not investing in it.
The maps can be wrong, but it looks like there is EDGE from Cingular there... Odd.
Offline  
Old 06-02-2006, 11:47 PM   #13
zarza
Thumbs Must Hurt
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Tumon Bay, GU
Model: 9000
Carrier: docomo Pacific, Guam
Posts: 191
Default

I wish GSM was more developed in the US, or the CDMA carriers used RUIM or USIM cards that were compatible with GSM phones for roaming.
Offline  
Old 06-11-2006, 12:52 AM   #14
unplugged
Knows Where the Search Button Is
 
unplugged's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: SoCal
Model: 7290
Posts: 16
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by takeshi
There are definitely factors beyond the technical aspects to consider. I wouldn't really worry about the underlying technology so much as the practical quality of coverage, pricing, customer service, and how important international travel is to you.

I have been on both sides of the CDMA / GSM world and technologically I am more impressed with CDMA. The evolutionary path for GSM is GSM>GPRS>EDGE>UMTS/HSPDA>WCDMA. So eventually GSM operators will be using a flavor of CDMA.

But you are correct about ignoring the underlying technology. My CDMA phone isn't very useful at home with a -95dbm signal. My GSM phone works great, all because TMO has a cell site across the street and the nearest VZW site is miles away.
__________________
Unplugged since 1999
Offline  
Old 06-11-2006, 03:16 AM   #15
bacco007
New Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Model: 8700
Carrier: Telstra
Posts: 13
Default

I don't know what its like in the States, but here in Australia - CDMA coverage is a lot larger with less base stations.

International Roaming is nearly non-existant with CDMA, we can only roam in about 4 countries (last time I checked) and one wasnt the US
Offline  
Old 06-11-2006, 11:37 PM   #16
klepto
New Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Model: na
Posts: 3
Default

you guys are lost Code Division Multiple Access is so much better than GSM and cheaper to upgrade in the future. The reason why Europe and some 3rd world countries use GSM is because it is so cheap to start instead of CDMA. Japan uses forms CDMA(wcdma), and cingulars fastest service is actuall a form of CDMA, wCDMA they just call it something else so they wont be mixed in with CDMA/verizon. To upgrade GSM it costs a large amount of money which will hinder the evolution and spread of the high speed gsm(wcdma).

CDMA is fast, more secure, can hold more channels, and is cheaper to upgrade in the long run. The comment about Cingular having the largest coverage is bunk, the can say that all they want but JD power has ranked Verizon and its CDMA coverage as the best for the past 6 years, and also check out Consumer reports verizon doesnt need indepent studies they have the best coverage by far.
Offline  
Old 06-12-2006, 09:34 AM   #17
zarza
Thumbs Must Hurt
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Tumon Bay, GU
Model: 9000
Carrier: docomo Pacific, Guam
Posts: 191
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by unplugged
I have been on both sides of the CDMA / GSM world and technologically I am more impressed with CDMA. The evolutionary path for GSM is GSM>GPRS>EDGE>UMTS/HSPDA>WCDMA. So eventually GSM operators will be using a flavor of CDMA.

But you are correct about ignoring the underlying technology. My CDMA phone isn't very useful at home with a -95dbm signal. My GSM phone works great, all because TMO has a cell site across the street and the nearest VZW site is miles away.
FYI - UMTS/HSDPA = W-CDMA
Offline  
Closed Thread


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


Schneider 140CPU65150 processor module 140CPU65150 140CPU65150 picture

Schneider 140CPU65150 processor module 140CPU65150 140CPU65150

$2898.00



PROFACE PFXSP5B10 Processor Module picture

PROFACE PFXSP5B10 Processor Module

$1500.00



AlphaSmart Neo2 Laptop Word Processor, . picture

AlphaSmart Neo2 Laptop Word Processor, .

$90.00



Allen Bradley CPU 1747-L543 SLC 500 5/04 PLC Processor picture

Allen Bradley CPU 1747-L543 SLC 500 5/04 PLC Processor

$299.99



New Sealed AB 1747-L543 SER C SLC 500 CPU Processor Unit Module 1747L543 picture

New Sealed AB 1747-L543 SER C SLC 500 CPU Processor Unit Module 1747L543

$703.23



New Allen-Bradley AB 1747-L532 /D SLC 500 SLC 5/03 CPU Processor Unit 1747L532 picture

New Allen-Bradley AB 1747-L532 /D SLC 500 SLC 5/03 CPU Processor Unit 1747L532

$394.70







Copyright © 2004-2016 BlackBerryForums.com.
The names RIM © and BlackBerry © are registered Trademarks of BlackBerry Inc.