On Mon, 21 Jan 2013, Yaron wrote: > On Mon, 21 Jan 2013, Chuck Cole wrote: > >> Almost true, but Yaron didn't believe CDMA is a majority of carriers >> and likely also in users in the USA. > > Oh for goodness sake. I NEVER SAID THAT. I said GSM is undoubtebly the > most popular system GLOBALLY. I /specifically/ said that the US is > LAGGING BEHIND most of the world BECAUSE CDMA is the most popular system > here. That's what I was seeing -- Yaron did say that. The one point that I thought you actually were disagreeing about was whether a Sprint CDMA phone could be used on another CDMA network. Yaron said that it could not, and I think he was right. > We're getting WAY the heck off topic here, but I'll say this. I don't know -- we are interested in using Linux systems, like Android on phones that give us internet access. How we can get that access for our Linux devices is pretty important and I think worthy of our attention. This will be even more true in a few years. > CDMA is an old, old, old and outdated technology. It is missing alot of > features GSM does, notably that you can't use voice and data at the same > time with CDMA. Interesting that I didn't notice that during the 9 years or so that I was using my Sprint phones. I would have sworn that the old Treo 600 was able to do it, though that was pre-EVDO and I'm not sure what it had. I guess current Sprint can do voice and WiFi at the same time, though, which might be why I didn't notice it. > Furthermore, CDMA is a lot better for locking users into a specific > carrier. It is virtually unknown of to be able to take a CDMA phone to a > different provider - try taking a Verizon phone to Sprint, for example. > Good luck with that. If you buy an 'unlocked' CDMA phone you're still at > the mercy of your provider. > > Contrast this with an unlocked GSM phone. First, since GSM /is/ in use > globally, unlocked GSM phones are readily available. Google has been > directly selling unlocked GSM Nexus phones for ages, for example, and > you can get an unlocked GSM phone, not tied to any provider, on Amazon. > Easily. > > Once you have this phone, you can use it on any GSM network. In the > world. Without asking the provider for permission. You just put the SIM > card in. > > I have three unlocked GSM phones at home. If my primary phone breaks, I > can easily move my SIM to a backup phone. If I don't like my provider, I > have many more options to switch without having to buy a new phone than > if I was on a CDMA network. That's another good argument for the superiority of GSM technology to CDMA technology, but... > Now as for the quality of SERVICE, that's a completely different matter. > > I've been using T-Mobile for a loooong time, and I can tell you that the > quality of their service AND their customer service has gone downhill a > looong way. When Mike said he can't get data service in his home I was sadly > not surprised. I have a hrd time with that, too, as do some other t-mobile > people I know. This just started happening out of the blue a few years back, > and t-mobile claims it's "impossible". And don't get me started on their > customer service which used to be fantastic (it used to be the #1 rated > customer satisfaction provider! Not anymore...) > > This has nothing at all to do with underlying technology and, Chuck, I think > you misunderstood me completely if you thought that's what I'm saying. By all > means, use whatever network is best for you. I'd never advise you to do > otherwise. Now I'm looking at the AT&T coverage maps and they seem to be claiming better coverage than T-Mobile. Maybe that's accurate. They say they have 4G in Madison and all over the Twin Cities. It looks like they go to a partner between Eau Claire County and Wisconsin Dells, both for voice and data, and data drops to 2G, but I could live with that. http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/#?type=data&lat=44.05586242675781&lon=-91.80553436279297&sci=4 It looks like their policy is that if you use 6MB or more of data from a partner in two consecutive months, AT&T reserves the right to terminate your service. That's weird. I guess that means they aren't charging for roaming. Mike