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Newbie to GSM w/ question
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| Hey folks,
I always had Sprint, but am considering changing to GSM for the SIM
feature, as I bought a $400 phone (somewhat less after rebates) that I
love from Sprint just 2 yrs ago, and now it's no good to me since I quit
my contract. I want to be able to buy a nice phone and use it until I
feel like changing it, even if I switch carriers. I understand as long
as I stay with a W-CDMA/GSM carrier, this is possible with a GSM phone,
as *all* GSM phones use SIMs. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!)
So now here's my question: I am looking at new, unlocked GSM phones, but
nowhere does it mention a SIM card. I assume that's because you get the
SIM card from a carrier when you sign a contract? Do I have that right?
So... if I got "Cingular" for a year or two, then wanted to switch to
another W-CDMA/GSM network, I'd get a new SIM that I could use in my
'old' phone. Am I tracking here?? ;)
And I know this is the wrong ng, but on the off-chance someone knows...
what happened to the R-UIM (CDMA SIM) that was developed in 2002? I
never saw it deployed and can't find CDMA phones anywhere that use a
R-UIM card. Does anyone know if they even exist?
Thanks!
Kane
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| matt weber 2005-10-28, 11:48 pm |
| On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 17:59:20 -0700, (Kane) kane@nospam.net wrote:
>Hey folks,
>
>I always had Sprint, but am considering changing to GSM for the SIM
>feature, as I bought a $400 phone (somewhat less after rebates) that I
>love from Sprint just 2 yrs ago, and now it's no good to me since I quit
>my contract. I want to be able to buy a nice phone and use it until I
>feel like changing it, even if I switch carriers. I understand as long
>as I stay with a W-CDMA/GSM carrier, this is possible with a GSM phone,
>as *all* GSM phones use SIMs. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!)
>
>So now here's my question: I am looking at new, unlocked GSM phones, but
>nowhere does it mention a SIM card. I assume that's because you get the
>SIM card from a carrier when you sign a contract?
When you sign up, you do not need a contract, for example you can be
prepaid, or a month to month. You'll get the SIM as soon as you enter
into any agreement for service, which is not necessarily a contract.
The reason for that is the SIM identifies the service provider, so
when you leave your service area, the local service provider knows who
to ask for permission to register on their network.
As long as the phone is unlocked and has a compatible SIM (and you
will have to look long and hard to find one that isn't. Some of the
early one's are 5Volt, and most of today's phones won't support a 5V
sim, but I don't think anyone has been providing 5 V sims for almost a
decade. There is another reason to be rid of 5V sims as well. They are
generally 2K storage, so you cannot store much in the way of a
phonebook or SMS messages in them either.)
Whatever SIM the phone is in, is 'YOU'. So while it is possible that
another phone might be incompatible (say an 900/1800/1900) and you are
in an 850 service area, you are slightly screwed, but just put the SIM
in an unlocked phone that supports 850, and your phone number, phone
book, stored messages etc are tied to the SIM and are now the 850
phone.,(although some phones do have provision for non-SIM storage).
>Do I have that right?
>So... if I got "Cingular" for a year or two, then wanted to switch to
>another W-CDMA/GSM network, I'd get a new SIM that I could use in my
>'old' phone. Am I tracking here?? ;)
>
>And I know this is the wrong ng, but on the off-chance someone knows...
>what happened to the R-UIM (CDMA SIM) that was developed in 2002? I
>never saw it deployed and can't find CDMA phones anywhere that use a
>R-UIM card. Does anyone know if they even exist?
>
>Thanks!
>
>Kane
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| Donald Newcomb 2005-10-29, 5:48 pm |
|
"Kane" <kane@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:mhh5m1li0e6p5fh
t3u3uk0ihs9mm9qfi14@
4ax.com...
> Hey folks,
>
> I always had Sprint, but am considering changing to GSM for the SIM
> feature, as I bought a $400 phone (somewhat less after rebates) that I
> love from Sprint just 2 yrs ago, and now it's no good to me since I quit
> my contract. I want to be able to buy a nice phone and use it until I
> feel like changing it, even if I switch carriers. I understand as long
> as I stay with a W-CDMA/GSM carrier, this is possible with a GSM phone,
> as *all* GSM phones use SIMs. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!)
I have actually seen one that did not have a visible SIM but it was a very
special case.
> So now here's my question: I am looking at new, unlocked GSM phones, but
> nowhere does it mention a SIM card. I assume that's because you get the
> SIM card from a carrier when you sign a contract? Do I have that right?
Correct. The SIM is from the carrier.
> So... if I got "Cingular" for a year or two, then wanted to switch to
> another W-CDMA/GSM network, I'd get a new SIM that I could use in my
> 'old' phone. Am I tracking here?? ;)
That's the theory.
> And I know this is the wrong ng, but on the off-chance someone knows...
> what happened to the R-UIM (CDMA SIM) that was developed in 2002? I
> never saw it deployed and can't find CDMA phones anywhere that use a
> R-UIM card. Does anyone know if they even exist?
They use it in China, I bleive. The SIM gives too much power to the
customer. The US CDMA carriers don't want you to have it.
> Thanks!
>
> Kane
Since you keep mentioning W-CDMA, you know that there will be two distinct
implementations of WCDMA in the US (1900 & 2100USA) They will not be
compatible with each other or with the W-CDMA 2100 used in the rest of the
world. Also, keep in mind that T-Mobile has no GSM-850 while Cingular has
quite a bit. If you get a tri-band (900/1800/1900) phone you will limit your
coverage on Cingular. It's best to get a quad-band (850/900/1800/1900)
phone, then you are covered just about any place but Japan and Korea.
--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
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| matt weber <mattheww50@cox.net> wrote:
>On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 17:59:20 -0700, (Kane) kane@nospam.net wrote:
>
>When you sign up, you do not need a contract, for example you can be
>prepaid, or a month to month. You'll get the SIM as soon as you enter
>into any agreement for service, which is not necessarily a contract.
Wow. On CDMA networks the pay-as-you-go phones are crap, and there are
very few to choose from. Yet I rarely use my cell. (Which is why I quit
Sprint.) So now I can buy a totally cool (read expensive, nice) phone
and use it on a pay-as-you-go GSM carrier?? I love this! :)
>The reason for that is the SIM identifies the service provider, so
>when you leave your service area, the local service provider knows who
>to ask for permission to register on their network.
Roaming you mean? And in the local area, is roaming free, or does it
depend on the plan/carrier? (I'm in So. CA and only need to call in the
LA area as a rule, but want national long distance too. I do *not* need
to call overseas.)
>Whatever SIM the phone is in, is 'YOU'. So while it is possible that
>another phone might be incompatible (say an 900/1800/1900) and you are
>in an 850 service area, you are slightly screwed, but just put the SIM
>in an unlocked phone that supports 850, and your phone number, phone
>book, stored messages etc are tied to the SIM and are now the 850
>phone.,(although some phones do have provision for non-SIM storage).
That is very cool.
Another question, if I may... is WiFi ability (like in a hotspot or a
WiFi-enabled town) something you can use your WiFi (WAP)-enabled phone
for aside from your cell carrier? Or can you only connect to the
Internet (WiFi, WAP or otherswie) through paying extra to the cellular
carrier you're with 'for that feature'?
I'm not sure I made that clear, but with CDMA, my phone, for example,
was Web-enabled, but to use the Web I had to purchase the Sprint Web
Vision Plan -- an extra feature of so-much-per-month. When I'd connect
to the Net, it would be through Sprint's website.
I'm wondering if there are GSM phones that have WiFi capability that
bypass the carrier and just let you use the phone for hotspots like you
would your laptop?
Thanks so much for the help.
Btw, what Pay-As-You-Go GSM service would you recommend for So. CA?
Kane
| |
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| "Donald Newcomb" <DRNewcomb@NOT.attglobal.net> wrote:
>
>"Kane" <kane@nospam.net> wrote in message
> news:mhh5m1li0e6p5fh
t3u3uk0ihs9mm9qfi14@
4ax.com...
>Since you keep mentioning W-CDMA, you know that there will be two distinct
>implementations of WCDMA in the US (1900 & 2100USA)
No, I didn't! Thanks for pointing this out!
>They will not be compatible with each other or with the W-CDMA 2100
> used in the rest of the world.
Leave it to the U.S. to make things complicated...
>Also, keep in mind that T-Mobile has no GSM-850 while Cingular has
>quite a bit. If you get a tri-band (900/1800/1900) phone you will limit your
>coverage on Cingular. It's best to get a quad-band (850/900/1800/1900)
>phone, then you are covered just about any place but Japan and Korea.
I'll ask you the same question: which pay-as-you-go GSM service would
you recommend for So. CA? (I like the idea of a quad band phone in any
case.)
Thanks for all of your help.
Kane
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| matt weber 2005-10-29, 11:48 pm |
| On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 13:35:06 -0700, (Kane) kane@nospam.net wrote:
>matt weber <mattheww50@cox.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>Wow. On CDMA networks the pay-as-you-go phones are crap, and there are
>very few to choose from. Yet I rarely use my cell. (Which is why I quit
>Sprint.) So now I can buy a totally cool (read expensive, nice) phone
>and use it on a pay-as-you-go GSM carrier?? I love this! :)
>
>
>Roaming you mean? And in the local area, is roaming free, or does it
>depend on the plan/carrier? (I'm in So. CA and only need to call in the
>LA area as a rule, but want national long distance too. I do *not* need
>to call overseas.)
In general Yes, but not what the customer thinks of as roaming, and
what the carriers have to manage as roaming aren't necessarily the
same. There was also a period of time when T-Mobile was using
Cingular GSM facilities in California, (and I believe Cingular was
using T-Mobile facilities in some other places). I.E. you had a
T-Mobile phone, but you were using a Cingular BTS or vice versa. To
the carriers, it is roaming, to the customer it is a home area, and
bills as home.
>
>
>That is very cool.
>
>Another question, if I may... is WiFi ability (like in a hotspot or a
>WiFi-enabled town) something you can use your WiFi (WAP)-enabled phone
>for aside from your cell carrier? Or can you only connect to the
>Internet (WiFi, WAP or otherswie) through paying extra to the cellular
>carrier you're with 'for that feature'?
I am not aware of any Wi-Fi enabled GSM phones. That doesn't mean they
don't exist, it isn't something I am interested in, so I haven't
noticed any.
>
>I'm not sure I made that clear, but with CDMA, my phone, for example,
>was Web-enabled, but to use the Web I had to purchase the Sprint Web
>Vision Plan -- an extra feature of so-much-per-month. When I'd connect
>to the Net, it would be through Sprint's website.
>
>I'm wondering if there are GSM phones that have WiFi capability that
>bypass the carrier and just let you use the phone for hotspots like you
>would your laptop?
>
>Thanks so much for the help.
>
>Btw, what Pay-As-You-Go GSM service would you recommend for So. CA?
Probably Cingular. They are going to have the best infrastructure PBMS
(Pacific Bell Mobile Service), who is the original GSM carrier in
California, and they are part of Cingular now. AT&T had pretty good
coverage, with the IS-136 coverage having gone to GSM, coverage is
rarely a problem.
But look at both carriers. The Traditional problem with T-Mobile is
T-Mobile prepaid bought in Southern California actually wouldn't work
with T-Mobile elsewhere in the Country!
T-Mobile Pay as you go has been a mess.
| |
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| matt weber <mattheww50@cox.net> wrote:
Thanks for explaining roaming on the GSM, Matt. You're right. I was
thinking if T-Mobile (for example) was handing off to a Cingular base
(maybe that's the wrong terminology), it would be roaming and charged
as such.
[color=darkred]
>Probably Cingular. They are going to have the best infrastructure PBMS
>(Pacific Bell Mobile Service), who is the original GSM carrier in
>California, and they are part of Cingular now. AT&T had pretty good
>coverage, with the IS-136 coverage having gone to GSM, coverage is
>rarely a problem.
>
>But look at both carriers. The Traditional problem with T-Mobile is
>T-Mobile prepaid bought in Southern California actually wouldn't work
>with T-Mobile elsewhere in the Country!
>
>T-Mobile Pay as you go has been a mess.
And the coverage looks very funky (as in spotty from gradations of "good
to fair" coverage in vital areas like Los Angeles). Their "dark green"
color indicating "great" coverage is not widespread to my eye.
The one gripe I have with Cingular is that the map coverage for their
GoPhone plan is not the same coverage as you get with a rate plan.
That's a bummer. (My folks are looking for a plan too, but they will be
traveling up to Seattle, WA to see my sister, and the coverage up past
No CA is grim with the PayGo plan.) It also doesn't say you can buy your
own unlocked GSM phone for the PayGo plan, but I guess you can.
Again, thanks for your help. Appreciated all the time you took.
Kane
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| Joseph 2005-10-30, 2:48 am |
| On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 13:43:04 -0700, (Kane) kane@nospam.net wrote:
>I'll ask you the same question: which pay-as-you-go GSM service would
>you recommend for So. CA? (I like the idea of a quad band phone in any
>case.)
If you're mainly going to be in So. CA T-Mobile pay as you go would be
all you'd need. And quad band wouldn't benefit you at all. Quad band
will only benefit you if you go to Europe or Asia. With a prepaid you
couldn't do that anyway (at least not with US prepaids.)
- -
| |
| Joseph 2005-10-30, 2:48 am |
| On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 17:45:25 -0700, matt weber <mattheww50@cox.net>
wrote:
>But look at both carriers. The Traditional problem with T-Mobile is
>T-Mobile prepaid bought in Southern California actually wouldn't work
>with T-Mobile elsewhere in the Country!
That has not been the case for at least a couple years or longer.
T-Mobile prepaid works everywhere there's a T-Mobile network. Before
you advise you should get your facts straight!
- -
| |
| kane@nospam.net 2005-10-30, 5:48 am |
| Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com> wrote:
>On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 13:43:04 -0700, (Kane) kane@nospam.net wrote:
>
>
>If you're mainly going to be in So. CA T-Mobile pay as you go would be
>all you'd need. And quad band wouldn't benefit you at all. Quad band
>will only benefit you if you go to Europe or Asia. With a prepaid you
>couldn't do that anyway (at least not with US prepaids.)
>
Yeah, I since realized I don't need the overseas bands. The thing about
T-Mobile is their coverage map is difficult to read with the gradations
of green. "Great" coverage looks very spotty. I like the fact that they
have very cool [expensive] phones that will work with the Pay As You Go
program though.
Kane
| |
| Donald Newcomb 2005-10-31, 5:48 pm |
| "Kane" <kane@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:can7m1dj5ri71av
o7lvkc7u6domev1jm5i@
4ax.com...
> I'll ask you the same question: which pay-as-you-go GSM service would
> you recommend for So. CA? (I like the idea of a quad band phone in any
> case.)
I'd just suggest you look at http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm
--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
| |
| kane@nospam.net 2005-10-31, 11:48 pm |
| "Donald Newcomb" <DRNewcomb@NOT.attglobal.net> wrote:
>"Kane" <kane@nospam.net> wrote in message
> news:can7m1dj5ri71av
o7lvkc7u6domev1jm5i@
4ax.com...
>
>I'd just suggest you look at http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm
Great link! Thank you.
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