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Cellular forums Home > Archive > Sprint PCS > November 2007 > T-Mobile the best GSM Network?
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T-Mobile the best GSM Network?
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| David G. Imber 2007-11-06, 4:33 am |
| This may seem like an odd question, as I've been with Sprint
for more than eight years, but I travel to Japan a lot and I'm really
tired of not having a phone I can use anywhere.
It so happens that a designer friend of mine has designed one
of the most beautiful phones I've ever seen, and it's usable virtually
anywhere thanks to World Wing GSM, which T-Mobile utilizes. If
anyone's interested, it's here:
http://www.n705i-amadana.com
More and more Japanese phones are going in this direction, and
the handsets are just wonderful. Most of my associates from there
carry gorgeous handsets that work the moment they get off the plane.
One hardly wants to look at a US cell phone after visiting Japan.
I actually pay very little for my wife and I to have a phone
over there, and it would probably cost me more to use this while
traveling. But over there I'd have access to 3.6 meg. Internet access
anywhere, and I think the phone can even be tethered (though I'm not
sure about that). The best part would be a single telephone number.
Anyway, I'm guessing there are some here who have experience
w/T-Mobile. I've never given them a moment's thought, but welcome any
opinions.
Thanks, DGI
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| Bert Hyman 2007-11-06, 7:33 am |
| In news:0etvi3tlmr7t5fr
5vot5b85ge13d51t002@
4ax.com David G. Imber
<imber@maniform.com> wrote:
> One hardly wants to look at a US cell phone after visiting Japan.
I prefer to talk to mine.
--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert@iphouse.com
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| On Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:17:11 -0500, David G. Imber
<imber@maniform.com> wrote:
> This may seem like an odd question, as I've been with Sprint
>for more than eight years, but I travel to Japan a lot and I'm really
>tired of not having a phone I can use anywhere.
>
> It so happens that a designer friend of mine has designed one
>of the most beautiful phones I've ever seen, and it's usable virtually
>anywhere thanks to World Wing GSM, which T-Mobile utilizes. If
>anyone's interested, it's here:
>
> http://www.n705i-amadana.com
>
> More and more Japanese phones are going in this direction, and
>the handsets are just wonderful. Most of my associates from there
>carry gorgeous handsets that work the moment they get off the plane.
>One hardly wants to look at a US cell phone after visiting Japan.
>
> I actually pay very little for my wife and I to have a phone
>over there, and it would probably cost me more to use this while
>traveling. But over there I'd have access to 3.6 meg. Internet access
>anywhere, and I think the phone can even be tethered (though I'm not
>sure about that). The best part would be a single telephone number.
>
> Anyway, I'm guessing there are some here who have experience
>w/T-Mobile. I've never given them a moment's thought, but welcome any
>opinions.
>
> Thanks, DGI
T Mobile has the distinct disadvantage (like Sprint) of using the less
desireable 1.9 Ghz Band for communication.
850 Mhz that Verizon and ATT use is much to be preferred.
| |
| Bert Hyman 2007-11-06, 10:33 pm |
| In news:4at0j3psv0h51re
39mjud16acn8i0s1ues@
4ax.com Ron
<ron.clifford@peoplepc.com> wrote:
> 850 Mhz that Verizon and ATT use is much to be preferred.
Why so?
Besides, AT&T, VZW and Sprint operate in the 1800/1900 MZhz band too.
--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert@iphouse.com
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| David G. Imber 2007-11-06, 10:33 pm |
| On 07 Nov 2007 00:38:13 GMT, Bert Hyman <bert@iphouse.com> wrote:
>In news:4at0j3psv0h51re
39mjud16acn8i0s1ues@
4ax.com Ron
><ron.clifford@peoplepc.com> wrote:
>
>
>Why so?
>
>Besides, AT&T, VZW and Sprint operate in the 1800/1900 MZhz band too.
I should let the person who stated that answer, but my
understanding is that the shorter wavelength allows the signal to
achieve greater penetration. I often see people on their Verizon
phones while deep inside the core structure of very large buildings,
and in subway stations that are deep underground - places where I
can't ever hope for a signal with SPCS.
I think I answered my own original question, however, when I
looked at the cost of roaming on T-Mobile while in Japan. Unless I'm
reading it wrong, it's $2/minute, which is way out of line. Right now
I use a phone on my brother-in-law's family plan that's dirt cheap. Of
course it's not my regular phone or my regular number. But for
somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 cents a minute with 100 free text
messages a month anywhere in Japan, I can probably live with that.
DGI
| |
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| On 07 Nov 2007 00:38:13 GMT, Bert Hyman <bert@iphouse.com> wrote:
>In news:4at0j3psv0h51re
39mjud16acn8i0s1ues@
4ax.com Ron
><ron.clifford@peoplepc.com> wrote:
>
>
>Why so?
The higher freqquency propagates less far from a tower given the same
emergy, and also does less well penetratinbg buildings. Simple
physics.
>
>Besides, AT&T, VZW and Sprint operate in the 1800/1900 MZhz band too.
Only is a small minority of siruations do Verizon and ATT use 1900,
Sprint however is almost exclusively 1900. 1800 is used in Europe,
not in the USA.
| |
|
| Ron wrote:
> The higher freqquency propagates less far from a tower given the same
> emergy, and also does less well penetratinbg buildings. Simple
> physics.
Either frequency propagates equally well, its the smaller antenna
aperture of the higher frequency that gives the illusion of greater loss.
Studies about fifteen years ago by a national paging company showed the
tripping point for building penetration was around 900 MHz. 900 MHz had
better facade penetration than UHF and VHF, above 900 MHz had more
structural material attenuation.
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| Steve Sobol 2007-11-06, 10:33 pm |
| On 2007-11-07, Ron <ron.clifford@peoplepc.com> wrote:
> Sprint however is almost exclusively 1900.
Sprint is exclusively 1900 (not almost).
T-Mobile is also exclusively 1900.
--
Steve Sobol, Victorville, CA PGP:0xE3AE35ED www.SteveSobol.com
Geek-for-hire. Details: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevesobol
| |
| danny burstein 2007-11-06, 10:33 pm |
| In <slrnfj2f80.g99.sjsobol@amethyst.justthe.net> Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> writes:
>On 2007-11-07, Ron <ron.clifford@peoplepc.com> wrote:
[color=darkred]
>Sprint is exclusively 1900 (not almost).
>T-Mobile is also exclusively 1900.
T-Mobile has lower frequency roaming partners.
Dunno about Sprint's digital arrangements, but
some of their phones include the ability to
roam onto the legacy analog systems.
--
____________________
____________________
_____________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
| |
| Steve Sobol 2007-11-07, 4:33 am |
| On 2007-11-07, danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> wrote:
> T-Mobile has lower frequency roaming partners.
> Dunno about Sprint's digital arrangements, but
> some of their phones include the ability to
> roam onto the legacy analog systems.
It used to be that if you were roaming on Sprint you were AMPS, but several
years ago they started added digital roaming also.
--
Steve Sobol, Victorville, CA PGP:0xE3AE35ED www.SteveSobol.com
Geek-for-hire. Details: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevesobol
| |
| danny burstein 2007-11-07, 4:33 am |
| In <slrnfj2hf4.jgb.sjsobol@amethyst.justthe.net> Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> writes:
>On 2007-11-07, danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> wrote:
[color=darkred]
[color=darkred]
>It used to be that if you were roaming on Sprint you were AMPS, but several
>years ago they started added digital roaming also.
A friend of mine with a fairly new (one year or so)
Sprint phone was with me in a middle-of-nowhere area
and she asked me what the "analog roam" notation
on it meant.
Eyup.
I was suprised, too...
--
____________________
____________________
_____________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
| |
| Bert Hyman 2007-11-07, 10:33 am |
| imber@maniform.com (David G. Imber) wrote in
news:5r82j3hhb7d8cv3
67utongmrpdm7i4qi5q@
4ax.com:
> I think I answered my own original question, however, when I
> looked at the cost of roaming on T-Mobile while in Japan. Unless
> I'm reading it wrong, it's $2/minute, which is way out of line. ...
I don't know what sort of arrangements can be had in Japan, but when
I was in Norway this past summer, I took an unlocked quad-band GSM
phone (previously tied to T-Mobile) and bought a pre-paid SIM on a
local carrier (Netcom http://www.netcom.no/). It's way cheaper than
getting ripped off by a US carrier's roaming agreement.
--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN | bert@iphouse.com
| |
| William H. Bowen 2007-11-07, 12:33 pm |
| danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> wrote:
>In <slrnfj2hf4.jgb.sjsobol@amethyst.justthe.net> Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> writes:
>
>
>
>
>
>A friend of mine with a fairly new (one year or so)
>Sprint phone was with me in a middle-of-nowhere area
>and she asked me what the "analog roam" notation
>on it meant.
>
>Eyup.
>
>I was suprised, too...
Danny,
My Sprint LG PM-225 has AMPS (analog) capability. As we get closer
to the sunsetting of AMPS in 2008 we'll see fewer phones with AMPS
capability. Since I do go into "far side of nowhere" areas from time
to time I'm tempted to keep the old LG.
On the other hand, Sprint is now offering some devices (right now a
couple of Blackberrys) that are combo CDMA/GSM for international use.
Regards,
Bill Bowen
Sacramento, CA
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| Joel Koltner 2007-11-12, 10:33 pm |
| "William H. Bowen" <wh_bowen@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:luv3j312qfjtu3r
b8mvedjgf4ecnu0q38q@
4ax.com...
> On the other hand, Sprint is now offering some devices (right now a
> couple of Blackberrys) that are combo CDMA/GSM for international use.
Get'em while they're hot -- Sprint has a history of changing their minds on
whether or not they offer such phones; it's good to see some available again.
(My mother has an IP-A790 from the last time Sprint was so enlightened; great
phone for her purposes, jumping back and forth between the U.S. and New
Zealand.)
---Joel
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| David G. Imber 2007-11-13, 4:33 am |
| On Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:10:09 -0800, "Joel Koltner"
< JKolstad71HatesSpam@
yahoo.com> wrote:
>"William H. Bowen" <wh_bowen@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
> news:luv3j312qfjtu3r
b8mvedjgf4ecnu0q38q@
4ax.com...
>
>Get'em while they're hot -- Sprint has a history of changing their minds on
>whether or not they offer such phones; it's good to see some available again.
>(My mother has an IP-A790 from the last time Sprint was so enlightened; great
>phone for her purposes, jumping back and forth between the U.S. and New
I'm not sure if I'm missing something, but I checked into the
feasibility of one of these phones for when I'm traveling in Japan. I
simply can't justify paying USD $2/minute for every call. At present I
pay next to nothing to use the local phone system when there (I'm on
my brother-in-law's family plan - NTT Docomo), and that includes
unlimited texting. As I recall, even calling the US from there is only
about USD 0.60/minute. Of course it's inconvenient not to be able to
maintain a single number. But it seems to me that cost would have to
be no object at all to be willing to abide that disparity.
DGI
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