Cell phone technology

[Donald]

I don't claim to be an SME on cell phone technology but recently learned that Verizon is looking to move away from CDMA and put voice in data packets (VOIP) and basically move towards a pure data network using LTE and 5G.

I remember the days when you would buy a phone it it would be strictly a GSM phone or a TDMA or a CDMA. Europe was GSM and Verizon was CDMA and maybe AT&T was also GSM. TDMA did not last too long.

 

[Hall]

This has been VZW's plan for quite a few years. If I'm not mistaken, most modern VZW smartphones are already using LTE for data and CDMA for voice service (and basic texting). Plus, you can turn on / enable VoLTE (Voice over LTE) and avoid CDMA.

 

[Gokhan]

I don't claim to be an SME on cell phone technology but recently learned that Verizon is looking to move away from CDMA and put voice in data packets (VOIP) and basically move towards a pure data network using LTE and 5G.

I remember the days when you would buy a phone it it would be strictly a GSM phone or a TDMA or a CDMA. Europe was GSM and Verizon was CDMA and maybe AT&T was also GSM. TDMA did not last too long.

CDMA lacked worldwide compatibility but had more capacity than GSM, albeit it didn't allow simultaneous voice and data and had worse call quality and more call drops. However, it's not just Verizon, and it's not just CDMA and GSM. 2G, 3G, and 3.5G are being turned off by all mobile network operators, and soon, it will be only 4G, 4.5G, and 5G in the US. This is long overdue, but people are complaining to stop the process so that they can still use their ten-year-old phones.

 

[bullwinkle]

Yes, I replaced my perfectly good CDMA iPhone 4 with a (1st gen) SE because they were supposed to discontinue it. The 4 had better voice coverage than the LTE SE does. Grrr!

 

[skyactiv]

Never heard of TDMA. My dad had a bag phone when I was a kid. Maybe it was on TDMA?

 

[bullwinkle]

CDMA lacked worldwide compatibility but had more capacity than GSM, albeit it didn't allow simultaneous voice and data and had worse call quality and more call drops. However, it's not just Verizon, and it's not just CDMA and GSM. 2G, 3G, and 3.5G are being turned off by all mobile network operators, and soon, it will be only 4G, 4.5G, and 5G in the US. This is long overdue, but people are complaining to stop the process so that they can still use their ten-year-old phones.

Sad thing is, the departed VZW analog phones had the best voice coverage of anyone, every “upgrade” they’ve made has made voice coverage worse.

 

[Carmudgeon]

VZW stopped activating new 3G phones in 2018, and has been trying to deactivate its CDMA network for a few years. I think they have finally set 2023 as the deadline after a couple delayed attempts.

TMO plans to shut down Sprint's old CDMA network in 2022. That has not made Charlie Ergen happy, since Dish Network's Boost subscribers rely on it and will be left in the cold. Perhaps he should direct his ire at his lawyers, who seemed to have failed to negotiate an adequate grace period as part of the Boost acquisition terms.

The jump to VoLTE was a major boost in sound quality for me.

 

[PandaBear]

It is about time. CDMA and WCDMA are not that bandwidth efficient and these days it is all about data for most users. Most people have enough signal coverage and if they don't either will be provided a FEM to Cell or new band opened up in the former analog TV band to cover them.

VoTLE has been around for a while and it is about time they refarm the 2G/3G coverage to LTE and 5G.

 

[mk378]

In the early 1990s, TDMA was brought out to carry three times as many calls per MHz of radio bandwidth as analog. Everyone in the industry realized that a mere 3x improvement was not going to be sufficient to solve any problems. Actual deployment of the standard was very tepid.

 

[Donald]

At the end of the day one still needs to get decent cell reception to be able to take advantage of LTE or 5G. I am in WIFi most of the time.

 

[wwillson]

All cellular carriers are on VoLTE (voip) already. They all pretty much had to for many reasons including that spectral efficiency is so much better with VoLTE.

 

[jhellwig]

I don't claim to be an SME on cell phone technology but recently learned that Verizon is looking to move away from CDMA and put voice in data packets (VOIP) and basically move towards a pure data network using LTE and 5G.

I remember the days when you would buy a phone it it would be strictly a GSM phone or a TDMA or a CDMA. Europe was GSM and Verizon was CDMA and maybe AT&T was also GSM. TDMA did not last too long.

Ha, glad my company isn‘t the only ones that use SME.

 

[bullwinkle]

VZW stopped activating new 3G phones in 2018, and has been trying to deactivate its CDMA network for a few years. I think they have finally set 2023 as the deadline after a couple delayed attempts.

TMO plans to shut down Sprint's old CDMA network in 2022. That has not made Charlie Ergen happy, since Dish Network's Boost subscribers rely on it and will be left in the cold. Perhaps he should direct his ire at his lawyers, who seemed to have failed to negotiate an adequate grace period as part of the Boost acquisition terms.

The jump to VoLTE was a major boost in sound quality for me.

I’ve been considering a move to Boost for home phone (& replacing wife’s Tracfone), but I cannot get a straight answer from Boost on WiFi calling, they have literally NO customer service. My limited experience with Sprint (Virgin Mobile) was, they’re not reliable enough here.

 

[bullwinkle]

At the end of the day one still needs to get decent cell reception to be able to take advantage of LTE or 5G. I am in WIFi most of the time.

I work in too many remote locations, I can’t even get the company’s nearly worthless AT&T to work at least half the time, I have to use customer WiFi too.

 

[Carmudgeon]

I’ve been considering a move to Boost for home phone (& replacing wife’s Tracfone), but I cannot get a straight answer from Boost on WiFi calling, they have literally NO customer service. My limited experience with Sprint (Virgin Mobile) was, they’re not reliable enough here.

Dish was expecting to have three to five years to build out their own network, so the 2022 cutoff was not good news.

It would probably be wise to avoid Boost altogether, given that Dish has no network, and no experience as a cell provider, and will need time to get up to speed. One only needs to recall the early days of TMO US, when it relied on AT&T's network for service, and had horrible coverage. It eventually got better, but was still weaker than Big Red and Big Blue, until it spent lots of money to buy more spectrum, especially low band that would penetrate buildings.

TMO only got the goverrnment ok to buy Sprint by selling its table scraps to Dish, to create a fourth carrier option. That may eventually be the case, but right now, it's anything but.

MVNOs are attractive because of their pricing, not their service. It's more of a hands-on experience, with the saving grace being that there are no commitments, so at least moving isn't too hard.

 

[alarmguy]

...

MVNOs are attractive because of their pricing, not their service. It's more of a hands-on experience, with the saving grace being that there are no commitments, so at least moving isn't too hard.

I think the problem with MVNOs are nothing more then every carrier being lumped into one name/under one term = MVNO
For decades the Companies Sprint, ATT, Verizon and TMobile. One of those four would always get trashed by someone voicing an opinion on "best carrier" someone, many people, always have an issue with one of those four and why they didnt use them.

Same with MVNOs but for some reason, we dont use the name of the companies we just lump them into MVNOs so they all get trashed without reason.
Anyway for our family, been using cell phones since around 1998, ATT and Sprint.
Around 2010 we cut them off and went to Straight Talk on ATT, it was a home run at the time, no difference in service and better price.

Fast forward to better pricing from Cricket and switched to them around 2013, 3 lines, unlimited everything for Under $100. Wow, worked out great, same great service, again, on the ATT network, Same stellar service.

Fast forward to around 2017, Switched to Red Pocket, with Red pocket I was allowed to Choose ATT, Verizon, TMoble and now closed down Sprint. We currently pay $70.25 (actual payment) for all three lines, unlimited everything (and if it matters over 10gb per line of high speed, I cant remember the exact number, we never come close to using it all) With Red Pocket we still chose the ATT service, just super great in our area.

Some background, all those years above, I also had a company provided Verizon IPhone. So I had my personal phone and company phone.There was no difference in service or coverage with the above companies then with Verizon.

Also, the above prices are actual PAYMENT prices NOT the smoke and mirror pricing of other companies.

Just posting this for those who maybe thinking of dumping the mainstream. Red pocket rules, it works so well that its down right boring.
Amazing how far cell service has come,

 

[Hall]

At the end of the day one still needs to get decent cell reception to be able to take advantage of LTE or 5G. I am in WIFi most of the time.

I don't think there are many, if any, towers that aren't equipped for LTE/5G transmission at this point though. Now, is the strength, coverage, etc identical on a 1:1 basis between the technologies ? No idea...

 

[PandaBear]

Cell coverage is VERY location specific.

I know a lot of people have absolutely no coverage whatsoever with other than ATT or Verizon in THEIR locations. I have also seen people with no problem in downtown of major cities with the latest phone (supporting the latest low frequency band) on TMO today. You really need to try it out to see what works (hint: if you want to try TMO but don't want to switch yet sign up for a MVNO and then cancel if you don't like it, like Google Fi, they charge by day and number of MB you use, something like 1c per MB).

I had problem with TMO a few years ago, I am on it now with iPhone 11, it works fine now. TDMA is very expensive for the amount of traffic they can support and nobody would want to use it these days other than very remote location that does not justify upgrade. It is not inherently better on the same band and equipment. If they swap it out with the VoLTE equipment on the same band with the same power output it will have the same penetration and same coverage.

 

[Hall]

Cell coverage is VERY location specific.

I know a lot of people have absolutely no coverage whatsoever

Kinda a funny story about my sister-in-law and her family years ago. They got suckered into signing up with T-Mobile with a promotion, everyone got brand-new phones, etc, etc, etc. They get home and have NO service at their own house.

 

[Donald]

Kinda a funny story about my sister-in-law and her family years ago. They got suckered into signing up with T-Mobile with a promotion, everyone got brand-new phones, etc, etc, etc. They get home and have NO service at their own house.

I think T-Mobile focused on cities and interstate. Despite the cute girl on the pink motorcycle in the ads going around and telling you how many cell towers they had.