Yes, that was my comment. I don't have a Verizon CDMA phone, therefore I pay more for EVDO service. My need for GSM is based on International roaming. Very simple, I just didn't write it well.
Also, GPRS is *not* even close to a 1xEV-DO replacement. Even 1xRTT is faster than GPRS. EDGE (GSM data service) is faster than 1xRTT, but still slower than 1xEV-DO. GSM 2.5/3G services: GPRS avg speeds 30-80 kbits/sec - max speed 160kbits/sec EDGE max speed 236 kbits/sec CDMA 2.5/3G services: 1xRTT max speed 144 kbits/sec 1xEV-DO avg speeds 400-700 kbits/sec - max speed 2.5 mbits/sec ** speed data from Wikipedia --Reggie On 2/8/06, Rick DeNatale <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On 2/8/06, Alan Porter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > >...since I don't have a Verizon cell phone > > >(need GSM). > > > > > > > > > > I'm not sure how to read this sentence. It can go > > either way. So to clarify... > > > > Verizon is a CDMA carrier. > > Sprint is CDMA. > > Cingular (in NC) is GSM. > > > > EVDO is a CDMA standard. > > The GSM equivalent is GPRS. > > I'm assuming that he meant that: > 1) He pays more for his EVDO service from Verizon than he would if he > also had a Verizon phone. > 2) The reason that he doesn't have a Verizon phone is that he needs GSM. > > That said, I'm beginning to wonder why, given the state of GSM in the > US, anyone here would NEED GSM for use in the US. I used to think > that way when I was doing a lot of international travel, so I got a > GSM phone so that I could roam overseas. Problem was, none of the US > GSM providers (at least the ones available in NC) seem to agree with > the "normal" GSM business model. They all lock the phone to their SIM > card which limits you to their expensive international roaming rates. > T-Mobile might be different but they're not available here in NC. > > You might be able to get a US GSM phone unlocked via a third party, > but it's dependent on which phone you have. Some of the folks I > travelled with preferred having a CDMA phone for use here, and an > inexpensive GSM phone which they could populate with a SIM card > obtained locally where they were traveling, and if they wanted to set > up forwarding from their US number to the overseas number, which > turned out to be cheaper than using the US providers overseas roaming. > > For whatever reason, not having thought all this through, when ATT got > out of the mobile business, I switched to Cingular to keep GSM, rather > than getting defaulted to SunCom. This was unfortunate, since > Cingular still hasn't built out their GSM network to the point where > it works everywhere I need it. For example I've got no coverage at our > second home in Rutherford County. > > -- > Rick DeNatale > > Visit the Project Mercury Wiki Site > http://www.mercuryspacecraft.com/ > -- > TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug > TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ > TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/ > -- TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
