[LazyStarGazer]

First off, I get confused by all the technical aspects of this so if my research or assumptions are off, be nice.

The Tour is primarily a cdma device, so it always searches for an EVDO signal first.

1. If I leave my providers coverage area, does it look for another cdma signal first, and then a GSM one?

2. I ask because Telus is cdma only for the next few months. When Telus switches on their hspda service, what signal will it choose?
(Its not roaming if its the same carrier)

As I understand it, because the Tour has UMTS and those other 2 gsm frequencies it should work on the new network.
( I looked up those 2 frequencies last night but can't remember the numbers now)

[SureStoreX]

Great question, I wanted to know the same thing. Hopefully someone can provide you with the answer.
I am assuming that you are holding out hope that the GSM SIM would run on NA 3G?
That is what I hoped for, and was one of the reasons I wanted this phone, for that possibility.

[Behzad13]

The Tour will not run on GSM 3G in North America as stated in other threads.

[LazyStarGazer]

The Tour will not run on GSM 3G in North America as stated in other threads.

Ok, but are the other gsm networks in N.A.
hspa or hspDa, and does that make a difference?

I have read up on this stuff, but I get lost in acronyms, specs and blah blah blah...

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[Tyrrell117]

I don't know the exact difference between HSPDA and GSM, but in order for the Tour to be able to actually use the GSM signal it might find, you would need an active SIM Card.

I don't think it can look for both signals at the same time, i think you have to set the phone to either look for the CDMA signal, or use the SIM card and look for a GSM signal.

[richro]

I thought it didn't support the appropriate frequencies for 3G GSM in the US?

[pkcable]

I believe the Tour will have more GSM radios than the Storm.

[richro]

Yes, but those are the 2G GSM bands. The Storm and Tour (at least going by currently published specs) both only have a single-band 2100MHz UMTS radio, which AFAIK is not used in North America. In other words, we're missing the UMTS 850/1900 bands that would be needed for 3G HSPA.

[LazyStarGazer]

@Tyrrell117

GSM - have a look at GSM - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
HSPDA - have a look at High-Speed Downlink Packet Access - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I hope it would be not so difficult to understand information

Hey, thanks for not trying to hide your condescension. Here, let me help you feel even more superior. I have read articles like that. They are technical, I am not. I need someone to dumb it down enough for me to understand.

Will the Tour work on Telus's new hspDa network?

richro Yes, but those are the 2G GSM bands. The Storm and Tour (at least going by currently published specs) both only have a single-band 2100MHz UMTS radio, which AFAIK is not used in North America. In other words, we're missing the UMTS 850/1900 bands that would be needed for 3G HSPA.

Is this the final answer ?

[JRSCCivic98]

No 3G on the Storm or Tour if used on a 3G GSM/HSDPA style network that doesn't work on the 2100MHz band. Simple as that. What frequency will Telus be running? I can't answer that, but if it's the same as US (AT&T), then it won't work on it. You'll need to keep it on XEV to maintain good signal.

[LazyStarGazer]

No 3G on the Storm or Tour if used on a 3G GSM/HSDPA style network that doesn't work on the 2100MHz band. Simple as that. What frequency will Telus be running? I can't answer that, but if it's the same as US (AT&T), then it won't work on it. You'll need to keep it on XEV to maintain good signal.

Thanks JRS.

Here is the initial press release from Telus. Bottom of the 7th paragraph, they reference 850Mhz & 1900Mhz, so I guess that would be a no?

Home | Media | TELUS

[ushneb]

I think this is all pretty stupid of Telus especially considering they're moving to HSPA+ in the near future. Why sell a device that will only work on CDMA over 3G and not GSM? But it's not like they're going to turn off all CDMA towers anyways so it really doesn't matter. Telus people will just have to wait for other Blackberry's that are GSM only. Perhaps the Onyx(Bold 9020)?

[blackmannx]

Telus will not be turning off their CDMA network for quite awhile and most of this upcoming lineup isnt set to use their new GSM network.. Vzw doesnt want a world phone on their network that can use at&t's 3g network as it would hurt customer retention.

[BlackBerry Guy]

The transition period from 3G CDMA to LTE will be a while. Likely over the course of a few years, like when Rogers went from TDMA to GSM, with both networks running side by side. They're not gonna flip the switch and shut down the CDMA network over night, especially with the existing service area.

[LazyStarGazer]

Thanks to all for taking the time to answer.
I was hoping to have the only phone in the Telus lineup that could use their new network, but, oh well.

EVDO is good enough for the next year or so.

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[noaim]

in north america..

if on GSM with the tour it will only receive edge data..

just like the storm...

[LazyStarGazer]

Thanks noaim.

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[paultyler_82]

I just wanted to clear the whole thing up for people, because I know this whole standards thing is tough to understand, especially when the marketing people get in on it and start pasting on names. This post is going to be long winded, I'm sorry in advance.

The first thing people need to understand is that GSM and 3G GSM are not the same thing... in fact 3G GSM isn't GSM at all.
1. GSM is a 2nd Generation telecom standard that uses TDMA access mode
2. "3G" is actually UMTS, a 3rd Generation standard that uses W-CDMA access mode
3. GSM and UMTS use a lot of the same equipment on the provider's side, and they can hand off between each other relatively transparently.
Most "World GSM 3G" phones have a quadband GSM and triband UTMS radio, this covers the most common bands in use:
850/900/1800/1900 for GSM
and 850/1900/2100 for UMTS

This doesn't cover every area, of course as Japan also has 800MHz UMTS coverage, and T-Mobile is using 1700MHz for the uplink side of their deployment.

The Tour, like the Storm, will function and roam 100% in CDMA in the US... if it can't find an EV-DO signal it will drop down to 1XRTT, just like any other CDMA phone. If you unlock the SIM side, you could then activate the SIM profile with a US carrier SIM in the slot and use their network, however, you will only get GSM/EDGE service. The Tour and Storm only have a singleband 2100 UMTS radio and none of the providers in the States use that band for UMTS.

I know this whole multi-band business sucks and is overly confusing, but what you have to remember is that GSM and UMTS are worldwide standards and there is no one multinational organization responsible for assigning radio bandwidth, like the FCC does in the US. Because every nation has their own way of assigning bandwidth, when the standards came to exsist, they couldn't be implemented on the same bands in every country, because some countries had already assigned services on a certain band. Here's an example, some Japan telecoms use 800MHz for part of their UMTS deployment, this is not an option in the US due to this band already being congested due to public safety radio use, trunked private radio systems, as well as iDEN.

[LazyStarGazer]

I'm gonna save this thread, because others are bound to ask the same question in the future.

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[Behzad13]

Thank you for this excellent clarification, Paul.

[paultyler_82]

Hey, no prob, I know that phone terminology gets confusing... especially when they let the marketing people in on it.

[LazyStarGazer]

It's a little late now, but I also just found the answer to this by accident on the Blackberry site. I went to devices, compare devices. Lined up the 8330, Tour, Bold and Storm. Bottom tab, wireless network. Of these 4, the bold is the only one rated/checkmarked for HSDPA.

[noaim]

It's a little late now, but I also just found the answer to this by accident on the Blackberry site. I went to devices, compare devices. Lined up the 8330, Tour, Bold and Storm. Bottom tab, wireless network. Of these 4, the bold is the only one rated/checkmarked for HSDPA.

I think the tour supports more.. then that of the storm..

not all check marks are correct on all sites.

[LazyStarGazer]

It's Blackberry.com
I would hope if any site posts accurate info it would be theirs. But, of course mistakes happen.

[paultyler_82]

It's Blackberry.com
I would hope if any site posts accurate info it would be theirs. But, of course mistakes happen.

Their compare tool isn't always completely accurate though on RIM's pages... sometimes there are errors and omissions on that.