[purextasy88]

I'm still pretty new to this so forgive me if this is a dumb question. What is CDMA and GSM networks and what is the difference between them? Also say for some reason I wanted to leave Sprint (doubt it would happen but you get what i'm sayin) if I took my Tour to another carrier that used GSM would it be 2G or 3G? I hope that made sense, im up on baby feeding time so my brain is not running on all 6 cylinders lol. Thanks for the help.

[Bagums]

I'll answer what I know, you could take your tour to a gsm carrier but you would first need to unlock it, to do that do a search in the forums and you should find helpful information on unlocking for free through sprint. It would also be 2g here in the United States as the gsm band only allows the tour to get 2g if you were to use it in europe it would be 3g.

[Cnug726]

GSM-SimCard CDMA-IMEI er watever numbers

I know, I know...dumb~inaccurate answer but that's what i know.

[GooTz66]

Here is a good place to start http://forums.crackberry.com/f139/co...embers-289903/Then use your good friend google. May want to also check out How to use SEARCH thread in my sig

Edit: Also good idea to read the BB101 Lecture Series if you havent already!

[gmkahuna]

GSM-SimCard CDMA-IMEI er watever numbers

I know, I know...dumb~inaccurate answer but that's what i know.

Doesn't the Tour come with a Sim Card and work on CDMA? Not being a wise guy because I honestly have no idea of the answer here.

[SoCaliTrojan]

Doesn't the Tour come with a Sim Card and work on CDMA? Not being a wise guy because I honestly have no idea of the answer here.

The Tour is a world phone. It's primarily CDMA, but it has a GSM radio and sim card to allow you to access a GSM network overseas where CDMA is unavailable.

CDMA and GSM are competing network technologies. They use different frequencies and handle stuff differently. In CDMA, the voice and data signals are separated, which allows more space for data. This makes it good for multimedia and broadband access.

In GSM, the signals are encrypted/secured together which reduces the chance for fraud. For example, you can't listen in on a conversation: law enforcement who want to tap your cell phone will have to tap the line after your cell phone has reached the cell phone company (e.g., after it is decrypted and then sent over hard lines). GSM is used predominantly throughout the world, so it's also good for roaming.

GSM phones store everything on a sim card, which is nice in that if you get a new phone, you can just swap the sim card and you're on the go. However, CDMA companies usually let you do esn swaps easily, so swapping phones is no longer an issue. One good thing is that some CDMA phones let you store the address book online (I love logging in on a computer and making address book changes there instead of on my phone). If you need to swap phones, or if your phone is stolen, you can just restore the address book from online. With a GSM phone, if your phone is stolen, so is your sim card and your address book.

As for using the Tour on a GSM network, it depends on which frequency is used. Certain countries will only use a certain frequency, hence the popularity of triple-band phones which can work on multiple frequency bands. If I'm not mistaken, the GSM network in America uses a frequency that only allows the Tour to use a 2G network.

[purextasy88]

jgutie, thanks for the link.

[purextasy88]

The Tour is a world phone. It's primarily CDMA, but it has a GSM radio and sim card to allow you to access a GSM network overseas where CDMA is unavailable.

CDMA and GSM are competing network technologies. They use different frequencies and handle stuff differently. In CDMA, the voice and data signals are separated, which allows more space for data. This makes it good for multimedia and broadband access.

In GSM, the signals are encrypted/secured together which reduces the chance for fraud. For example, you can't listen in on a conversation: law enforcement who want to tap your cell phone will have to tap the line after your cell phone has reached the cell phone company (e.g., after it is decrypted and then sent over hard lines). GSM is used predominantly throughout the world, so it's also good for roaming.

GSM phones store everything on a sim card, which is nice in that if you get a new phone, you can just swap the sim card and you're on the go. However, CDMA companies usually let you do esn swaps easily, so swapping phones is no longer an issue. One good thing is that some CDMA phones let you store the address book online (I love logging in on a computer and making address book changes there instead of on my phone). If you need to swap phones, or if your phone is stolen, you can just restore the address book from online. With a GSM phone, if your phone is stolen, so is your sim card and your address book.

As for using the Tour on a GSM network, it depends on which frequency is used. Certain countries will only use a certain frequency, hence the popularity of triple-band phones which can work on multiple frequency bands. If I'm not mistaken, the GSM network in America uses a frequency that only allows the Tour to use a 2G network.

Thanks. I understand it better now.

[gary4567]

In GSM, the signals are encrypted/secured together which reduces the chance for fraud. For example, you can't listen in on a conversation: law enforcement who want to tap your cell phone will have to tap the line after your cell phone has reached the cell phone company (e.g., after it is decrypted and then sent over hard lines). GSM is used predominantly throughout the world, so it's also good for roaming.

Actrually GSM is less secure than CDMA. GSM A/3 and A/5 encryption was publically broken a year or two ago. You can in fact buy third party commerical equipment to decrypt phone conversations sniffed out of the air via this equipment. CDMA is actually more secure due to the nature of it being Code Divison Multiplexing (meaning it's harder to sniff out of the air with third party equipment) and the encryption in use.

Check this link for more info:
CDMA IS-95 (Code Division Multiple Access) Digital Mobile Telephone Standard - Mobile/Cellular Technology

[wm2485]

These are the kind of threads I love. I spend soo much time reading these forums. I find the post, most of the time its stuff I've already read. This is so much better then "how loose is ur battery door?"

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[theanswer3]

CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access
CDMA is a system whereby all the users use the same frequency at the same time. How can this possibly work without interference being caused? It works by assigning each message a unique code. Think of it as assigning each message a different language and then place yourself in a room where you can hear all the messages together - the one you immediately understand is the one in the language you speak. So if you hear 'Je m'appelle Colin', 'Ich heisse Lyon' and 'My name is Derek', all spoken at the same time, the clearest message is the one in your native language. However this only works if all the messages are roughly the same volume (and in fact works best if all the messages are exactly the same volume), if one language is shouted a lot louder than the others, it inevitably swamps the listener so that he can no longer hear his natural language.
GSM - Global System for Mobile Communications
It can provide you with important features like a fax machine, encryption, text messaging (this is the most commonly used among its services), call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting and multi party conferencing. This is useful because you can talk to the other line without any interference from other calls. The reason for this is because, the frequency channel of GSM is divided into several time slots and as the data travels, there is a specified slot for it, away from the other data. Aside from this, there are also other important features that can be provided by the GSM.

There are several system components and basic services that GSM system can provide to its users. To start with, the key types of GSM devices both include single mode and dual mode mobile telephones, embedded radio modules and even external radio modems.

Since there is a need to distinguish between voice and data communication, GSM has found a way of resolving it. The GSM system has made a significant separation of the circuits between these two important elements - the circuit switch refers to the primary voice service and the packet switch refers to the primary data service.

[myersau]

great thread guys...thanks for all the good information! This is soooooooooooo much better than reading about how someone got there new green dot tour or some bull**** like that! GREAT INFORMATION!