Cell phones forum: CDMA vs. GSM

No real difference, just better coverage area because of type of phone. I guess what I am trying to find out, is one better or worse than the other and if there are any differences what are they.
Thanks.

What is this "they are the same" dance you are doing. "If Implemented properly"... my a**. GSM phones are all super-sweet it seems, but hey, no towers! TDMA and CDMA are almost all over the country. I get CDMA service underneath the freakin Hudson river (seriously, if you don't know, the NJ Transit tunnels, and Holland and Lincoln Tunnels ge service, not sure about PATH haven't been there in awhile but it wasn't hot a year ago) I am not particularly a huge fan of Verizon, but at least when I get stranded on a skiing trip somewhere in Vermont I'll be able to pick up an AMPS signal.

JD Powers has consumer surveys rating the carriers by region. Both T-Mobile and Verizon do well, so I don't think it's a CDMA vs. GSM issue. It really just depends on the kind of coverage each provider/system has in your specific area.

More details on the JD Powers surveys here:
http://www.wirefly.net

To be honest, I had AT&T Wireless and then moved to Verizon went Cingular ignored me. Verizon had better coverage than Cingular. Also, with 3g networks, Cingulat and T-Mobile are supossed to move to WCDMA (BASED ON CDMA). WHy doesn't everyone move to Verizon or Sprint. CDMA has better coverage in the States. Altough when it comes to international, GSM takes it. Go with what suited you.

I have found just the opposite. I have Unicel (GSM) with a well-rated Nokia phone and it has been terrible. I cannot get any signal at all in my office and it can take days for me to receive voice mails that people left me. I'll be driving along and all-of-a-sudden I finally get a signal and instantly receive multiple voice mails that were left for me days earlier. Whereas my coworker has an el-cheapo Jitterbug phone and service with CDMA and has no problem getting a signal. The Unicel store salesman admitted that CDMA has more penetrating power to get through building walls than GSM and said taht the problem is with GSM, not the phone. So I agree with the other people that say CDMA is generally better--at least for those of us who use cell phones as our main phone indoors and out.

T-Mobile was the first to introduce GSM. Now AT&T and Cingular are using GSM. Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, and US Cellular use CDMA. I don't know what othersmaller providers there are and which digital standard they use. One thing I will mention is GSM is used around the world where CDMA is only used in the United States, Japan, and South Korea.

Exactly. I'm not totally biased here, but I do work for Verizon Wireless. CDMA is more secure (i.e. output is coded in packets of data). It really just depends on the person who is using the service. I mean, some people LOVE T-Mobile. Personally, I had Verizon Wireless for years before I worked there. I switched to T-Mobile because my wife wanted a sidekick for her birthday. I got her one and myself one and was completely let down. I live in Phoenix, so it is a major metropolitan area, but the damn sidekicks' coverage sucks. Whenever she calls me from her kick the signal breaks up and it's horrible. When I started working there, I got us both the LG V. We now have kicks and V's and she even praises the V's coverage and has been preaching it to her friends. I will say that the functionality when it comes to Internet navigating is better with the kick, but slower. GSM is huge overseas, and they have a lot more features over there. The problem is that GSM in the U.S. is slightly different than the GSM the rest of the world uses. If you live in the United States, CDMA is the most secure and best for coverage. However, some locals will differ.

Honest, this is just speculation on what I know between AT&T and T-Mobile.

Yes - A Verizon phone can work on Sprint's network and vise-versa.

Maybe - In your question on wireless connectivity between the two for coverage, T-Mobile has a similar service agreement with AT&T where if there is no native coverage from T-Mobile, but with a strong AT&T signal, a T-Mo phone can roam within AT&T without charges. However, that may not be the case between Verizon and Sprint. If there is such an agreement, local or otherwise, then you got your answer. Best bet is to contact your cell provider and simply ask or a web site with their signal coverage.

the difference between the two, is the spectrum under which the two operates.

CDMA offeres better quality of data, also offers limited dropped calls than GSM.
CDMA has no simcard unlucky GSM
the coverage is wider for CDMA.

Same old same old... CANADA has Both GSM & CDMA and one Cell provider here may soon have GSM & CDMA phones. the diffrence between CDMA and GSM Boils down to CDMA being more secure as the digial encryption is then broken down in to the CDMA protocals and then encrypted in CDMA. CDMA is not as popular in other countries due to the fact that in most GSM nations there are so meny providers that is is just mor partical. in the US and Canada you take a CDMA and a GSM lets say Treo 650 and about 89% of the time CDMA will be better. Droped calls, repeat messages, "T"Boned calls are all the facts of life with GSM in North America.

CDMA able to connect to both base station and determine whether to decode from one or two signal receive from either base station.
But for GSM at any one time you are allow to connect to one base station to receive and decode data.

Just wanted to point out that GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications and the name really stands for the biggest advantage for the user - the GSM operators have through their GSM Forum managed to drive toward a truly global standard which means that you can actually use your phone almost globally - even in some cases here in the United States. Unfortunately our operators doesn't seem to get it over here despite all marketing hype about "coast to coast coverage" etc. and North America is still very much like a developing country when it comes to cellular phones.

I been using CDMA for about 5years now.

Guess what both systems are fine, HOWEVER, GSM yes it's global but, how many of you REALLY travel outside the country, let alone the city, enough times to validate GSM service?

GSM phnoes have more toys - better mp3 player capabilities and ringtones, and just overall better selection of phones.

But did you buy an mp3 player to play music? or a phone to communicate?

Best analogy of GSM - in a room full of people imagine everyone trying to have a conversation with each other, but instead of saying full sentences, everyone said one word at a time, until everyone said their one word. Then it would start back at the first person and say his second word, and so on.

CDMA, in a room full of people (double or even triple the amount of people i might add), imagine everyone talking to each other, but in a different language at the same time.

Anyways coverage is much better with CDMA 110 kms versus GSM 35kms.

Do a search, each have their own pros/cons.
As much as I want a kick ass phone with a lot of toys. Ill stick with my coverage, so I won't get a lot of dropped calls.

America is behind in cellular technology? If that were the case why is Qualcomm(based in Cali) such a strong leader and force to be messed with in cellular technology.

You think people got stupid all of a sudden just didn't know what to do anymore and stopped progressing?
Try to get a job with one of these companies and see if you get one, it's not easy. There are smart people working on these things and I have a pretty good idea that they know what they're doing

Qualcomm is far from ''nowhere'' these days. As you say, 3GSM is the future (along with 1xEV-DO) and guess what? 3GSM *is* CDMA (UMTS/WCDMA) and Qualcomm gets a royalty for every 3GSM device sold worldwide. As for defying international standards, IS-95 is an international standard for CDMA.