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Probably simple questions relating GSM and CDMA...

Hello. I don't understand differences betwen GSM and CDMA so i have few questions.
0. What is the differences betwen this two?
1. In europe GSM is most popular cell network but how is in USA. Is there CDMA network?
2. Can i take my european HTC Kasier to USA and it will be work there with sim card from USA?
Thanks for any help. Best regards.

0) CDMA is newer but expensive compare with GSM but CDMA has better control and quality in data compression when the system reach the maximun number of users in calls. The advantage of GSM is that always is advancing, there're a lot of phone models available, the GSM SIM is a plus, due GSM is old is really well established in the world, with this the roaming is easier..
1) In USA the most popular technology is GSM but there're much more CDMA markets compare to Europe.
2) If the phone is unlocked, yes!

GSM is the way to go, I think. Here in the US, you can't take a domestic CDMA phone out of the country and use it...it's dead in the water. But the GSM phone will work fine, so long as it supports the proper bands.
Now, do I ever travel to Europe and Asia where I need to have to world-phone abilities of the GSM phone? No. But if I did...

Which version TP2 can I buy?

I'm planning to buy an TP2 from ebay but I couldn't decide which version(s) are compatible with my country's cellular networks. I use Vodafone in Turkey and Vodafone uses GSM 900 and UMTS 2100 bands. I read the forum a lot but I got very confused.
I'll use both UMTS and GSM networks because the UMTS covarage is limited in Turkey so far. I'm looking for Sprint or AT&T versions but I didn't understand if need to unlock these devices or not. In a thread I read that Sprint is unlocked for GSM networks but the same thread didn't mention anything about UMTS band. Please make suggestions to me.
I hope that I could explain my concerns clearly.

tasmania said:
I'm planning to buy an TP2 from ebay but I couldn't decide which version(s) are compatible with my country's cellular networks. I use Vodafone in Turkey and Vodafone uses GSM 900 and UMTS 2100 bands. I read the forum a lot but I got very confused.
I'll use both UMTS and GSM networks because the UMTS covarage is limited in Turkey so far. I'm looking for Sprint or AT&T versions but I didn't understand if need to unlock these devices or not. In a thread I read that Sprint is unlocked for GSM networks but the same thread didn't mention anything about UMTS band. Please make suggestions to me.
I hope that I could explain my concerns clearly.
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Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=566043
That should have the information about which phone you need. You can always unlock the phones, so make sure it has the correct GSM/CDMA networks and you should be fine.
*edit*
I should have mentioned this before. Sometimes carriers are really picky about which phones they will activate, make sure that Vodafone will activate the model TP2 that you get.

tasmania said:
I'm planning to buy an TP2 from ebay but I couldn't decide which version(s) are compatible with my country's cellular networks. I use Vodafone in Turkey and Vodafone uses GSM 900 and UMTS 2100 bands. I read the forum a lot but I got very confused.
I'll use both UMTS and GSM networks because the UMTS covarage is limited in Turkey so far. I'm looking for Sprint or AT&T versions but I didn't understand if need to unlock these devices or not. In a thread I read that Sprint is unlocked for GSM networks but the same thread didn't mention anything about UMTS band. Please make suggestions to me.
I hope that I could explain my concerns clearly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Sprint TP2 will work for you in its stock configuration.
It supports GSM 900, GSM 1800 and UMTS 2100 out of the box and it is NOT SIM locked. Basically all you'll have to do it pop in your SIM card and go.
Now, you will still have to register the IMEI with customs (assuming Turkey still has that stupid ass rule) so it doesn't get blocked from the network, but aside from that you're golden.
If you get the ATT version it will also work, however it will be SIM locked out of the box and you will have to unlock it to use it. The same is true of the Verizon TP2.

burtonsnow8 said:
That should have the information about which phone you need. You can always unlock the phones, so make sure it has the correct GSM/CDMA networks and you should be fine.
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I read that thread 3 times But the the explanations about GSM does not contain UMTS band so i need to ask. Thanks for your reply.

gamescan said:
The Sprint TP2 will work for you in its stock configuration.
It supports GSM 900, GSM 1800 and UMTS 2100 out of the box and it is NOT SIM locked. Basically all you'll have to do it pop in your SIM card and go.
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Thanks. This was the exact answer I expected to get.
On ebay i found a Sprint with bad ESN. In the descriptions it says that it can be used in any networks other than Sprint. Can I use a phone like this in Turkey with confidence?

tasmania said:
Thanks. This was the exact answer I expected to get.
On ebay i found a Sprint with bad ESN. In the descriptions it says that it can be used in any networks other than Sprint. Can I use a phone like this in Turkey with confidence?
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Yes. A Sprint Touch Pro 2 will work just fine with a Vodaphone SIM so long as your local network is one of the three frequencies that I listed.
You only need to replace the Radio ROM if you want to use it on US GSM frequencies.

gamescan said:
Yes. A Sprint Touch Pro 2 will work just fine with a Vodaphone SIM so long as your local network is one of the three frequencies that I listed.
You only need to replace the Radio ROM if you want to use it on US GSM frequencies.
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Thanks gamescan. Does a bad ESN phone be a problem for me?

tasmania said:
Thanks gamescan. Does a bad ESN phone be a problem for me?
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Bad ESN means that the phone has been banned from its home network.
This usually happens because:
1) There is an outstanding bill that was not paid
2) The phone was reported lost and claimed on insurance
3) The phone was stolen
If you are using it on another CDMA network or on a GSM network, the bad ESN will not impact you (aside from possibly in a karmic way).
If it does have a bad ESN you should get it pretty cheap.

gamescan said:
Bad ESN means that the phone has been banned from its home network.
This usually happens because:
1) There is an outstanding bill that was not paid
2) The phone was reported lost and claimed on insurance
3) The phone was stolen
If you are using it on another CDMA network or on a GSM network, the bad ESN will not impact you (aside from possibly in a karmic way).
If it does have a bad ESN you should get it pretty cheap.
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Thanks a lot for the valuable information you give gamescan.

[Q] Droid 2 Global 3G Bands outside the US

Hi all. I've just found out about this brilliant phone. Had no idea it existed. I've always liked the Motorola Milestone (qwerty physical keyboards are a must to me) however i ended up getting the wrong version of the milestone (european) with the wrong 3G bands for my carrier so i could only get Edge speeds.
Anyways, it seems like the Droid 2 Global version uses simcards. I live in the Dominican Republic, Claro (my carrier) runs on the 850/1900 bands and it seems like the D2G can work with them, in theory. I've been reading a couple of threads regarding this though, it seems like those bands have been locked out by verizon so people don't use it on other US carriers such as AT&T which happens to run on the same bands i need (850/1900). But others say its the carrier ID that has been locked out. I read something about a user being able to get 3G speeds on Chile, but i've no idea what bands he was using.
What i want to know is, if i ordered a Droid 2 Global phone, would i be getting 3G speeds using my Claro simcard here after having it sim-unlocked?
There's also the Milestone 2 of course, but they seem to cost $500+ plus they dont specify which bands the phone works with. I dont want to end up buying the wrong phone version again. Also, It seemsl ike the droid 2 global is being sold for a less ($300-400).

XtriFe said:
Hi all. I've just found out about this brilliant phone. Had no idea it existed. I've always liked the Motorola Milestone (qwerty physical keyboards are a must to me) however i ended up getting the wrong version of the milestone (european) with the wrong 3G bands for my carrier so i could only get Edge speeds.
Anyways, it seems like the Droid 2 Global version uses simcards. I live in the Dominican Republic, Claro (my carrier) runs on the 850/1900 bands and it seems like the D2G can work with them, in theory. I've been reading a couple of threads regarding this though, it seems like those bands have been locked out by verizon so people don't use it on other US carriers such as AT&T which happens to run on the same bands i need (850/1900). But others say its the carrier ID that has been locked out. I read something about a user being able to get 3G speeds on Chile, but i've no idea what bands he was using.
What i want to know is, if i ordered a Droid 2 Global phone, would i be getting 3G speeds using my Claro simcard here after having it sim-unlocked?
There's also the Milestone 2 of course, but they seem to cost $500+ plus they dont specify which bands the phone works with. I dont want to end up buying the wrong phone version again. Also, It seemsl ike the droid 2 global is being sold for a less ($300-400).
Click to expand...
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http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_droid_2_global-3636.php
read the spec

I am using my SIM-unlocked D2G fine here, on a carrier that uses 850MHz UMTS.
The Milestone 2, as far as I know, is still only available in a 900/2100 UMTS variant so far.
From what I gather, the lock Verizon put on the radio to prevent use on US GSM carriers is based on the MCC (mobile country code) number associated with networks based in the USA, and not the frequencies themselves. In effect, once unlocked the phone will work with any GSM provider (on a supported frequency), except those based in the U.S. This would explain why the AT&T 850MHz network (MCC 301) doesn't work, whereas the Telstra 850MHz network I use (MCC 505) does.
One complication about buying a Droid 2 Global now, is that from various reports on this forum, some devices don't respond to their SIM unlock codes (!) and are effectively unlockable. If I were buying a D2G now for use on a GSM carrier, I'd only buy one that has already been unlocked - wouldn't want to take the chance on getting a phone that is unlockable. This might be why some are being listed for dirt cheap!

helmutiffe said:
I am using my SIM-unlocked D2G fine here, on a carrier that uses 850MHz UMTS.
From what I gather, the lock Verizon put on the radio to prevent use on US GSM carriers is based on the MCC (mobile country code) number associated with networks based in the USA, and not the frequencies themselves. In effect, once unlocked the phone will work with any GSM provider (on a supported frequency), except those based in the U.S. This would explain why the AT&T 850MHz network (MCC 301) doesn't work, whereas the Telstra 850MHz network I use (MCC 505) does.
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Brilliant, thats what i wanted to know, many thanks !
helmutiffe said:
One complication about buying a Droid 2 Global now, is that from various reports on this forum, some devices don't respond to their SIM unlock codes (!) and are effectively unlockable. If I were buying a D2G now for use on a GSM carrier, I'd only buy one that has already been unlocked - wouldn't want to take the chance on getting a phone that is unlockable. This might be why some are being listed for dirt cheap!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow thats not good is it. Thanks for the advice, i'll make sure the phone is unlocked. I've never really understood how phones are unlocked by third party anyways. But I understand you can have them unlocked by giving verizon a call and under certain conditions, they'll provide the unlock code for free.

I was in the Dominican Republic last week with my D2G and it worked perfectly (unlocked using Rogers Canada service). Claro service sucked a bit (coverage wise) but worked fine (3G), Orange (EDGE) seemed a bit better where I was.
I am pretty sure you will be fine AS LONG AS you get unlockable/unlocked D2G.

ok one last question,
does anyone know if a droid with bad esn will work ok with a different carrier's simcard if unlocked?
I would assume droids with bad esn will be going for cheaper on ebay

bas esn mean d phone could be stolen so it will b a hassle to clear the esn

How can one know if the phone has a bad ESN? Just wondering.

TripleMPower said:
How can one know if the phone has a bad ESN? Just wondering.
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Obtain the esn from whomever you are purchasing from. Then ask Verizon regarding the esn you were provided.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk

but wouldnt you only need a clear ESN if you're going to use the phone with CDMA? or would that affect GSM usage as well ? (simcards)

According to the eBay listing I bought mine from, it has a bad ESN (at least, it explicitly stated "will not activate on Verizon") - but the GSM/UMTS radio works fine.

helmutiffe said:
According to the eBay listing I bought mine from, it has a bad ESN (at least, it explicitly stated "will not activate on Verizon") - but the GSM/UMTS radio works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bad ESN will only affect use on Verizon and its MNVOs (possibly). GSM networks will work fine. Just remember though if it's not already unlocked, and the ebay unlocker codes don't work, it will probably be near impossible getting verizon to give you the code for a phone with bad esn.

thanks for the info. I''ll look for unlocked plus bad ESN phones on ebay and see if theyre any cheaper

[Q] Us Cellular phone cdma with sim slot (gsm option)

Ok, so I've searched all over and haven't had much luck. I have no experience with cdma phones, as t mobile is all I've ever had.
I was given a new US Cellular HTC Hero s. I opened it up and saw the sim slot and though, sweet I can replace my sensation with it (I smashed the screen pretty bad). Well, that was a no go, as the phone is cdma. Looking online though, I see it can run in gsm (options global mode, cdma mode, gsm / umts mode. I unlocked the bootloader using the htc site (not sure it matters) and popped in my sim card again, and tried both global and gsm mode, though neither got signal or would dial out. (under networks, it had the tmo apn info.)
So, is the GSM mode offered on this phone only for non US bands? Would a custom rom (now or down the road) allow it to work on tmo? I read something about the HTC Merge and someone being able to switch out the modem in the rom that allowed it to work in the US, but that is well beyond me. I can follow instructions, work ADB and flash roms.. but thats about it.
Is it possible, or will it soon be, to have this phone work on GSM or am I just stuck trying to sell it as a us cellular phone (or perhaps another cdma carrier.. like I said, I don't know anything about cdma)

As a Canadian I'm not sure about who owns US cellular or if they are their own company but I'm guessing they work like Verizon world phones. They have sim card slots but will work only outside of the US. If those verizon phones are used within the States, they will only pick up Verizon's frequency, as opposed to T-Mobile or AT&T where you can unlock them and use them with any GSM carrier within the States. But yeah, you can unlock it and it will work with any GSM carrier outside the States but within the States I think it will only work under US Cellular CDMA network...please correct me if I'm wrong.

That's right, u.s. cdma "world phones" have gsm radios but are locked down from connecting to gsm networks in the u.s. This is not just the normal sim lock found on gsm phones but they are hard coded to ignore u.s. gsm networks.
Some have been unlocked to work on any network through various methods including flashing a modem from a non-us varient of the same phone and other hacks. I can't comment specifically on this phone however.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Well, that points me in the right direction, and confirms what I read about swapping modems (on the other phone mentioned).
So basically it's software telling it not use a certain frequency, and not that the phone itself is incapable of picking it up (had my doubts about that)
Pretty shady the way phone companies are allowed to operate (don't get me started on my unlimited internet in my contract [pre data caps in tmo]. "Hey! check it out, this phone uses data 5 times faster than your old one, oh, and you get half as much too) sorry, end of rant.
I'll keep searching, and post if I find something..
On a side note, can cdma phones be flashed to another cdma carrier like verizon or sprint, or is it the same deal, coded to only use a certain frequency range?

only thing I've heard of is flashing sprint and verizon phones to cricket, metro pcs and boost.

unlock sim

Hi guys .i wondering if someone help me. I want to know how to unlock sim card.in our country we buy device's that came from the most common company in usa( vrizon and sprint).also in our country we use both network cdma and gsm .so what i need is to unlock sim to use it on cdma network and progamming the sim with the programming number that i got from the network service shop on the phone . When i bought my galaxy s7 from shop they unlock it to work in gsm. I hope* anyone help me with this.

kareem007g said:
Hi guys .i wondering if someone help me. I want to know how to unlock sim card.in our country we buy device's that came from the most common company in usa( vrizon and sprint).also in our country we use both network cdma and gsm .so what i need is to unlock sim to use it on cdma network and progamming the sim with the programming number that i got from the network service shop on the phone . When i bought my galaxy s7 from shop they unlock it to work in gsm. I hope* anyone help me with this.
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Thought VZW and SPR are giving SIM unlock service under the certain condition.
http://www.verizon.com/about/consumer-safety/device-unlocking-policy
Like VZW clearly states on their website, that they don't usually lock their 4G devices, so I guess S7 is included?
So as SPR
https://www.sprint.com/legal/unlocking_policy.html
you just have to use your device in certain amount of time on their network and they can unlock it for you.
Unless you can't connect to their network, I really don't see the need of any "programming" or "unlock SIM" that you do refer to.(though unlock SIM doesn't exist for Galaxy S7)
And lets talk about using your device on CDMA network. You have to be aware that which CDMA is used by your career and on which band, as CDMA is mainly ONLY used by USA,JAPAN,KOREA,China(sorry if I missed any) I think very few device supports CDMA, so it might be quite DIFFICULT(or even impossible) to use GSM device on the CDMA network.
Maybe you need to clarify a bit what information you need exactly?

In yemen we use cdma on cdma2000 ev-do band and gsm so My phone is compatible with this two network(s7/sm-g930p).why i need to use programming sim becuse to use both network cdma for internet connection and gsm for calls but not in the same time.i have to swith network band to use one of them .in phone store they have a method to unlock sim and progamming sim to work on cdma.i don't now the method but maybe by dfs .