CDMA vs GSM?

[Jyakotu]

I've been pondering this for awhile now. On the GSM side, we have AT&T and T-Mobile. On the CDMA side we have VZW, Sprint, etc. My question is, which technology is better? What are advantages? What are the disadvantages?

[mojay]

CDMA has great signal and reception and the United States, compared to GSM but once again that is subject to opinion because I have AT&T and sometimes have better signal than Verizon but overall it really depends on your area.

More importantly GSM is a must if you will travel outside of the U.S. you will not have to upgrade your data plan or pay for roaming charges on GSM if your phone is unlocked and you can use other GSM networks worldwide with a sim card or without.

As for CDMA there are no sim crads and if you do go out of the country without the roaming plan it'll be hard to find signal and you will pay alot more for this plan.

Overall, I think GSM is better overall but if you stay in the country and have no plans of leaving I think CDMA is alright but I still think GSM has less restrictions and is a better choice, but once again if your going to stay in the country just find which service is good in the area you live in and choose.

I am not an expert or anything but that is what I think.

[Unregistered]

gsm has the benefit of having a lot of options, as far as phones. you can get just about any phone from any carrier unlocked. this allows you to not be forced in to a contract. and buying no contract gsm is cheaper than no contract cdma. as far as better, like the other poster said, some places you would have better service, some places worse service. cdma you choices are darth vader or sprint. gsm you choices are att and tmobile in the us.

i have an unlocked gsm and recently travelled overseas, i bought a prepaid local sim card switched it out and was ready to go.

[ATTXBM]

gsm...................

[jeffcrawford84]

LTE! lol It's GSM-based, so GSM. I've gone back and forth for years and in my opinion CDMA seems to have a better response time than GSM. There bandwidths are fairly similar but I've noticed that when using GSM and clicking on a link in a mobile web browser, it takes a second (quickly uploading and downloading God knows what) before allowing the page to begin downloading. Unlike CDMA, where you click the link and the page starts loading. GSM (Earth's network) just has too many investors when compared to CDMA (North America's network) to give CDMA a chance in the long run.

[martynflec]

Advantages of CDMA include:
Increased cellular communications security.
Simultaneous conversations.
Increased efficiency, meaning that the carrier can serve more subscribers.
Smaller phones.
Low power requirements and little cell-to-cell coordination needed by operators.
Extended reach - beneficial to rural users situated far from cells.

Disadvantages of CDMA include:
Due to its proprietary nature, all of CDMA's flaws are not known to the engineering community.
CDMA is relatively new, and the network is not as mature as GSM.
CDMA cannot offer international roaming, a large GSM advantage.

Advantages of GSM:
GSM is already used worldwide with over 450 million subscribers.
International roaming permits subscribers to use one phone throughout Western Europe. CDMA will work in Asia, but not France, Germany, the U.K. and other popular European destinations.
GSM is mature, having started in the mid-80s. This maturity means a more stable network with robust features. CDMA is still building its network.
GSM's maturity means engineers cut their teeth on the technology, creating an unconscious preference.
The availability of Subscriber Identity Modules, which are smart cards that provide secure data encryption give GSM m-commerce advantages.

In brief, GSM is a "more elegant way to upgrade to 3G," .

Disadvantages of GSM:
Lack of access to burgeoning American market.

[d2deb]

I'm not sure if GSM network quality in the US is the same as Europe but GSM sound quality I find far better. Going to a cdma network is painful.

[grace12]

gsm...................