Explaining carriers versus phones - Revision history

Kempelen: Category: +Carriers

2008-09-15T22:18:36Z

Category: +Carriers

Kempelen: Category: +Carriers

2008-09-15T22:18:23Z

Category: +Carriers

Kempelen: Category: -Technical

2008-09-13T21:52:18Z

Category: -Technical

Kempelen: Category changes: -Information, -Help, +Basic End User

2008-08-29T22:28:22Z

Category changes: -Information, -Help, +Basic End User

Wuth: /* Analogies */

2008-03-31T06:40:31Z

‎Analogies

Wuth: /* Technical details: subsidy lock */

2008-03-31T06:38:25Z

‎Technical details: subsidy lock

Wuth: /* Technical details: cell phone frequencies */

2008-03-31T06:35:10Z

‎Technical details: cell phone frequencies

Wuth: /* Different technologies: CDMA versus GSM */

2008-03-31T06:31:12Z

‎Different technologies: CDMA versus GSM

Wuth: /* Carrier/phone separation */

2008-03-31T06:30:30Z

‎Carrier/phone separation

Coolcat at 08:49, 4 March 2008

2008-03-04T08:49:16Z

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← Older revision		Revision as of 22:18, 15 September 2008
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← Older revision		Revision as of 21:52, 13 September 2008
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	* A [[Neo1973\|Neo 1973]] or [[Neo FreeRunner]] is like a TV receiver, and the wireless carrier is like the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-air over-the-air] public TV network.		* A [[Neo1973\|Neo 1973]] or [[Neo FreeRunner]] is like a TV receiver, and the wireless carrier is like the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-air over-the-air] public TV network.

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	[[Category:Basic End User]]		[[Category:Basic End User]]

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 [[Category:Technical]]
-[[Category:Help]]
+[[Category:Basic End User]]
-[[Category:Information| ]]

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 Some useful analogies:
-* A [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] is like a conventional fixed phone, and the wireless carrier is like a conventional phone company. Your phone service is independent from the phone device; you must have both, but you can replace either independently.
+* A [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] or [[Neo FreeRunner]] is like a conventional fixed phone, and the wireless carrier is like a conventional phone company. Your phone service is independent from the phone device; you must have both, but you can replace either independently.
-* A [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] is like your computer, and the wireless carrier is like your Internet connection. While you can buy your computer with an Internet connection plan, they are most of the time completely independent.
+* A [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] or [[Neo FreeRunner]] is like your computer, and the wireless carrier is like your Internet connection. While you can buy your computer with an Internet connection plan, they are most of the time completely independent.
-* A [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] is like a TV receiver, and the wireless carrier is like the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-air over-the-air] public TV network.
+* A [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] or [[Neo FreeRunner]] is like a TV receiver, and the wireless carrier is like the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-air over-the-air] public TV network.
 [[Category:Technical]]
 [[Category:Help]]
 [[Category:Information| ]]

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 Some phones, usually phones bought together with a carrier's service plan, are [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidy_lock locked], and will work only with SIM cards from the same carrier (or sometimes only with one specific SIM card). You can still, however, remove the SIM card and use it on a different unlocked phone (or a locked phone from the same carrier, if the lock is not specific to the SIM card). Usually only phones sold by the carrier itself are locked, and some carriers allow you to ask for your phone to be unlocked (usually either asking for a fee or after some time on your contract).
-The [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] is an unlocked phone.
+The [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] and [[Neo FreeRunner]] are unlocked phones.
-In some cases, transferring the SIM from a 3G phone to a non-3G phone will result in the SIM eventually being barred by the network. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_%28telecommunications%29 3] in the UK are reported to do this, as they use [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_UK Orange]'s network to provide coverage where they do not have it, which means that GSM only phones are significantly more expensive for them to provide service to.
+In some cases, transferring the SIM from a 3G phone to a non-3G phone will result in the SIM eventually being barred by the network. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_%28telecommunications%29 3] in the UK are reported to do this, as they use [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_UK Orange]'s network to provide coverage where they do not have it, which means that GSM-only phones are significantly more expensive for them to provide service to.
 == Conclusion ==

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 There are several different [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies radio frequency bands] allocated for cell phone use. Each carrier uses one or more of them; which frequency bands are available depends on the country the carrier is in. A phone will only work with a carrier if it can use the frequency bands the carrier uses. Most phones can use more than one frequency band; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_band dual band], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri_band tri band] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_band quad band] phones are very common. A quad band phone will work with almost any GSM network in the world.
-The [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] is a tri-band GSM phone, with European frequencies (900/1800/1900).
+The [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] and [[Neo FreeRunner]] are both tri-band GSM phones.
 == Technical details: SIM ==

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 There are several different technologies used in the cellular world. The two most important are known as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IS-95 CDMA] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM GSM]. These technologies are not compatible; a phone designed for one of them will ''not'' work on a cellular network which uses the other technology. Unless your carrier is one of the few who use both technologies, you must chose a phone with the same technology your carrier uses. You could also do the opposite&mdash;chose a carrier who uses the technology of the phone you have or intend to buy.
-The [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] works only on GSM networks.
+The [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] and [[Neo FreeRunner]] work only on GSM networks.
 == Technical details: cell phone frequencies ==

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 == Carrier/phone separation ==
-The [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] is only a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone phone]. It's not tied to any specific [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_network_operator carrier], nor to any specific plans. If your carrier uses the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM GSM] technology, you can take any unlocked GSM phone which uses the same [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies frequencies] as your carrier and use it.
+The [[Neo1973|Neo 1973]] and [[Neo FreeRunner]] are only [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone phones].  They are not tied to any specific [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_network_operator carrier], nor to any specific plans. If your carrier uses the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM GSM] technology, you can take any unlocked GSM phone which uses the same [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies frequencies] as your carrier and use it.
 == Different technologies: CDMA versus GSM ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:49, 4 March 2008
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	[[Category:Technical]]		[[Category:Technical]]
		+	[[Category:Help]]
		+	[[Category:Information\| ]]