Sorry, another daft question on mobiles

Forums › Mobile handsets › Sorry, another daft question on mobiles

twotravelbugs

27 posts

Geek

#41450 16-Sep-2009 16:13

I currently have an old telecom phone that I can only use here. I have also got a 2degrees SIM. Obviously these two arent compatible. I get confused with all the info out there on phones and networks etc.

What i would like is a cheap phone that I can use with 2degrees or vodafone here, but that I can also take overseas and use other SIM cards in. I am talking about Australia, Asia (central and SE) and maybe Europe. Do all these places use the same frequencies? What is CDMA? Do I need 3G?

Why is NZ so behind and expensive?! We recently saw texting (within the same network) advertised for 1c in Malaysia, so thats 0.5c NZ. Calls we listed cheaply too. Given our lack of phone, we were stuck paying bigger money in call centres and phone boxes - next time we'd like to take our own phone!

I've heard a lot of good things about Nokia, they also seem to do cheaper phones.

Any hints and suggestions welcome, comments about our ignorance arent. Thanks heaps.

vinnieg

2260 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#256737 18-Sep-2009 09:02

- CMDA is telecoms first network, well the one before it's current one(not it's old old GSM one)
WCMDA/HPSDA 3G are what Telecom and Vodafone use now and what 2Degrees should use next year.

- If you want fast browsing speeds, ability to access mobile internet etc 3g is for you. If not, you can use Vodafone on the GSM network for texts and voice.
Australia uses most of the same frequencies as NZ, Telstra use the same as the XT network? Vodafone Au and Vodafone NZ etc and a few other providers>
asia is a bit of a weird area, China mostly use GSM still I've heard. You'd have to do some research online for that one. Europe and the US are pretty standard.

- I don't think NZ is behind at all to be honest. Malaysia has a population 7x as big as NZ, has more resources to put into their country due to that. Plus it's close to all the electronics suppliers, so cost of shipping the technically decreases a lot. We are catching up, especially in technology terms and will hopefully get another cable or two installed to the US/Asia. We are also ranked much higher up in terms of cellphone quality/technology than Malaysia, within the top 20 countries in teh world. And apparently we will be one of the first 4G adopters.

- We do have high plans, but I think those will pan out and I'm happy to pay for the technology we get from such small companies. So we pay what 2c per text vs 0.5 for say 500 texts, that's fine not too much difference :)

- I don't know about Nokia, not one of my favourite brands, i've owned about 10 of them over the years. I'm a fan of the Sony Ericssons and Samsungs, the slighty more expensive ones though. You buy a cheap phone, it'll be cheap. My last Nokia was a flip top, which flipped it's top off within 3 months of owning it...

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80652 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41036

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#256746 18-Sep-2009 09:29

Vinnieg, Telecom never had a GSM network. But going back on topic...

Any phone you buy from Vodafone or 2degrees will pretty much work anywhere in the world. The same goes for Telecom's new models.

The only thing you have to worry about is if you want to use 3G. Some networks are 1005 WCDMA (Telecom NZ and Telstra in Australia for example). In this case you will have to find the phone that suits you.

Telecom uses 850MHz WCDMA, while Vodafone has 2100MHz in the main centres and 900MHz elsewhere.

A Telecom handset generally supports 850/2100 MHz so it will work with either a Telecom or a Vodafone SIM. They also support GSM (even though Telecom has no GSM network). In this case they will work practically anywhere in the world - with either a Telecom SIM card or any other network's SIM card.

Vodafone handsets generally support 900/2100 MHz WCDMA so they will work on Vodafone's network only, not Telecom. Again they support common GSM frequencia so they will work almost anywhere in the world.

I would currently go with a Telecom handset and a Telecom account.

(PS. Yes, I know Telecom offers a few - very few - 2100MHz sites. But they are mainly used for infill capacity and if you move to Telecom with a non-850MHz handset you will have very very poor coverage compared with their real service.)

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

vinnieg

2260 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#256762 18-Sep-2009 10:13

Whoops sorry, yeah i got GSM(vodafone) mixed up with AMPS(telecoms old system)

Yeah definitely agree with Freitasm, the new XT phones are all good :) There's even a few Quadband GSM/Triband HSPDAs going round which would support almost all networks apart from Vodafones 900mhz 3g(but there 2100mhz will work still)?

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

twotravelbugs

27 posts

Geek

#256902 18-Sep-2009 17:45

Thanks guys. I'm not much of a geek as you will find out!

So how come a 850MHz telecom phone will work on the voda network, but a 900MHz vodafone wont work on the telecom network?

And basically I could go out and buy a new XT, vodafone or 2degrees phone and put my 2degrees SIM in and be ok?

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80652 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41036

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#256910 18-Sep-2009 18:32

Because

a) a 850/2100 MHz will work on Vodafone's 2100 MHz 3G network
b) all 3G handsets are also quadband GSM so they will work on Vodafone's 2G network

The other way around is not true because Vodafone doesn't sell any handset with 850MHz (because they operator 900/2100 MHz).

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.