cell phones

[digitaldiscipline]

okay, office shakeup seems to be taking place, including remote work environment. this means i might need a cell phone.

i do not grok the ways of wireless.

what do i look for? what do i avoid?

i figure i need voice mail and basic address book capabilities. beyond that, i want it to be relatively non-draconian in terms of costs.

yes, this means i might finally be shedding the last vestiges of my Luddite-hood.

Comments

[netgoth.livejournal.com]

I will swear by T-Mobile, and that's not just because I worked for them.

GSM is the new tech. Most of Asia has been on this standard for well over 15 years. We're just now catching up. Here's a quick overview:

GSM carriers - Phones can be changed between carriers, so you don't lose your investment in a phone. Yay SIM card standard. (think of it as a branded processor. You upgrade your service by swapping chips. Easy.) AT&T, Cingular, and T-Mobile are currently the only GSM carriers in North America. (although with Sprint's recent buyout of AT&T, I can't speak for them...) Phones can easily be taken overseas with a simple change of SIM card/MHz frequency (North America is 1900. Asia/UK is either 900 or 1800.) GSM is becoming the new currency in certain areas. For example, there is a town in China where they are currently beta testing the ability to use your GSM SIM chip like a credit card. - i.e. wave your phone in front of a coke machine, and out pops a coke.) Wireless Data transmission rates are highest on GSM frequencies. (although still slowish if relying only on towers for signal - ergo the mention of HotSpot, which is much nicer, giving you a local dedicated node.) The signal is also fully encrypted, and the SIM chips are extremely hard to spoof. The down side? Tower signal strength is max 3.5 miles from a strong tower, 1 mile from a weak (or overpopulated) one. The signal strength decides the entire experience, honestly. Another up (or down) side to this, depending on your level of conspiracy theorist: GSM data transmission works on a frequency called GPRS. Much like GPS, when a GPRS device is used, you get a listing of what tower exactly the service was being used *from* last on that call/data connection. Proven useful if kidnapped - although I will note that the only case I am aware of this being used as a location device was in Germany, where a young man was found due to his periodically calling from his phone - this was last year. Oh, one other down side; GSM is microwave-standard. Great system, but much like any other microwave, you can't get terribly good signal in boxes (unless there's lots of untinted glass around) And there are no long term studies of nuking one's head. (I'd still recommend it, though, but maybe I just nuked my head too long. LOL)

PCS - two words: Digital Radio. This means you can be overheard by anyone with a decent enough digital reciever, and if they've got a strong enough system, voila - Crosstalk! Or worse still, their conversation or "blurts" of stronger signal will cause you to drop calls. A lot. As will most any other weather-based phenom that will affect digital radio signal. All PCS phones are hardwired, proprietary phones. You leave Sprint or Verizon, your phone is now a paperweight, have a nice day. Verizon, Sprint, and Nextel are all operating on Digital Radio. Yes, it's high frequency, but those lovely mobile HAM operators so common in the south will cause problems. :) The upshot? PCS signal has a radius of 7 miles from it's base station. The downside? Don't try to get signal in range of any type of military base, or any other location where higher-powered similar frequency radio equipment is in use.

Analog/Digital - Love Those Walkie Talkies. See everything I said about Digital radio above, and then remember the old analog phones. Yeah, it's like that. I will give Nextel this much, though - they do saturate the hell out of the markets they are -in- as far as signal strength, but once you're out of that area, prepare to have huge stretches of America where you won't get signal. Their patent expired on one level of the walkie-talkie phones (they altered it slightly and repatented the nationwide ability) so expect to see other carriers tinker with that bleepy walkie-talkie thing in the not too distant future.

If you decide to go with T-Mobile, let me know. I can advise you as to what plans are good, what are good values, and what phones to avoid. ;D

HOpe this helped.