One of the reasons for gsms popularity is that it was created jointly by a cohort of organizations. But what are gsm and cdma, and how do they affect your phone, service, and coverage. Buy products related to straight talk iphone verizon products and see what. However, the one chief difference between the two standards involves the way the data is transformed through the radio waves a smartphone receives and broadcasts. The iphone 5 is another example of being capable of both gsm and cdma in. You can bring a gsm phone to straight talk using a bring your own phone kit. Youll just want to change the apn settings dont worry, its super simple and you should make sure your device is unlocked. Cdma is mostly owned by qualcomm which makes it a bit expensive for third.
Most of the branded ones use ltev which is verizons 4g network which uses cdma for voice. At a wild and crazy party, your phone falls in the toilet. As a rule, you can not use a cdma iphone on any cdma carrier other than the one it was originally sold for. Gsm and cdma are competing wireless technologies with gsm enjoying about an 82% market share globally. What is the difference between tdma, cdma and gsm cell phones. This wikihow teaches you how to determine whether your phone uses a cdma network or a gsm network. Method 1 att, tmobile, straight talk is gsm is yoru iphone these carriers. The customer may end the lease and return the phone at anytime. The differences between gsm and cdma 12 years its come to my attention that not everyone understands the subtle yet significant differences between gsm and cdma. Chances are, youve likely run into the acronyms cdma and gsm before. However, if you can buy a phone on one of the networks straight talk supports, you should be able to run it on straight talk as well including the latest iphone and android models. How to activate some cdma phones with straight talk. I called apple and the customer service rep was not sure of the difference.
There are two types of cell phone technology, cdma and gsm. Gsm and cdma are the two ways phones talk to cell towers. Cdma and gsm are two radio frequencies used in mobile phone technology. If you would like to learn how you can activate your cdma phone with the help of straight talk, then you can learn here. This means, your phone number, contact list, and other important details are attached to your android or ios phone. Despite the fact that verizon is a cdma network the iphones from the 4s up have sim slots available on them as well, though it would be activated to work on the cdma network so technically it is cdma at that. Cdma networks are less common and dont generally support gsm phones. Knowing this information is important if you want to remove a carrier lock from your phone, or if you want to use. They have nothing to do with gsm vs cdma usage, or their relative popularity. When in the hunt for a cell phone carrier, you may have to figure out which of these two technologies is the best for you and hopefully this article will shed. Im not sure why there is the discrepency between the two iphones, but you want to choose cdma vs gsm based on which.
Straight talk offers support for both cdma and gsm devices, as it. Leasetoown requires a straight talk 30day unlimited plan and is additional. Bring your own phone straight talk operates on a gsm and cdma networks, youll not have trouble bringing your device from any other carriers. The iden popularity declined in recent years, however, there are still few service providers that offer service using this technology. The difference between cdma and gsm unlocked unreal mobile. New ios iphone settings youll want to change or know.
Smartpay is an independent company that is leasing you the phone. Straight talk verizon 4g lte 3g cdma bring your own phone activation kit. If you want to check out what other phones work on which technology, you can use our phone compatibility tool below. If youre shopping for a mobile phone, youre in for a lot of acronyms. Cdma iphone i will be buying the iphone x when it is released, and i was playing around with the website to buy it, and it seems there are two possible models. Is straight talk cdma 1429 or gsm 1429 apple community.
With straight talks keep your own phone program, you can get straight talk service on your current phone as long as it is compatible with our kyop program. Tdma, or time division multiple access, sorts messages into time slots in order to send them. Which phones can i use on both cdma and gsm networks. Dont bother buying a verizon or sprint iphone for the straight talk sim card program either because neither is going to work. Straight talks keep your own phone plan requires a compatible, unlocked phone, activation kit and straight talk unlimited service plan. Are you looking to pick a side between cdma vs gsm, the two major telecommunication standards that are used by the cellular networks worldwide it can be a hard choice to choose between cdma vs. Straight talk sim card program using a cdma iphone. Prepaid carrier straight talk now offers lte service to those with. Difference between gsm and cdma with comparison chart. User may need to change the phones access point name settings.
I have an iphone 4 gsm unlocked using straight talk sim card. The main difference between cdma and gsm is where your information is stored. Both technologies are available in north america and almost every part of the globe. Gsm and cdma are the two wireless protocols used to facilitate cell phone service. It works just fine, but is a bit slower compare to straight talk cdma. This short article will make it clear for you so read on. However, there are some older phones that will work across both gsm and cdma networks. To achieve this without any hindrances between the users, the code division multiple access employs a spreadspectrum technology and a unique coding method. On the back of the box it says the phone is model a1429, so i am really wondering if the straight talk iphone is gsm a1429 or cdma a1429.
Now that lte has matured a bit and has proliferated across much of the. Apple iphone 5s gsm straight talk a1533 toggle navigation. Dual sim card adapter sets for iphone x 8 7 6s 6 plus,gvkvgih switch 2 sim cards in 1 phone dual sims single standby adapter. They house your service subscription, network identification, and address book information. The most common older phones that work on both technologies include the iphone 6 series and samsung galaxy s6 series. Carrier and activation this phone is unlocked for gsm networks works with.
With cdma devices, your information is stored on the device. Gsm stands for global system for mobile communications. Samsung galaxy note864gb unlocked gsm lte android phone wdual 12 megapixel camera orchid gray renewed. In reading apples website it appears to me that there are two different models for each phone although they use the same model number one labeled cdma and one gsm.
Straight talk gives you three different phone options when you switch to them. If you are in a cdma only area or if you have a cdma iphone, then we are terribly sorry. Wireless service is subject to straight talk terms and conditions, visit. Gsm and cdma dueling mobile standards explained the. Straight talk supports most gsm and cdma phones and offers nano. On the other hand, in cdma the network identifies a handset by the information stored in the internal memory and hence, its handset specific. You simply cannot use the straight talk sim card and dont bother buying an iphone for it because its not going to work. Global system for mobile communications gsm, around 8085% market share and is95 around 1015% market share were the two most prevalent 2g mobile communication technologies in 2007. In 3g, the most prevalent technology was umts with cdma2000 in close contention all radio access technologies have to solve the same problems.
Gsm stands for global system for mobile communications, a radio system used in mobile devices. Book depository books with free delivery worldwide. Coverage straight talk is an mvno that uses all four major carrier towers. Straight talk wireless is an alternative carrier, or mobile virtual network. Hence it is very easy to use the phone regardless of location. What is the difference between tdma, cdma and gsm cell. Both gsm and cdma standards get multiple access, meaning that a large number of calls can go through a single cell phone tower. The iphone 6 has either, 16 gb, 32 gb or 64 gb memory. How to determine if iphone is gsm or cdma nov 15, 2012 38 comments most of us geekier folks instantly know if our iphones are cdma or gsm models, but not everyone pays as much attention to the largely insignificant technical details of their phones. Switching from your current smartphone carrier to straight talk.
The phone sold by walmart for use on straighttalk is the a1429 cdma. My responses only address the oftrepeated, but demonstrably incorrect, assertion that the larger world gsm market for all phones mostly cheap dumb ones automatically translates into a similarly larger market for an expensive iphone, that would supposedly dwarf a. Straight talk offers both cdma and gsm service so it wouldnt be impossible for ting to branch out in that direction. Bring your own tablet welcome straight talk wireless. Straight talk supports most gsm and cdma phones and offers nano, micro, and standard sim. Straight talk cdma vs gsm techie travel bits apple iphone 8 gsm unlocked.
Whether or not this talk should be taken as gospel is up for debate. Straight talk gsm vs cdma coverage howardforums is a discussion board dedicated to mobile phones with over 1,000,000 members and growing. Gsm and cdma are different technologies that phones use to connect. For your convenience howardforums is divided into 7 main sections. Apple iphone 6 straight talk smartphones for sale shop new. To activate your service, you will need a straight talk unlimited 30day service plan card for activation. Straight talk wireless no contract phones service plans. For cdma phones requiring a sim card such as verizon iphone, verizon galaxy phone or other unlocked cdma phones. Or, how dueling mobile standards may get you a new iphone. The basic difference between gsm and cdma is that the gsm is a sim specific i. Straight talk, a carrier formed from a partnership between walmart and. The chipmaker, qualcomm, owns cdma so the radio frequency is built into the hardware of the cell phone.