RF Reception and Quality
<< Another GSM vs CDMA note - <snip> After years of never once having to admit (appologize) to my audience to excuse the fact that I was on a mobile phone, using the GSM network again requires me to do so. This is a BIG difference between the two technologies. >>
Sounds to me like a difference in the RF audio qualities of the phones you are comparing, rather than GSM v. CDMA, or the network, or the location you are using them.
GSM phones are like CDMA phones, regardless of codec, some have good RF qualities, some fair, some poor.
<< I have been a CDMA user since its launch. In that time, I've migrated 100% of my business and personal calls to my CDMA line. >>
You are more fortunate than me.
I purchased my first CDMA mobile (QCP800) 1 month after BAM launched 800 MHz CDMA service here in March 1997. Back then, in my office I was sometimes on AMPS, sometimes digital. Actually back then I was off BAM's digital coverage map. Better signal today, but not exceptionally strong. Usually a full 2 bars digital inside my office. The 7135 will be my 5th AMPS/CDMA phone. I retired the QCP800 for the QCP860, then used the Audiovox CDM9000 (best I've used), then the 6135. All good performers RF wise, and so is my wife's KO 2235. RF performance was a primary consideration in each purchase, and I did some homework before purchasing.
Sometimes Verizon voice quality in my office is very good, sometimes fair, occasionally poor. Antenna orientation has something to do with that because I swivel a bit in my chair while talking, since my work station is at right angles to my desk. Regardless, I use wireline almost 100% for business calling because consistency is just not there.
Sprint PCS users visiting my office generally have to go outside on the steps to even get carrier. Two Sanyo exceptions I've seen to that.
T-Mobiles reception is much improved here in the last year. It used to be far fringe. AWS TDMA has always been good, and now AWS GSM is good.
On the Interstates I talk hands free (KYO car kits with the mic cable dressed into the dash) and voice quality, in and out, is generally good to very good. I'm in the heartland of Verizon. Occasionally I hit some CDMA channel pollution but it is much less than back in the nineties.
In hotels, airports, on the AMTRAK, reception generally is good to very good. It is inexplicably poor inside my corporate headquarters where AWS TDMA or T-Mobile GSM is good, so I throw my T-Mobile Bosch which I usually reserve only for foreign travel, in the briefcase, so I can get good voice quality there if I use mobile when I can't borrow someone's desk set. Ironically ½ mile away in either direction Verizon reception is good inside the hotels I stay in.
And so it goes. I am on at least a dozen calls a week (usually from my office wireline) with individuals in the States, EMEA, and Asia, who are on GSM mobiles and typically reception both ways is good to very good.
When I'm abroad, using GSM, I've had several people express surprise not only that I'm calling from abroad, but that I am on a mobile.
Notice I have not used the word "excellent" above. I reserve that for wireline, and I use high quality, relatively expensive, Nortel desk sets in my office, and my interior wiring is top notch. Any hint of noise on the line, and I'm on the phone with Verizon. They test, and dispatch a tech if they can't distinguish the noise, and rectify quickly. I'm in a squirrel infested wooded neighborhood of a squirrel infested county, and them critters love to chew the fabric of the copper wires, and on a humid day, the copper can sing. A little splicing, or a cable swap, is the typical solution.
Cellular voice quality is a pretty subjective thing. I used to personally prefer GSM to CDMA for mobile in a general sense, and felt it had a more natural sound. Now its a flip em, provided one is using a handset with good RF quality on a well optimized network, but propagation varies in the cellular world, even on a day to day basis in the same location. Its the nature of the beast.
On this topic you might want to check out these articles by "Steve," a serious Southern Ontario cellular hobbyist, who has been testing mobiles for years. They are pretty good and interesting, IMO:
"Testing RF Performance"
arcx.com
"EVRC: The Savior of CDMA"
arcx.com
"CDMA vs TDMA"
arcx.com
Best
- Eric - |
