Im wondering if this is possible. I currently have a nextel flip phone but want an iPhone and don't want to switch plans. Would it be easy to do, how would I go about doing this?
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Nextel iPhone
- Thread starter skibumofvt
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Simply put, you can't.
iPhone is GSM, Sprint/Nextel is CDMA. Networks don't match, nor ever will. If you want the iPhone, your choice is ATT in the US, or wait until it is offered without a contract, and jailbreak/unlock to use with T-Mobile.
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It's impossible to get an iPhone to work with Nextel. ATT is a GSM provider, Nextel is a iDEN provider. Different networks so it won't work.
It's impossible to get an iPhone to work with Nextel. ATT is a GSM provider, Nextel is a iDEN provider. Different networks so it won't work.
actually Nextel is iDen, Sprint is CDMA. But they do have hybrid CDMA/iDen phones, FYI
However, I do not believe the iPhone is one of these (hybrids, that is). OP, I switched to AT&T for the iPhone 3G and don't have any complaints about the switch at all.
Same here - I switched from Sprint and am very glad I did. Even though I'm going to pay more for the service with AT&T, the iPhone is so much more usable in so many ways than my old Treo 650, I don't mind paying more for the increased functionality that I get out of it every day.
And there probably never will be. The whole point of the Nextel hybrids is to convince die hard Nextel users that really, CDMA isn't so bad. Eventually, Sprint needs to shut down the iDEN network. It's on its last legs, and it's pretty widely accepted that they allowed themselves to get duped into buying it.
However, they can't migrate people if they made nice phones for it, and that's why there hasn't been a new smartphone for the old Nextel network since the Blackberry 7100i, which is now 3 years old.
Besides, if you think EDGE is bad? Try pulling down web pages on iDEN data, at good old 9600bps.
To add to all of the above, there are rumors that Sprint is trying to sell the Nextel brand and its iDen network.
It seems Sprint is in real trouble. I wonder if we will see them bought by Verizon in the near future. Or maybe a merger, since they share the same technology.
Remember this...
http://www.mobilewhack.com/sprint-selling-towers-to-pay-off-debt/
Verizon just purchased Alltel so it would be much harder for them to get the purchase of Sprint to be approved by the government. Rather, I think T-Mobile will come in and pick up Sprint, regardless of their incompatible networks, and kill off Sprint's CDMA network over time and get everyone over to GSM. Such a deal has been rumored but nothing has happened yet.
I admit to not knowing much about the technical side. But I've heard for years that Sprint has a better network they just don't know how to market it well. I could be totally wrong on that.
I myself switched from Sprint to Cingular years ago. At the time Sprint in Oklahoma City was a dropped call nightmare. I can't say AT&T is perfect but I have had fewer problems with Cingular/AT&T over the last several years. I was very happy when Apple decided to go with AT&T. At the time Verizon was just getting into the market in Okie land. I admit to having not used a Sprint phone in years so their network may have improved here.
I'd love to hear an idiot's guide to the difference in CDMA and GSM.
Sorry for hijacking the thread.
I admit to not knowing much about the technical side. But I've heard for years that Sprint has a better network they just don't know how to market it well. I could be totally wrong on that.
I myself switched from Sprint to Cingular years ago. At the time Sprint in Oklahoma City was a dropped call nightmare. I can't say AT&T is perfect but I have had fewer problems with Cingular/AT&T over the last several years. I was very happy when Apple decided to go with AT&T. At the time Verizon was just getting into the market in Okie land. I admit to having not used a Sprint phone in years so their network may have improved here.
I'd love to hear an idiot's guide to the difference in CDMA and GSM.
Sorry for hijacking the thread.
The basic difference between CDMA and GSM is the manner in which the phone is registered to the network and the frequency that the network uses. That's a pretty basic explanation of it and the simplest I can think of. These are the two major differences that make it impossible for the networks to work together.
Supposedly Sprint has a better network but I don't fully believe it. People have Sprint where I work - downtown Chicago - and they get no signal in our office. I get signal with ATT just fine and this is in the first basement of the building. Sprint also has a better, faster data network but, yes, a large part of it is that they don't market it well and because they're CDMA and not as flashy as Verizon they don't get the better phones for CDMA right off the bat and most great phones are made for GSM since the vast majority of the world uses that network, even though the U.S. is completely different in terms what frequency they use for GSM.
Yeah, even if there was an iDEN version of the iPhone, who in god's name would actually WANT to use it?
Sprint bought Nextel for the customers, basically. The plan all along was to float the iDEN network along for a few years while Sprint got it's PTT solution as good as Nextel. In the meantime, Sprint would introduce hybrid phones that made voice calls on CDMA but used iDEN for PTT.
Sprint bought Nextel for the customers, basically. The plan all along was to float the iDEN network along for a few years while Sprint got it's PTT solution as good as Nextel. In the meantime, Sprint would introduce hybrid phones that made voice calls on CDMA but used iDEN for PTT.
Sprint HAD a better data network, and it could be argued that for now, they still do. However, everyone else is catching up to them fast, and rather than continue to forge ahead with their really good CDMA data network, they are instead putting all their eggs into WiMAX, which is still a highly speculative technology. The biggest deployment yet was billed an utter failure, and was shut down.
Considering that we were supposed to see WiMAX in all its high speed glory this year and it just hasn't happened yet, everyone on Sprint really should be worried.
The best place to start are these two wikipedia entries:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDMA
GSM is moving into 3G territory using UMTS and HSPA as their standards, and the air interface has a lot in common with CDMA. So the newere versions of both technologies have fewer differences, but are still "different enough" to be incompatible.