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Your old modem-based ISPs all used the same plug. Cell carriers each have slightly differing radio frequencies. They would have to sell "Works with AT&T", "Wo
by bmelton 14y ago
Your old modem-based ISPs all used the same plug.
Cell carriers each have slightly differing radio frequencies. They would have to sell "Works with AT&T", "Works with Sprint", "Works with T-Mobile" versions all separately, as they all use different radio frequencies.
The alternative is to build a mega-radio (or perhaps cluster of radios) to support all the carriers, but that adds weight and significant cost, and won't work with whatever new carrier comes out tomorrow anyway.
- JoshTriplett 14y ago> They would have to sell "Works with AT&T", "Works with Sprint", "Works with T-Mobile" versions all separately, as they all use different radio frequencies. No, you only need two versions: "Works with all GSM carriers" (with frequencies to support 3G/4G on AT&T, T-Mobile, and almost every other carrier in the world) and "Works with all CDMA carriers" (Sprint, Verizon, etc). And for a first pass, you can ignore the latter entirely. At this point, most decent smartphones come with a quad-band or pentaband radio.
- fluidcruft 14y agoMost decent smartphones also seem to cost significantly more than $200...
- snotrockets 14y agoNot really. AT&T uses different bands than T-Mobile, which both uses different bands than European carriers, which differ from Korean carriers. It is only recently that you can find penta-band UMTS phones that gives you 3G on GSM providers in all the continents.