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Are there any opensource baseband phones out there? Does opensource baseband actually exist? So many people think that they have a phone with opensource softwar

Are there any opensource baseband phones out there? Does opensource baseband actually exist? So many people think that they have a phone with opensource software but so many components, especially the baseband can give so much control over the phone.

JoshTriplett 12y ago
Osmocom is working on Open Source implementations of both basebands and cell towers, along with various other cell network components: see http://osmocom.org/ http://osmocom.org/ for the project and http://bb.osmocom.org/ http://bb.osmocom.org/ for the baseband in particular.
- rsync 12y ago
  OsmocomBB is 2G only and it is functional only on calypso based phones, which are extremely old phones, most of which do not work on US GSM frequencies (IIRC there is one that does).
  - remael 12y ago
    For one there is the Openmoko Neo Freerunner (GTA02) which has a US version. It also has a seperated baseband only connected by some serial and audio lines.
dpifke 12y ago
Related question: does anyone know of any no-baseband devices? I've been unsuccessfully looking for a wifi-only phone, ideally a relatively modern one which comes with an unlocked bootloader and can easily run Cyanogenmod.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  Can't you just run a regular phone without a sim and with a snipped antenna lead?
  - dpifke 12y ago
    This is an excellent suggestion; thank you. I don't think there would be room for a tablet (or "phablet") in the pockets of any of my current pants or jackets. I wonder how easy it is to identify the cellular antenna vs. the ones for wifi/Bluetooth/NFC/inductive charging, but definitely something to look into.
- userbinator 12y ago
  no-baseband devices a wifi-only phone If you're looking for "Android phone without the phone", you'd be better off looking for an Android tablet.
- deno 12y ago
  Your best bet is probably to use a phablet and a Bluetooth headset for answering if you want to do VoIP. Actually that’s one of the reasons I’m excited for smartwatches. Headset + BT-only watch + phablet + Internet AP over Wi-Fi/Bluetooth + VoIP over VPN seems like the most elegant solution to the backdoor baseband and general security and privacy issue right now. Google’s project Ara would be the most elegant, of course. I hope this is the future, but I don’t know.

JoshTriplett 12y ago

Osmocom is working on Open Source implementations of both basebands and cell towers, along with various other cell network components: see http://osmocom.org/ http://osmocom.org/ for the project and http://bb.osmocom.org/ http://bb.osmocom.org/ for the baseband in particular.

rsync 12y ago
OsmocomBB is 2G only and it is functional only on calypso based phones, which are extremely old phones, most of which do not work on US GSM frequencies (IIRC there is one that does).
- remael 12y ago
  For one there is the Openmoko Neo Freerunner (GTA02) which has a US version. It also has a seperated baseband only connected by some serial and audio lines.

dpifke 12y ago

Related question: does anyone know of any no-baseband devices? I've been unsuccessfully looking for a wifi-only phone, ideally a relatively modern one which comes with an unlocked bootloader and can easily run Cyanogenmod.

jacquesm 12y ago
Can't you just run a regular phone without a sim and with a snipped antenna lead?
- dpifke 12y ago
  This is an excellent suggestion; thank you. I don't think there would be room for a tablet (or "phablet") in the pockets of any of my current pants or jackets. I wonder how easy it is to identify the cellular antenna vs. the ones for wifi/Bluetooth/NFC/inductive charging, but definitely something to look into.
userbinator 12y ago
no-baseband devices a wifi-only phone If you're looking for "Android phone without the phone", you'd be better off looking for an Android tablet.
deno 12y ago
Your best bet is probably to use a phablet and a Bluetooth headset for answering if you want to do VoIP. Actually that’s one of the reasons I’m excited for smartwatches. Headset + BT-only watch + phablet + Internet AP over Wi-Fi/Bluetooth + VoIP over VPN seems like the most elegant solution to the backdoor baseband and general security and privacy issue right now. Google’s project Ara would be the most elegant, of course. I hope this is the future, but I don’t know.