Nextel iDEN advantages vs GSM/TDMA???

[iLoveSprintPCS]

i have been reading through many forums and it has come up alot that Nextel seems to have an advantage over GSM carriers like T-Mobile and Cingular, but i wanted to find out why?
is Nextel's iDEN so different from GSM?
is it that Nextel uses 800MHZ?

Basically, i just want to know is iDEN different then GSM and what are the advantages of iDEN's over GSM? Besides the Direct Connect.

it is just confusing to me because people speak very highly of Nextel, but iDEN just seems to be a mystery.
i know people that have Nextel and they are able to make calls in places where T-Mobile and Cingular customers can not. And this seems to be a on going theme.

i am not putting T-Mobile or Cingular down, i just want to know why this is.

[Doomgoggles]

Well, technically, GSM covers more of the US than iDEN does, but Nextel does cover more markets with it's home network than either Cingular or T-Mobile.

On the technical side, iDEN get by with much better spectral efficiency than GSM. Even though it's also time based, it seems to be more robust in terms of avoiding problems that plague GSM carriers like handoff drops, although I don't know why.

[the2ndflood]

This is something I have also wondered. Way back when before I had Sprint I was using either T-Mobile or Cingular at that time. I knew people that had Nextel making and receiving calls right next to me, when I could not do the same. And someone told me that Nextel uses satellites to place phone calls. Which is false, but made sense at the time.
But I have always wondered why Nextel's service works so well in the same markets that the GSM carriers do not.
I know both Cingular and Nextel use lower frequency signals. Cingular using 800MHz in some areas, and Nextel using something like 700,800, 900MHZ signals. I do not remember what in all.

I would also like to know what makes iDEN so different then GSM.

[rip]

Not much at all in reality. iDen is nothing more than a walkie-talkie that uses a trunked national network of towers to expand coverage. This is a fancy way of saying they are connected. Along with this walkie-talkie the phone also uses GSM for standard voice calls. Now the GSM used in iDEN is not the same as the GSM carriers use. It is basically just the core protocols. Beyond the core protocols MOTOROLA has re-written the remaing protocols. And ended up with a more spectrally efficient version of GSM. So iDEN is GSM but at the same time it isnt GSM.

iDEN has only two advantages over GSM...
1. Direct connect
2. More efficient use of bandwidth, so more users can use less or equal spectrum.

[RicoRich196]

^^^Great explanation!

[sanjuro74]

So here is a question for you which would explain alot, is the iDEN 800MHZ trunking system refered to the the same protocol that Motorola uses for its Public Safety 800MHZ trunking system? This would explain alot about why the nextel system effects public safety systems and would make financial sense to motorola because they could use the same technology in two seperate markets.

[coosbaytv]

Nextel! Don't Bother......

[Willie_Esco23]

i have been reading through many forums and it has come up alot that Nextel seems to have an advantage over GSM carriers like T-Mobile and Cingular, but i wanted to find out why?
is Nextel's iDEN so different from GSM?
is it that Nextel uses 800MHZ?

Basically, i just want to know is iDEN different then GSM and what are the advantages of iDEN's over GSM? Besides the Direct Connect.

it is just confusing to me because people speak very highly of Nextel, but iDEN just seems to be a mystery.
i know people that have Nextel and they are able to make calls in places where T-Mobile and Cingular customers can not. And this seems to be a on going theme.

i am not putting T-Mobile or Cingular down, i just want to know why this is.



Well I dunno about this nextel superiority over T-mobile or cingular in NYC. I use a boost mobile phone which uses nextel towers and I tell you my service is'nt anything near great. For example where I live nextel has the hugest service in one of the largest populated areas in the bronx where more then 50,000 people live. Every other cell provider had service issues here 2 years ago due to the age and construction of the buildings where I live. These are pre WW2 buildings thick steel and lead. Nextel gets little to no service even outside where I live. And once inside a building forget about service. Also even thru out the city I will have full service for one second and move 7 inches and have 0-1 bars or no service. My experience with nextel has not been impressive what so ever. In nYC it's either Sprint or Verizon or nothing to me. T-mobile was alringht when I had them and cingular I will not even comment on.

[Willie_Esco23]

I meant to one of the biggest coverage holes in one of the most populated areas in the bronx. With more then 50 000 people living there.

[Chris Price]

iDEN lost most of its advantage by being proprietary. The GSM world worked hard and has come up with extensions such as EDGE, and their own quick-burst packet PTT systems to give GSM a clear advantage.

However, it doesn't matter, when comparing the three, they're all deprecated technologies that can only be enahnced with encryption and integration in 4G data solutions.

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