Will Bells new HSPA phones work on old CDMA net.
 

With bell(and telus) new release of the HSPA phones will they work on the old CDMA network >?

Why I ask is another store mentioned that the bell/telus HSPA phones only work on that network. So if you go out of the new HSPA network your phone stops working. But when I talked to bell they said the new HSPA phones can work on both networks...

Can anyone comment on this ?

I don't trust anything Bell tells me because my bell phone doesn't work in some areas. And the only way for me to test it is to get a bell sim card and try it in a new gsm phone..

^ I had the same question when I picked up my phone earlier this month. They are right. 3G GSM Bell phones will NOT work on 2G. Not sure if they're locked or what not, but when 3G reception disappears (ie inside a parking lot), the phone shows full bars on the 2G GSM network. No idea how that works unless 3G signals are weaker than 2G. But.. the phone now says "Emergency Calls Only".

GSM is GSM. CDMA is CDMA. Bell uses 2G CDMA but 3G GSM. So if you're asking about 2G CDMA, the answer is NO. I haven't heard of any phone out there that does both GSM and CDMA.

I called Tech Support. To use Bell, even with an Asian phone, you need a 3G UMTS phone.

Old Bell 2G/3G = CDMA
New Bell 3G/3.5G = UMTS/HSPA+ on 850 and 1900 Mhz
Bell has no GSM.

New HSPA phones will work on their HSPA network only. CDMA phones will work on their CDMA network only.

If you buy an unlocked phone, it must have 850/1900 3G frequencies or it will not work.

Yes thats exactly what I had in my mind...

Wireless wave told me the same thing that a new Bell phone on HSPA will stop working once you are out of the HSPA network range....
Then I went directly to Bell and called bell tech support and they both told me that new HSPA phones work on HSPA and the old CDMA networks..
Is this just bell covering its ass with lies ? or people working for bell not knowing ?
As normal when I called Bell the person was like rambling on about how great the new network was and it had 98% coverage with HSPA. And why would I want to fall back onto the old CDMA network with only 80% coverage or some BS...

Well I guess its difficult to see if any CDMA reception is in the same area your HSPA dropped out. With out having another phone to see what is available.

All I need is to jump the gun and get a HSPA phone and find out Bell's coverage is over exaggerated. And be left high and dry like with the my CDMA phone coverage.

My old phone (2G CDMA) sucked in this parking lot and had 0 bars. Since my new phone is UMTS/GSM only (ie NO CDMA), it means Bell has a fully-functioning 2G GSM network but has locked it so it can only do 911 calls. Probably some law out there requiring 911 or something.

I've only had my 3G UMTS (GSM) phone for a couple of weeks, and maybe it's just because my last phone totally sucked, but I can definitely say that reception for me is way better now.

Uh, where is this GSM thing in your phone? Bell has no GSM. You can make 911 calls perfectly find on UMTS....just like any other voice call.
Posted via RS Mobile

^ My LG Xenon has an icon that switches depending on whether you're on 3G UMTS or 2G GSM. All I know is when 3G reception drops to 0 bars inside this parking lot I frequent (I can watch the bars drop 1 by 1 when spiralling downwards), it then falls to 2G, and shows FULL bars (during which time the phone says "Emergency Calls Only"). Unless the phone's on crack.

All phones have a capability to at least make emergency calls regardless of network.

This is what that means, although most phones would show zero bars along with the Emergency Call notice.

But then, this IS an LG we're talking about here. :p

some employees are not that bright

Exactly. Not just Bell, every carrier. Oh, and retail, retail! You ever get the temptation to strangle a misinformed/ignorant/otherwise-stupid "product expert" where they stand?

Yeah. :p