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thehondaboy
join:2009-07-19
Auburn, GA

thehondaboy

Member

VZW iPhone 5 LTE Simultaneous Voice & Data?

I've been with AT&T on my iPhone for 4 years and have had all I can take with the reception issues. I'm planning to buy an iPhone 5 on Friday and am looking at going to VZW because I can attach my iPad and phone to the same data plan and the coverage should be better in my area.

My biggest concern is that on the old CDMA network one couldn't do voice and data at the same time. I know VZW is looking to go to something like VoLTE in 2013 which would solve the problem. But currently with the CDMA/LTE Qualcomm chip shown to be in the new iPhone 5, I'm looking for a definitive answer to this question as to whether the phone will do voice and data concurrently.

Thanks for any info or links to confirm!

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

said by thehondaboy:

My biggest concern is that on the old CDMA network one couldn't do voice and data at the same time.

Why couldnt it? It could be done with an extra radio in the phone. Verizon has some higher end Android devices that can do it now with the extra radio in it. In fact, my new Photon Q on Sprint can do it and I discovered it could, simply by accident. Sprint is early into their network upgrades so I think this shows it has less to do with the network and more with the equipment.
thehondaboy
join:2009-07-19
Auburn, GA

thehondaboy

Member

said by swintec:

Why couldnt it?

Because VZW's CDMA network was not built to handle voice and data simultaneously like a GSM network can.
»www.tuaw.com/2011/01/11/ ··· neously/

There's one error in that article near the bottom though. The chip in the VZW iPhone 5 is still a dual spec CDMA/LTE chip. CDMA will carry voice and LTE data. Eventually, with VoLTE (Voice over LTE) there will just be data, and data will carry voice calls. But that's a year or so away.

But the question remains as to whether they built the network and the hardware so that CDMA could carry voice and the LTE network is capable of doing data simultaneously. It's definitely possible on the new network. It depends whether the phone can do it or not.

Just trying to find some verification before I lay down $400 on a new phone is all.
dplantz
join:2000-08-02
Bradenton, FL

dplantz

Member

A Verizon iphone 5 will do Simultaneous Voice & Data in an LTE enabled area or when using wifi. In a 3g only area no Simultaneous data and voice until the Volte available. Volte is designed to work over evdo as well.

RokMan1
@verizon.net

RokMan1 to thehondaboy

Anon

to thehondaboy
It does so on my Galaxy Nexus and did so on the Thunderbolt. As a matter of fact, I am able to browse and talk even on CDMA alone (EVDO Rev. B?). But as mentioned by thehondaboy, that capability may need to be available in the iPhone 5.

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec to thehondaboy

Premium Member

to thehondaboy
said by thehondaboy:

said by swintec:

Why couldnt it?

Because VZW's CDMA network was not built to handle voice and data simultaneously like a GSM network can.
»www.tuaw.com/2011/01/11/ ··· neously/

I know that, but the way to get around it was a cheap fix at the handset level by installing an extra radio. Verizons network is a ways ahead of Sprint but I can do it on Sprints network with my new phone and I do not have LTE any where around me. It also works on the femtocell that I have from sprint where it previously "didnt" work with my Samsung Epic and the Femtocell only has EVDO.
kevnich24
join:2006-04-19
Mulberry, FL

kevnich24 to dplantz

Member

to dplantz
I don't agree with this. It SHOULD do simultanious voice and data over 3g. Apple put a qualcomm LTE modem which does do voice and data over 3g. This is the chip in all the newer phones. My new razr has this chip and I can do voice and data at the same time on 3g without a problem because of this. All reports indicate this is also true on the iphone 5 as well.
kevnich24

kevnich24 to swintec

Member

to swintec
Yes the extra radio was a design by Qualcomm for their LTE modems - apple iphone 5 has this qualcomm chip in it, the same as other phones released in the past few months. It's also more power efficient too, which is the primary reason apple put it in their phone.

VZW Tech
@myvzw.com

VZW Tech to thehondaboy

Anon

to thehondaboy
I work for Verizon Tech Support, and unfortunately the information we've been given indicates definitively that the iPhone 5 will not allow simultaneous voice & data on the wireless network. It will only work when connected to wifi. It unfortunately does not specify why this is the case, as all other 4G phones do allow it.

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

said by VZW Tech :

It unfortunately does not specify why this is the case, as all other 4G phones do allow it.

Here is the article on it: »www.theverge.com/2012/9/ ··· n-sprint

As to why Apple did this with a single antenna design is anyone's guess. Stupid if you ask me especially when so may other devices are coming out with the capability on Sprint and Verizon. Maybe when the iPhone 7 comes out they will have a phone at 2012 standards and it will be included.

norbert26
Premium Member
join:2010-08-10
Warwick, RI

norbert26 to thehondaboy

Premium Member

to thehondaboy

christcorp
Premium Member
join:2001-05-21
Cheyenne, WY

christcorp to thehondaboy

Premium Member

to thehondaboy
glad some clarification was provided here. Too much incorrect info. The Iphone 5 ON verizon and sprint will not do voice and data simultaneously.

Androids on verizon 4g/LTE WILL do voice and data simultaneously. I do that all the time at work.
stu
join:2000-11-03
Patchogue, NY

stu to thehondaboy

Member

to thehondaboy
See NY Times article Why the iPhone 5 on Verizon and Sprint Won't Juggle Calls and Data

SyKuAM2N.htm.part.htm I think

Stu
thehondaboy
join:2009-07-19
Auburn, GA

thehondaboy to christcorp

Member

to christcorp
Still not totally correct christcorp. It has nothing to do with android. It has to do with a phones chip architecture and antenna design.

If you can put up with it for a year then VoLTE should be available on VZW.

Oddly enough, I know Brian Klugg via my work in tech policy and am the one who struck up the Twitter convo on the matter that got him investigating this.
kevnich24
join:2006-04-19
Mulberry, FL

kevnich24

Member

According to the iphone 5 specs, VoLTE is not a feature on this phone either. Guess wait for the iphone 5s? Bring Steve back.... Get the feeling Apples best years are now beyond them with their new products. Oh well atleast android is now pretty stable.

jw
@verizon.net

jw to VZW Tech

Anon

to VZW Tech
will it be available through an upgrade though? or will it require the purchase of a new phone?

i have a razr maxx and i want to switch to the iphone 5 but i do not know if its worth it.

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

said by jw :

will it be available through an upgrade though?

You cant do an over the air software upgrade to add an extra radio into the phone (not even with an apple product).

jw
@myvzw.com

jw

Anon

From what i understand the chip in the iPhone is capable of it once the network is capable of it with that equipment. Otherwise why would apple have not added the extra antenna now if they'd have to do it anyway. So i think the phone is capable once the network is. You can't compare iPhone and Android. They have different systems

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

said by jw :

From what i understand the chip in the iPhone is capable of it once the network is capable of it with that equipment. Otherwise why would apple have not added the extra antenna now if they'd have to do it anyway. So i think the phone is capable once the network is. You can't compare iPhone and Android. They have different systems

Apple has already said they didnt add this functionality into Verizon and Sprint versions so they could save space.
superfula
join:2002-03-17
Ankeny, IA

superfula

Member

said by swintec:

said by jw :

From what i understand the chip in the iPhone is capable of it once the network is capable of it with that equipment. Otherwise why would apple have not added the extra antenna now if they'd have to do it anyway. So i think the phone is capable once the network is. You can't compare iPhone and Android. They have different systems

Apple has already said they didnt add this functionality into Verizon and Sprint versions so they could save space.

Apple has said nothing about VoLTE. The chip in the iPhone 5 supports it but it's not known if the feature is enabled. All the same a simple software update should be enough if it isn't.

AnonFTW
@rr.com

AnonFTW

Anon

Brian Klugg at Anand said the iPhone 5 isn't currently capable of VoLTE and Apple specifically filed the iPhone 5 as *NOT* VoLTE capable in their FCC filing. See the FCC Test article image and explanation here: »www.anandtech.com/show/6 ··· support-

I believe VoLTE is simply a baseband software upgrade however, but whether Apple decides to enable that when the carriers support it is up to them. If Verizon and AT&T support VoLTE in 2013 as claimed, I believe that Apple will update the iPhone 5 for VoLTE as long as it is not a hardware limitation. Anand explained that when you buy an LTE SoC from Qualcomm, you pay for features, even if they go unused. So it's completely possible Apple didn't buy the VoLTE "feature" when they negotiated the license for the baseband chips. He stated the baseband was all the same and the features were enabled at the software level however (in the Qualcomm provided SDK I believe) so I don't see why they couldn't negotiate to have it enabled at a later date.

As for why most Android phones can do simultaneous CDMA and LTE, as others have stated they either have two radios (and subsequently suck battery life) or in the case of newer CDMA/LTE SoC that are combined onto a single die (ala Samsung Galaxy S3) they have dedicated CDMA/LTE antennas. Usually one more than the iPhone 5.

So the bottom line is that if simultaneous voice and data is critical for you, get a phone that supports it or don't go with CDMA service.