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Hey guys,

is that normal in "Roaming in general", definitions of "SIM-based roaming" and "Username/password based roaming" (the bullet stuff) are the same ?


I dispute the definition of "roaming" in this article.

A former version of this article had an incorrect explanation of roaming. It was actually describing handoff.

My understanding of "roaming" as it applies to wireless telecommunications is when a subscriber of a given carrier enters an area where they can only connect to the network of another non-affiliated carrier. For example, you are a Sprint subscriber, and your phone travels to an area where there is no Sprint service, but there is AT&T service. As long as there is a roaming agreement between AT&T and Sprint, and your Sprint plan allows roaming, you will be provided cellular service by AT&T in that area (with onerous per-minute fees applied), which will transfer your activity to Sprint for billing records, along with AT&T's charges (to Sprint) for use of their network.

However, the situation that was described in the article is was that of talking on the phone while moving between different antennas/cells of the same carrier's network. This is known in the industry as a handoff.

The article also seems seemed to be complaining about problems with roaming handoff -- talking on the phone while moving out of your carrier's coverage area and into that of another -- which is a virtually nonexistent concept. The roaming transactions, and the current paradigm of telephony, makes this practically impossible. For an example of the roaming transaction process, see GSM core network, especially VLR section. As far as I know.

As for wi-fi, I'm not sure there really is such a concept as wi-fi roaming in the sense I describe. Perhaps paid wi-fi from wireless companies has some sort of roaming, but it seems unlikely given the technology and overhead that would probably be required.

As for handoff in wi-fi, this should be altogether possible; that is, while you are traveling within an area of hotspots connected to the same IP network. Leaving the IP network you start on will, at best, break any connections you have open, and at worst, leave you with no service until you return to your original network.

Of course, the details of these issues of carrier network and IP network segments are generally not noticeable by the average user, so confusion of the terms is understandable, if not quite forgivable in an encyclopedia article.

Of course, I could be wrong, too...

KeithTyler 19:33, May 25, 2004 (UTC)


Because of the prior content of this article and the explanation I gave above, I'd like to find a way to re-include the distinction between handoff and roaming that was formerly made in the article. - KeithTyler 23:28, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC)

Roaming v. Fake Roaming

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While the definition in the article is definitely correct,cell phone providers (at least Alltel, but I'm pretty sure the others do also) will often abuse the roaming concept. For eaxmple, the cell phone companies may offer a plan where you can use the phone in a certain geological area, but if you try to use the phone outside of that area you are charged a 'roaming fee' (typically the same as the real roaming fee), despite not actually being on annother carriers network. I know that my Altell phone shows 2 different roaming indicators. One is this fake roaming, which I can ignore due to my plan, however the other is real roaming as defined in the article.

Clarification needed: 'visited', 'home' and 'host' networks.

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The 'The roaming process' section writes about 'visited network', 'home network' and 'host network'. It is unclear to me what 'host network' means in that context. Abu ari 14:23, 17 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Merger proposal

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I propose that Inter standard roaming be merged into Roaming. I think that the content in the Inter standard roaming article can easily be explained in the context of Roaming, and the Roaming article is of a reasonable size in which the merging of Inter standard roaming will not cause any problems as far as article size or undue weight is concerned. JanetteDoe (talk) 01:04, 21 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The term "roaming" originates from the GSM

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Suggest adding reference to GSMA IR.50 2G 2.5G 3G Roaming v4.0 dated Oct.16 2009. Would that be OK? Kalle knegis (talk) 16:36, 29 April 2013 (UTC)kalle knegis[reply]

The term "roaming" does *not* originate with GSM, as it already existed with analogue (AMPS) cellular. In North America, there were even a series of local numbers for each provider for each city (typically (NPA) NNX-7626 where available so the last four digits spelled ROAM) which made it possible to make local calls to non-local mobile 'phones which had roamed into the local area without tromboning or incurring long-distance tolls. Dialling this local number would give a secondary dial tone, at which point the area code and number of the roaming mobile device could be entered.
I don't see a problem in citing the reference to say GSM mentions "roaming", but hesitate on the claim that roaming originated there if it existed on any prior systems (AMPS in particular). K7L (talk) 02:56, 22 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
→The term "roaming" is actually ancient and does not originate from any technology at all. Roaming barbarians have been mentioned by Egypt and Roman historians already, roaming simply means the process of moving around the countryside without regard for who the lords of the individual strips of land are that are being passed through. 5.1.129.32 (talk) 15:53, 24 April 2014 (UTC) Olfan Doe[reply]

Too technical

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Most people will come here to find out what cell phone roaming means, prolly within the context of their cell phone bill.

Because the article leads with meaningless, unneeded jargon like "the home location where the service was registered," "the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) sphere," "CDMA technology," the average reader at first glance is unsure if cell phones are even germane here. For example, who cares if ""roaming" can also be applied to the [techno-gobly-gook]" when roaming itself remains undefined!? Quoting the entire Lead section:

"This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. Please help improve this article...(July 2013)"

In wireless telecommunications, roaming is a general term referring to the extension of connectivity service in a location that is different from the home location where the service was registered. Roaming ensures that the wireless device is kept connected to the network, without losing the connection. The term "roaming" originates from the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) sphere[citation needed]; the term "roaming" can also be applied to the CDMA technology. Traditional GSM Roaming is defined (cf. GSM Association Permanent Reference Document AA.39) as the ability for a cellular customer to automatically make and receive voice calls, send and receive data, or access other services, including home data services, when travelling outside the geographical coverage area of the home network, by means of using a visited network. This can be done by using a communication terminal or else just by using the subscriber identity in the visited network. Roaming is technically supported by mobility management, authentication, authorization and accounting billing procedures (known as AAA or 'triple A').

Possibly it's just poorly organized, I'll fool around some. see also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style (lead section) The Lead is required to be a conceptual overview, not a precise nor technical definition able to face all conceivable nit-picky onslaughts.
--71.133.255.249 (talk) 14:59, 26 January 2014 (UTC)Doug Bashford[reply]

Ok, I made the Lede more accessible, but I only reorganized what was there. Much/Most of the rest of the article is also poorly organized, also with unneeded jargon and clutter, —as if a sophomore was writing a paper and wanted to check off his list all the things his robotic professor might desire. A list of facts is NOT AN EXPLANATION! ...Even worse when that list seems haphazard.
More specifically, examples of slop in Section: The roaming process
subsection: Mobile Terminated Call
"It occurs for example when a call is made to a roaming cell phone." HUH!?
and in all sub-sub-sections of Mobile Terminated Call....there is utterly NO MENTION of termination! Could this have actually been an accidental insertion of needless jargon? The Signaling process: 1) The calling subscriber dials the mobile subscriber's MSISDN (the telephone number) of the roaming cell phone. ...or a precocious fifth-grader trying to impress his unprecocious peers? That's right, "MSISDN" is used over and over again in that alphabet soup instead of "phone number."
--71.133.255.249 (talk) 18:28, 26 January 2014 (UTC)Doug Bashford[reply]

No CDMA networks in Europe?

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Inter Standard Roaming claims that "In Europe there is hardly any CDMA network". How old is that claim? Europeans often use the term UMTS which may sound different from CDMA, but the claim as such is just wrong. Anyone care to fix this in a way that this claim is removed while the rest of the paragraph still carries meaning? Olfan Doe (5.1.129.32 (talk) 15:40, 24 April 2014 (UTC))[reply]

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mm 87.202.72.34 (talk) 11:44, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

needs to be simplified

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This article is full of technical jargon and abbreviations that are meaningless to laypeople. Seems like it is written for people who already understand the topic. Wcg5003 (talk) 04:00, 15 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

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