iPhone 3G Question: What does a baseband do? Do I need to update?

[TheFuteballer]

So I've jailbroken my phone the proper way since 2.1 or 2.2 and so my baseband has yet to be updated and 4.26.x

I just noticed with 3.1.2. it updates to 5.something

My question is, should I be updating my iPhone through iTunes and then jailbreaking it (since now Blacksn0w is out) to get an updated baseband?

What are basebands used for? Will I get any benefit from updating?

[MoeJoe]

The base-band is for the cellphone's radio software.

As for whether to update it or not, if you are not experiencing any calling problems I would hold off. But honestly I am not sure.

[Gdog]

So I've jailbroken my phone the proper way since 2.1 or 2.2 and so my baseband has yet to be updated and 4.26.x

I just noticed with 3.1.2. it updates to 5.something

My question is, should I be updating my iPhone through iTunes and then jailbreaking it (since now Blacksn0w is out) to get an updated baseband?

What are basebands used for? Will I get any benefit from updating?

Geohot recommends that you use blacksn0w on a "fresh" install of 3.1.2 and 05.11.07 baseband. The baseband, according to the iPhone Dev Team's blog:

What’s a Baseband?

The ‘baseband’ is the generic nickname given to the internal components of the iPhone that handle the phone calls and Internet access. This ‘baseband’ is a tiny and unique independent computer system that runs inside your iPhone, it is separate to the main system that handles the applications (such as email and google maps) and it talks to the main part of the phone over an internal communications network.

Think of it like a cable modem or other peripheral that is attached to your home PC that needs occasional updates. When a software update is released and presented to you within iTunes the baseband is sometimes updated (to fix bugs or add new features).

The 3.1.2 update for the iPhone 3G and 3GS contains such an update, so running the vanilla updater straight away with iTunes will reprogram and update the baseband.

Update to 3.1.2 in iTunes, then run blacksn0w. There's a full guide here (http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/tips-tricks/how-to-jailbreakunlock-iphone-2g3g3gs-on-3-1-2-blackra1nblacksn0w-guide/) if you want some screenshots to guide you along the way.

[kareshi]

Update it. Name display only works properly after baseband update.