I am looking at the Xda and the PDA2K units and am having NO luck getting the info that I need to make a decision. Here is the issue.
I live in Florida and currently have ATT, taken over by Cingular GSM. I am not happy with the Nokia and want to upgrade so I need the frequencys used here. The Idiots at the tech support for Cingular can't seem to furnish the info. I don't want to get a phone that is not usable so if I get a unlocked/unbranded phone and want to use my sims card, which frequencies do I need, 850/1800/1900 or 900/1800/1900???? I am aware that there are Quad band units, but I have noticed that the Triband units seem to have the faster processor and better features. HELP????
phone that works in one frequency band unfortunately can not also work in the frequency band next to it unless added as a specific extra frequency band. For comparison, when you have your FM radio tuned to a radio station at 98.1 MHz, there's no way you'll hear what is happening on another radio station at 98.3 MHz unless you retune your radio.
Which frequencies are used in the US?
Originally, the US used only 1900 MHz for its GSM cell phone service. In the last year or so, there has been a growing amount of GSM service on the 850 MHz band. This type of service will usually be seen in rural areas, because the 850 MHz band has better range than the 1900 MHz band. It can sometimes also found in city areas, particularly if the cell phone company has spare frequencies unused in the 850 MHz band, but no remaining frequencies to use in the 1900 MHz band.
Most of the 850 MHz service belongs to AT&T, and some to Cingular (these two companies are in the process of merging). Although T-Mobile does not (as of July 04) have any of its own 850 MHz service, because it has roaming agreements with both AT&T and Cingular, even a T-mobile user might sometimes find themselves in an area where the only signal available is on 850 MHz.
What about 800 MHz? Is this a fifth band?
Some people refer to the 850 MHz band as being the 800 MHz band. This is incorrect. The actual frequencies in the band are closer to 850 MHz and the standardized naming convention as promulgated by the GSM Association is to refer to this band as '850 MHz'.
If you see someone referring to a phone with 800 MHz service, they probably are simply mistaken and mean to refer to the 850 MHz band.
Do you need both frequencies in the US?
This really depends on the areas in which you use your cell phone. If you're in a major metropolitan area, you probably won't need the 850 MHz band, but if you travel to secondary areas regularly, you will find the extra coverage of the 850 MHz band to be valuable.
Looking into the future, it is probable we'll see increased use of 850 MHz to expand GSM's overall coverage into more of the country.
And then, looking further into the future, it is possible we'll see 1900 MHz coverage duplicating the 850 MHz coverage.
Bottom line : If you travel out of the main cities, you'll definitely benefit from a phone that supports both 850 MHz and 1900 MHz.
Which frequencies are used internationally?
GSM was originally developed in Europe, and only came to the US recently.
Initially, all countries with GSM service used the 900 MHz band. In the past few years, service providers have increasingly been adding 1800 MHz coverage, due to congestion in the 900 MHz band.
When the US started to use GSM, a few other countries with very close links to the US chose to copy the US and use the same frequencies that the US used - first 1900 MHz, and in a few cases, 850 MHz also.
Almost without exception, all international countries that use the non-US international frequency bands have 900 MHz service, and many have some 1800 MHz service as well.
All international countries that have the US frequency bands have 1900 MHz service. A very few might also have some 850 MHz service.
Which frequencies do you need when traveling internationally?
That depends on the countries you plan to visit.
Refer to the table below to get a feeling for which countries use which frequency bands. For a more expanded set of information, complete with network coverage maps, refer to the official GSM Association's website.
As the table suggests, 900 MHz is the most common band used internationally. 1800 MHz will give you expanded coverage in countries that also have 900 MHz. And some countries only have 1900 MHz rather than 900 or 1800 MHz.
Note that countries with both 900 and 1800 MHz service generally provide better coverage in the 900 MHz band than in the 1800 MHz band.
Which bands should you get on your phone?
If used only in the US
If you intend to use your phone only in the US, then get a dual band phone that has both 850 MHz and 1900 MHz.
A single band phone with only 1900 MHz will give almost as good coverage.
If used only internationally
If you intend to use your phone only internationally, then decide if you'll be using the phone in countries that use the international frequencies, or in countries that use the US frequencies, or in both.
If you only need to use the phone in countries with international frequencies, get a dual band 900/1800 MHz phone. A single band phone with only 900 MHz will give reasonably good coverage, but most international phones these days have both bands.
If you need to use the phone in countries that also have the US 1900 MHz frequency, get a tri-band phone with 900/1800/1900 MHz.
If used in both the US and internationally
Two frequencies are 'must have' frequencies - 900 and 1900 MHz. The other two bands are nice to also have, with 1800 MHz typically opening up more of foreign countries than 850 MHz would open up in the US.
Ideally the best solution is to get a quad-band phone with all four bands.
So why not simply buy a quad band phone?
When we first wrote this in July 04 we said 'there are only a very few quad-band phones for sale at present, and they tend to be expensive'. Happily, nine months later, quad band phones have become a lot more common and may even be close to free when you're signing up for new service.
We find the cheapest deals for new phone service are usually those offered at Amazon - see their ad on the left hand side (they have many more models on their site, too). Bizarrely, the prices shown on the Amazon ad are often much higher than the actual prices after special offers on their site - for example, today (March 05) there is a lovely Motorola V551 showing for $74.99, but clicking over to their site shows that after rebates, you actually get the phone for free and $75.10 cash back!
We are aware of the following model quad band phones (if you know of other quad band phones, please let us know so we can update the list)
Geo
GC688
HP
i6315
Motorola
A780
V3 Razr (but not V300)
V180 (note - some people report that Cingular
disables the 1800MHz band, but in theory
these phones should have four bands)
V220
V330
V400
V500 / V501 / V505 / V525 / V551 / V555
V600 / V620
NEC
515 / 525
Palm
Treo 600 / 650
Sharp
GX32
Xda
IIs
WARNING : T-mobile disables the 850 MHz band in the quad band phones it sells. For this reason, you should not buy any quad band phone from T-mobile without getting full formal confirmation from them beforehand that the phone has all four bands fully operational.
http://www.thetravelinsider.info/roadwarriorcontent/quadbandphones.htm
Related
Is there a way to tweak the Captivate radio to switch between the 850 MHz band and the 900 MHz band or turn it into a quad band UMTS handset that can be used as a world phone?
no. If you want the 900 band, get the Vibrant
ua549 said:
Is there a way to tweak the Captivate radio to switch between the 850 MHz band and the 900 MHz band or turn it into a quad band UMTS handset that can be used as a world phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What part of the world would I need 850 that doesn't have a carrier on one of the other 3 bands?
850 is where most iDen phones operate - hence you would need 850 in markets where the operator owns "850" and plans to re-deploy. Lower frequencies yield better coverage and iDen usage is declining.
alphadog00 said:
What part of the world would I need 850 that doesn't have a carrier on one of the other 3 bands?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
North America! There are many places in the US and Canada where 850 MHZ UMTS is all that is available. AT&T is migrating UMTS from the 1900 band to the 850 band. Venezuela requires the 900 MHz band and Europe is moving in that direction as well. Right now I carry two handsets when away from home.
Costa Rica 850 only for 3g...
Hi guys,
My carrier is Digicel in Barbados (Caribbean), i asked what frequencies they used for 3G and 4G on their facebook page and they responded that the frequencies are 900,1800 & 2100.
Which fequencies are used for what? I think 900 & 2100 are 3G but i'm not 100% sure and i'm lost about the 4G frequency.
Thanks for any help.
I believe 3G works on the 900mhz band. Everything is is just EDGE.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Digicel#Caribbean_and_Central_American_Operations (remove space in ". org"):
GSM (EDGE (2G)): 900/1800/1900 MHz
UMTS (3G): 1900 MHz
HSDPA (4G) will (almost) definitely use 2100 MHz.
I don't know too much about the specifications behind 4G, but I'm pretty sure it utilizes two bands simultaneously. A few of the bands commonly used for 4G are 850, 1700, 1900, and 2100 MHz, so you'll often see something like HSDPA 850/1900 or 1700/2100. I don't know what Digicel Barbados would be using alongside 2100 MHz.
Well it depends from country to country, because each country uses some frequencies to something (ex. TDT), and mobile phone companies need to reserve the frequencies to use them on their services.
In Portugal, at the moment, LTE uses the 2600 Mhz frequency (Standart for Europe), but when TDT is fully implemented and analog signal is completely turned off, LTE will also use 850 Mhz frequency because it can offer better coverage indoors (comparing to the 2600 Mhz).
In Barbados I have no ideia, but if you know the name of the National Communications Authority (in Portugal it's called ANACOM), search on their website for information about the frequencies used by the mobile operators.
-m3ta- said:
Well it depends from country to country, because each country uses some frequencies to something (ex. TDT), and mobile phone companies need to reserve the frequencies to use them on their services.
In Portugal, at the moment, LTE uses the 2600 Mhz frequency (Standart for Europe), but when TDT is fully implemented and analog signal is completely turned off, LTE will also use 850 Mhz frequency because it can offer better coverage indoors (comparing to the 2600 Mhz).
In Barbados I have no ideia, but if you know the name of the National Communications Authority (in Portugal it's called ANACOM), search on their website for information about the frequencies used by the mobile operators.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll check this out, thanks guys.:good:
I'm confused on bands / frequency.
I thought each technology had their own specific band. For example LTE would operate on it's own band and HSPA would operate on a separate unique band.
However, I'm looking at frequencies now and I'm seeing the multiple technology operating on the same band. I don't understand that.
In example I'm seeing something like this
3G capabilities = 850, 900 MHz, PCS, IMT ,UMTS / HSPA+
3G capabilities = 850, AWS (Band IV), 1900, 2100 MHz, UMTS / HSPA+ / DC-HSPA+
I don't get how 3G has different bands. Also looking at the above, are they saying HSPA+ does not have a frequency? or that those listed frequencies can support HSPA+?
1dtms said:
I'm confused on bands / frequency.
I thought each technology had their own specific band. For example LTE would operate on it's own band and HSPA would operate on a separate unique band.
However, I'm looking at frequencies now and I'm seeing the multiple technology operating on the same band. I don't understand that.
In example I'm seeing something like this
3G capabilities = 850, 900 MHz, PCS, IMT ,UMTS / HSPA+
3G capabilities = 850, AWS (Band IV), 1900, 2100 MHz, UMTS / HSPA+ / DC-HSPA+
I don't get how 3G has different bands. Also looking at the above, are they saying HSPA+ does not have a frequency? or that those listed frequencies can support HSPA+?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bands are kind of like channels, different frequencies have different benefits.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies
The different technologies are not all deployed on one tower. What happens is tower a may use umts on 1900mhz where tower b across the state may only use pcs on that frequency.
Generally,
Lower frequency, more range and penetration through buildings and trees BUT less bandwidth.
Higher frequency less range and penetration through buildings and trees but higher bandwidth.
Now, with that being said what is done with the frequency with things like FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, and OFDMA can change how much is sent on the frequency and how many users can share a frequency.
The term waveform can be used to describe what is being done with the frequency much like AM vs FM.
That is the difference in 3G, 4G, and 5G. The technology on what the frequency is doing.
That is also why the higher the G the more battery is used. It takes more computing power to sperate your traffic from everyone else.
I am using the International Nexus 5 in Germany.
These are the frequencies relevant here:
GSM: 900 and 1800
UMTS: 2100
LTE: 800, 1800, 2600
There are 2 carriers using 900 and 2 carriers using 1800 GSM, but they also offer service on the other band, respectively.
And since I live in a very rural area, reception is very weak sometimes and different LTE bands offer vastly different speeds and features.
So, my question is: Is it possible to check, what frequencies your device currently uses to connect to the network?
I couldn't find anything in the Status menu and so far, nothing in the Test menu (*#*#4636#*#*) either.
Chef_Tony said:
I am using the International Nexus 5 in Germany.
These are the frequencies relevant here:
GSM: 900 and 1800
UMTS: 2100
LTE: 800, 1800, 2600
There are 2 carriers using 900 and 2 carriers using 1800 GSM, but they also offer service on the other band, respectively.
And since I live in a very rural area, reception is very weak sometimes and different LTE bands offer vastly different speeds and features.
So, my question is: Is it possible to check, what frequencies your device currently uses to connect to the network?
I couldn't find anything in the Status menu and so far, nothing in the Test menu (*#*#4636#*#*) either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can`t you ask your phone/data provider what bands/frequencies they use? Maybe there is an app for that available in Play, not that you can change what bands are to be used.
I know, what frequencies they use.
vodafone DE primarily uses GSM 900 (but also has 1800) and uses LTE 800, 1800 AND 2600.
I want to find out which of these available frequencies my phone uses at certain important places, like home, work, friends' houses, etc.
It would also be interesting to know, if there is a system of precedence in Android. The higher frequency bands give you higher speeds and higher bandwidth, but have a lower range, so instead of constantly using Speedtest, which wastes huge amounts of data, I would rather look up, whether I am on 800 or 1800 and could gather the quality from that.
Also, since Voice over LTE has not been rolled out yet, whenever you are connected to LTE, it takes a moment to disconnect you from the network and reconnect to GSM/3G to be able to aswer the call. When changing from 1800LTE to 1800GSM, this is extremely fast, from 2600LTE to 900GSM takes significantly longer.
EDIT:
Okay, scratch that, vodafone actually doesn't have 1800 and since 2600 has such a short range, it is only used for stationary clients, like LTE @home.
Also, thanks for suggesting an app, I really didn't think of that. I found an app called Nexus 5 Field Test Mode, which displays the currently connected LTE band.
For me it is 20, that is the 800 band, that is all I wanted to know.
Thanks.
I got a V19 phone from china with Android 5.0. I believe it is a rooted phone, I've seen some of those features. It came in a box that says Android. I have no idea of the manufacturer.
Problem: I cant get the data connection (tmobile, wifi works fine) to get better than the edge network, 2G. I've learned that T-Mobile requires these bands:
LTE Frequencies:
1700 MHz & 2100 MHz AWS band 4
1900 MHz PCS band 2 (in refarmed areas)
Lower 700 MHz band 12 (in development) / in service in selected areas
3G/4G Frequencies (WCDMA):
1700 MHz & 2100 MHz AWS band 4
1900 MHz PCS band 2 (in refarmed areas)
2G Frequencies (GSM/GPRS/EDGE):
1900 MHz PCS band 2
Inside the battery area the phone lists :
GSM 850/900/1800/1900mhz
WCDMA 850/2100mhz (HA)
When I got to engineering mode, I can see other bands that are greyed out.
So my question is this. Is it possible to slick this phone and install software, etc, that allows the bands I need? Or are 'Bands" hard coded into the hardware of the phone? Easier to just buy another phone with correct bands? Advice or links?
Thanks,
Gary B.
Kimchoc said:
I got a V19 phone from china with Android 5.0. I believe it is a rooted phone, I've seen some of those features. It came in a box that says Android. I have no idea of the manufacturer.
Problem: I cant get the data connection (tmobile, wifi works fine) to get better than the edge network, 2G. I've learned that T-Mobile requires these bands:
LTE Frequencies:
1700 MHz & 2100 MHz AWS band 4
1900 MHz PCS band 2 (in refarmed areas)
Lower 700 MHz band 12 (in development) / in service in selected areas
3G/4G Frequencies (WCDMA):
1700 MHz & 2100 MHz AWS band 4
1900 MHz PCS band 2 (in refarmed areas)
2G Frequencies (GSM/GPRS/EDGE):
1900 MHz PCS band 2
Inside the battery area the phone lists :
GSM 850/900/1800/1900mhz
WCDMA 850/2100mhz (HA)
When I got to engineering mode, I can see other bands that are greyed out.
So my question is this. Is it possible to slick this phone and install software, etc, that allows the bands I need? Or are 'Bands" hard coded into the hardware of the phone? Easier to just buy another phone with correct bands? Advice or links?
Thanks,
Gary B.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
Thanks for using XDA Assist.
There's no dedicated forum for your device here in XDA.You can post your query in Android Q&A,Help and Troubleshooting.Experts there may be able to help you
___
v7
XDA Assist