vB Easy Archive - Cingular Plan..GSM..ahh help pleasE!! :(

Pages: 1

Cingular Plan..GSM..ahh help pleasE!! :(
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: dahanizzle

Hello,

I was wondering if you can help me. I'm planning on buying the SOny Ericsson z610i but it's tri-band instead of quad-band. Will this be a huge problem? I don't know what my Cingular plan is to be honest with you..actually, does it even matter?

Basically waht I'm trying to say is that I am buying an unlocked phone online and would appreciate it if you can help me know if it will work for me. I don't want to waste $300+ onn a phone only to find out that i can't use it due to GSM.. or whatever other problems there may be

Thanks!

Posted by: rm -rf

You'll be dependent on how good Cingular's coverage is on the 1900mhz band in the areas that you frequent. In some places Cingular has good 1900mhz coverage, in some places it does not.

That phone is really set up for non-US networks.

Posted by: fractured

Quote:

Originally Posted by dahanizzle

I'm planning on buying the Sony Ericsson z610i but it's tri-band instead of quad-band. Will this be a huge problem?

It depends on where you live, work, and play. If you live in and/or travel to area where Cingular network uses 1900MHz band and the coverage is strong, then you'll be fine. That said, using a phone that doesn't support the 850MHz can/will limit your coverage in this country.

Posted by: efparri

Quote:

Originally Posted by dahanizzle

Hello,

I was wondering if you can help me. I'm planning on buying the SOny Ericsson z610i but it's tri-band instead of quad-band. Will this be a huge problem? I don't know what my Cingular plan is to be honest with you..actually, does it even matter?

Basically waht I'm trying to say is that I am buying an unlocked phone online and would appreciate it if you can help me know if it will work for me. I don't want to waste $300+ onn a phone only to find out that i can't use it due to GSM.. or whatever other problems there may be

Thanks!

You do not need a quad-band phone for any single country. No country uses more than two bands for regular GSM service. Additional bands might be used in non-western hemisphere countries for 3G service. Regular GSM will use either 900/1800 MHz or 850/1900 MHz. Cingular happens to use the latter two bands. Triband alone does not tell what bands the phone uses. A triband phone issued for use in Europe/Asia/Africa/Australia might have 900/1800/1900 while one issued for use in the United States might have 850/900/1900 or 850/1800/1900.

Posted by: dahanizzle

Oh, wow, thanks for the replies everyone.

So from what I've read here, it all really depends on where I'm staying and the phone, being tri band, doesn't really matter ALL that much (except in those areas where there is absolutely NO cingular coverage) since Cingular uses the happy medium.

Oh yeah, the z610i model does not support the 850 GSM but uses the other ones. I checked where I'm staying right now and where I am going for college and they're both the best coverage.

Posted by: JimS

Quote:

Originally Posted by dahanizzle

Oh, wow, thanks for the replies everyone.

So from what I've read here, it all really depends on where I'm staying and the phone, being tri band, doesn't really matter ALL that much (except in those areas where there is absolutely NO cingular coverage) since Cingular uses the happy medium.

Oh yeah, the z610i model does not support the 850 GSM but uses the other ones. I checked where I'm staying right now and where I am going for college and they're both the best coverage.

I don't think that is what has been written.

Cingular/at&t uses BOTH the 850 AND 1900 bands. Their service maps are not based on which band is being used, rather on the service level that can be expected using a phone that covers BOTH bands. Cingular has ONLY 850 in some areas, ONLY 1900 in others. In some areas they use BOTH.

If you get a triband phone without the 850 band, you have immediately given up the ability to use a large portion of the Cingular/at&t network. If you only use the phone in areas with strong 1900 coverage, you will be fine. If you ever want to get the coverage their maps indicate, you need 850.

There is no "happy medium"!