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Quick question regarding unlocked SIM card phones on Bell. As far as I can tell, for an unlocked phone to work on Bell it must have UMTS/HSPA 850/1900. Is that all that matters when considering which phone to buy?
I'm looking at the following Nokia phones, could someone please tell me if they will work with Bell (when they're unlocked, of course)? I was planning to just buy off eBay, but I am only going to if I know it will work for sure.
As you've noted, make absolutely, 100%, double-check that it has UMTS/HSPA 850/1900! eBay is notorious for people posting default spec's from the manufacturer's websites and not actually verifying that the particular version of the phone has the right bands. Since 850/1900 is UMTS pretty-much only in North America and a few Caribbean/Central American countries, there are few Nokia phones with the right UMTS bands for sale on eBay.
Thanks for the information. Assuming I can get the sellers to confirm this (with a return policy) those phones listed above should be able to work then, right?
Nokia 6730 classic will not work AT ALL on Bell, the other two, if you get the RIGHT version (-2) it will work some places. The E55 & E52 have 850, but not 1900, so you will not be getting full coverage for the network.
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2009 = iPhone 3G (White), Blackberry 8900, HTC Dream, Blackberry 9000, Blackberry Bold 9700
>*<<*<*
2008 = Sony Ericsson w810i, Nokia N95-3, Nokia E71-2, Blackberry Bold
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2007 = Nokia 5300, Nokia N73ME, Sony Ericsson W580i, Sony Ericsson K850i
>*<<*<*
2006 = Samsung A740, Samsung D600, Samsung D900, Samsung A900, Nokia 3220
For future use, though, how would I know that? All three of them say "Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900" in their specifications, so how do I find that out... for other phones as well?
It doesn't matter they are quad-band or tri-band GSM. None of them will work since bell only support HSPA.
They have to be UMTS or HSDPA or HSPA 850/1900 this site will show u which phone will have the the HSPA 850/1900 bnad.
But u still need to find out urself the correct version of a particular phone.
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Just to confirm... for the sole purpose of finding phones that work on Bell: as long as the phone is either UMTS 850/1900 or HSDPA 850/1900 or HSPA 850/1990, it will work?
For future use, though, how would I know that? All three of them say "Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900" in their specifications, so how do I find that out... for other phones as well?
Because GSM 850/1900 is not the same as HSPA/UMTS 850/1900. They are differnt and are normally listed as such in the specs for a device. A good example of this:
HTC HERO NA version: Under the specs it is listed as supporting
Dual mode UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA: (850/1900)
GSM/GPRS/EDGE (Quad-band
850/900/1800/1900Mhz)
However if you look at the HTC Hero Euro/Asia version the specs read
HSPA/WCDMA: (900/2100)
and Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
850/900/1800/1900 MHz
No 850/1900 listed under HSPA/UMTS in the Euro/Asia version, so it wont work.
Looking at those links you provided, I guess it can seem confusing as they write things like this Data network
GPRS class B, multislot class 32, maximum speed 298/178.8 kbps (UL/DL)
EDGE class A, multislot class 11, maximum speed 178.8/118.2 kbps (UL/DL)
WCDMA 900/2100, maximum speed PS 384/384 kbps (UL/DL), CS 64 kbps
HSDPA, maximum speed 10.2 Mbps (DL)
HSUPA, maximum speed 2.0 Mbps (UL)
With no mention of the actual HSDPA/HSUPA bands it supports, just the speeds that it can support. WCDMA is the same as UMTS. So in the case of that device, the WCDMA mentioned and listed as 900/2100 is the UMTS bands it supports.
And just to make sure: any Rogers/Fido phone that has HSPA/UMTS 850/1990 will work with Bell (and vice versa), BUT Rogers/Fido also have GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/1900 phones that WILL NOT work with Bell, right?
Last edited by think_lenovo : 11-23-2009 at 18:17.
And just to make sure: any Rogers/Fido phone that has HSPA/UMTS 850/1990 will work with Bell (and vice versa), BUT Rogers/Fido also have GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/1900 phones that WILL NOT work with Bell, right?
That is correct.
I just wanted to clarify my other post as I know I will be bombed for it. W-CDMA/UMTS is not the "same". WCDMA refers to the technology of the wide-band spectrum. UMTS refers to a system the union of telcom's use to universalize a standard. The current standard being supported by the ITU is W-CDMA. HDSPA is W-CDMA. HSPA is just a method on how the W-CDMA is implemented.
I don't explain it so well. You can read up on it, on wiki or something to get a better grasp on it.
One more thing, though, while we're talking about these frequencies... we're talking about voice (calling) and internet (data), right? It will work for both of those as long as its UMTS 850/1900? Because I read somewhere here that Bell still uses CDMA for voice and HSPA for data or something like that...
One more thing, though, while we're talking about these frequencies... we're talking about voice (calling) and internet (data), right? It will work for both of those as long as its UMTS 850/1900? Because I read somewhere here that Bell still uses CDMA for voice and HSPA for data or something like that...
11-23-2009, 16:17
You can read up on it, on wiki or something to get a better grasp on it.
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