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General discussion

Analog Necessary feature if using a Triband phone?

Sep 1, 2004 5:57AM PDT

Please forgive my ignorance. I am unclear about analog roaming. I live out in the boonies and near the mountains in GA. I am planning on purchasing a new phone as my former had substandard reception and was REALLY out of date. I was planning on getting at least a 850/1800/1900 band phone. However, many of them say that they do not have analog roaming available. I am concerned, but not sure, that some of the areas around here are analog. The customer service reps I have spoke with recently and in the past have not been correct about the things that they have told me so I am reluctant to trust them. Any advice would be appreciated.

Discussion is locked

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Re: Analog Necessary feature if using a Triband phone?
Sep 1, 2004 11:15AM PDT

If you're looking at GSM service from T-Mobile, Cingular, or AT&T, those services no longer have analog on their new phones. The tri-band phones you're talking about are 3 digital frequencies for different parts of the world. GSM 1900mhz is used in the USA. 1800 used in Europe. I don't know where 850 is used at. As for CDMA carriers (Sprint, Verizon Wireless, Cricket, Alltel, and USCellular to name a few), I can tell you Verizon Wireless is nearly all digital. Alltel is still analog in most of their coverage area. I don't know how much of Sprint, Cricket, and US Cellular are analog. If you plan to look at T-Mobile, AT&T, or Cingular for service, expect to find areas with no service because of no analog availability on their phones.

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Re: Analog Necessary feature if using a Triband phone?
Sep 1, 2004 1:39PM PDT

Thank you for the advice. I have been told although again without much assuredness that I am in an 850 area (just outside Atlanta). I am not sure how common that is or even if that is true. However, I do use Cingular (despite the lack of customer service locally) because it is the only service offered here. I would assume that if my old phone (which was nearly five years old) worked, then the new phone will work even though Cingular no longer offers analog service. Would you say that this is a safe assumption to make?

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Re: Analog Necessary feature if using a Triband phone?
Sep 2, 2004 12:30AM PDT

From what you mention, the best would be to try out different phone companies on a trial basis. Most offer 15 - 30 day trials. I believe you would need an analog phone or at least a tri-mode phone offered by Verizon. I would guess GSM (ATT, Cingular, T-Mobile...) would be out of question unless you are near a major metropolitan area.
Make sure you check out Nextel also!
Good luck,
hh

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Re: Analog Necessary feature if using a Triband phone?
Sep 2, 2004 11:36AM PDT

Nextel is like AT&T, Cingular, and T-Mobile, no analog roaming, plus Nextel uses a proprietary digital standard, IDEN rather than CDMA or GSM. So you must be on Nextel's network if you want service, or you'll have no service. That was part of the reason my mother and sister dropped Nextel. They went out to an area where Nextel didn't cover and their phones were useless and had to go to a payphone to call me. If you want digital and analog, best bet is to look at the CDMA carriers: Verizon, Sprint, and any other CDMA carrier(s) that might be in your area. They're the only ones that have some phones made to work in areas that still have analog towers.

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Re: Analog Necessary feature if using a Triband phone?
Sep 3, 2004 1:13PM PDT

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.

This is an excerpt from a 6 part article on The Travel Insider web site. To read the complete article got to http://www.thetravelinsider.info/2002/0308.htm

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Re: Analog Necessary feature if using a Triband phone?
Sep 24, 2004 4:34PM PDT

I know for a fact that Verizon Wireless has phones with both analog and digital.They still sell them, and I'm planning on buying a new one shortly. I have owned one for almost 2 yrs. I had Sprint before that, and they are best in cities, I live in the country, and rarely got a signal, but when I did, it was always a dropped call many times during the same conversation. Frustrating! Analog was the original signal, from what I understand. So, if not everyone is digital yet, then you can still call someone on analog if your phone has the band in it. Usually roaming is involved, but it makes sense to have a phone with analog because not everyone out there is fully digitized yet. Eventually, I can see all phones being digital only, but that's a while down the road. Verizon is the only one that I've found works for me in the country or anywhere I go. Consumer Reports even said that they have the largest calling area in the country, and their customer service is good. Don't forget text messaging- if you can't get a signal where you are, then you can text and it will go thru any tower. That's what I was told, and I've found it's a great plan B. Plus, you don't roam and use analog.

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Re: Analog Necessary feature if using a Triband phone?
Sep 25, 2004 8:54AM PDT

I hvae Verizon Wireless and it works fine for me. Even better when I upgraded to the Samsung SCH-a650 tri-mode phone. Verizon Wireless uses CDMA and Cingular uses GSM. All services that both wireless services provide work on their digital network, including text messaging. Analog only works for just calls, not anything else. And rural areas are most likely to still be on analog, though I usually find a few rural areas with digital only when I force my phone into analog. In those areas where I try to see if analog is available, I either get a weak signal or no service on analog.Justlike by my house near a 500ft. tower, I get full signal strength on digital, but a weak signal on analog, but not sure if that same tower is digital only, or both digital and analog. I can roam on digital as long as the roaming partner uses the same digital standard as Verizon Wireless.

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Re: Analog Necessary feature if using a Triband phone?
Sep 26, 2004 11:54AM PDT

-shishy
From what I gather you have a GSM phone which is nice the GSM network regardless or what carrier that you have is and always will be a digital network therefore there is no need for analog roaming this network does not have analog it is only digital.