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Wireless Networking Hardware Technology

Int'l Frequencies for Blackberry Wireless Devices? 34

Posted by Cliff from the finding-a-band-that-works-everywhere dept.
hargass asks: "My US-based company is entrenched in AT&T. Now, as we look to expand our Blackberry 'fleet' from 1 to 5 units, I am struggling to determine which model will best suit our needs. My options are: the Blackberry 7210, dual band (1900 and 900 MHz); and the Blackberry 7280, tri band(1900, 1800, and 850 MHz). My users travel internationally, from London to Sydney to Beirut, and so on. I've researched what frequencies are most used outside of the States, and it appears that the 900 band is the most prevalent. However, the 7280 tri-band model doesn't operate on the 900 frequency. Is the 900 MHz frequency on the way out? Are the 800/850 frequencies the wave of the future? What are the strongest bands in Europe? Internationally, how much will not having the 900 MHz frequency hurt?"
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Int'l Frequencies for Blackberry Wireless Devices? More

Int'l Frequencies for Blackberry Wireless Devices?

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  • Not 900 MHz! (Score:3, Funny)

    by BladeMelbourne ( 518866 ) on Monday March 08, 2004 @10:01PM (#8505123)
    Don't use 900 MHz and come to Melbourne, Australia. It will interfere with my Uniden cordless phones. ;-)
    • lol... well considering that Melbourne, like the rest of AU, uses 900Mhz already (was what the first digital phones used) I think you would have noticed any problems by now ;)

    • North America (I am in Canada, but our CRTC keeps its regulations virtually identical to FCC) uses 900mhz (and 2.4ghz) cordless phones...

      I think we might have noticed any problems by now ;).

  • The two primary frequencies in the EU are 900 & 1800, so one out of two frequencies should be okay.

  • GSM Frequencies (Score:5, Informative)

    by bob_dinosaur ( 544930 ) on Monday March 08, 2004 @10:08PM (#8505207)
    The standard GSM frequencies internationally are 900 and 1800MHz. 900MHz isn't on its way out - the 1800MHz band was introduced primarily to provide additional capacity.

    900MHz and 1800MHz networks usually co-exist in any one country, though in countries with less capacity need or older systems, 1800MHz may not be available.

    To the best of my knowledge no country operates 850 and 900 together (nor 1800 and 1900 for that matter). It's unlikely to be technically feasible, but it's a long long time since I've looked at specs for the radios on GSM phones.

    1900MHz was introduced in the USA, as 900/1800MHz wasn't available. For the record, if you buy a tri-band phone outside the US it'll be 900/1800/1900.
    • Just to clarify, 900 and 1800 are used in most non-North American countries. IIRC, GSM was first introduced on the European continent on 900Mhz, and 1800 in the UK (because 900 was already in use at the time GSM was being introduced).

      When GSM was introduced in Canada and the USA, it was on 1900, and mostly limited to urban areas. As GSM moves into the rural areas (and secondarily, as more bandwidth is required) the carriers are adding GSM 850.

      • Just to clarify, 900 and 1800 are used in most non-western-hemisphere countries. (The only one that uses 900 & 1800 is Brazil, AFAIK)

      • IIRC, GSM was first introduced on the European continent on 900Mhz, and 1800 in the UK (because 900 was already in use at the time GSM was being introduced).

        900MHz was used first in the UK, and 1800MHz followed, I believe. My first phone was single-band 900MHz, anyway. But, in the UK at least, both bands are thriving and 850MHz is just a(nother) weird thing that Americans do - there's no chance of it happening here.

  • Most used GSM bands. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Gadzinka ( 256729 ) <rrw@hell.pl> on Monday March 08, 2004 @10:10PM (#8505220) Journal
    Whole EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia uses 900/1800. There were also talks about using 450, but I don't know if anything came out of this.

    Both 900 and 1800 are used concurrently. Because of signal propagation issues, the higher the frequency, the smaller (and more densely packed) are the cells.

    Hence 1800 is used in urban areas and on communication lines, while 900 is used elsewhere. This whole deal with 450 was to use it in even less populated areas. Additionally, almost everywhere there is 1800 there is also 900 for people with old handsets, or American triband (1900/850/900). Most European handsets is dualband 900/1800 and European triband handsets are usually 900/1800/1900.

    So, 900 isn't on the way out by any means. It's rather the most useful GSM freq in Europe.

    Robert
    • How did this get described as informative?
      In the UK at least 900 and 1800 both have pretty much universal coverage. Orange and Teutonic Mobile have 1800 and Vodafone and O2 have 900 mostly with some 1800
  • 1800 and 900 Mhz are the most common here in Australia. Originally it was all 900 Mhz but then the dual-band phones came out and they installed 1800 Mhz towers.

    I would say that the coverage on both frequencies would be the similar but I may be wrong. In the metropolitan area it should be the same, out of the city I would say its a different story.

    I think it would be best to get a model that works with 900 but really it also depends on what other countries use.

  • GSM 900 all the way (Score:4, Informative)

    by isaac ( 2852 ) on Monday March 08, 2004 @10:36PM (#8505455)
    Are the 800/850 frequencies the wave of the future?

    Wave of the past, as in US analog frequency allocations being re-used for digital cel service.

    GSM 900 isn't going anywhere. If your phone doesn't support GSM 900, don't expect to use it many places outside the US. It's that simple. GSM 1800 is the new kid on the block in Europe (like GSM 850 in the US), and is hardly available outside major cities elsewhere.

    Basically, the GSM 900/1900 phone will work in many, many more places than the 1900/1800/850. The latter, however, will have better coverage within the US.

    You should, however, make sure the Blackberry devices will function the way you want outside your normal coverage area. I don't know that you'll get the push email you expect in Sydney or Beiruit.

    -Isaac

  • I find it funny that slashdot linked to an article bashing ATTWS for not offering only 850 phones, when 1900(1800/900I) was the WORLD phone standard.

    Now here's someone who wants a World phone, but most carriers have American phones with 1900/850 (1800 International) standard.

    So, why isn't anyone blaming the vendors for no 1900/850(1800/900) phones? Motorola finally stepped up and did. ATTWS is releasing the Motorola V600 [motorola.com] which is quad band this month, Cingular released the V400 [motorola.com].

    I tell ya, After ATTWS a
    • You forget Vodaphone has rolled out Quad Band phones and soon Verizon Wireless will also.
      • GSM1x [gsm1x.com], based chipsets from Qualcomm was tested last year by Kyocera in the KZ850 last year, I suspect this is the first brand to have the chipset. And verizon hinted at the "Handset that needed more testing..."

        Verizon currently has to sell GSM phones for people traveling overseas for GSM coverage, at a very steep price. (Kinda funny)

        Vodaphone is already GSM, they already have World Phones, Verizon doesn't. And Vodaphone has great roaming coverage on ATTWS, supporting GSM/EGPRS and SMS. The Cingular/ATTWS
  • After four solid hours on the phone today with their technical support, spare yourself. They really are a mess. Cool... but a mess!

    When can we get an "anything" software radio system-- 802.11x when it is around, 800/900MHZ as a last resort, and GSM as the norm? Coverage is really disappointing when you are outside the 25-40 top markets with everything. It would seem like the only way to provide coverage everywhere is for private networks with a vested interest in better coverage helping out.
  • More garbage on 800 mHz is not needed. I hope the FCC isn't allowing 800 mHz for blackberries in the US. The FCC already blew it by allowing Nextel to use 800 for cells, which really hinders emergency services usage. I'm just hoping the FCC allows emergency services to keep 40 mHz and 150 mHz all to themselves.

    Your blackberry is not as important as my portable radio!

  • In the UK... (Score:4, Informative)

    by stu_coates ( 156061 ) * on Tuesday March 09, 2004 @04:28AM (#8507847)

    ...the following frequencies are in use:

    • 1800 - Orange
    • 1800 - T-Mobile (and Virgin)
    • 900 - Vodaphone
    • 900 - mm02 (Cellnet)
    The new 3G network "3" uses something else as well as piggy-backing on the mm02 network when there's no signal on their own.
  • Int'l cell phones are a rip off and a waste. Just get your team a bunch of cheap temporary cell phones in the host country and pass around the phone numbers. Not much else to say...
    • In China and HK the GSM phones are interchangeable. The vendors encourage and recommend buying phones and passing your SIM card between then.

      China Mobile is rolling out CDMA in China for the past few years and, unfortunately, this means no more SIM card passing.

      • IIRC it is China Unicomm that is rolling out CDMA in China.

        Also, why does that not allow SIM card passing? CDMA phones support the R-UIM standard (which looks like a type 2 sim, and can read standard sim cards...kinda) Last I checked, all China Unicomm CDMA phones use R-UIM cards, and those cards are interchangable between Unicomm GSM and CDMA phones

        However, the US CDMA providers see no reason to use these cards.
  • Go here: http://www.phonescoop.com/
    It is site that discusses all those questions.

    Also check this article out: http://www.engadget.com/entry/5326780577844212/

    You will want to get them the 7280 at least for the US because AT&T are trying to switch everyone to the 850 network. Hence the 7210 will one day be obsolete.
  • Here in India, GSM networks operate in 900MHz and 1800MHz bands. 900MHz is omnipresent, 1800 is available in Big cities because 900MHz band can't fulfil the bandwidth requirement alone. Also, in India GSM is 'unlocked'. That means you can have any compatible handset and you only need to purchase a SIM card. The handsets are *not* tied to a particular provider. There is no monopoly here and in general (exclusing small cities) you'll find multiple GSM operators in a city. FYI, Prepaid is more popular than po
  • 900MHz was the first GSM frequency and is by far the most comon frequency in use outside of North America. It is definately not going anywhere. 1800MHz has been added in many countries that already have 900MHz networks, and it is far less common. Why on earth can't the USA get its act together and use the official GSM frequencies? Even if it has to re-allocate whatever is on 900 and 1800, surely it is less expensive than having two completely different frequencies of 850 and 1900 to make phones for?

    I c
  • Here in India, GSM networks operate in 900MHz and 1800MHz bands. 900MHz is omnipresent, 1800 is available in Big cities because 900MHz band can't fulfil the bandwidth requirement alone.

    Also, in India GSM is 'unlocked'. That means you can have any compatible handset and you only need to purchase a SIM card. The handsets are *not* tied to a particular provider. There is no monopoly here and in general (exclusing small cities) you'll find multiple GSM operators in a city. FYI, Prepaid is more popular than pos
  • Many thanks to all of you for your input. A global network of intelligent people is priceless.

    Now for the data end of the discussion. I am unfamiliar with GPRS and what frequencies it runs on. How does data service over GPRS enter into the picture?

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