I have the Sony Ericsson k600i and it has some amazing 3g capabilities but for some reason cingular's 3g network doesnt work. I have checked and know that where i am has cingular 3g coverage, but my phone doesnt even pick it up. Does anyone know whats wrong whether its my phone or cingular?
@cool_chicken The K600 supports the 2100 MHz UMTS band, whilst Cingular uses the 1900 MHz UMTS band. In other words, the K600 can't be used on Cingular's UMTS network.
my understanding is cingular also suports the 850 band, which is what we have here in okc. and most other city's in the us.
UMTS at this point in time is 1900 only...an EDGE connection should be available tho if the phone is capable more explained here... http://www.cingular.com/broadbandconnect_consumer
In Europe 3G is run on bands that are not used here in the US so these phones will operate as GSM phones on the 1900 band, and most European models also don't have the US 850 band so you are not able to use a good portion of the US network on these phones.
I'm always baffled at all the 3g standards, so if what follows is wrong, I appologize. If you mean GPRS, any unlocked phone that does GPRS on the right band(s) will work with Cingular. I brought my Sony-Ericssen z520i over from Europe, it's a quad band and worked perfectly. Can someone please point me to the shortest page that tells the diff between GPRS, EDGE, 3g and UMTS? I know what 3g means but are all the other technologies I mentioned 3g? (I think yes, but I'm never sure). As soon as I buy into a technology, it is superceded by something a lot better
For all practical terms 3G and UMTS are the same. EDGE performs about as fast as an ISDN line, and GPRS works about as fast as a 56k dialup connection. -Jay
You are correct, a European GPRS handset will work on Cingular's network if it supports the correct frequencies. However, GPRS is not 3G. 3G is the term used to describe a set of standards, which are not necessarily compatible with one another. WCDMA is a 3G standard, as is CDMA 2000. Cingular is using WCDMA (also known as UMTS) as their 3G upgrade route. However, Cingular's WCDMA network is not compatible with WCDMA networks used in other countries due to different frequencies being used. Whilst the rest of the world uses the 2100 MHz band for WCDMA, Cingular is using the 1900 MHz band and, so I hear, the 850 MHz in the near future. I seem to recall there being talk of Cingular buying 2100 MHz frequency, but I'm not sure whether or not this will allow compatibility with non-American networks. There is another variety of WCDMA, called FOMA, which is used by NTT DoCoMo in Japan. DoCoMo are in the process of (or may already have done so) modifying their FOMA network to be compatible with other 2100 MHz WCDMA networks. GPRS is a 2.5 technology, which is used by GSM networks to provide higher speed data access than would be available through standard 2G connection. EDGE can be thought of as 2.75G; it is faster than GPRS, but not as fast as 3G technologies. WCDMA/UMTS has two 'add ons'; HSDPA and HSUPA. HSDPA increases the download speed of UMTS based 3G networks, whilst HSUPA increases the upload speed. I'm not sure what the maximum limits of these technologies are, but T-Mobile UK is planning on increasing HSDPA download speeds to more than 20 Mbps by the end of the decade. A WCDMA/UMTS network with both HSDPA and HSUPA can perhaps be thought of as 3.75G.
I used a 3G phone(Sony Ericsson k800i) in a EDGE network and it's working. I know 3G is faster and updated technology than EDGE. But my perception is it is working slowly in web browsing. Will there be any speed problem or is it better use a EDGE Phone(Sony Ericsson k790i)? Pls answer me ASAP.
If you are using a 3G phone in an area that does not have a 3G network then you are using EDGE, and it will be slow comparatively. Take my HTC Tilt. The last time I benchmarked my internet speed in an EDGE area I clocked a download at 60k. Just the other day I clocked a download on 3G at over 1,200k. Changing phones will not make it better if you only have an EDGE network in your area. -Jay
The K800i doesn't support EDGE so without a 2100 MHz UMTS network it will use GPRS. If you live in North merica the K790 would be a better choice as it does support EDGE (although it doesn't support 3G). Alternatively you could get a K850, which does support North American 3G.
