Cingular 850 vs. 1900 networks

I have a similar question for AT&T. I've heard AT&T is deploying 850 in California, and sometimes I hear that it's already active. I've been hearing this for about a year though. Does anyone have the final word on either if it is deployed in SF/Bay Area already or when it will be?

 

Here is a great website

There are links to the A-side and B-side carriers for the entire nation (maps). If your carrier has one of these where you live, they have an 800/850 license there. There is also a map for the combined AT&T/Cingular maps for 800/850.

 

AWESOME website.

GREAT RESOURCE.....when is someone going to "pin" this somewere people can easily get to it?

 

I'm not a mod in this forum....I'll try and get someone else to pin it- or add it to the bookmarks.

 

It's pinned for 90 days.

 

Thanks!

 

wait a minute... i went into that website and looked at the 800mhz coverage for cingular & att... it covers most of california, which is where i live. does this mean that here we will have 800 and 1900mhz frequencies going on at the same time? will that affect in anyway the reception?

 

Any market in which ATTWS has AMPS could potentially be converted to GSM850. In reality, ATTWS has overlaid PCS1900 for GSM. They are in the process of siphoning off AMPS and TDMA spectrum for GSM850, but this process isn't yet complete (and won't be for some time).

In Arizona, it's somewhat moot as ATTWS runs a PCS1900 network natively there. The tower spacing issue that has made GSM1900 so bad in most of their markets isn't an issue there, and their Arizona GSM network performs identically to the TDMA network from a reception standpoint.

BTW, Cingular does have service in Arizona, albeit only a small part of it. They have coverage in Lake Havasu City.

 

Ok, in the blue shaded areas you are in Direct line of site of the ATT tower and i would guess that Tmobile's spectrum is either directly above or directly below ATT's which at that range would cause the problems. I am guessing you are within 500-1000 feet in those blues shaded areas.

You loose the probelm when you ar out of direct line of site which makes sence. Where is the Tmobile tower close to there? What is thew distandce on that map? (Legend please?)

 

They're different frequency blocks entirely, so bleed-over is definitely a problem (and a violation of ATTWS' FCC license). I'd complain to T-Mobile and ask them to do some testing.

That said, I'm not sure bleed-over is to blame, necessarily. You're talking about the bottom floor of a multi-story, large concrete "big box" store, and you haven' told me where the Cingular tower is located. This is, in general, one of the worst possible conditions for PCS1900 performance--especially with a weak signal. You might also try Sprint and Cricket handsets to see how they perform (these are also PCS1900 carriers, although they use CDMA which is generally more resilient to channel interference), and for kicks, even try an ATTWS GSM handset. It may be a building issue, not a radio problem.