GSM 800 and GSM 900

Yes

Not very well. Tri-bands are compromise handsets.

You really need a quad band. Motorola makes quite a few quad-band phones. The latest HTC smartphone (Siemens SX66, etc) is a quad-band. There are others as well. Unfortunately, PhoneScoop does not have a direct search for quad-band phones.

I find that in Asia, I need both 900 and 1800 MHz to keep a signal. My provider (FET) uses both bands. The same is generally true with GSM service in the US with the 800 and 1900 MHz bands.

 

A dual band 900 1900 may be all you need. I found if you are covered on 900 you are good to go in Hong Kong and China.

When you say Asia, a big place, where do you mean?

Check GSMWorld.com for who supports what; India, for example is only/mostly 900.

Buy a used unlocked phone on EBAY.

Tri band is good for international IF those three bands are 900-1800-1900.

You going to pay extra for that quad. I travel with my E105 from Tmobile. I bought a new Ericsson T39, a wonderful Bluetooth triband, on EBAY for $100.00. You can never have too many GSM phones.

 

If you want to carry two (or more) GSM phones, then it really does not matter.

If, however, you want one phone that will work in all GSM countries, the ONLY choice is a quad band.

My recomendations are based on my own experiences traveling and living in 10 countries in Asia. Three of my four service providers are located in Asia.

 

Yes, that's one drawback to the Phone Finder. The only way to find quadbands is to sift through the GSM 850 phones that the Finder lists. As for needing 900 and 1800, I'll add that this is something you can't do without in Europe either. Having both bands gives you a lot more roaming options.

Here's a list of quadbands:

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=222809&highlight=+Quadband++phones

In addition, there are newer ones such as the Motorola V550/V551/V555/V620 to name a few.

 

It will not stop if from working, but it depends on the area that you are in. Cingular uses both 850 and 1900, depending on what part of the country you are in. If you have a phone that is 1900 only (plus the 900 and 1800 bands) you will be able to use it in the areas where 1900 is availible for GSM, such as here in AZ. When my fiance went up to Colorado with a 1900/900 phone, she had all sorts of problems and low signal areas. She put her SIM into her Nokia that was 850/1900 and had great service. In AZ she has no problems since there is no 850 GSM network here. It really depends on what band (850 or 1900) that Cingular has built out in your area. That is why they have at least 850 and 1900 in the phones they sell, because it varies by where in the country you are.

 

If you want the coverage advertised on Cingular's map, you need a phone that does 850 and 1900. If you want the coverage advertised on most Asian providers' maps, you need a phone that does 900 and 1800.

The only triband phones I've seen that do 850 and 1900 do 1800, not 900. I could be missing something, but I don't understand what's so bad about buying a quad-band phone if you're going to buy a phone anyway. That way you will have 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 and you'll be good to go worldwide (well, except Japan and South Korea, of course.)

 

From this page Northeast Cellular Coverage it looks like AT&T is the A side cellular provider in that area. This would mean that they run on 850 GSM and you would have to have 850 in your phone to have the best service. I think Cingular roamed with T-Mobile on the same network if I am correct. I don't know what has changed out there recently or with the merger of Cingular and AT&T.

Better be safe than sorry, make sure you get 850 and 1900 in your phone.

 

Isn't odd that no European manufacturer builds a quad-band GSM phone?

Siemens has found a solution by re-branding ODM handsets from Taiwan. The others could do the same. I am certain that HTC, Compal or ChiMei would be more than happy to supply quad bands to Nokia or SE.

 

It's probably due to the fact that the concept of quadband phones have not had the impact here in Europe as they did in the States.

There is one triband phone which does GSM 850/900/1900, the Motorola V300 which was customized for Rogers in Canada.

http://www.shoprogers.com/store/wir...8MVRJDBJMHCGSN293EAC&PRODUCTID=V300&summary=1

 

Which seems to mean that the European manufacturers (except for Siemens) are ignoring the reality of GSM frequencies in the Americas. IMHO, it is an issue of business strategy. Nokia, SE, Alcatel, Sagem, etc. must view quad-bands as a niche market in which they do not want to compete.

There are places where 900 only will work in Europe and Asia. However, I ditched my 900 only phone years ago, specifically because I could get a reliable signal with it in Taiwan.

Which brings me back to my point that any tri-band handset is a compromise. The compromise might work fine, or using it could be a PITA.

 

Very true, PDA companies like R.I.M. are being smart and by offering quadband handsets for business travelers, they know that they will get a lot of people hooked on their models.

I was in Italy for the past week and having a GSM 900/1800 phone is probably almost required since I found that Telecom Italia and Vodafone Italy outperformed WIND by a narrow margin in terms of signal strength.

 

That is good to know. I have friend headed over there in a few months, I will pass this info on to him!

 

No problem, WIND did well for GSM 1800 but the signal would fluctuate more often than on TIM or Vodafone.