AT&T GSM in California 1900MHz or 850MHz

Does anyone know what frequency the AT&T (as opposed to Cingular) network
operates on in California?

---

› See More: AT&T GSM in California 1900MHz or 850MHz

I don't know it city by city in California, but in the SF Bay Area I
believe there's some of each frequency. I think ATTWS began rolling out
GSM at 1900 because all of its 800 spectrum was taken up by AMPS and
TDMA and whatever other legacy services it was offering. I think they
only began adding GSM at 800 as they got enough 800 TDMA/AMPS handsets
out of circulation.

Richie wrote:
> Does anyone know what frequency the AT&T (as opposed to Cingular) network
> operates on in California?
>
>

--
Frank Harris in San Francisco

I tried a test and I believe that in San Diego, the AT&T network is 850MHz.
With a 1900 only handset, i don't see the AT&T network but with a
850/1900MHz, i see it in Network Selections (using a foreign sim for the
test)

I had Cingular change my service to prefer AT&T over Cingular and service at
my home is now excellent with 5 bars. I can talk everywhere including the
walk-in closet and the bathroom.

The reason i asked the question in the first place is to find out if I
needed a phone that is 850MHz capable. It seems like it's much better -- at
least in San Diego County.


"Frank Harris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I don't know it city by city in California, but in the SF Bay Area I
>believe there's some of each frequency. I think ATTWS began rolling out
>GSM at 1900 because all of its 800 spectrum was taken up by AMPS and TDMA
>and whatever other legacy services it was offering. I think they only
>began adding GSM at 800 as they got enough 800 TDMA/AMPS handsets out of
>circulation.
>
> Richie wrote:
>> Does anyone know what frequency the AT&T (as opposed to Cingular) network
>> operates on in California?
>
> --
> Frank Harris in San Francisco

I had heard the 850 rollout was later because there wasn't a currently a
GSM standard in that frequency, and it had to be perfected. I always
thought this made sense as it's not a commone frequency to be used in
the world, most less for GSM. 1900 was close enough to 1800 that only
minor tweaks had to be made (which is another possible reason that most
(if not all) world phones have 1800 AND 1900.

Any thoughts on this?

TH

> I don't know it city by city in California, but in the SF Bay Area I
> believe there's some of each frequency. I think ATTWS began rolling out
> GSM at 1900 because all of its 800 spectrum was taken up by AMPS and
> TDMA and whatever other legacy services it was offering. I think they
> only began adding GSM at 800 as they got enough 800 TDMA/AMPS handsets
> out of circulation.
>
> Richie wrote:
>
>> Does anyone know what frequency the AT&T (as opposed to Cingular)
>> network operates on in California?
>>
>

Richie,

I tried to get Cingular to switch me to ATT as well, but they couldnt. What
phone do you have? Do you have a 64k sim card? How were you able to do
this? Thanks.


"Richie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I tried a test and I believe that in San Diego, the AT&T network is 850MHz.
> With a 1900 only handset, i don't see the AT&T network but with a
> 850/1900MHz, i see it in Network Selections (using a foreign sim for the
> test)
>
> I had Cingular change my service to prefer AT&T over Cingular and service
> at my home is now excellent with 5 bars. I can talk everywhere including
> the walk-in closet and the bathroom.
>
> The reason i asked the question in the first place is to find out if I
> needed a phone that is 850MHz capable. It seems like it's much better --
> at least in San Diego County.
>
>
> "Frank Harris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>I don't know it city by city in California, but in the SF Bay Area I
>>believe there's some of each frequency. I think ATTWS began rolling out
>>GSM at 1900 because all of its 800 spectrum was taken up by AMPS and TDMA
>>and whatever other legacy services it was offering. I think they only
>>began adding GSM at 800 as they got enough 800 TDMA/AMPS handsets out of
>>circulation.
>>
>> Richie wrote:
>>> Does anyone know what frequency the AT&T (as opposed to Cingular)
>>> network operates on in California?
>>
>> --
>> Frank Harris in San Francisco
>
>

I have an LG L1400.

You need a 64k sim card. And you need a new ENS capable phone -- one that
is less than a few months old. Any new phone you buy from Cingular will be
ENS capable but it must be new.

I called Customer Care then asked to be transferred to Technical Support to
resolve a connection issue. The customer care people don't know anything
about this so please be patient with them. Technical support however was
very helpful.

Btw, you cannot tell if a phone is ENS capable until you talk to technical
support and they input your IMEI number into their system.

I suggest you don't buy your phone on eBay because those phones maybe old
stock and not ENS capable. It may take some time for the old stock to clear
the supply chain. Remember, you don't need an ENS capable phone unless you
want to prefer Blue over Orange. If you use an AT&T sim, you already prefer
Blue, regardless of the phone.


"Halogen8" <[email protected]> wrote in message
newsDaXd.70099$Tt.1739@fed1read05...
> Richie,
>
> I tried to get Cingular to switch me to ATT as well, but they couldnt.
> What phone do you have? Do you have a 64k sim card? How were you able to
> do this? Thanks.
>
>
> "Richie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>I tried a test and I believe that in San Diego, the AT&T network is
>>850MHz.
>> With a 1900 only handset, i don't see the AT&T network but with a
>> 850/1900MHz, i see it in Network Selections (using a foreign sim for the
>> test)
>>
>> I had Cingular change my service to prefer AT&T over Cingular and service
>> at my home is now excellent with 5 bars. I can talk everywhere including
>> the walk-in closet and the bathroom.
>>
>> The reason i asked the question in the first place is to find out if I
>> needed a phone that is 850MHz capable. It seems like it's much better --
>> at least in San Diego County.
>>
>>
>> "Frank Harris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>>I don't know it city by city in California, but in the SF Bay Area I
>>>believe there's some of each frequency. I think ATTWS began rolling out
>>>GSM at 1900 because all of its 800 spectrum was taken up by AMPS and TDMA
>>>and whatever other legacy services it was offering. I think they only
>>>began adding GSM at 800 as they got enough 800 TDMA/AMPS handsets out of
>>>circulation.
>>>
>>> Richie wrote:
>>>> Does anyone know what frequency the AT&T (as opposed to Cingular)
>>>> network operates on in California?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Frank Harris in San Francisco
>>
>>
>
>

That would explain it. I have a Nokia 6230, but it is not ENS capable. I
found the IMEI range that is capable, and my phone was made before.

I have however found a way to switch networks using AT commands through
bluetooth. But this is inconvenient, as I can only do this when I'm near my
laptop.

I wish cingular would just enable the network selection in their sims. I
wonder why they took that away?



"Richie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I have an LG L1400.
>
> You need a 64k sim card. And you need a new ENS capable phone -- one that
> is less than a few months old. Any new phone you buy from Cingular will
> be ENS capable but it must be new.
>
> I called Customer Care then asked to be transferred to Technical Support
> to resolve a connection issue. The customer care people don't know
> anything about this so please be patient with them. Technical support
> however was very helpful.
>
> Btw, you cannot tell if a phone is ENS capable until you talk to technical
> support and they input your IMEI number into their system.
>
> I suggest you don't buy your phone on eBay because those phones maybe old
> stock and not ENS capable. It may take some time for the old stock to
> clear the supply chain. Remember, you don't need an ENS capable phone
> unless you want to prefer Blue over Orange. If you use an AT&T sim, you
> already prefer Blue, regardless of the phone.
>
>
> "Halogen8" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> newsDaXd.70099$Tt.1739@fed1read05...
>> Richie,
>>
>> I tried to get Cingular to switch me to ATT as well, but they couldnt.
>> What phone do you have? Do you have a 64k sim card? How were you able
>> to do this? Thanks.
>>
>>
>> "Richie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>>I tried a test and I believe that in San Diego, the AT&T network is
>>>850MHz.
>>> With a 1900 only handset, i don't see the AT&T network but with a
>>> 850/1900MHz, i see it in Network Selections (using a foreign sim for the
>>> test)
>>>
>>> I had Cingular change my service to prefer AT&T over Cingular and
>>> service at my home is now excellent with 5 bars. I can talk everywhere
>>> including the walk-in closet and the bathroom.
>>>
>>> The reason i asked the question in the first place is to find out if I
>>> needed a phone that is 850MHz capable. It seems like it's much
>>> better -- at least in San Diego County.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Frank Harris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>> news:[email protected]...
>>>>I don't know it city by city in California, but in the SF Bay Area I
>>>>believe there's some of each frequency. I think ATTWS began rolling out
>>>>GSM at 1900 because all of its 800 spectrum was taken up by AMPS and
>>>>TDMA and whatever other legacy services it was offering. I think they
>>>>only began adding GSM at 800 as they got enough 800 TDMA/AMPS handsets
>>>>out of circulation.
>>>>
>>>> Richie wrote:
>>>>> Does anyone know what frequency the AT&T (as opposed to Cingular)
>>>>> network operates on in California?
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Frank Harris in San Francisco
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Richie Wrote:
> I tried a test and I believe that in San Diego, the AT&T network is
> 850MHz.
> With a 1900 only handset, i don't see the AT&T network but with a
> 850/1900MHz, i see it in Network Selections (using a foreign sim for
> the
> test)
>
> I had Cingular change my service to prefer AT&T over Cingular and
> service at
> my home is now excellent with 5 bars. I can talk everywhere including
> the
> walk-in closet and the bathroom.
>
> The reason i asked the question in the first place is to find out if I
> needed a phone that is 850MHz capable. It seems like it's much better
> -- at
> least in San Diego County.
>
>
> Hi Richie,
>
> How did you have cingluar change your service to use AT&T first? I have
> cingluar, and live in an area with very limit signal from Cingluar (AT&T
> works better), do you think if I can ask Cingluar to do the same for me,
> so I can get better reception? (my phone is 850/1900).
> Thanks
>
> David


--
zzyzx

> had heard the 850 rollout was later because there wasn't a currently
> a GSM standard in that frequency, and it had to be perfected

Who told you that? Other than defining the RF channel numbers, the GSM
air-interface standard is frequency agnostic. Here is a snippet from
GSM World:

"In principle the GSM system can be implemented in any frequency band.
However there are several bands where GSM terminals are, or will
shortly be available. Furthermore, GSM terminals may incorporate one or
more of the GSM frequency bands listed below to facilitate roaming on a
global basis"

GSM is deployed in the 400,850,900,1800,1900 bands

Source: http://www.gsmworld.com/technology/s...quencies.shtml

In Chicago & other markets Cingular has GSM in the 850 MHz band.