Techs & Trends
850
I understand that T-Mobile only works in the US under the 1900 mhz frequency..... im just curious as to why. Anyone know? (thanks in advance)
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For the same reason any wireless company uses the bands they do - it's the spectrum they have. 1900 was the only spectrum that was available to buy when T-Mobile (or rather the companies that eventually became T-Mobile) started business. The 850 spectrum was all already owned.
Same story with Sprint, who is also 1900-only.
The other companies use both bands because they are each the result of a long string of mergers, and include spectrum inherited from the baby bells, who bought most of the cellular (850) licenses when they were first auctioned.
Same story with Sprint, who is also 1900-only.
The other companies use both bands because they are each the result of a long string of mergers, and include spectrum inherited from the baby bells, who bought most of the cellular (850) licenses when they were first auctioned.
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Speaking of 1900 and 850 gsm, I had voicestream/T Mobile for 4 years. Now I have ATT Why is it that t mo signal was superior and more constant? ATT'S seems to jump around a lot. has att completed there change over from tdma? Will the signal get stronger after the merger?
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I think much of that can be explained simply by AT&T's GSM network being much newer. With any new network, there's a long process of optimizing the network.
RF engineering is part black-magic. That's because there are just so many variables. It's never as simple as "let's put up 20 towers, five miles apart".
Unique properties of the terrain and environment frequently cause strange, unexpected things to happen, including interference, multipath, attenuation, etc. It takes time to discover and fix those unanticipated "glitches" in coverage.
Since T-Mobile's network is much older, they've had much more time to iron out those wrinkles. There's no doubt AT&T will continue to optimize its network, and that will continue under Cingular.
RF engineering is part black-magic. That's because there are just so many variables. It's never as simple as "let's put up 20 towers, five miles apart".
Unique properties of the terrain and environment frequently cause strange, unexpected things to happen, including interference, multipath, attenuation, etc. It takes time to discover and fix those unanticipated "glitches" in coverage.
Since T-Mobile's network is much older, they've had much more time to iron out those wrinkles. There's no doubt AT&T will continue to optimize its network, and that will continue under Cingular.
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