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Cellular Bands

NeumZ

Jan 1, 2004, 2:02 PM
whats the advantage of the Cellular band and the PCS band
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sprinthater

Jan 1, 2004, 2:13 PM
if you clrify your question i would be happy to answer and I am not being a smart ass
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Rich Brome

Jan 1, 2004, 8:21 PM
Cellular band is around 800/850 MHz. PCS band is around 1900 MHz. Lower frequencies generally travel farther and penetrate objects better, so cellular has a theoretical advantage there.

However, all wireless networks are designed with such factors in mind. PCS networks generally have more towers, spaced closer, to compensate for the reduced "reach". So in the end, there shouldn't be much difference between a properly-designed PCS network and a properly-designed Cellular network.

Another difference is the licensing. For any given geographic area in the U.S., there are six PCS licenses, but only two Cellular licenses.

That's why Sprint and T-Mobile have PCS-only networks - it's simply the only spectrum that was available when they got...
(continues)
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verges

Jan 6, 2004, 2:02 PM
Rich,
I'm no engineer, but I always thought that the higher the frequency the better the penetration and the shorter the distance. That's why you can pick up AM radio stations from 4 states away - under the right conditions. They don't penetrate the atmosphere, becuase of their low frequency they bounce off the upper atmosphere.

Verges
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PupaScoopa

Jan 20, 2004, 5:10 PM
Since wireless radio is designed to be more directional, and the antennas are down tilting... the atmosphere isn't used to extend the signal. In fact, the design of wireless networks tends to prefer a smaller cell site to maximize capacity.

Lower frequencies are more likely to "bounce" off of objects such as mountains and buildings rather than higher frequencies. An analogy: cover the tweeter of your home audio system with your hand and most of the high frequency sound will be blocked. Do the same over a mid/woofer driver and there is no difference.
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