GSM 850 vs. 900 - Esato archive

Posted by DUSK5150
Ok peoples. Anyone with any info is welcome here. I have a T300 which functions on a Tri Band GSM 900/1900/1800. The new T306 functions on Tri Band GSM 850/1900/1800. The only difference here is the 850 instead of the 900. If someone were to upgrade to the T306 should they expect to see any difference in their phone performance? Or would it be too insignificant to notice? Is GSM 850 better than 900 or worse, or is there a difference? Thanks.

Posted by jaxx
Probably a typo. Cus as far as i know, there's no 850MHz network on earth...

Posted by DUSK5150
No. It exists. There's lots of forum talk about it already, just none that answer my specific question.

Posted by jplacson
GSM 850 is just another frequency band that has been added to the already confusing 900/1800/1900/e-GSM bands.

To the end-user, there should be NO DIFFERENCE between bands, other than the handsets you can buy. It's more of a radio-license thing.

So as of now, GSM has 5 bands to work with. The latest being the 850.

No, there are no direct benefits of the 850.

Posted by 701
I agree.no more room on the 900mhz.no difference.and soon i am sure they will make phones 850/1900 aimed2the american market or 4band-phones 4 world-wide use.

Posted by DUSK5150
Good stuff to know. Here in the western US, Cingular is now selling the SE T306, which is listed as having the 850mhz GSM along with 1900/1800. I was bummed because they're selling it for dirt cheap and I bought an unlocked T-Mobile T300 a few months ago for $200 so I could use it with Cingular. Such is life, I guess. I was wonderin' about that frequency thing, but I would buy that the difference is practially non-existant.

Posted by ozzie_uk
GSM 850MHz is principally being used in the US / S. America as it is far easier to covert from older networks than to other frequencies. So if most of your travel is to the US and S. America ... I'd go for 850 over 900.

Posted by jorger_1
I have been bitten by this 850 to 900 difference. Most websites quote T306 as a 900 phone. I am in Europe and only able to use SIM cards from networks that are solely 1800. Now the question is if there is a hack or firmware download that will enable T306 to operate as a 900 MHz phone. In Europe, options are greater for 900MHz Networks. For example, Vodaphone in Spain is mostly 900MHz and only 1800MHz in big cities (I guess to releif traffic). Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Posted by 701
U can convert/hack/upgrade a 850 to 900 cuz of the difference in operations.the 306 is created esp4 U.S.

Posted by shawnmccall9
no way man, no to hack a new frequency into the machine.