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Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / ATT Wireless / May 2004Whoa... ATT phone says Cingular now?
Just took a look at my phone (a T226) and all of a sudden it shows 5 bars instead of zero (I'm in a concrete building, so I'm used to no reception) *and* says Cingular on the phone. So, this brings up two things- #1: Am I roaming on the Cingular network, with applicable roaming charges, or am I experiencing the first part of the new ATTWS acquisition by Cingular? Or some combination of the two? If there are no roaming charges and I'm getting a glimpse of the future, I LIKE IT!!! #2: Ironically, both ATTWS & Cingular have xmitters on top of the building I'm in (a 6-story concrete monster that used to be a Bekins warehouse). If the reason I suddenly have a great signal is because it's 850mhz instead of 1900, well heck, yeah, I'm impressed by the ability of the lower frequency to penetrate buildings! #2b: If 850 is so much better at penetrating buildings etc., what's the selling point of 1900? My guess is that 1900 might have greater bandwidth... --Mike Jacoubowsky Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member > Just took a look at my phone (a T226) and all of a sudden it shows 5 bars > instead of zero (I'm in a concrete building, so I'm used to no reception) > *and* says Cingular on the phone. OK, here's the scoop. Spent 25 minutes on hold with AT&T, and found out that, on the National Network Plan (which I have), there *should* be no roaming charges when it says Cingular. But, she did warn me that I'll have to watch the bill and make sure, and if I see anything wrong, call and have it adjusted. One peculiarity though. When your AT&T phone is locked onto a Cingular tower, you have to dial the full 10-digit number, even for a local call. Otherwise you'll get a "sorry, your call cannot go through" message. --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com > Just took a look at my phone (a T226) and all of a sudden it shows 5 bars > instead of zero (I'm in a concrete building, so I'm used to no reception) [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > www.ChainReaction.com > IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member on my first call to attws, i was told as long as I'm in the "extended home area" i can use cingular network without being charged roaming. then sometime later i realized that i didn't ask about whether i'll qualify for mobile-to-mobile when on cingular network, so i called again. this time i was told i'll have to wait until 4/18, when attws starts a new plan, which probably everyone knows. after that, i can use my phone anywhere, as long as it has signal, without being charged roaming, and i still qualify for mobile-to-mobile as long as the other end is a attws phone. so i'm now confused. about the penetration of 850MHz, it's great. i even got signal on the 1st floor in our building, which technically is the -1.5 floor. >>Just took a look at my phone (a T226) and all of a sudden it shows 5 bars >>instead of zero (I'm in a concrete building, so I'm used to no reception) [quoted text clipped - 53 lines] >>www.ChainReaction.com >>IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member >One peculiarity though. When your AT&T phone is locked onto a Cingular >tower, you have to dial the full 10-digit number, even for a local call. >Otherwise you'll get a "sorry, your call cannot go through" message. CIngular is owned by both Bellsouth and SBC whom will be switching over their land based networks to 10 digit dialing in the near future (they did so here in north GA about 4 years ago). So I suspect that they will do likewise with their PCS systems. I expect that 10 digit dialing will be standard in the next 5 years everywhere. >>One peculiarity though. When your AT&T phone is locked onto a Cingular >>tower, you have to dial the full 10-digit number, even for a local call. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >PCS systems. I expect that 10 digit dialing will be standard in the next 5 >years everywhere. Anytime I add a phone number to my cell phone book, I always put it in a 10 digit format, because I frequently move around in my home area and sometimes get into a fringe area that isn't in my home area, but covered by the other carrier, who is on the reciprical aggrement. I got tired of the bing bing bing...we're sorry, your call bla bla bla thingy. Answer to 2:B 1900MHZ was the only cellular freq.. that was unused back in 1995 so that was approved buy GSM Assoc. but when the first system went live in the USA they saw the problem that would not work buildings, malls, and home unless they put a tower up with 10 mile radius. So they tested 800MHZ aka 850MHZ because already approved and worked better than expected and you can do data and voice calls. So it was approved by the GSM Assoc. 1900MHZ was more bandwidth than 850MHZ. Answer to 2B.... Only the first two companies to have service in any given metro area can have 800mhz service. All the competitors that came after them had to have 1900 mhz and are digital only. 800mhz companies can have analog and digital. Because of inefficiency of TDMA, AT&T bought 1900mhz spectrum even in cities where it already had 800mhz, just to have enough bandwidth to carry calls (Los Angeles is an example where they have both). In L.A., service started as LA Cellular and later renamed to ATTWS. So they started with 800mhz service only, but later added 1900mhz. In Phoenix, however, ATTWS is not one of the original two companies in that metro area, so they will never have 800mhz service there unless they buy either Verizon or Alltel (unlikely, since both are CDMA). There is no selling point to 1900mhz; the signals at that frequency don't carry as far as 800mhz, so they need more towers to provide the same coverage, plus as you mentioned, the 800 penetrates buildings better. That's why (on a nationwide basis) Verizon will probably always have better coverage and signal strength, since they usually have 800mhz service in the cities where they have service (a big exception is Florida and other areas where they bought Primeco, which offered 1900mhz only). > Just took a look at my phone (a T226) and all of a sudden it shows 5 bars > instead of zero (I'm in a concrete building, so I'm used to no reception) [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > www.ChainReaction.com > IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member > That's why (on a nationwide basis) > Verizon will probably always have better coverage and signal strength, > since they usually have 800mhz service in the cities where they have > service Better coverage than who? Cingular and ATTWS are the next two largest 800-MHz spectrum owners and if/when the merger happens they'll be just as "800" nationwide as Verizon is, if not more so. Ironically, although I, too, am an "800 snob" and usually prefer service from 800MHz providers, the suburban Denver neighborhood I live in now is a dead spot for both Verizon and AT&T, our two 800MHz carriers. Sprint and T-Mobile (as well as Qwest, who resells Sprint here), both on 1900, of course, work like gangbusters here! Every day I drive home there are a line of cars pulled over on the side of road leading to the subdivision. It's the Verizon and AT&T customers finishing up their phone calls! (BTW, I realize this is a tower placement issue and not an RF issue. AT&T provides 1900MHz service in Denver as well and it doesn't work in my neighborhood either. Like I said, it was ironic because I always used 800MHz providers. I'd actually established AT&T service through a reseller prior to moving because they could use my existing Cingular TDMA phones and activated service without a contract. Sadly, I had to cancel and switched to T-Mobile.) |
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