Using tri-band GSM phones (eg. Sharp 903) on Rogers. How bad / good is it?

[mark_in_2k]

I've been tempted to buy a GSM phone from Asia, but the majority of the phones that I'm looking at are tri-band only and don't use the 850 band that makes reception of Rogers so good (I can get almost full signal in my basement on my v635i here in Kitchener).

Do owners of Asian / European tri-bands have reception problems here in Canada? I'd hate to throw some money down and find out that it doesn't work for me.

[MrWizard]

I think it varies. Take the 903 for example, I've heard that although it lacks 850, it still performs pretty well.

Regardless of the phone, or how much you spend though, not having 850 can hurt you. My POS Motorola T720 with 850/1900 performed far better than my k750i (1900 only).

What phone(s) are you looking at specifically?

[coriolis]

Not meaning to thread-hijack, but I'm in the same situation here, I'm quite interested in this topic, the w800i, like the 903, looks awesome, but lacks 850 - I'm usually in the GTA/Markham/Downtown area, is it THAT much of a difference?

[MrWizard]

Not meaning to thread-hijack, but I'm in the same situation here, I'm quite interested in this topic, the w800i, like the 903, looks awesome, but lacks 850 - I'm usually in the GTA/Markham/Downtown area, is it THAT much of a difference?

Outdoors? No. Indoors? Yes.

I've owned a k750i (essentially same thing as a w800i) and while it performed great outdoors, it lacked while indoors. I work in a cement bunker basically (basement of Ryerson University) and the k750i got no reception, but both my Motorola T720 (piece of crap phone) and Sony Ericsson w600i (higher end phone) had basically perfect reception (thanks to 850).

[coriolis]

Thanks for the reply.

Hmmm, perhaps the w810i may be a better fit, though it's alot more expensive, and I don't like the black colour scheme(The white OJ colours is quite attractive :D). Then again, I don't really use the cell phone much(5-10 mins a day, sometimes 30+, sometimes I don't touch it for days).

Again, thanks for the quick reply.

[mark_in_2k]

What phone(s) are you looking at specifically?I'm not really looking for a specific phone ATM (although I love the 903...bit pricey right now though) but I am looking at phones from Europe. I going through the carriers websites in the UK and a lot of the phones are tri-band and therefore missing 850 as it's not used in the UK.

[gilboman]

i've used phones with 850 and phones without. but its not much of a factor in deciding whether to purchase a phone. in fact, i'm more inclined to not get a phone with 850mhz due to the rogers effect where people will all get the phone from discounted contract price.

i dont like having a phone that a lot of others have..that's just me though, i'm using a regular triband phone and it's not bad at all for my needs. i get reception indoors regardless.

[BobW]

I just switched to a tri-band phone on Fido. I haven't had any problems at all without having 850. I was concerned at first, but it seems for no reason. I don't really go into any major office towers or commercial basements, so dense concrete walls arent' a problem for me.

[Paolo]

all my phones have 850.. i will never buy a phone withought the 850 band now.. I learned my lesson, listen to this, its like driving a 5-speed manual car but they took out the 5th gear, you can use it anywhere in the city with no major problem since your not going fast.. but the minute you leave the city and go out in the urban outdoors, you will not benefit because you will not be able to use the 5th gear, aka the 850 frequency, so your experience will lack or suffer,. think of it that way, but if you dont want to leave then by all means... get a 1900 only phone, but I personally dont want to have any limitations on where I can use my phone or how fast I can drive my car.

I have travelled in the states, while my friends phone got NO SERVICE my phone got Service roaming on an 850 carrier, so in the event of an emergency, I was able to make receive calls, but his wasnt cus no 850 band means call will not work, it wont magically hop onto 850 either..