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Is 3g compatible w/ Edge?

 
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pakspy



Joined: 03 Apr 2006
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:00 am    Post subject: Is 3g compatible w/ Edge? Reply with quote
Hi, my question is, if i bought a phone with 3g technology will it also support Edge. I think in the US, we only have EDGE. NO 3g Sad
Please correct me if im wrong!
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benyeap
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Joined: 13 Aug 2004
Posts: 2590
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It depends, 3G telcos not necessarily supporting EDGE connection. Same goes for the phones.

Btw, 3G UMTS also known as WCDMA & it is available in two common bands namely 1.9GHz (used in the US) & 2.1GHz (used mostly in Asia & Europe). There is another WCDMA band utilizes the 850MHz (normally used for 2G GSM network) too in the US.
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clonmult
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Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Posts: 1628
Location: Somewhere in the deep south
PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
EDGE is a 2G (or 2.5G) technology, so would only be supported by operators if they have decided there is any mileage in it, or if they have a 2G network (ie. in the UK, 3 wouldn't be able to offer an EDGE service).

In the UK, orange has finally decided to start going that route, not sure if they are actively promoting it though.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EDGE for more details.

I thought that WCDMA was working on higher frequencies; 850mHz is a GSM frequency, not a 3G one (they have to be separated out).
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benyeap
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Joined: 13 Aug 2004
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Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
clonmult wrote:
EDGE is a 2G (or 2.5G) technology, so would only be supported by operators if they have decided there is any mileage in it, or if they have a 2G network (ie. in the UK, 3 wouldn't be able to offer an EDGE service).

In the UK, orange has finally decided to start going that route, not sure if they are actively promoting it though.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EDGE for more details.

I thought that WCDMA was working on higher frequencies; 850mHz is a GSM frequency, not a 3G one (they have to be separated out).


FYI, EDGE is actually classified as 2.75G.

2.5G is GPRS instead.

Btw regarding the 850MHz WCDMA band, u can google it for more info. It is definitely not limited to 2G GSM band only
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clonmult
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Joined: 27 Oct 2005
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Location: Somewhere in the deep south
PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Just googled the 850mhz 3G; qualcomm are confusing matters even further. So far, the two frequency ranges were the 1900 and 2100, which were pretty much the standard (as I knew it).

850mhz WCDMA is apparently for country areas. My guess is that lower frequencies propogate better over longer distances, at least thats what I remember from my electronics theory years back.

It makes things more complex for roaming though - you need three band support for 3G, and four bands for GSM support. 7 band mobile phones??!?!?!??

And I saw the mention on the wikipedia site after I posted about edge being 2.75G; my bad.

Further on edge - most gsm networks that support gprs have the technology to go for an edge solution, to bridge the gap between GPRS and 3G, but a lot in the UK appear to have been unwilling to go that route, even though its a relatively simple process.
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benyeap
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Joined: 13 Aug 2004
Posts: 2590
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
clonmult wrote:
Just googled the 850mhz 3G; qualcomm are confusing matters even further. So far, the two frequency ranges were the 1900 and 2100, which were pretty much the standard (as I knew it).

850mhz WCDMA is apparently for country areas. My guess is that lower frequencies propogate better over longer distances, at least thats what I remember from my electronics theory years back.

It makes things more complex for roaming though - you need three band support for 3G, and four bands for GSM support. 7 band mobile phones??!?!?!??


To make matter worse, country like Japan is using the 1.7GHz WCDMA band & some other countries uses the 1.8GHz for WCDMA too.

clonmult wrote:
And I saw the mention on the wikipedia site after I posted about edge being 2.75G; my bad.

Further on edge - most gsm networks that support gprs have the technology to go for an edge solution, to bridge the gap between GPRS and 3G, but a lot in the UK appear to have been unwilling to go that route, even though its a relatively simple process.


As I heard from someone working with the telcos, addition of EDGE from GPRS is juz a mere software upgrade with minimal hardwares involved, hence the cost should be minimal to enable EDGE connection. I guess maximizing profits r their main concern instead.
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