[flacks]

I am getting different answers on this and know that someone here can help. My AT&T BB 7230, with an AT&T SIM, does it hit all Cingular and AT&T towers, or just AT&T, or is it all one? What if I had a Cingular BB with a Cingular SIM?

Thanks in advance.

[cchatagnier]

Here's the run down:
-Since you're carrying an AWS BB 7230, then you're still using AWS' towers/system. The 7230 works on the 1900Mhz frequency within the US, which is what AWS initially deployed their GSM system on.
-The AWS BB 7280 (which supports the 850Mhz and 1900 Mhz frequency within the US) has the ability to "roam" onto the "new" Cingular system.
-If you were a California, NYC, or N/S Carolina Cingular customer, then you'll be using the T-Mobile system, as those were deployed on 1900. Are we confused yet?

SBC and BellSouth converted their old TDMA systems (850 Mhz) to GSM, thus the original TDMA customers are on that "cellular" system. The California and NYC customers were implemented on the 1900 Mhz "PCS" system and mostly use TMO nationwide.

At some point in the next few years, AWS' system will be completely dismantled and the frequencies re-branded as Cingular's. It will probably take several years to complete this huge task. (It took Verizon several years to get it right.)

I was an AWS susbscriber and for a long while stayed with their 1900Mhz system only and had great results. Once I went to the 7280 (850/1900), the call quality dropped significantly. You'll get calls that get bounced back and forth between the different frequencies. At some point, you'll probably want to change though. Cingular's 1900 implementation is identical to their 850...they put the towers as high as they possibly can to get the furthest reach. This of course creates the weakest signal possible. When deploying 1900, the towers must be placed lower than traditional 850 as the signal is considerably weaker. Sprint and TMO understand this, but Cingular has never figured this out. AWS' 1900 implementation was pretty good for the most part.

I say if you're getting good reception/quality, stay exactly where you're at. Making any changes at all will require a device change and will lock you into the Cingular system exclusively which may or may not roam onto the AWS system.