T68i, T226, Upgrades and GSM 850

Joe Wilcox | March 07, 2004, 07:40 PM

About a year ago, we cut the wires in my home. Quick math showed that the family phone bill would be less if we all used cell phones. That meant my (now) fourth grader, too. She started with a freebee Nokia and later inherited my Sony Ericsson T68i when I moved up to the T616 (My wife has that one, and I'm on the T630).

On Saturday, my daughter received a brouchure from AT&T Wireless telling her that she would soon be upgraded to a free Sony Ericsson T226. After looking over the specs and a phone at my local AT&T Wireless store, I decided she was getting no free upgrade; free maybe but no upgrade to what she has now.

So, I had to wonder about this so-called "no strings attached" deal AT&T Wireless was peddling. My first concern: I bought that phone when I switched to AT&T Wireless in late 2002. Looks like AT&T Wireless fingered my daughter as the current owner by way of the Sim card. I've been doing some long, hard thinking on that bit of revelation.

The other issue is obvious: Why is AT&T Wireless changing her phone? I figured it had something to do with the GSM network, an issue maybe exacerbated by the impending acquisition by Cingular. The Engadget Weblog agrees and serves up a nice explanation here. If Engadget is correct, the issue is AT&T Wireless' expanding GSM 850 network. The T68i (and my new T630) support GSM 900, 1800 and 1900. Interestingly, lots of other phones are in a similiar situation, like the Motorola MPx200 Smartphone, which I also own.

Supposedly, 850 access should boost performance. I know this: In my area, I get better reception with the T630 than the T616, even though the latter phone supports 850.