Mobile Broadband Radio Bands
Mobile phone networks operate on a number of different bands (frequencies) – in a similar way that radio stations all operate on different frequencies, and different mobile broadband devices support difference frequency bands. If you're planning on using your modem abroad it's important to know about the supported bands before you take the plunge
If you’re just planning on using the modem in the UK, then the support for different bands is not as important, as all modems sold in the UK will work with all the bands in the UK. However, it does become more important when you take the modem abroad and roam onto a different mobile phone company’s network. If you’re abroad and your modem doesn’t support the band used by the foreign mobile network at best you’ll connect, but only get a slow (2G) service, and at worst you won’t be able to connect at all. Here’s a list of the common frequency bands for mobile broadband modems:
2G
| 850Mhz | USA/Canada/Latin America/Brazil |
| 900Mhz | Europe/Brazil/Africa/Australia/Asia Used by O2 and Vodafone in the UK. |
| 1800Mhz | Europe/Australia/Asia/Brazil Used by all operators in the UK. |
| 1900Mhz | U.S./Canada/Latin America |
3G / HSDPA
| 850Mhz | North and South America, Australia |
| 900Mhz | Australia plus much of Europe from 2008 onwards |
| 1900Mhz | North and South America |
| 2100Mhz | Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia (including South Korea and Japan) and Brazil |
If you’re buying a modem for roaming, you’re best purchasing a tri-band 3G device – such as the Huawei E270. This will allow you to use your modem in Europe and the USA. For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_frequency_bands http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands http://www.coveragemaps.com/
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