For some idea on where 850 might be used, this Fido (Canada) USA roaming map shows 850 in a lighter color http://www.fido.ca/portal/en/packages/unitedstates.shtml And Fido (Canada) states this about 850 http://www.fido.ca/portal/en/support/coverage.shtml#rogers_network4 This map shows AT&T 1900, 850 and 3G on separate maps http://www.mountainwireless.com/att_850_1900.shtml In some areas it probably won't make a difference, in other areas it will. For example looking at Texas there is much more coverage including 850 on AT&T. This T-Mobile map shows 850 in light green http://coverage.t-mobile.com/Default.aspx Back to Canada, this guy states I was advised by a Rogers network engineer that all new towers installed in Canada in the previous two years were 850 MHz for both capacity and coverage range reasons http://www.fido.ca/portal/en/support/coverage.shtml#rogers_network4 And this other guy states 850 is the largest spectrum Rogers owns (currently) and has been setup on their network since day one to best cover all areas (since the analog and TDMA days)... http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=464527 Anecdotal travel report doesn't really mean anything unless we follow your same path. -- Doug