Mobile coverage Telstra v Optus

[nomorecatering]

Ive been shopping around for an iphone, will probably wait till jun for when the new one comes out with the 5 megapixel camera.

Optus plans are far far cheaper it seems. But what is the coverage like in comparison to Telstra.

I have no need to go to the NT or remoat areas, mostly am around regional vic, nsw etc.

Thoughts anyone?

[MCKES]

Optus Doesn't even work at my house in Brisbane, I have to go outside or turn 3g off. Let alone NT or anywhere 100km from a major city. Very poor reception. The Iphone adds to this I think as it isn't really the best phone for reception either.:ok:

[bentleg]

Optus coverage is OK/excellent in major cities and regional towns. Beyond that its hopeless. Telstra has much better coverage, but you pay for it...........

[patienceboy]

There is no question that Telstra has far superior coverage, but if you are on a budget many others are cheaper. Having a quick glance at the coverage maps for VIC (below), it looks like you will have to decide whether you want to use data away from the city or not.

Telstra (http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/networks/coverage/state.html)

Optus (http://www.optus.com.au/aboutoptus/About+Optus/Network+Coverage/Optus+Network+Coverage+Maps/Vic#)

I don't thing the iphone will work on Optus Dual Band, but will work on NextG? Maybe someone else could confirm:ok:

[VH-XXX]

If you are a pilot and you fly places then do not use Optus. It simply doesn't work.

Optus is for university students who live in the CBD and foreign immigrants who get sucked in by the Optus advertising using fluffy native and not so native animals.

Don't make the same mistake that many before you have already made!

[Old Akro]

I hate Telstra. There are many reasons. If there was any alternative, I'd take it. But once you're outside the capital cities they are the only game in town.

Initially, Next G was not nearly as good as the old CDMA, but now its better. We have a number of LG phones which take external aerials. Magnetic based aerials on a car give outstanding range. My first smartphone was a Palm, and I kept an LG phone for use in remote places and in the aircraft. The iphone is nearly as good as the LG phones with aerials and I'm no longer bothering to take a second phone.

[tail wheel]

"Optus coverage is OK/excellent in major cities and regional towns."

You jest?

My grand daughter lives in a "regional town". Her Optus iPhone is intermittant in town, no signal half a kilometer out of town, and Optus do not provide data outside cities - no iPhone email or internet browser outside major cities.

Telstra iPhones do not have the coverage of normal 3G Telstra phones and only a fraction of the coverage of the previous CDMA network.

[nebpor]

Just moved to Sydney from the UK, with my iPhone, and have been through all the "cheaper" carriers before now settling on Telstra.

The reality is that Telstra absolutely rock for the iPhone due to speed & coverage, but you pay for it, as you have to for all the good things in life :E

Best discussion place for the carriers / coverage / pricing!
Mobile carriers - Whirlpool Forums (http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/114)

[Pharcarnell]

An update for you.
Next G coverage is now a LOT better than CDMA ever was, at least out here, due to a heap more cells being installed.
We are now using Next G for data in places we can't even get voice connect quite effectively, which means you can SMS but not speak, generally.
Several mining companies have put in Next G cells cos the workers wanted it and management found it a more efficient option for communications within the mine, which means you get service in places you wouldn't have considered possible.
The expansion of Next G will continue as pressure is applied to provide service to smaller communities and at more mines suddenly springing up at the next hill full of minerals they decide to dig up.
:ok:

[VH-XXX]

Telstra iPhones do not have the coverage of normal 3G Telstra phones and only a fraction of the coverage of the previous CDMA network.

Well there's further complexity to this.

I used to have a 3G Nokia. It didn't work on Flinders Island as they only had CDMA down there.

I now have an iPhone. It does work on Flinders Island, as it's NEXT-G and it works as well as any CDMA phone did there.

Optus on the other hand has these new wizz bang 900mhz transmitters in remote towns, but the iPhone isn't 900mhz (hope I've got that right), so you won't get decent coverage or data.

You can't beat an iPhone or Nokia phone on Telstra Next G. Interestingly I've found on many occasions that a Nokia will report full signal when the iPhone reports that signal is lost. You then try and make a call on the Nokia and mysteriously the signal goes away. In the end the iPhone reports signal strength very accurately. This has been discussed on here before a few times.

Telstra all the way or bust!

[woftam]

Just remember..............a "smart phone" without coverage is .................um...............a VERY DUMB phone (aka useless piece of plastic).
No point having all those great applications (and great cheap plan) if you have no signal.:hmm:
As previously stated by many, Telstra are a rip-off with their prices. However, if you want coverage almost everywhere, their is no alternative I'm afraid.
Sad but true.

[aussiefan]

I have an iphone on Optus, Just travelled by road from Cooktown to geelong and back up to Isa. Coverage is not as good as telstra. I knew that before I bought, if I don;t have signal somewhere that's fine, I can do without. I would rather save the extra $40 odd a month that I would pay telstra. I don't usually stay for any length of time in towns that have no coverage.

Tailwheel,
I was able to check and send email and surf the web in places like Bourke and Cloncurry. If you have a phone signal you can use data.

[KRviator]

Just got an Iphone last weekend with Telstra after the missus has hers with Optus. Side by side, on the train smack in the middle of northern Sydney, mine shows full coverage. Hers has diddly. She's got the better plan but that means stuff all if you can't use your plan. Previously I was with Optus and cancelled the plan because I couldn't get coverage in suburban Newcastle.

After spending a bit of time in rural NSW, as well as bugerising around with the ADF, I'd never go back to Optus if you need coverage anywhere outside their Corporate HQ. It's nowt but shyte.

[Aeroo]

In Tasmania, Telstra is the only provider with reception outside of Hobart and Launceston. For every other provider, the phone turns into a useless piece of plastic.

[j3pipercub]

I have a phone on telstra. It is dear as poison, but if you want the coverage, it is unbeatable. I have been able to make phone calls in the low FL and get updated radar pics using the data pack. If it is for keeping in touch with people, I guess it doesn't matter, if you want it for flying, there is only one choice unfortunately.

[ResumeOwnNav]

Can't go past Telstra's Next G! As for Telstra being a rip off?

Paying for something that doesn't work anywhere... I think that is more of a rip off. Cost vs Worth and all.

Nav.

[longrass]

Buy both! I did

[gutso-blundo]

If you can get over the initial shock of how mind-numbingly crap their plans are, Telstra do crap all over anyone else on terms of coverage. When you get the thing connected make sure they select 3G850 as your network. Heaps of people get stuck on 2100 which doesn't travel anywhere near as far as the 850 signal. We get people complaining about their coverage all the time, and when we check their account they're on 2100. Very easy to fix if you know what you're looking at.

[eocvictim]

Next G will also work airborne, Optus struggles around major CBD's and hardly works in rural vic. Every time it roams it drops out whereas next G will hold the signal. Good if you need a quick radar check and your a/c is not equipped.

[FRQ Charlie Bravo]

If you really can't hack it (Telstra's dearer but not prohibative) just get a SIM splitter. You can only use one network at a time but with some crafty (and inexpensive )call forwarding you can use your Optus number and plan the majority of the time and then just go over to your Telstra pre-paid when Optus fails.

No need to thank me:ok:,

FRQ CB:}

[Teal]

Telstra was smart to choose 850MHz for their NextG network. As others have alluded, the existing 3G networks including Telstra's (eg, the "3 Telstra" network) that operate up at 2100 MHz aren't designed for range, and in-building reception is poor too. Telstra's old CDMA/AMPS network also operated around 850 MHz from memory and I always found the coverage superb. I once made a mobile call from inside one of the Wilson's Prom lighthouse cottages. The keeper at the time said that the only other successful mobile phone call from area had been made from a helicopter hovering overhead the lighthouse. When I later got my bill, I was amazed to see the the 'origin' of the call was Devonport! So the CDMA signal had effectively crossed Bass Straight, though possibly via Flinders Island - a fair hike.

The other thing with early GSM and CDMA was that cars had decent mobile phone aerials to take advantage of the ground plane propagation effect. I believe that advantage is largely lost if the phone just sits in a cradle inside the car using its own internal aerial.

[freshy1234]

If you really can't hack it (Telstra's dearer but not prohibative) just get a SIM splitter. You can only use one network at a time but with some crafty (and inexpensive )call forwarding you can use your Optus number and plan the majority of the time and then just go over to your Telstra pre-paid when Optus fails.

FRQ Charlie Bravo

Unfortunately this method won't work on the iPhone as it will be network locked to the telco it is bought from (can be unlocked but is exorbitantly expensive).

I found a spreadsheet once that had all the iPhone plans layed out and all you had to do was enter the number of calls, sms and average length of calls over a month and it will give you the best plan... very useful. (might be on whirlpool).

As everyone has told you Telstra really only did the NextG stuff to differentiate itself from CDMA as they added data. It uses the same frequency band (i think) and therefore all else unchanged NextG should give the same range as CDMA.

Chars:ok:

[Altimeters]

Anyone with 3?

They use Telstra's 2G network when roaming outside capital cities. How are they compared to Optus or even Vodafone for data/reception?

[eocvictim]

3 got less than 10km out of Broome before they're out of reception. Next G on a normal phone was about 40km, "next g" phone was about 70km out.

[Miraz]

Optus don't charge to unlock their iPhones

[AussieNick]

to be honest, you cannot compare any of the other mobile carriers with Telstra's 850 3G band (NextG is the procudt label) Virgin, Vodafone use the Optus 3G infastructre and 3 doesn't really go out of the major cities.

People may complain about the price, but the coverage is the best in the country

[ZappBrannigan]

Another vote for Next G network + phones. I switched from Optus prepaid to Telstra prepaid, and believe it or not, T are actually cheaper/more bang-for-buck when you factor in their "Talk + Text" bonus (compared to the Optus Turbocharge prepaid I was on before).

I cannot imagine flying up here in the NT without a Next G phone. My only complaint is there are simply not enough phone models to choose from if you go prepaid. I went with the Nokia 6120 - not a "blue tick" phone but from all the research I did, the 6120 outperforms many of the "blue tick" phones (this blue tick thing seems to be a bit of a marketing exercise).

[freshy1234]

Anyone looking to buy a phone or change plan should have a look at Whirlpool Forums (http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/)

There is a wealth of info about regional carriers.

[404 Titan]

AussieNick

3 roams on the Telstra’s 2 & 3G network (not Next G) out of 3’s network. Phone calls and text messages are free when roaming but not data. I've never had a problem using it in most place in Aus. Also if you are on one of their capped plans and you go overseas where another 3 network is available, eg UK, Italy, HK, etc, all inbound calls are free.

[AussieNick]

404 - yeah mate i know that, should have written than on my previous post, what i meant was 3's own 3g service doesn't really extend much outside of the captial cities.

at the end of the day though, there isn't anything that can compete with the Next G service in the rural and remote areas of australia

[heated ice detector]

would advise against a Noki E71, bloody useless range, have to hold the top right corner just to get coverage, it will have to go back me thinks