Next G is a downgrade compared to CDMA

I have a CDMA phone & I have had been considering the change. Looks like the consumer gets screwed again! Sparky

Your experience adds to the advice I received from a Telstra contracted repairer
some months ago when he got my homeline going, yet again. He said Next G was not a patch on CDMA in fringe areas & to stick to CDMA for as long as possible.
..oldbaz.

Hi Big_Pete
Thanks for the info, Telstra have been on to me to upgrade as well, the only reason i haven't as yet is I'm waiting the the nokia phones to come out so i can use my existing car kit with new cradle.
What area do you operate in?
I operate all throughout CQ and i need the coverage for business purposes.
The brother is down Vic way and he just signed up, got broadband as well and reckons the broadband side of it is supercharged, he can't believe how fast it is.
Anyway will keep ears & eyes focused an see what future brings

Cheers with beers

Franga

I also was looking at moving over to Next G from CDMA, & the Optus rep that I spoke to, said that Next G will not be upgraded to fully replace CDMA until CDMA is terminated!!

I know of a company up here in central Qld that is contracted to upgrade the cellular sites and they have only completed less than half of the 100 sites that they are responsible for. Takes around 4 days for each one so they still have a long way to go. I will be waiting until the last minute when I know when all sites are up and running.

Regards
David

what about the vodafone cards you can get? how is their coverage?

dave

The Grey Nomads
Relaxed forum for the grey nomad community to keep in touch

Apparently coverage goes from 95% to 98% over CDMA, and seeing as these persentages are population, not area, means nothing in rural Australia and for people living in rural areas.

Don't ya just love the way Telstra markets things, they promise better, and give the same or less.

How very ordinary Telstra, take a bow!!

Baz.

They did say in wouldnt be fully implemented untill 2008 so there is no point complaining. The only complaint I would make is the blatent lies being told by telstra dealers or the totally lack of training by telstra itself. It pays to do your own research. And besides since when has an assurance by telstra been any good

>>> As CDMA is only around for another 12 months and I have serious doubts as to telstra fixing its network problems in this time what then?

according to the telstra bloke here at work (We have 2 fulltime telstra people here to fix phukups daily!) they cant turn CDMA off until they have equivilant coverage... I disbelieve him

Ive had arguements with dudes in telstra shops who assure me a 3G phone will work at home - they didnt know where I lived.... Keeping my CDMA phone until last days possible.. would like a new one actually, I'd go that over anything else if I could find a store selling CDMA still

Here we go again...........the most misunderstood concept in telecommunications at the moment.

Big Pete,

Be aware there are two things at play here, COVERAGE, and ACCESS.

Coverage: The coverage is there, it is technically the same as CDMA, using the same antennas in the same poles, only with some of the old CDMA equipment removed, and the new NextG equipment installed. They are both about the same frequency and the same power. NextG digital technology superior to CDMA for noise cancellation and technically range, "pulling a signal out of mud".

Access: There is only limited installations of the new NextG network equipment happening in the poles as people are being switched over (progressively running one system up and the other one down). This means for example that if one receiver in the Telstra poles can receive 50 calls on the NextG network and there are 70 people trying to get through, then 20 people miss out. This may appear as "poor coverage" (ie good signal strength, but can't connect), but is in fact a "poor access" issue.

Most of the present issues are in fact ACCESS issues, and the situation will improve as more poles get more NextG equipment installed (typical pole has ~20-40 Tx/Rx units that drive the antennas, they have been replacing a fraction of those at a time on a "cyclical" basis). Conversely the situation for CDMA will slowly get worse, with increasing access issues as the old CDMA equipment is removed (but still the same "true" coverage).

The big answer is to hang onto CDMA equipment until you are having access problems with it, then change over. Be aware of the flipside, that the access to the NextG network will be a bit iffy but improving, until all the CDMA system is closed down.

I upgrade to Next G and coverage was useless. On complaining was discovered that the phone was faulty. Phone replaced and coverage better than CDMA.
According to the dealer there are heaps of problems with the phones.

Neil

I'm having the same problem cant wait for nokia to bring a real handset out grrrrrrr

Thank you to all for your replies Pete.

My wife & I have just done the CDMA to Next G upgrade....... Hers a Samsung & mine a LG as it came with a free full incar kit with ext antenna capable...... The samsung Vs my old Nokia CDMA seem on par for coverage, but the LG is less by lots, so telstra is swaping for another handset.......

Being an old radio/communications buff from way back I had a look on the Aust Comms Managment Authority website @ the Radio repeater sites & licences in my area......... these 2 are on the same tower on the same hill.

CDMA, licenced to transmit @ 199.50 watts via a 12.5 db Vertical antenna

Next G, licenced to transmit @ 31.60 watts via a 17.5 db slant antenna

Thats a pretty big difference wouldn't you say !!!!!!!!

For anyone that is interested, check this out its a telstra website with complaints about telstra. Site Link

Why can't they (Telstra,Optus or anyone else) produce a mobile phone that is just a phone.

I have no wish or need to own a phone/high tech video camera, still camera, radio,TV, MP3 player, wireless computer, notebook, email, GPS thingy with hundreds of extra special features available at the press of a button or key..

All I need is a thing that goes "ring ring", I pick it up ,press one button, say hello and can talk to whoever rang me and then hang up knowing that my message has been received at the other end and/or vice versa.

Is that too much to ask????

Disco

I picked up a new Motorola Maxx V6 phone on NextG last week. Going great so far but I have not actually been outside metro Adelaide as yet!

Within Adelaide I get much better call quality than my previous Nokia 6255 on CDMA. Lots of great features on the phone including ability to take a 2Gb flash card negating the need to buy an iPod. $0 upfront on $40 a month plan for 24 months. Got a $149 H700 bluetooth earpiece as an incentive for upgrading from CDMA.

Going to Sydney next week so will see how the regional coverage is going. See how far into the Hay plains I get before being out of range.

Muddy

Pete
Geez no wonder the poms can't understand us , 1 you post
Next G is a downgrade compared to CDMA
then you start the post with I upgraded to Next G from CDMA ,PETE is it an upgrade or a downgrade..LOL

ME

Pete
just joking in my first reply , but really though when you think about it CDMA has and is a good system , it does what I need in a mobile , I don't need all the other crap and camera's, i NEED A GOOD phone and at the moment I have one, as for Satellite phones do they need to be so expensive, I think not, for next G i guess it will get better coverage as time passes and more area's are switched on , give it time

Doug