CDMA v Next G

Barry

It's meant too, I'm waiting on the new card from Telstra (when they get around to it) if you have a look at the maps on there site it show better coverage so you gotta believe them...LOL

and by the way why are you switching are you not with Telstra?

Richard

I've had my Next G since November last year and it was working on Next G here in Nanango (Qld), but in the last three months I have not seen it on Next G anywhere I've been, northern NSW, St George etc, it is only working on 3 G, so I don't know what there up to. Might be a good idea to ask what's going on before you change over. I am just going to have to put up with it until they sort it.
Cheers Bruce.

Hi Barry,

Have no experience with CDMA broadband, but have been using Next G wireles broadband for a few months. If you are in an area with full coverage, you can get up to 2.5MBps. You can compare this to CDMA.

Drove from Fraser Island to Sydney a few weeks ago and my better half had to study on the way back which meant connecting to the internet while on the road. There was a two hour stretch (past Ballina) she was connected and the signal stayed strong, dropping down to 1MBps in less populated areas.

The card I have (Sierra) from Telstra automatically switches from Next G to EDGE/GPRS to GSM as the signal gets weeker. Not sure if other cards do the same.

Hope this helps.

nextg is certainly faster. It is very dependent on the signal strength as to speed. I also have a extension aerial which gives improvements in some circumstances.
I have been on since November.

I had the CDMA Minimax USB modem that I was happy with and upgraded it (free) to the NextG Telstra Turbo Modem. It worked like a beauty and was pretty fast. Unfortunately there was a mistake with the billing and they put me on a 200MB data based plan rather than the 20 hours a month plan.

When I enquired after getting the first bill they admitted the mistake but could not change it as Telstra had deleted the timed plans for the Turbo Modem product. I said this was not good enough and to cut a long story short they migrated me over to the Telstra Bigpond USB device that still offers time based plans.

If you go with Telstra Turbo modem then you are placed on a 24 month contract but the device is free. With Telstra Bigpond you have to buy the device (same device but different colour and software drivers) and it is $249. You can then signup to any plan you like and chenge plans every month if you want.

As for using the device. easy to use and it is very fast. I downloaded a 26MB virus update in 6 minutes in a regional area (Yorke Peninsula) and after a few uses it seems good. Not had to much chance to test it out in more outlying areas as yet.

To me the idea with these is to have it on your laptop so that when you do pass thru a population centre you can get on and do a pretty quick session of emails and banking and stuff while travelling without being dependant on Public internet facilities. If it happens to work a bit further out and I can browse by the campfire well that is just dandy!

The others are beginning to offer comparable product but judt don't have the networks or range. In regional areas Telstra NextG will be the only game in town for some years to come.

Cheers