Next G Observation

Submitted: Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 21:11
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We went camping for a week. No phone reception at all.

We decided to drive a track to the top of a hill to see if we could get reception (great excuse to tackle some tracks LOL).

We got to the top of this hill and whipped out three phones.

1. Next G
2. Optus Digital
3. Telstra Digital

The Optus digital was showing three bars and worked a treat. The others were dead.

I thought the idea of Next G was to give coverage that extended beyond the normal digital network?



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Reply By: Footloose - Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 21:32

Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 21:32
My Optus phone works where Telstra won't.
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Follow Up By: Mainey (wa) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 09:13

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 09:13
As I understand it, Optus uses telstra towers to transmit ?

Therefore "-> IF <-" Optus and telstra both transmit at the same signal strength ??

Then it may be in the "quality" of the actual phone handset to 'pick-up' the signal that makes the difference !!
Mainey...

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Follow Up By: Footloose - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 10:58

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 10:58
All I know is that my wife's Telstra Samsung had emergency service only until recently. My Optus phone has always had full strength.
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 15:42

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 15:42
Optus GSM does not roam to Telstra outside of its own (Optus) network
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Follow Up By: Footloose - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 16:18

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 16:18
John, I didnt say that they did.
My wife is with Telstra, I'm with Optus
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 16:26

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 16:26
Sorry Jim that was directed at Mainey's comment.

My understanding was that the emergency only business is the only shared feature of the GSM networks.
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Follow Up By: Mainey (wa) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 18:49

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 18:49
My original post is:

""As I understand it, Optus uses telstra TOWERS to transmit ?
Therefore "-> IF <-" Optus and telstra both transmit at the same signal strength ??""

In many, if not all cases, both 'carriers' share the same phone towers, however obviously with their own different signalling equipment installed, only the actual metal/concrete 'tower' is common to both carriers and then only as a device for mounting their respective telecommunications equipment.

The various handsets would make a difference in the ability to receive their respective signals, because some handsets are far more efficient than others, that's why only some (4 ?) get the Country wide "tick" and most handsets don't.
Mainey...
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Follow Up By: Bonz (Vic) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 22:19

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 22:19
Optus and Telstra share only a few towers around here, and Optus coverage is rubbish compared to Telstra.
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Reply By: Bware (Tweed Valley) - Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 22:30

Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 22:30
It's a saga isn't it?

There are the people who are very happy with Next G who think there is no problem and that anyone that is unhappy must have the wrong phone, need a car-kit etc.

Then there's Telstra who have promised a service better than CDMA but can't answer the people who have problems with Next G except by saying they must have a crap phone, need a car-kit or that it will all be better when CDMA is switched off. Now they will be able to blame the government for Next G problems due to the postponement of the closing down date.

How can the situation arise that so many phones designed for the new system aren't up to scratch? It's a fiasco.

What is the point of all the money poured into something that at best is only marginally better (and on many counts, marginally worse)?

I would think that with the rate of technological growth, in time satellite phones will be what we all use with complete coverage around the globe. If you think that is unrealistic, just remember what a short period in time it is that we have landed on the moon, invented television etc. Now we squabble about small advances like CDMA to Next G. What a laugh. Music has gone from CDs to ipods in no time. Life imitates art; Science fiction is becoming our reality. We will all have 'Dick Tracey' watches soon, with built-in GPS, phone, camera, ipod, internet etc. Or perhaps just a microchip in the skull....LOL
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Follow Up By: Willem - Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 23:32

Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 23:32
Sage words indeed.....:-)


Cheers
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (FNQ) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 00:18

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 00:18
Bware
Sorry old Chap, you left yourself wide open for this

You probably have plenty of room inside the skull.....lol


.I'm outa here..

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Follow Up By: Bware (Tweed Valley) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 00:24

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 00:24
Doug,
Just think of the size of the chip they could put in there LOL
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (FNQ) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 00:41

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 00:41
Bware
I can't comment...I'm not here.


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Follow Up By: Bware (Tweed Valley) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 00:47

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 00:47
Doug,
I finally appreciate your humour and you're not here LOL
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Reply By: Billowaggi - Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 22:35

Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 22:35
My Telstra next g 'country phone' works better than my old CDMA everywhere I have tried so far [country WA] Most times 10 k or so out of town GSM [digital] is useless, I am talking country here away from towns and arterial roads.
Regards Ken.
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Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 23:44

Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 23:44
Hi Billowaggi, What phone have you got? I have heard that the Samsung or Nokia are the way to go.

Cheers

D


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Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (Yalgoo) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 02:34

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 02:34
Hmmm ive been suspecting for a while telstra is paying for positive coments - this confirms it
Next g stops dead at the outskirts of perth i could go on with a list of places it doesnt work just on the outskits
it cracks into life as little as 5km from town with toodyay (virtually the city) and dwellingup being examples
it will get spasmodic reception at some high spots elsewhwere but thats it
and pleeeese dont make me show the picture again of GSM outperforming next G.
as a country user of CDMA and now a city user of next g please dont insult my intellagence again
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Follow Up By: Billowaggi - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 14:45

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 14:45
Hi all
I AM NOT PAID BY TELSTRA !! if anyone would like to check I have been a usefull and helpfull contributor to this forum for many years. I am actually a farm machinery machanic in the S.W. of WA so I cover a lot of country and what I said above is true!

Dunworkin, the phone I use is aTelstra ZTE F165 sold as Telstra country phone, my previous handset was a LG TU550 this did not work so well.


Regards Ken.
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Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 15:32

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 15:32
Thanks Billowaggi, will be changing phones when all is settled down and CDMA is finally closed down so am doing a bit of research.

Thanks again

Cheers

D


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Follow Up By: Graham & Ann - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 15:33

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 15:33
During a recent trip 20000km around mid west WA (in via docker river and out via Balladonia), like Ken we found our NextG had far better coverage overall than our cdma phone, like in Menzies and Sandstone our nextg LG TU500 worked fine but our cdma Kyorcera had no signal at all, only found some spots in the hilly areas of south west were we had slightly better on a few occasions with the cdma.
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Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (Yalgoo) - Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 02:07

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 02:07
yep and there it is Menzies now has a tower they didnt for years
Obviosly all new towers dont have CDMA
doesnt change the fact that you WILL get reception alot further from a CDMA tower (yes i used to have a Kyocera) than a next G tower.
the closest towers to menzies used to be nth of paddington and leonora
Looks like Daveyhurst even has a tower now

_ Its not hard to make CDMA reach look bad with all the extra towers!!

But still i Cannot get reception along stretches of th SW highway just out of perth, Between Gidgiegannup and 5k before toodyay, jonon forrest NP (in Perth) and most places with a dirt road
yea sure the sw coveradge is pretty averadge but it craps all over
alot of other places i have been
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Reply By: Member - Mark H (VIC) - Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 23:46

Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 at 23:46
Last week I was in Rapid Bay SA, and the only phones getting reception were NextG, Vodaphone and normal Telstra had to drive back up the hill to the turn off. No doubt I may camp in areas in the future where this is reversed but I am sure Telstra will eventually make it as good if not better than CDMA? It is suppose to be progress isn't it? Hello Telstra?

Mark.
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Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (Yalgoo) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 02:37

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 02:37
the only way that could be possible is if a next g tower was also on a high oint i have proved time and time again the biggest achilles heel with next G is its innability to "bend" iit is STRICTLY line of sight even a small hill will cancel reception
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Follow Up By: Member - Mark H (VIC) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 20:59

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 20:59
Well that's what was happening, myself and another camper next door both had NextG phones and he asked me if I was getting reception. I was getting great reception (like he was) and he had been speaking to others around the campground who didn't have NextG and they weren't getting any reception.
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Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (Yalgoo) - Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 13:56

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 13:56
Had a think about it and you were probably getting reception from the Yorke penninsula. By all accounts next g works Ok over flat ground or out to sea. From memory Rapid bay is surrounded by hill which would prevent any local towers
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Follow Up By: Member - Mark H (VIC) - Thursday, Jan 24, 2008 at 11:06

Thursday, Jan 24, 2008 at 11:06
Yes it is surrounded by hills and we could see the lights of the southern suburbs of Adelaide, so that could be right.

Mark.
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Reply By: hl - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 06:58

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 06:58
None of them "bend". Radio signals at these frequencies ARE line of sight. It makes no difference at all how they are "modulated".
However, CDMA and NextG cells do a thing called "breathing" where the coverage reduces as more people use a cell. You can get coverage in a place when there not much use of a particular cell and at another time this may be reversed. Standing in a paddock and saying my CDMA or NextG worked here last time I tried it and now it doesn't, makes little sense as conditions constantly change and, let's face it, cell phones are not meant to be remote area communications devices.
Cheers
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Follow Up By: Member - Kiwi Kia - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 07:59

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 07:59
But what do you define as remote ?

Is 5 km out of town 'remote'.
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Follow Up By: hl - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 08:51

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 08:51
If you're on the wrong side of a hill and you can't see the tower, then it can't see you, and you won't have coverage. In flat country the range of a tower is less than 30km and if there are obstacles, it can be considerably less. I am not trying to defend Telstra or any other carrier, but the laws of physics do apply and unless you dot the country with phone towers, it just won't work. The technology is very very good, but it does have limitations. One the one hand, people scream every time a tower goes up near them, on the other, they expect miracle coverage.
Cheers
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Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (Yalgoo) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 09:03

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 09:03
OK so i may not know the technical terms for "bending" but i do know as a user CDMA was much more likely to work in valleys, by rivers and in other low spots than Next G.
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Follow Up By: hl - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 09:27

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 09:27
Well.. I don't think it's that technical, but people use it to refer to the effect on radio waves at VHF and higher frequencies were coverage is essentially line of sight from the transmitting source. In practice, this coverage often extends somewhat further but there is a definite limit and the effect is much less on the frequencies used by mobile phones. One interesting aspect of the NextG technology is that it can actually work with the signal from several towers concurrently. (not much use in the country where you might be lucky to see one).
I have several of those dreaded chinese ZTE phones and while I have had some issues with them, lack of coverage was not one of them.
A few weeks ago we stayed on a farm near Taree which is located in a valley west of Nabiac. Mobile phone coverage there was always a problem and still is, however, I used my NextG phone as a modem that weekend and still managed to get a reasonable data rate on a high gain external antenna. The signal on my CDMA phone was no different, both showed 0 to 1 bar on the signal strength, the only difference was that with the nextG phone I could look at my emails, look at the rain radar (we were camping and the weather was of interest) and a whole lot more that could not be done with the CDMA phone.
So, people should just accept that technology moves on and for the most part NextG is miles(km) ahead of the clunky old CDMA technology. Oh, and for those who like the "other" carriers, just look at their coverage maps for 3G services.
Cheers
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Reply By: Member - Brett (WA) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 08:19

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 08:19
I wish I had never bought a Next G phone. Bloody useless thing.
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Follow Up By: Mainey (wa) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 09:18

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 09:18
Brett,
what model phone did you buy ???
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Reply By: harryopal - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 14:36

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 14:36
Given that we voted in the Howard government which sold off our public asset, Telstra, we have the service that we deserve. Telstra's primary purpose is to make money... service is merely relevant to that purpose. The present game is about political pressure for Telstra to get the kind of environment that it wants so they will continue to blame governments for service problems. Personally I preferred the notion of owning Telstra which could then be instructed to provide the service we wanted.
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Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 15:42

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 15:42
Hi harryopal, I am not jumping in to defend any political party here but could you please supply me with a name of any Gov department that gives us mere mortals a 'service that we want'? LOL

Cheers

D


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Follow Up By: Member - Mike DID - Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 18:45

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 18:45
Just like when the Government owned the Commonwealth Bank.

It had reasonable charges and paid 3% interest if you had $100 in the account - and all the other banks had to compete.

As soon as the CommBank was privatised, the Directors wanted to impress the Shareholders (they vote on Directors pay rises, not customers) charges went up and interest payments plummeted - and all other banks followed.

Thankyou Howard Govt for screwing the citizen again.
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 07:35

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 07:35
Ummmm Errrrrr!!!!! The Commonwealth Bank was floated in 1992 by Mr Keating if my memory serves me??

Hardly a case of being screwed by the Howard government which was not elected until 1996??
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Follow Up By: Member - Mike DID - Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 07:53

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 07:53
March 1996 - John Howard becomes Prime Minister.

July 1996 - the Australian Government made a public offer of its remaining 50.4% shareholding in the Commonwealth Bank.

- at that time the government lost control of the Commonwealth Bank.
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Follow Up By: Member - bushfix - Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 08:26

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 08:26
Mike DID posted

"As soon as the CommBank was privatised, the Directors wanted to impress the Shareholders (they vote on Directors pay rises, not customers)"

except in the extraordinary case of telstra, two thirds of the shareholders voted against those pay rises but they were ignored by the board (McGauchie) and the pay rises went through anyway.
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 12:23

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 12:23
Yes your right Mike forgot about the split sale, was so long ago.
Still it was not opposed by labour at that time, not that it would have made any difference :-)
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