Optus yesG v Telstra nextG v GSM
Submitted: Monday, May 11, 2009 at 10:08
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MrBitchi (QLD)
I need to upgrade a couple of phones due to coverage issues and would like any
feedback on the above. I realise that there is really no competition when it comes to remote areas, nextG is king and I have a Samsung 411 nextg for that, but I'm mainly interested in metro and major regional use for these phones. NextG is probably still the best but their plans really suck compared to other telcos.
So has anyone had any first hand experience with Optus yesG? The phones are currently on Virgin (optus GSM).
Reply By: Russ n Sue - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 10:45
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 10:45
MrBitchi,
I'm sorry to report thatTelstra also has the best coverage in the cities and major regional towns as
well. Whilst I just hate giving my dough to an uncompetetive, bullying company likel Telstra, we found that we have little choice.
You may as
well save the trouble and go NextG for everything. If you have more than one phone with them there are plans that can save you some money.
Cheers
Russ.
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Reply By: Member - joc45 (WA) - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 11:59
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 11:59
I had a GSM phone on a prepaid plan from Optus (ISim, actually). Was certainly cheap, but I used to get cheesed off with "no service" in a built-up area, and sometimes delays of several hours for SMS messages in a good reception area (one took 5 days!). Useless in the country.
I don't make many calls, so my Telstra prepaid A411 is fine for my purposes. But if I was a big user, I'd be spitting chips over Telstra's charges.
Gerry
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Follow Up By: MrBitchi (QLD) - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:03
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:03
That's the issue ATM. Virgin re-sells Optus GSM and it's not very good. Want to know if Optus yesG (Optus' version of nextG) is better.
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Reply By: Rangiephil - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:06
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:06
Someone posted here some time ago that Optus was to get access to the Telstra Next G network in may 2009.
Is that was the Yes G is about????
Regards Philip A
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Follow Up By: MrBitchi (QLD) - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:10
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:10
They've actually built there own from what I can make out.
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:22
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:22
According to Optus website, they expect but don't guarantee, to have cover with Yes G in the same areas as Next G by end of 2009.
Motherhen
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Follow Up By: Nutta - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:48
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:48
I'll prolly neck myself under contract waiting that long, optus is useless!
My fone regularly drops out in the middle of the
gold coast, thats with a nokia e71 and 3g!
Wayne
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Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 13:55
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 13:55
I seriously doubt that statement given that Telstra operate on 850mnz and Optus on 900mhz so you would have to buy new phones to do that unless you had an unlocked quad band phone
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Reply By: Boobook2 - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:56
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:56
"3" now roam to Next G's country cells if you have a 850mhz capable phone. No extra charge for the calls but Data prices double per Gbyte when roaming.
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Follow Up By: MrBitchi (QLD) - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 13:41
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 13:41
But they don't do this in the city, or any area covered by 3. This means it's of no use for localised dead spots within the 3 coverage area.
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Follow Up By: Boobook2 - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 13:58
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 13:58
John,
That is true, they will still roam to Telstras GSM in a 3 defined areas. Having said that there are a lot more drop outs than I had with Telstra. But given my bill went from $250ish with Telstra to $79 with 3 it relieves the dropout pain somewhat.
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Follow Up By: MrBitchi (QLD) - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 14:02
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 14:02
The problem is that Telstra GSM is no better than Optus GSM in the areas I'm concerned about. Only the nextG service seems any good.
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Reply By: TerraFirma - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 15:28
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 15:28
Optarse Opt Out..!
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Reply By: Rangiephil - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 20:56
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 20:56
Today my 2 year next G contract finished and I re-signed for 12months for $20 per month with $20 calls and one hour of free calls every day.
I looked at the Yes G coverage map and virtually none in NW WA, so obvious it does not use Next G. (aside from the 900Mhz vs 850Mhz issue.)
I mainly use my Next G for data as a modem while I travel and buy $89 data packs. I also use the phone to talk to the kids while away.
It worked very
well last year , except for a couple of hiccups when the Telstra cell broke down in
Cloncurry and also something went wrong in Alice when the speed went to snail like.
Much cheaper than the buy USB modem and 2 year plan bit.
Regards Philip A
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Reply By: Robin Miller - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 21:33
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 21:33
Hi
John
Once before on hear I posted about Optus being a more cost effective option for 90% of the time.
You might it hard to believe , but Pacific
Dunlop changed its provider to Optus on the strength of that business case, when I was part of a team that made that reccomendation over ten years ago now. Like anything you
check the facts as they relate to you , and here the trick really is to
check coverage within areas you use.
We have both Optus and Telstra sim cards for our Nokia and interchange them. Bit of a pain at times , but you can sure save some cash.
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Reply By: Tadooch - Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 22:15
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 22:15
I often read the site "whirlpool.net.au". Hutchinson Telecoms (once
Orange, now 3) lease on some of the Telstra network towers. Optus have built their own and share/onsell to Vodaphone, Virgin, Soul and the rest. Telstra remains the dearest, as being the perceived "monopoly", cannot match the Asians etc under ACCC ruling. So they remain more expensive but with best coverage.
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Reply By: Nomadic Navara - Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 19:18
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 19:18
It is the old story of - you get what you pay for. Here is a piece I have posted previously. It is a resume of a report on the performance of networks conducted last year. I don't think things will have changed much since then.
PeterD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Answer to Questions on Telstra Pricing
The Telstra net covers an area vastly bigger than any of the other networks. With each base site costing a few hundred thousand dollars you are going to pay significantly more for this wide area coverage. Too many people bleat away about the high cost of BigPond and do not take this into account - I think these members are expecting the service for nothing.
I have posted the above sentiments for a long time. Then the other day I got the October 2008 issue of APC magazine and there is a good comparison of the wireless broadband
services. On page 56 they say:
“But, in our testing, we can see why. Next G wireless broadband
services really work
well. We were able to playstreaming YouTube videos in high-quality mode with no buffering delays at all. And the fact that you can use it basically anywhere with full network speed makes it perennially useful.
“Speed tests showed a download speed of over 4Mbit/s and an upload speed of 800Kbit/s. It was the only wireless broadband service we tested that provided enough performance to view ABC's TV-on-demand service, iView, consistently
well.”
They then rabit on a little about pricing and then finish off the Telstra bit with:
“Telstra is maintaining its network quality by restricting demand with its high prices. But at least for the money you pay, you get a service that actually works reliably.”
They finish off the comparison with some
test results. Two of them describe downloading YouTube and ABC TV. None of the other networks went within a bulls roar of doing that properly. Whilst you are probably not wanting to do this on the road you will want to download some large files like pictures and not have to wait too long to do this.
The bottom line is – do you want to pay for promises and get poor results or pay for performance and receive value.
PeterD
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Reply By: Davo_60 - Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 19:40
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 19:40
Hello
John,
I have an Optus yes G phone, coverage and functionality is excellent wherever coverage is available. You will need to search the coverage maps to
check if the areas are suitable for you. There are also planned areas for coverage which are even more remote. I have found that where Optus claim they have coverage, they reliably do.
Next G has better coverage, no contest there but for my use Optus has always been good, and for a telco the customer service is good, however still poor compared to other industries.
We have next G phones at work, great product and great coverage - but expensive.
I have also had both Next G and Optus wireless broadband. The Optus product is as good as the Telstra product where good coverage is available in my experience, and optus much cheaper. Once again the Next G provides better coverage.
In my experience Telstra's customer service is so bad it's hard to fathom until you have had to try and sort a problem out.
So for
mine they are both very good depending on what you need and what you are prepared to pay.
Cheers,
Dave
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Reply By: Skippy In The GU - Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 08:24
Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 08:24
Have you looked into using Voip on the mobile phone , A Shonky friend of
mine does it and how it works is you ring a number using your mobile phone and once you get an engaged signal you hang up and the service automaticly calls you back and then you answer your phone dial the number and thats all to it. calls are about 20 cents per minute and No flag fall.
I think it's Pennytell look for the ANI call back feature
Cheers Skippy
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Follow Up By: MrBitchi (QLD) - Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 09:36
Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 09:36
Even VOIP won't work where you have no reception ;-(
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Reply By: Member - Mike DID - Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 21:46
Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 21:46
Australia Post have the Samsung A411 on special for $79 - pretty good for a Blue Tick phone which has an External Antenna connector.
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Reply By: MrBitchi (QLD) - Friday, May 15, 2009 at 08:09
Friday, May 15, 2009 at 08:09
Mike, I already have one of these on prepaid, which we use when travelling. The problem I face is the only service that seems to be any good where we need it is Telstra NextG. We don't want this phone on prepaid, and Telstra plans are horrendously expensive compared to other telcos. You just don't get value for money.
Example.. Currently we have a phone on Virgin (Optus GSM) It's a $20 cap plan with $50 worth of included calls. We only occasionally go over the cap. The average calls amount is around $40, which is under the cap. This plan also gives unlimited free texts to my daughters phone, also on Virgin.
The cheapest plan from Telstra is a $20 plan with $15 (!!) included calls.... The cheapest Telstra CAP plan is $49 with $200 included. So with telstra, whichever way you cut it, it's going to cost us at least double for the same usage.
It also seems that the Optus YesG network is being rolled out as an extension to their GSM service, which means it's NOT being rolled out where they already have a GSM presence. Their reasoning is that if you have a YesG handset it will roam to their GSM network when out of a YesG service area. Where the missus now works is in an Optus GSM black hole which will not be addressed by their YesG roll out :-(((
Looks like we're screwed...
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