Next G to reach Telstra users two months early

[matbor]

http://www.cnet.com.au/mobilephones/phones/0,239025953,339280174,00.htm?feed=rss
Next G to reach Telstra users two months early
Telstra has announced its Next G network rollout will be completed ahead of schedule, despite government fears that the deployment couldn't meet expectations.
The company has revealed that it expects to complete its network rollout two months before time, in mid-October. The planned Next G coverage extension is intended to replace the telco's current 2G CDMA network.
Last month, Communications Minister Helen Coonan voiced her fears that Next G may not yet be an adequate replacement for the CDMA network, which Telstra plans to switch off on 28 January 2008.
"I received a lot of complaints and a lot of concerns have been expressed to me that the new Next G is not providing, at the moment, a very good service," she said recently, after ordering audits of the network's performance.
When the deployment is completed, Next G should cover 1.9 million square km -- slightly larger than the 1.6 million square km currently spanned by its CDMA network.
According to Telstra, technicians had driven more than 33,000 kilometres since May to test Next G's performance. The telco is also asking customers to submit experience of coverage "black spots" through its Web site.
The company claims that Next G will equal or beat CDMA in performance terms by October, and has recently extended the reach of the network to provide download speeds of 2.3Mbps at distances of 200km.



Anyone had bad spots on Telstra Next G :wasntme:... might as well report them :D seen as it will be really the only good network in Aus.
http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/help/blackspot/blackspot.cfm

[Michael2]

When we were in Licola a few months ago, the Next G card on the laptop had coverage, but none of our phones did (Telstra, Optus, 3).

[ladas]

Mind you they do say that us men can never find the G Spot :wasntme:

[matbor]

When we were in Licola a few months ago, the Next G card on the laptop had coverage, but none of our phones did (Telstra, Optus, 3).

Telstra probably where using Toyo's to get into the area and couldn't get access to put the towers up :D:D

[Redback]

Might be quicker to put the good spots in............knowhere:mad:

[Disco300Tdi]

CDMA is fine here (in the Vale),,NextG is only good for a paper weight

[Captain_Rightfoot]

On our holiday I had a CDMA and two other people had Next G. For the most part the coverage was identical. However there was a next G tower at the Telfer mine and no CDMA. :(

[JDNSW]

Round here coverage seems to be very similar, with maybe NextG slightly better. However, according to a report in the Land last week a lot of the reported NextG problems are because some of the handsets, particularly the cheaper ones, are not as good as the CDMA ones they are replacing. Apart from poorer coverage in marginal areas, some are reported to have very poor battery life and to be very difficult to use. More phones are becoming available shortly according to Telstra.

This supports my decision to leave replacing my CDMA phone as late as possible, probably around Christmas, although as I am planning to Drive to Perth and back in November, I may change before then if it seems NextG coverage over the Nullarbor is better than CDMA.

John

[Captain_Rightfoot]

Round here coverage seems to be very similar, with maybe NextG slightly better. However, according to a report in the Land last week a lot of the reported NextG problems are because some of the handsets, particularly the cheaper ones, are not as good as the CDMA ones they are replacing. Apart from poorer coverage in marginal areas, some are reported to have very poor battery life and to be very difficult to use. More phones are becoming available shortly according to Telstra.

This supports my decision to leave replacing my CDMA phone as late as possible, probably around Christmas, although as I am planning to Drive to Perth and back in November, I may change before then if it seems NextG coverage over the Nullarbor is better than CDMA.

John
John, I'm with you there. I'm going to put off replacing my CDMA as long as I can in the hope that they come up with some better deals, and the handsets get better.

While on our trip we ran into some Telstra techs from Brisbane at Milparinka that were surveying the local next G and CDMA coverage to confirm that NEXT G at the very least matched or exceeded the coverage that their CDMA service was offering. I was pretty impressed with this :) There weren't too many people out there. :o

Also while travelling we found that the external aerials are really worth it. They made a massive difference to the coverage and call quality.

[Piddler]

Well, Numpty is currently in another Telstra blackspot in Tasmania...I'll know tonight if he can get coverage :D

For your information Numpty's Missus Telstra actually has by far and away the best coverage of any company in Tasmania. Optus a little Vodaphone and 3 don't bother.

I have a CDMA Telstra in Tasmania with a 7.5DB external aerial and it works a treat in most places. Even way down to Sandy Cape and the Pieman River on the West Coast which is very remote.

The other day the local phone dealer who suspects that the problem with Next G phones is the aerial's got me to try a demo one and use a patch lead to connect it to my 7.5 DB aerial.

Result
It worked a treat in a very isolated area where my CDMA works only with the 7.5 dB aerial.

If you have a reception issue lash out buy a carkit and a decent aerial.

The below company sells car kits which you can buy a cradle for most phones. If you buy a new phone of different type you ony have to buy a new cradle. They even have house type ones.

http://www.ptp.net.au/index_au.html

Cheers
Piddler

[rick130]

Also while travelling we found that the external aerials are really worth it. They made a massive difference to the coverage and call quality.

and thankfully our CDMA antenna's will work with Next G, or so I've been told.

[Captain_Rightfoot]

and thankfully our CDMA antenna's will work with Next G, or so I've been told.

Yep, very similar frequency. :)

[harry]

I'm going to put off replacing my CDMA as long as I can in the hope that they come up with some better deals, and the handsets get better.

that's the catch isn't it,
currently they want to up the rent and supply crap phones for it.
like i have a nokia cdma and want to upgrade to next g ['cause there's no choice] and i don't want a friggin' flip phone, and don't want a pocket computer pda thingy, i just want a phone with the best coverage, without being silly [like sat phone]
i don't even want a camera in the phone.
all i want is a phone that will work in remote areas, 'cause that's where i have to go now and then.

[JDNSW]

.........

If you have a reception issue lash out buy a carkit and a decent aerial.

.........

All very well, but that does not deal with the problem that CDMA and probably NextG do not work in any of the malls in Dubbo, and, for example while the handset works inside my house it does not work inside my neighbour's house, does not work in my shed, does not work over two thirds of my property ....

I agree, a car kit helps enormously, but does not provide the same utility as handheld coverage does. Then there is the question - am I supposed to get car kits for the farm ute, the town car and the tractor? How about the four wheeler?

John

[GregTD5]

Everyone has a gripe about Telstra.
Can't get reception here, can't get it there.
Of course they can't cover every square mile of Australia, but at least in just about every town you will get Telstra coverage somewhere. There is no other phone company that even tries to match Telstra when it comes to the bush.
In fact, you won't see any other communications provider vehicles on the road out of the Capital Cities.
I'm not associated with Telstra in any way, but do get a bit sick of the Telstra bashing when no other company even comes close outside of a city.
But I must agree, at the moment the next G handsets do seem to be of poor quality.

Greg

[JDNSW]

Everyone has a gripe about Telstra.
Can't get reception here, can't get it there.
Of course they can't cover every square mile of Australia, but at least in just about every town you will get Telstra coverage somewhere. There is no other phone company that even tries to match Telstra when it comes to the bush.
In fact, you won't see any other communications provider vehicles on the road out of the Capital Cities.
I'm not associated with Telstra in any way, but do get a bit sick of the Telstra bashing when no other company even comes close outside of a city.
But I must agree, at the moment the next G handsets do seem to be of poor quality.

Greg

I agree with you entirely - but their coverage does not meet their published maps - which also have other problems, including ones such as not even having the place names of all their tower locations.

Because I live in the country, I have to deal with Telstra, and because here they have no real competition, you get treated like dirt.

John

[matbor]

I agree with you entirely - but their coverage does not meet their published maps - which also have other problems, including ones such as not even having the place names of all their tower locations.

Because I live in the country, I have to deal with Telstra, and because here they have no real competition, you get treated like dirt.

John

This is the best I can find, not easy though...

From the ACMA (I am assuming that the 800MHz are for Next G as there are no 850MHz licenses.)

800 MHz Upper Band
web.acma.gov.au/pls/radc...CENCE_NO=1137819https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2007/07/260.jpg (http://web.acma.gov.au/pls/radcom/licence_search.licence_lookup?pLICENCE_NO=1137819)

800 MHz Lower Band
web.acma.gov.au/pls/radc...CENCE_NO=1137818https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2007/07/260.jpg (http://web.acma.gov.au/pls/radcom/licence_search.licence_lookup?pLICENCE_NO=1137818)

[away]

On our holiday I had a CDMA and two other people had Next G. For the most part the coverage was identical. However there was a next G tower at the Telfer mine and no CDMA. :(

Geez, you're lucky. When I went there to work just 18 months ago, I had to buy a prepaid GSM phone just to have comms. There was no other service! Marble Bar has nothing at all! That amazes me. The amount of mining (boom) related traffice going through or staying at Marble Bar at the moment is huge, but still nothing from Telstra.

I had a CDMA phone and it was starting to play up, so I got Next G. What a mistake. The coverage is absolutely appalling. It's not the phone. I connect it to an external antenna when it's in the vehicle and the reception is not a patch on what I used to have with CDMA. A pox on Telstra, I say.

They've gone to rack and ruin since I left them in '87.

Cheers,

Russ.

[rangieman]

For your information Numpty's Missus Telstra actually has by far and away the best coverage of any company in Tasmania. Optus a little Vodaphone and 3 don't bother.

I have a CDMA Telstra in Tasmania with a 7.5DB external aerial and it works a treat in most places. Even way down to Sandy Cape and the Pieman River on the West Coast which is very remote.

The other day the local phone dealer who suspects that the problem with Next G phones is the aerial's got me to try a demo one and use a patch lead to connect it to my 7.5 DB aerial.

Result
It worked a treat in a very isolated area where my CDMA works only with the 7.5 dB aerial.

If you have a reception issue lash out buy a carkit and a decent aerial.

The below company sells car kits which you can buy a cradle for most phones. If you buy a new phone of different type you ony have to buy a new cradle. They even have house type ones.

http://www.ptp.net.au/index_au.html

Cheers
Piddler
Great site mate thanks for the info :D

[wovenrovings]

I have it from a good source that sometimes there is interference between the CDMA and Next G aerials causeing the Next G to stop working. They are working at resolving it now.

[Chenz]

I'll have to get Numpty to report the Hamilton Island blackspots....maybe then he won't have to stand out in the road to ring me :D:D But...I bet nothing will change very fast ;)

Numpty needs to be careful standing on the road in Hamilton Is, some Sweedish bikini clad tourists might run him over in one of those souped up golf carts they all drive there and have to perform mouth to mouth on him.

[longreach]

I have just changed over to the next G phone net work (no complaints)I bought a Telstra samsung A 501.......the only problum is, I can,t seem to get a hands free car kit for it ,or a exteral aerial......telsta dont sell them,I looked up samsung web page,but can,t seem to find any think about them....:(so I dont now if they are made by any one else ??......pain in the butt:mad:........:confused:

[Disco300Tdi]

We dont have any coverage at all (zip, nill, nothing) with the nextG network here in the Vale, although CDMA calls can be made anywhere in the town including from every room in our home.
Telstra have a website to report "black spots" with nextG. Below is their response to my input

Thank you for supporting our Black Spot, Bright Spot Program by sharing your experience of our mobile networks.
The report you submitted was passed to our technicians, who confirmed the location you reported is currently in a Next G" network mobile external antenna coverage area.
This means that to receive Next G" coverage in the reported location, you will need an external antenna connected to your mobile service.
External antennas can make the difference between coverage and no coverage in rural and remote areas.
For information about the best antennas, car kits and devices for purchase, we recommend you call us or visit a Telstra shop or dealer for advice.
Yours sincerely,
Herman
Wireless Data Support

So how big are these mobile antennas.?
I am aware of the car-kit type, do I need an external antenna in my pocket along with my phone, keys, coins etc.??

We are going backwards here in regards Telstras NextG system

[JDNSW]

This all sounds very similar to the situation when the analogue system was replaced by CDMA. Since the CDMA and NextG apparently share transmitters, when CDMA is dropped it is possible that the newer service may improve then. Has anyone except me noticed that the CDMA service seems to have deteriorated since the NextG introduction?

Last week or the week before the situation was addressed at length in "The Land", and they came to the conclusion that a lot of the problems with the NextG network are because the available handsets are not as good as the available CDMA ones, particularly the cheaper ones.

John

[Piddler]

We dont have any coverage at all (zip, nill, nothing) with the nextG network here in the Vale, although CDMA calls can be made anywhere in the town including from every room in our home.
Telstra have a website to report "black spots" with nextG. Below is their response to my input

Thank you for supporting our Black Spot, Bright Spot Program by sharing your experience of our mobile networks.
The report you submitted was passed to our technicians, who confirmed the location you reported is currently in a Next G" network mobile external antenna coverage area.
This means that to receive Next G" coverage in the reported location, you will need an external antenna connected to your mobile service.
External antennas can make the difference between coverage and no coverage in rural and remote areas.
For information about the best antennas, car kits and devices for purchase, we recommend you call us or visit a Telstra shop or dealer for advice.
Yours sincerely,
Herman
Wireless Data Support

So how big are these mobile antennas.?
I am aware of the car-kit type, do I need an external antenna in my pocket along with my phone, keys, coins etc.??

We are going backwards here in regards Telstras NextG system



Hi,

a 7.5db aerial will set yu back $180 they work a treat with a patch lead or full car kit.

check http://www.ptp.net.au/index_au.html for car kits
cheers

[JDNSW]

Hi,

a 7.5db aerial will set yu back $180 they work a treat with a patch lead or full car kit.

check http://www.ptp.net.au/index_au.html for car kits
cheers

I think you missed his point - a bit big to carry round in your pocket. His CDMA handset works without one, so is he out of line expecting that the replacement system should work without one?

A car kit does not replace the utility of a handheld - with a handheld you can still receive calls away from your car, and while perhaps you can expect callers to try your landline when you are at home, this is not really practical all the time, for example if you are mustering stock on a motorbike or fencing or shearing or any other of dozens of everyday activities - and then are you expected to cough up $180 for each vehicle - car, ute tractor, four wheeler, motorbike? How do you install one on a horse? All because the "new and improved" system does not work as well as the one it is replacing.

John

[Piddler]

I think you missed his point - a bit big to carry round in your pocket. His CDMA handset works without one, so is he out of line expecting that the replacement system should work without one?

A car kit does not replace the utility of a handheld - with a handheld you can still receive calls away from your car, and while perhaps you can expect callers to try your landline when you are at home, this is not really practical all the time, for example if you are mustering stock on a motorbike or fencing or shearing or any other of dozens of everyday activities - and then are you expected to cough up $180 for each vehicle - car, ute tractor, four wheeler, motorbike? How do you install one on a horse? All because the "new and improved" system does not work as well as the one it is replacing.

John

I carry one around at my shack as the only place it works is at the end of the jetty,

In a life and death situation when the helicopter needs to be called $180 well spent.

Cheers

[tdi130dualcab]

Mrs tdi130dualcab now has a next-g (samsung) phone, and here in townsville the reception and coverage has been far batter than the previous cdma (and miles in front of my gsm)

cheers

[Disco300Tdi]

I carry one around at my shack as the only place it works is at the end of the jetty,

In a life and death situation when the helicopter needs to be called $180 well spent.

Cheers

So now I need to carry around a handheld with an external antenna attached in an area that works fine (100%) on CDMA

Also as John said,,, I will need to buy 4 car-kits

1# Corolla
1# Discovery
1# Rangie
1# Ute

[DiscoTDI]

I just had my work phone upgraded to an LG Next-G phone, In the coalfields its fantastic I get reception in the bottom of pits. I have no areas that my phone drops out with a car kit.

Longreach, the samsung A501 does not come with any external aerials but works well with a bluetooth hands free like the blueant.

[4bee]

Not sure if this can assist anyone with this.
Worth a try, just search for you phone model.



http://www.expansys.com.au/d.aspx?i=128184