CDMA Antenna

[Bushwanderer]

Hi All,
I have an external antenna (on my Discovery) for my CDMA mobile phone.

As the CDMA network is due to shut down next January, I'll need to "upgrade" my phone.:mad:

Will a "NextG" phone work with my CDMA antenna, or should I just trash it?

[Graz]

I have a high gain external antenna on my Disco as well. As I burnt (long story) my CDMA a while ago I got a NextG phone. Works fine on the antenna. Have good coverage over most of the South West of WA.

[jik22]

Mine is dual band GSM and CDMA (Used on GSM only) but hooking my JasJam up to it showed it improved the single for NextG too.

[Larry]

Hi All,
I have an external antenna (on my Discovery) for my CDMA mobile phone.

As the CDMA network is due to shut down next January, I'll need to "upgrade" my phone.:mad:

Will a "NextG" phone work with my CDMA antenna, or should I just trash it?

The Next G works on the same frequency as CDMA so yes, you can still use it.;)

Larry.

[Bushwanderer]

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for your helpful replies.

Now all I need to find is a NextG phone that can connect to an external antenna.:(

[matbor]

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for your helpful replies.

Now all I need to find is a NextG phone that can connect to an external antenna.:(


This guy on ebay might have a patch lead you can use.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Patch-Lead-Ext-Antenna-Adaptor-TELSTRA-MF332-Next-G_W0QQitemZ300146807394QQihZ020QQcategoryZ20380QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Bushwanderer]

This guy on ebay might have a patch lead you can use.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Patch-Lead-Ext-Antenna-Adaptor-TELSTRA-MF332-Next-G_W0QQitemZ300146807394QQihZ020QQcategoryZ20380QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Hi Matbor,
Thanks for finding this.

Does anyone actually own a Telstra NextG phone. Anecdotal evidence is that they are cheap rubbish.


Telstra doesn't even rate them for fringe use.

[JDNSW]

Hi Matbor,
Thanks for finding this.

Does anyone actually own a Telstra NextG phone. Anecdotal evidence is that they are cheap rubbish.


Telstra doesn't even rate them for fringe use.


I do not have one yet - but several of my neighbours have them. Although in this area they report better coverage than CDMA, there are a number of problems with some at least of the handsets. These include very poorly written manuals, very poor battery life, buttons too small to push one at a time, this sort of thing. Telstra advertises (e.g. in this week's local paper) that they have "....a system that clearly identifies mobile phones that are recommended for hand-held use in rural areas .... simply look for Next G handsets labelled with a navy blue tick...". When I asked about this at several Telstra shops in Melbourne last month, nobody knew anything about it - perhaps it only happens in rural areas. They also claim to be working on a Next G handset with an extendable antenna, and to have just launched a shock protected and water resistant robust handset ZTE158.

My view is that the handset range is still changing rapidly, and it would seem a little early to be changing.

John

[Graeme]

Hi Matbor,
Thanks for finding this.

Does anyone actually own a Telstra NextG phone. Anecdotal evidence is that they are cheap rubbish.


Telstra doesn't even rate them for fringe use.
Mine is an LG TU500. I changed over from CDMA because Telstra downgraded the signal strength of the nearest tower to such a degree that the CDMA phone no longer worked much at my place. The Next G phone isnt any better although there's a local tower going up very soon so reception can only get better.

It works a lot better with the external aerial.

[Redback]

External antenna are a waste of money.

[amtravic1]

External antenna are a waste of money.

I disagree. I have often tried this by removing the phone from the cradle (and external bull bar mounted antenna) to find no calls were possible with the phone removed and easily made with the phone connected. It may be different where you are but where I like to travel in the Vic mountains the external antenna makes a significant difference.

I have changed from CDMA to next G and it seems to be getting better all the time. At first (12 months ago) I was unhappy but now it is just as good as CDMA. I am using an LG TU500. Started off with an Imate JasJam as I liked all the features but I found it was great at everything but being a phone and is probably more suitable for office workers than trademen.

Ian

[Captain_Rightfoot]

We got an external aerial for our phone before heading off on our trip recently. Total revelation. Before you just got coverage in the middle of towns.

With a ext aerial you have coverage 30-45 minutes at highway speed surrounding the towns. That's a lot more usefull :)

[Redback]

I disagree. I have often tried this by removing the phone from the cradle (and external bull bar mounted antenna) to find no calls were possible with the phone removed and easily made with the phone connected. It may be different where you are but where I like to travel in the Vic mountains the external antenna makes a significant difference.

I have changed from CDMA to next G and it seems to be getting better all the time. At first (12 months ago) I was unhappy but now it is just as good as CDMA. I am using an LG TU500. Started off with an Imate JasJam as I liked all the features but I found it was great at everything but being a phone and is probably more suitable for office workers than trademen.

Ian

Yes this is true, it will not work as well out of the cradle, i was refering to the bullbar mounted ones as apposed to mine that works from the radio/stereo antenna, i don't see the point of paying $100 for an antenna when the radio one does the same job.

Baz.

[Bushwanderer]

Hi All,
From your posts, it would seem that all of you are connected to the Telstra NextG network rather than its competitors.

This may mean I'll have to take back my words when they failed to deliver my phone on the scheduled day & blithely told me the delivery would be the next day.:mad::mad::mad:

Oops! Forget that I asked the question, above. I've just compared the Telstra (NextG), Optus (3G) & 3 (3G). The coverage by Optus & 3 is abysmal.

[jik22]

Started off with an Imate JasJam as I liked all the features but I found it was great at everything but being a phone and is probably more suitable for office workers than trademen.

Ian

I have this and thought the same. From what I can work out, the phone problems (Dropped calls, etc.) are to do with the fact the phone is NextG and GSM. Apparently, there is a slight problem Telstra have with multi-band handsets handing off between UMTS and GSM cells - I was told to put my phone into just GSM (i.e. In the network band settings, remove the 850MHz one that NextG uses) mode and lo and behold, much better. PITA for data though, so I do pop it back into UMTS mode if I connect it to the laptop.

[Bush65]

...Telstra advertises (e.g. in this week's local paper) that they have "....a system that clearly identifies mobile phones that are recommended for hand-held use in rural areas .... simply look for Next G handsets labelled with a navy blue tick...". When I asked about this at several Telstra shops in Melbourne last month, nobody knew anything about it - perhaps it only happens in rural areas...
My LG TU550 arrived a few days back.

It has a sticker about the size of a 20c piece. The sticker has a big tick and the text says "recommended for rural handheld coverage". The tick is not navy blue however (blue would not contrast with the packaging colour).

I'm pleased with it so far. Will get a car kit soon to replace the cdma cradle.

[Handbrake hates Camping]

With the CDMA network and the Next G network utilising the same frequency. Telstra have a rather large problem with overlap of the two different systems. So at the moment the range and the capability of the Next G network is administratively throttled in order maintain the capability of both networks. When the CDMA network is switched off it will increase the capability of the Next G network by a fair margin. So we will all just have to wait. As for the External Antenna questions. A definitive yes to increasing and improving the performance. Again this will only improve as the above issue is resolved.

Regards,

Doc