Best cell phone carrier for around Australia coverage

[mullerwh Member Find all posts View Profile Close mullerwh]

BoostMobile also runs on the Telstra network. Month to month @$40 Unlimited Calls & 2Gb Data. I believe with Aldi (Telstra) you do not get access to the 4G network (may have changed, but check first)

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

That comparison uses the Inmarsat isatphone pro. Its been superseded by the isatphone2. We have the pro version and they are crap.

As I mentioned we did our own comparisons and the Iridium was terrible. We did a lot of follow up and allowed others to compare the two side by side, thinking we were doing something wrong.

The Iridium people were not happy, but they ended up very red faced when they saw how well the Inmarsat phone worked and theirs struggled.

YMMV but we have just tooled up with the new Inmarsat.

How exactly does the iridium struggle? I pick mine up, dial the number, speak to the person who answers at the other end and hang up. Its done that every time I have used it, not sure what else you want a sat phone to do?

Cheers Andrew

[JoshF Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoshF]

If you intend to travel outside of the major cities Telstra is the best choice but with caveats

You need to ensure your phone has all the voice and data bands as used by Telstra as Telstra and Optus etc use different data bands ie 850 versus 900.

Make sure your service provider if a wholesaler of Telstra in fact has access to all the Telstra data and voice bands ie 850 seems to be common outback versus metropolitan use - whereas they might not get access if they don't include it in the package. Check Aldi etc include what you need for outback use if you don't buy from Telstra directly.

[OldGreyFart Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close OldGreyFart]

How exactly does the iridium struggle? I pick mine up, dial the number, speak to the person who answers at the other end and hang up. Its done that every time I have used it, not sure what else you want a sat phone to do?

Cheers Andrew

Obviously it doesn't make the coffee - jeeez

[Ghost Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ghost]

Just switched from Optus to telstra, telstra shits all over Optus for coverage and speed. Although their bills suck!



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[zutta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zutta]

We been travelling Oz the last 15 months and left with a telstra and aldi sims in our phones.

Aldi didnt work up in the gulf and a few other places where the Telstra phone did.

My mrs got axed from aldi for breaching their fair use policy on data when it was 5GB/month , she switched to optus for the rest of our travels and it has been pretty good but not as good as Telstra,

Their rates reflect the coverage factor, Most plans start at $60/month but this is another case of 'You pay for what you get'

[Beach Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beach]

My mrs got axed from aldi for breaching their fair use policy on data when it was 5GB/month...

How does that work?

[photoprado Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close photoprado]

the Iridium was terrible.

How exactly did you find the Iridium 'terrible'

Inmarsat uses geostationary birds and the Aussie one is well north of Australia. The angle of incidence gets shallower and shallower the further south you get which has the potential for land based obstructions to kill the signal. Iridium uses LEO which covers all of the planet - the downside on that is that there is a handoff between sats as they pass overhead.

Satphones will always have issues compared to mobile phones in good reception areas, and they do have quirks based on the particular handset and network. That said, I fail to see how Iridium can be described as 'terrible'

Please explain.

[Prado_The_2nd Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Prado_The_2nd]

So I think we're settled then ... Canaust, go with Telstra when you come back to Australia. Ideally, grab a Telstra SIM (rather than a Telstra reseller) and make sure you have a new handset that can communicate on all main frequencies. Buy/hire a satphone if the budget permits. UHF obviously as part of the car setup.

Looking at your signature, did you do Northern Australia on your last trip, and you're planning to focus on Southern Australia this time?

How long will you be travelling and how far off the main highways are you planning to go? There's plenty to do and see in Southern Australia!

[Beach Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beach]

How exactly did you find the Iridium 'terrible'

Inmarsat uses geostationary birds and the Aussie one is well north of Australia. The angle of incidence gets shallower and shallower the further south you get which has the potential for land based obstructions to kill the signal. Iridium uses LEO which covers all of the planet - the downside on that is that there is a handoff between sats as they pass overhead.

Satphones will always have issues compared to mobile phones in good reception areas, and they do have quirks based on the particular handset and network. That said, I fail to see how Iridium can be described as 'terrible'

Please explain.

Are you in the satellite game in any way? I only ask before we get into a discussion about what birds are where, what orbits they occupy, up and down capabilities, etc.

Inmarsat have recently decided to increase and expand their capabilities, data and satcomms (of varying types) being a significant part. They have recently launched a couple of satellites with another two planned, I believe.

We were approached and asked if we would like to try out the new model sat phone (isatphone2) as well as their latest BGAN.

For comparison we also included the latest Iridium.

The Inmarsat consistently connected and was able to make a call within about 20 seconds to a minute from being turned on. Call quality was fantastic and never dropped out even when walking under thick trees and around obstacles, etc. Latency was about two seconds.

The Iridium was the opposite. It never connected in less than ten minutes. Sometimes not at all. Call quality was terrible and it consistently dropped out.

The units were passed around so quite a few people had a good crack at them. The results were fairly consistent. Everyone also remarked how good the isatphone2 is over the previous pro model.

YMMV.

[Guest Close Guest]

BoostMobile also runs on the Telstra network. Month to month @$40 Unlimited Calls & 2Gb Data. I believe with Aldi (Telstra) you do not get access to the 4G network (may have changed, but check first)

Yes, so out of the resellers of Telstra's network, Boost has the best coverage. Guess it comes down to Boost vs Telstra prepaid.

Telechoice and Aldi are in the same boat in terms of coverage.

Do check the coverage maps from each company to work out which one to go for depending on where you are travelling. Boost certainly is much better value for money than Telstra if factoring in internet data.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

The Iridium was the opposite. It never connected in less than ten minutes. Sometimes not at all. Call quality was terrible and it consistently dropped out.

That is not my experience with the Iridium, as a test I just went and got mine out and checked hook up time, from the time I picked it up to when my mobile rang which I called using it was 38 seconds, that's seems pretty much on a par with I would have expected given past experience. I usually keep it switched on and charging when traveling remote, so without the boot up time you could be talking to someone in under 15 seconds.

There is a delay in speaking, it takes a few sentences to get used to that but call voice quality over the phone would be just as good as my normal mobile.

As I said before it hooks up to the network consistently and whenever we have wanted to use it, it has worked. That includes making calls from some of the most remote places in Australia.

If I were to update or change sat phones for any reason I would need to hear a very strong argument to step away from a network that has simply done exactly what I expected of it consistently over many years.

Cheers Andrew

[shodown Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shodown]

Yes, so out of the resellers of Telstra's network, Boost has the best coverage. Guess it comes down to Boost vs Telstra prepaid.

Telechoice and Aldi are in the same boat in terms of coverage.

Do check the coverage maps from each company to work out which one to go for depending on where you are travelling. Boost certainly is much better value for money than Telstra if factoring in internet data.

Yep - another vote for Boost. The Mrs is on the Boost $40/month plan.

If I recall correctly, Boost does not have access to the 4G network. Apart from that, the Mrs has always got the same reception coverage as me.

[photoprado Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close photoprado]

Are you in the satellite game in any way? I only ask before we get into a discussion about what birds are where, what orbits they occupy, up and down capabilities, etc.

Nope, not in any telecommunications game. Long history of dealing with them though in business and personal use of satphone and tracking devices such as Spot messenger, tracker, and Delorme InReach (which uses iridium btw). I use birds because its easier to spell, and really, it a fairly commonly used term for satellites.

[photoprado Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close photoprado]

The Iridium was the opposite. It never connected in less than ten minutes. Sometimes not at all. Call quality was terrible and it consistently dropped out.

Ok, that is nothing like my experience. Ten minutes? No way, something is wrong with the test scenario. I've never seen more than about a minute but I've never timed it. Where was the test location, and I have to ask what model was the Iridium phone and who supplied it?

I don't have a problem with a newer and well designed isatphone comparing favourably against an older iridium handset, but we're looking at something else here I think...