Telstra vs Optus Mobile Coverage

[Carsten Eckelmann]

Hi,

I'm currently in the market for a new mobile phone and plan. I noticed that Optus has much cheaper rates than Telstra, but wonder how the mobile coverage of non-Telstra offerings is in these parts down here?

Cheers,

Carsten.

[Patricia Google]

I am happy with my Virgin mobile service. Better reception in wolumla than I had in Sydney home!
Uses the Optus network and there are some black spots around, but not so many that I have found it a problem. 

 handy when all family members on virgin (  free calls virgin to virgin. )

Patricia
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[Martin Fortmann]

I hesitantly through my 2c in here because I live in Sydney but have been wrapped with Kogan mobile. Was down in Tomakin (gotta be at least somewhere near you guys) over Christmas and had great reception where all other carriers were MIA. Even Skyped overseas. Clearly they run on Telstra. At $29 a month for unlimited talk and text with 6gb(yes, 6) of data it's great value - just don't over use it 'cause they will action their fair use policy and kick you off.

It is prepaid so you'll need to byo your own phone. Again, Kogan has all the goodies there too. I even had my phone repaired under warranty. Less than 2 week turn around.

If you land up being keen on Kogan, order your sim now. There is Huge demand and they can't print them fast enough.

If you can front up the cash, it will save you a bit of money over a 2 year contract with a "free" phone. Plus you have flexibility to jump ship when you want ...like say you guys miraculously get 4g down there ;-)

Martin

[Darren Munt]

My wife and myself both have phones on the Optus network (Dodo). Since they put in the new tower at Tura, there have been no issues with reception at that end of town. I used mine from a house in upper Kiah a couple of weeks ago!

 

 

 

[Jon Oakes]

I’m with Optus and am happy with the coverage.  And the Optus Customer Service is much better than Telstra’s, by a long way.  I’ve always had great service from Optus but if anything goes wrong with one of my Telstra services I know it’ll be hours on the phone (most of it on hold) before anything gets done, and even then they’ll say it was my fault.

 

Jon.

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[Raymond Daly]

I know Telstra have in theory better coverage in rural areas - but never been a major concern for me, particularly in our valley - sometimes evident when remote bush walking with friends. I use Optus (Virgin) - I hate Telstra with a passion their customer service is rubbish ... have had very few happy interactions with them.

Raymond Daly
home: +61 2 6494 9753
fax: +61 2 6494 9752
mobile: +61 411 501 227
skype: raymond.f.daly 

On 15/05/2013, at 8:37 AM, Darren Munt wrote:

My wife and myself both have phones on the Optus network (Dodo). Since they put in the new tower at Tura, there have been no issues with reception at that end of town. I used mine from a house in upper Kiah a couple of weeks ago!

 

 

 

[Darren Munt]

> sometimes evident when remote bush walking

 

A few years ago I was up in the hills behind Nethercote on the second day of a 3 day walk. We were bashing our way through scrub down the side of a spur to get to the river when my phone rang. It was work. Next time I will take a Telstra phone J

 

[Chris Sheedy]

Martin....how's the Kogan service for you? I'm presently with amaysim /Optus and it works very well for me in Toothdale. Olive thier unlimited calls and texts and never use my entire 4gb of data.

Kogan has a similar offer for $10 less per month, but I've read bad reports about thier service? Your thoughts?

Chris

Email: cbsh...@gmail.com

Ph: 0420578746

[Martin Fortmann]

Chris, you mean their customer service or call quality, hsdpa speed etc.? Never had to use their customer service. It's always just worked. Internet speed is good and I've never had call issues (I was on 3 before) . Only thing is, recently, the odd sms takes a while to go through, like a couple of hours. I've been using them since their inception and have been really happy. Good thing is you can jump ship at any time if the service deteriorates to unacceptable levels. I really like that I'll never pay more than $29 a month.

[Radio 2EC]

I have been using mobiles in the Bega and Eurobodall shire areas for almost 24 years. With the radio station, I travel extensively and often from Ulladulla to the Victorian border.

Over the years I have trialled the major carriers and for coverage nothing beats Telstra. Having said that, other carriers offer cheaper plans with more data. It really needs a bit of research for where you will be when you need your coverage to determine cost v benefit for your situation.

Trawl through the interweb and try to glean who uses what and draw your own conclusion. Like anything else, its your choice for your circumstances. A bit of flaky advice for making a decision, probably, but I have used Telstra for 99% of my mobile years and whilst I have complained bitterly about coverage drawbacks, data throughput, cost etc. etc. etc. they have worked best for me coverage and reliability-wise. Both personal and business sectors.

I do know people from Tathra and Tura the Southern areas real blackspots, and like others report above, since Optus increased their presence in the Bega Valley things have improved in those locations with that carrier. Yes, they are cheaper that Telstra.

Southern Phones, the Eurobodalla Shire Council Telco initiative have some very cheap plans also. Their carrier is not known to me and i have heard some ordinary things about their coverage in the Euro shire area.

Hutchinson, 3, Orange, Kogan, Vodafail er.. Vodaphone, all have varied responses as to coverage in our area. They all, however, have cheaper plans than Telstra. Some use Telstra towers as a carrier out of Metro or major Regional areas.

Whatever carrier you research, try and ascertain whether they share towers with a major carrier Telstra, Optus or Vodaphone in our area. That will give you an idea as to what sort of coverage you can expect. If you are homebound and travel to a regional centre then chances are Optus might pick you up and be the cheaper option. If you visit a lot of towns in our area, Telstra will be a better bet. Vodaphone has the better highway coverage but is left wanting in a lot of our townships. Cheaper they may be, but if you arent on the highway or their selected regional townships you may be left wanting again.

Use the force as a standby.....

[Darren Munt]

This link may be of use:

 

http://telcoantennas.com.au/site/coverage-checker-all-australian-networks

 

Coverage maps for all the carriers.

 

I think you’ll find that, although Telstra has by far the largest network, Optus is catching up.