Next G . Today's SMH article calls it a dud in the bush .

The one certainty about farmers is that if you ask enough of them you will get the "agin the government" story you seek. This applies equally to caravan owners.

Six months ago travelling in WA with our CDMA + car kit we we surprised at the limited coverage. The nextG owners were very pleased with theirs.

Just before Christmas we moved to the Telstra F165s and have been in no way disappointed with the performance. Although coverage in our area is pretty good we live in a dead spot and the improvement, over CDMA, is huge.

Last week we installed the BigPond BP3 modem, wireless broadband, the speed is excellent. Like most of this type of technology an aerial is a must. On my desk I have a small lightweight aerial on a plastic stand, about 50cm high. This moves me from two bars to max bars. We also carry a larger car type aerial in the van for more remote areas.

For prettywell everywhere coverage on nextG an aerial is really a must but given the befefits of the technology this is a small price to pay.

Wireless broadband on the Roper! Who would have dreamed of this a few years ago.

Andy

As a retired farmer who up until three weeks ago had a farm in fringe reception area there was a huge problem with reception with Next G until the F165 was released Telstra's excuse of the appropriate aerial was not practical as the CDMA gave us reasonable reception without having to walk round with an aerial presumably attached to our hats. We don't all live in the ute, and we don't like going backwards after making the CDMA technology part of our business. Have heard reports of farming organisations in both Vic & WA agreeing that the latest hand sets are at least as good as or better than the old CDMA's.
The Big pond BP3 modem with an external aerial has given us reception in the BT on a trip to Adelaide and back over Christmas where I never thought it would be possible.

Regards

David & Sue

Hi Jigalong/ Willie.
Still lots of problems here in Tassie with Next G. My chip is back in a old digital which absolutelly kills my next G reception.
But To all coming to Tassie you do need to be with TELSTRA the others are much worse.

It seems that quite a few people are reporting that with the aerial up on a Telstra ZTE165 model , you can get as good reception as your old CDMA - in many places .

BUT who is going to walk around with an extended telescopic aerial sticking up out of their pocket ?

Hi Willie,
WELL I FINALLY WON I THINK.
That Telstra F850 that they flogged off to me 15 months ago has been replaced by Telstra for no charge (but recontracted at $30 mth.) for a Telstra 165
That's the one they (telstra) are recommending as THE COUNTRY PHONE.
Telstra sold Jennifer a Nokia6120c as a replacement for her CDMA two weeks ago.
So of course we are comparing them arrrrn't we?
The facts -
We are in a very marginal coverage area. ( Digital is fantastic coverage.)
The reception on the Nokia is allways 1 or 2 bars better than the 165
BUT- the toggle key on the Nokia is cracked 3 days old (NO it wasn't dropped)
& they won't replace it. They will fix it for her at a cost of about $100
Will be in Sydney in a week or so, so guess which company is getting a visit!!!

Our Telstra ZTE 850 phone was never that flash and last month it developed a fault in the charging connection, and the only way to charge it was to hold pressure on the plug while it was connected.

Telstra put me onto ZTE as it was only 11 months old and they said that they would take up to 14 days for a satchel to arrive for me to send it to them for replacement and about another 14 days to get the replacement. In the mean time I bought an LG Next G phone and put my Sim card into that.

I have found that at home where the ZTE 850 had 1 bar the LG usually has 3 bars and overall it is a much better phone than the ZTE 850 model.

I went for the LG because my brother had his ZTE 850 phone replaced 6 times in 12 months before they eventually gave him the LG. The LG will also accept an external antenna where most of the others will not.
I intend to get a magnetic base antenna for when we are in the car.

Brian

Brian

What model LG did you get?

Regards
Brian

Hi Willie,
I can't compare the LG 550 as only know about the old LG which is better than the 850 but but not much, (Telstra are also swaping these for blue tic ones here) The new one is SUPPOSED to be much better.
Yes I did my comparison with my 165 areial up (IT IS STILL NOT AS GOOD A RECEPTION AS THE NOKIA.