I was just reading an article in the Griffith (NSW) Free News saying that since they have cut out 3G that 4/5G was useless in country areas of western NSW. I think they were talking about internet and not phone. I thought connectivity ability was the same.
The reason I am asking this is I have to upgrade my 3/4G wifi before we start travelling again. Seems hotspotting from your phone is mighty data hungry. I also want to use my computer and my notepad as well as my phone. All options all seem rather too expensive compared to the low tech $30 a month option of the 3/4G.
When I went around Australia 5yrs ago with 3/4G I was rarely out of service what's changed and is there an alternative that I don't have to pay an arm and a leg for?
Southern Cruizer said
08:02 PM Mar 23, 2025
We have a 4G wifi internet from Telstra that we use, from memory about 320 bucks a year for about 200GB. Don't quote me on that, as ours isn't due for renewal till June or July so it's probably gone up by now
Oka374 said
07:33 AM Mar 24, 2025
I would agree that since the 3G has been turned off phone and data has deteriorated in most rural areas, even the 4 and 5G in many places while you might have one or two bars is useless.
Brodie Allen said
06:57 PM Mar 30, 2025
Look into a stick antenna and a CelFi booster.
Nothing has changed other than coverage area:
Re your other queries - all phone and internet is mobile data, wether you
hotspot from your phone or not. The only alternative is WiFi but you need
to be connected to wire or optical etc.
B
-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Sunday 30th of March 2025 07:02:14 PM
-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Sunday 30th of March 2025 07:03:44 PM
msg said
11:18 PM Mar 30, 2025
I have an aerial on top of motorhome, this was conneccted to a dongle type thing set up on the MH wall inside and cost $30 per mth with rollover for unused data. Apparently, this is no longer available. I got a blank stare when I took it into the telstra shop even though it had a Telstra logo on it. No offer either to find anything out about it. These new young things are really clueless. and only know a very narrow range of info.
The CelFi, would cost at least 2 arms and two legs.
Rodsvan said
04:26 AM Mar 31, 2025
If you hotspot from your phone there's a few cheaper phone plans around which will get you more data for less than you have been paying. I'm with Catch Connect who use the Optus network and they have 12 month mobile plans with 360gb for $179 (there are conditions). If you prefer to use the Telstra network, Boost have various 12 month plan options.
Dougwe said
06:55 AM Mar 31, 2025
msg wrote:
I have an aerial on top of motorhome, this was conneccted to a dongle type thing set up on the MH wall inside and cost $30 per mth with rollover for unused data. Apparently, this is no longer available. I got a blank stare when I took it into the telstra shop even though it had a Telstra logo on it. No offer either to find anything out about it. These new young things are really clueless. and only know a very narrow range of info.
The CelFi, would cost at least 2 arms and two legs.
G'day Mel,
You are not wrong in that the young ones in Telstra shops are limited in their knowledge. If it's not current and in shop, forget it. They are just salespeople I have found.
I have had signal problems for many moons and suns so bit the bullet one day and went into a Telstra shop in a large country city only to be told "make an appointment" 3 days later I got in. Even though I am in within 500mts of a Telstra tower I am low down and trees in-between. Their solution was to buy, on the spot, a Telstra CelFi Go with a magnetic base external antenna. I already used a Netgear WiFi device. This was over 12 months ago now and I think, I walked out $1000,00 less in bank.
I got back to base camp and read to instructions that I really needed a pilot's license for and then set it up. I put antenna on a long pole. I downloaded the suggested app onto the phone and checked it all out. I was very disappointed indeed. The app said signal from tower poor, separation of antenna and CelFi Go device excellent and signal from CelFi Go device to little indoor antenna good. On the phone itself indicated 2 bars from 1. All that for $1000.00. Telstra were no help after all that. I tried a larger antenna and different locations around aluminium tent but made no difference.
After the Netgear WiFi was out of contract 1 month ago I decided to give personal hot spot on the phone a try. I noticed I get 4 bars inside the aluminium tent and 3 outside under awning. I upgraded my data allowance to 180gb for around $79 per month not on contract. So far, a month later I find I still have around 75% of the data left with 11 days left on the billing cycle. I get everything I want from this set up so happy so far.
I will keep using it this way for a while and keep a check on data usage etc and if still happy will stick with the new set up.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there Mel.
Brodie Allen said
09:39 AM Mar 31, 2025
Dougwe wrote:
msg wrote:
I have an aerial on top of motorhome, this was conneccted to a dongle type thing set up on the MH wall inside and cost $30 per mth with rollover for unused data. Apparently, this is no longer available. I got a blank stare when I took it into the telstra shop even though it had a Telstra logo on it. No offer either to find anything out about it. These new young things are really clueless. and only know a very narrow range of info.
The CelFi, would cost at least 2 arms and two legs.
G'day Mel,
You are not wrong in that the young ones in Telstra shops are limited in their knowledge. If it's not current and in shop, forget it. They are just salespeople I have found.
I have had signal problems for many moons and suns so bit the bullet one day and went into a Telstra shop in a large country city only to be told "make an appointment" 3 days later I got in. Even though I am in within 500mts of a Telstra tower I am low down and trees in-between. Their solution was to buy, on the spot, a Telstra CelFi Go with a magnetic base external antenna. I already used a Netgear WiFi device. This was over 12 months ago now and I think, I walked out $1000,00 less in bank.
I got back to base camp and read to instructions that I really needed a pilot's license for and then set it up. I put antenna on a long pole. I downloaded the suggested app onto the phone and checked it all out. I was very disappointed indeed. The app said signal from tower poor, separation of antenna and CelFi Go device excellent and signal from CelFi Go device to little indoor antenna good. On the phone itself indicated 2 bars from 1. All that for $1000.00. Telstra were no help after all that. I tried a larger antenna and different locations around aluminium tent but made no difference.
After the Netgear WiFi was out of contract 1 month ago I decided to give personal hot spot on the phone a try. I noticed I get 4 bars inside the aluminium tent and 3 outside under awning. I upgraded my data allowance to 180gb for around $79 per month not on contract. So far, a month later I find I still have around 75% of the data left with 11 days left on the billing cycle. I get everything I want from this set up so happy so far.
I will keep using it this way for a while and keep a check on data usage etc and if still happy will stick with the new set up.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there Mel.
Dear One Feather
Cant you read the smoke?
B
Brodie Allen said
09:45 AM Mar 31, 2025
msg wrote:
I have an aerial on top of motorhome, this was conneccted to a dongle type thing set up on the MH wall inside and cost $30 per mth with rollover for unused data. Apparently, this is no longer available. I got a blank stare when I took it into the telstra shop even though it had a Telstra logo on it. No offer either to find anything out about it. These new young things are really clueless. and only know a very narrow range of info.
The CelFi, would cost at least 2 arms and two legs.
An antenna without an amplifier will not do anything for your phone.
Some phones can fit into a passive amplifier cradle and benefit from an induced signal
but after a lot of fiddling, not in my experience.
Also, some phones can accept an external antenna - yep, a tiny improvement but without
amplification and a suitable antenna, you are wasting your time.
By the way, your CelFi can be configured for mobile (home) or mobile use, despite what you might hear.
Are you on the TELSTRA network? If not, you are limiting your service availability drastically. Wasn't
so bad with 3G but now it is much more a liability. With my CelFi and correct stick antenna I am very rarely
without a usable signal. Give yourself a present - you can't take it $$$$$$ with you!
B
-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Monday 31st of March 2025 09:51:12 AM
Dougwe said
11:30 AM Mar 31, 2025
Brodie Allen wrote:
Dougwe wrote:
msg wrote:
I have an aerial on top of motorhome, this was conneccted to a dongle type thing set up on the MH wall inside and cost $30 per mth with rollover for unused data. Apparently, this is no longer available. I got a blank stare when I took it into the telstra shop even though it had a Telstra logo on it. No offer either to find anything out about it. These new young things are really clueless. and only know a very narrow range of info.
The CelFi, would cost at least 2 arms and two legs.
G'day Mel,
You are not wrong in that the young ones in Telstra shops are limited in their knowledge. If it's not current and in shop, forget it. They are just salespeople I have found.
I have had signal problems for many moons and suns so bit the bullet one day and went into a Telstra shop in a large country city only to be told "make an appointment" 3 days later I got in. Even though I am in within 500mts of a Telstra tower I am low down and trees in-between. Their solution was to buy, on the spot, a Telstra CelFi Go with a magnetic base external antenna. I already used a Netgear WiFi device. This was over 12 months ago now and I think, I walked out $1000,00 less in bank.
I got back to base camp and read to instructions that I really needed a pilot's license for and then set it up. I put antenna on a long pole. I downloaded the suggested app onto the phone and checked it all out. I was very disappointed indeed. The app said signal from tower poor, separation of antenna and CelFi Go device excellent and signal from CelFi Go device to little indoor antenna good. On the phone itself indicated 2 bars from 1. All that for $1000.00. Telstra were no help after all that. I tried a larger antenna and different locations around aluminium tent but made no difference.
After the Netgear WiFi was out of contract 1 month ago I decided to give personal hot spot on the phone a try. I noticed I get 4 bars inside the aluminium tent and 3 outside under awning. I upgraded my data allowance to 180gb for around $79 per month not on contract. So far, a month later I find I still have around 75% of the data left with 11 days left on the billing cycle. I get everything I want from this set up so happy so far.
I will keep using it this way for a while and keep a check on data usage etc and if still happy will stick with the new set up.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there Mel.
Dear One Feather
Cant you read the smoke?
B
I could when a young Indian brave but not so much these days. Maybe a visit to the spec joint that saves ya is needed.
StewG said
10:51 PM Mar 31, 2025
I carry a Cel-Fi 4G Booster when travelling and if the signal is very low, put up the outside antenna on a 6m telescopic pole. The signal typically is boosted to good/excellent. If there is absolutely no signal, the booster won't work. I've had the booster several years and it only gets used when needed.
msg said
11:35 AM Apr 1, 2025
In the "olden" days I found my exterior antenna out did the "yagi" (spelling) and it is only about 6" tall with the added 3mts of MH. We were out Quilpie way on top of a mountain about 80ks from the coverage and I still had good internet. In fact it outdid my phone coverage. I had to get family to contact me through email. It was an excellent piece of gear. and reasonably inexpensive. These days, you pay heaps for a service that barely exists. What is going on in this world?
I won't go into what I think of my new laptop that wants to drive itself (over the period of 5yrs since I purchased the old one that cost about $400 to the new one and still basic no bells and whistles $1300) or my notepad with books that are altered to ensure they are politically correct. I have gone back to books that are printed on paper. LOL.
Doug, I think you had better go to spec savers and get your glasses because very soon smoke signals will be our only form of long distance communication.
rgren2 said
12:17 PM Apr 1, 2025
Why not use star link at your base, ie: caravan, motor home?
msg said
03:54 PM Apr 1, 2025
Don't know much about it I suppose. I thought that star link was pretty pricey. Plus it was like a satellite dish that had to be positioned right.
I also try to avoid having to set anything up when I travel. That is except for turning the gas on, I can get out of the driver's seat into the back and make a cup of tea, turn on the TV (tune) without leaving the MH.
My old system did not need any setting up. Just pull out the laptop/notepad and turn on.
Same goes when I am leaving. Put everything away, turn off the gas, get into drivers seat and away we go. It's one of the nice things about MH's.
Oka374 said
09:16 AM Apr 4, 2025
Starlink can be permanently mounted flat on the roof and will work all the time even when mobile. Power needs vary between the dishy's with the mini using about 21w on 12v and the gen2 dish on a post using about half as much again. the current gen3 dish uses a bit more again than the gen2 on 12v.
Signal wise the gen3 being the biggest works the best with the smaller sizes being less able to deal with obstructions like trees and buildings. A Starlink mini even when obstructed will still give far faster service than the mobile network in my experience, plus it works anywhere for both phone and data which is something the mobile network can't do.
they now have a standby plan of $15 a month for 10gb data which I've found is adequate for occasional use when in populated areas where there is no phone signal but if travelling outback then a more expensive plan is the go.
Starlink works very well and is ideal in areas of limited phone coverage, I've been using it for about six months.
msg said
06:09 PM Apr 4, 2025
Starlink, while offering high speeds in remote areas, has downsides including installation issues, weather dependence, equipment costs, and potential for intermittent connectivity due to obstructions. In Australia, Starlink offers a standard residential plan for $139 per month with unlimited data, requiring a one-time hardware purchase of $599 and a $30 shipping fee.
Bit different to my 3g. of $30 data and $40 hardware lol. I think the aerial was about $75
Oka374 said
09:32 AM Apr 5, 2025
MSG I don't know where you got that quote from but in my experience travelling in remote and not so remote areas since the mid 70's and dealing with the "new" comms technologies as they came along, starting out with HF/Flying Doctor radios, then mobile phones, satphones and all the variances possible.
Starlink is so much easier to install, works well despite weather conditions, obstructions don't worry it much unless total roof or tree cover, I've used mine in rainforest through a car sized hole in the tree canopy with speeds far in excess of any mobile phone service.
The equipment cost is far less than anything else that can provide phone, internet and TV in remote areas and is cheaper than combined NBN and mobile charges from the big carriers which offer slower speeds.
I'm seriously considering removing a suburban residential NBN service and replacing it with Starlink as it would be cheaper than NBN with comparable speeds and data allowance as I already have a GEN2 Starlink that has been superceded by the mini for travel.
Peter_n_Margaret said
10:01 AM Apr 5, 2025
msg wrote:
Don't know much about it I suppose.
Never a truer word was spoken.
Cheers,
Peter
msg said
08:51 AM Apr 8, 2025
Peter, thats why I asked the question in the first place. I thought you superior guru's would have the answer. Apparently not.
Brodie Allen said
08:23 AM Apr 13, 2025
Take a look at SKYMESH.
Its the NBN by satellite.
B
msg said
10:19 PM Apr 13, 2025
Brodie, Is there such a thing? I would hope it is a lot better than the house tethered version.
Meredith said
10:17 AM Apr 18, 2025
Brodie Allen wrote:
Take a look at SKYMESH.
Its the NBN by satellite.
B
Skymesh is Skymuster based service, only available for homes in areas where nbn fibre wasn't installed and subidised by the government for that. It cannot be moved at all, even moving it 100 metres down the street will render it inoperable.
Brodie Allen said
10:40 AM Apr 19, 2025
Meredith wrote:
Brodie Allen wrote:
Take a look at SKYMESH.
Its the NBN by satellite.
B
Skymesh is Skymuster based service, only available for homes in areas where nbn fibre wasn't installed and subidised by the government for that. It cannot be moved at all, even moving it 100 metres down the street will render it inoperable.
Just like anything satellite based - you merely realign the sat dish.
B
BBN2 said
12:46 PM Apr 19, 2025
Brodie Allen wrote:
Meredith wrote:
Brodie Allen wrote:
Take a look at SKYMESH.
Its the NBN by satellite.
B
Skymesh is Skymuster based service, only available for homes in areas where nbn fibre wasn't installed and subidised by the government for that. It cannot be moved at all, even moving it 100 metres down the street will render it inoperable.
Just like anything satellite based - you merely realign the sat dish.
B
You have no idea what you're talking about.
SkyMuster satellites are geostationary at an orbit of 35786km - I invite you to perform the trigonometry to calculate the difference in angle required to re-centre a dish which has moved 100m.
Hint: without very special mechanical equipment you could not provide the resolution required.
Meredith said
01:00 PM Apr 19, 2025
Brodie Allen, It simply does not work, they are designed to not work away from the registered address on purpose, they do not work if you move them at all, that is definite, which is why travellers do not use them.
-- Edited by Meredith on Saturday 19th of April 2025 01:01:05 PM
Brodie Allen said
05:28 PM Apr 23, 2025
The Foxtel satellite is geostationary also.
Realigned as is carried out when first aligned with a simple instrument. Same as foxtel, etc.
My neighbour has had one for years.
Who's got Imparja? Same again.
B
-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Wednesday 23rd of April 2025 05:31:37 PM
Meredith said
09:46 AM Apr 24, 2025
Brodie Allen wrote:
The Foxtel satellite is geostationary also.
Realigned as is carried out when first aligned with a simple instrument. Same as foxtel, etc.
My neighbour has had one for years.
Who's got Imparja? Same again.
B
-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Wednesday 23rd of April 2025 05:31:37 PM
It is not the same as Foxtel, Skymuster is specifically designed to not enable it to be used anywhere except the exact location it is installed. Any movement at all is detected and the account shut down, it is a subsidised system designed for home use only in places where fibre nbn has not been installed. Nobody uses it when travelling because it is simply not possible to do so.
Ineedabiggerboat said
11:19 AM Apr 24, 2025
I live in an area where TV reception is not good. Ive lived here for 4 years.
There was a satellite dish on the roof and it uses an Altech UEC set top box.
It uses the VAST system.
Its great for telling when rain is coming as it loses signals lol.
Brodie Allen said
06:56 PM Apr 25, 2025
Meredith wrote:
Brodie Allen wrote:
The Foxtel satellite is geostationary also.
Realigned as is carried out when first aligned with a simple instrument. Same as foxtel, etc.
My neighbour has had one for years.
Who's got Imparja? Same again.
B
-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Wednesday 23rd of April 2025 05:31:37 PM
It is not the same as Foxtel, Skymuster is specifically designed to not enable it to be used anywhere except the exact location it is installed. Any movement at all is detected and the account shut down, it is a subsidised system designed for home use only in places where fibre nbn has not been installed. Nobody uses it when travelling because it is simply not possible to do so.
Not going to argue - friend does it yearly. Takes it all with him - his set-up is just as I have for Fox on
a collapsable stand.
Anyway, logically how would skymesh know where the antenna is?
I was just reading an article in the Griffith (NSW) Free News saying that since they have cut out 3G that 4/5G was useless in country areas of western NSW. I think they were talking about internet and not phone. I thought connectivity ability was the same.
The reason I am asking this is I have to upgrade my 3/4G wifi before we start travelling again. Seems hotspotting from your phone is mighty data hungry. I also want to use my computer and my notepad as well as my phone. All options all seem rather too expensive compared to the low tech $30 a month option of the 3/4G.
When I went around Australia 5yrs ago with 3/4G I was rarely out of service what's changed and is there an alternative that I don't have to pay an arm and a leg for?
Look into a stick antenna and a CelFi booster.
Nothing has changed other than coverage area:
Re your other queries - all phone and internet is mobile data, wether you
hotspot from your phone or not. The only alternative is WiFi but you need
to be connected to wire or optical etc.
B
-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Sunday 30th of March 2025 07:02:14 PM
-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Sunday 30th of March 2025 07:03:44 PM
The CelFi, would cost at least 2 arms and two legs.
G'day Mel,
You are not wrong in that the young ones in Telstra shops are limited in their knowledge. If it's not current and in shop, forget it. They are just salespeople I have found.
I have had signal problems for many moons and suns so bit the bullet one day and went into a Telstra shop in a large country city only to be told "make an appointment" 3 days later I got in. Even though I am in within 500mts of a Telstra tower I am low down and trees in-between. Their solution was to buy, on the spot, a Telstra CelFi Go with a magnetic base external antenna. I already used a Netgear WiFi device. This was over 12 months ago now and I think, I walked out $1000,00 less in bank.
I got back to base camp and read to instructions that I really needed a pilot's license for and then set it up. I put antenna on a long pole. I downloaded the suggested app onto the phone and checked it all out. I was very disappointed indeed. The app said signal from tower poor, separation of antenna and CelFi Go device excellent and signal from CelFi Go device to little indoor antenna good. On the phone itself indicated 2 bars from 1. All that for $1000.00. Telstra were no help after all that. I tried a larger antenna and different locations around aluminium tent but made no difference.
After the Netgear WiFi was out of contract 1 month ago I decided to give personal hot spot on the phone a try. I noticed I get 4 bars inside the aluminium tent and 3 outside under awning. I upgraded my data allowance to 180gb for around $79 per month not on contract. So far, a month later I find I still have around 75% of the data left with 11 days left on the billing cycle. I get everything I want from this set up so happy so far.
I will keep using it this way for a while and keep a check on data usage etc and if still happy will stick with the new set up.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there Mel.
Dear One Feather
Cant you read the smoke?
B
An antenna without an amplifier will not do anything for your phone.
Some phones can fit into a passive amplifier cradle and benefit from an induced signal
but after a lot of fiddling, not in my experience.
Also, some phones can accept an external antenna - yep, a tiny improvement but without
amplification and a suitable antenna, you are wasting your time.
By the way, your CelFi can be configured for mobile (home) or mobile use, despite what you might hear.
Are you on the TELSTRA network? If not, you are limiting your service availability drastically. Wasn't
so bad with 3G but now it is much more a liability. With my CelFi and correct stick antenna I am very rarely
without a usable signal. Give yourself a present - you can't take it $$$$$$ with you!
B
-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Monday 31st of March 2025 09:51:12 AM
I could when a young Indian brave but not so much these days. Maybe a visit to the spec joint that saves ya is needed.
I won't go into what I think of my new laptop that wants to drive itself (over the period of 5yrs since I purchased the old one that cost about $400 to the new one and still basic no bells and whistles $1300) or my notepad with books that are altered to ensure they are politically correct. I have gone back to books that are printed on paper. LOL.
Doug, I think you had better go to spec savers and get your glasses because very soon smoke signals will be our only form of long distance communication.
I also try to avoid having to set anything up when I travel. That is except for turning the gas on, I can get out of the driver's seat into the back and make a cup of tea, turn on the TV (tune) without leaving the MH.
My old system did not need any setting up. Just pull out the laptop/notepad and turn on.
Same goes when I am leaving. Put everything away, turn off the gas, get into drivers seat and away we go. It's one of the nice things about MH's.
Signal wise the gen3 being the biggest works the best with the smaller sizes being less able to deal with obstructions like trees and buildings. A Starlink mini even when obstructed will still give far faster service than the mobile network in my experience, plus it works anywhere for both phone and data which is something the mobile network can't do.
they now have a standby plan of $15 a month for 10gb data which I've found is adequate for occasional use when in populated areas where there is no phone signal but if travelling outback then a more expensive plan is the go.
Starlink
Starlink works very well and is ideal in areas of limited phone coverage, I've been using it for about six months.
Bit different to my 3g. of $30 data and $40 hardware lol. I think the aerial was about $75
Starlink is so much easier to install, works well despite weather conditions, obstructions don't worry it much unless total roof or tree cover, I've used mine in rainforest through a car sized hole in the tree canopy with speeds far in excess of any mobile phone service.
The equipment cost is far less than anything else that can provide phone, internet and TV in remote areas and is cheaper than combined NBN and mobile charges from the big carriers which offer slower speeds.
I'm seriously considering removing a suburban residential NBN service and replacing it with Starlink as it would be cheaper than NBN with comparable speeds and data allowance as I already have a GEN2 Starlink that has been superceded by the mini for travel.
Never a truer word was spoken.
Cheers,
Peter
Its the NBN by satellite.
B
Skymesh is Skymuster based service, only available for homes in areas where nbn fibre wasn't installed and subidised by the government for that. It cannot be moved at all, even moving it 100 metres down the street will render it inoperable.
Just like anything satellite based - you merely realign the sat dish.
B
You have no idea what you're talking about.
SkyMuster satellites are geostationary at an orbit of 35786km - I invite you to perform the trigonometry to calculate the difference in angle required to re-centre a dish which has moved 100m.
Hint: without very special mechanical equipment you could not provide the resolution required.
Brodie Allen, It simply does not work, they are designed to not work away from the registered address on purpose, they do not work if you move them at all, that is definite, which is why travellers do not use them.
-- Edited by Meredith on Saturday 19th of April 2025 01:01:05 PM
The Foxtel satellite is geostationary also.
Realigned as is carried out when first aligned with a simple instrument. Same as foxtel, etc.
My neighbour has had one for years.
Who's got Imparja? Same again.
B
-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Wednesday 23rd of April 2025 05:31:37 PM
It is not the same as Foxtel, Skymuster is specifically designed to not enable it to be used anywhere except the exact location it is installed. Any movement at all is detected and the account shut down, it is a subsidised system designed for home use only in places where fibre nbn has not been installed. Nobody uses it when travelling because it is simply not possible to do so.
Not going to argue - friend does it yearly. Takes it all with him - his set-up is just as I have for Fox on
a collapsable stand.
Anyway, logically how would skymesh know where the antenna is?
B