Phone recommendations

phum · Veteran Member

Phone recommendations

Baz421 · Guru

Peter

we use Samsung's and my flip phone is a few years old BUT it has an external antenna jack.

Telstra currently have a couple of models available with external jacks for external antenna. If you really go bush IMHO this is the way to go.

Suggests go to Telstra shop with Tech expertise not small "franchises".

The 2 phones I was looking at for the future were (if I recall) Telstra phones with blue tick, BUT they were not shown on the internet.

One looks like it's now on the internet Telstra Dave but good info hard to find, see link for basic info.

http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/mobiles-on-a-plan/#filter/brand//os/android,windows/features/blueTick/plan/s/sort/price-low-high

Telstra shops with resident Tech guy/gal are recommended IMHO as they can provide solutions the normal sales guys cant.

phum · Veteran Member

Baz,
Telstra shop were the first port of call, people there were not familar with the blue tick or what it stood for and couldn't tell me which phones worked with next G. They suggested I call the Telstra help line, I spoke to an Indian who wasn't familar with next G or Blue tick, he just kept harping that 4g was the ultimate
Peter

justcruisin01 · Guru

We have a Samsung flip as well, very good & still going.

Just cancelled the landline so needed a better plan for the mobile.

Went with the new samsung note 3. This does not have a direct ant connection BUT I got a car cradle that the phone can charge from, also has connection for the external ant which gives a passive connection to the phone,. not quite as good as the direct connection.

The charger is the same car charger that comes with the phone, it justs connects to the cradle so we can choose when to recharge .

With the aid of a card holder we can use the mini sim card from new ph , place it in the old ph & direct connect the ant as we did before if so needed in a lower signal area for emergencies. Just keep the old one charged & stored in the glove box.

JC

Baz421 · Guru

phum wrote:
Baz,
Telstra shop were the first port of call, people there were not familar with the blue tick or what it stood for and couldn't tell me which phones worked with next G. They suggested I call the Telstra help line, I spoke to an Indian who wasn't familar with next G or Blue tick, he just kept harping that 4g was the ultimate
Peter

Hi Pete

Surely one of the Telstra shops in Bundaberg is a Telstra "main" shop with tech support????

Did you try their shop in Barolin Street? This is a business centre I think and they should know what's what OR point you in the right direction.

Cheers Baz

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Not an Android but I have the iPhone 4s and it is the best mobile phone I have ever had and I have had a mobile phone since the "Brick" was introduced. I went with the "S" (Blue Tick) as it has that extra rural coverage. I also use it for my internet connection for my iPad and LapTop through the personal hotspot and wifi. I don't have landlines.

Love my iPhone.

native pepper · Senior Member

We use Huawei phones using amysim on the optus system and they work in places others don't, plus they are less than half the price of telstra and apple phones. Call chargers about 1/3 the cost of telstra and half optus and optus are still installing transmitters around the country, in some places they have a service when telstra doesn't. So it depends on what you what. Many have antenna's and other gizmo's, we just have the phones we found worked best where we go and that ls well of the beaten track.

phum · Veteran Member

native pepper,
Interesting about Huawei phones but I am stuck with Telstra next g because that is the only system that works at home.
I am off to the Telstra business centre in Barolin St. (thanks Baz) today to see what they have to say.
Peter

native pepper · Senior Member

phum wrote:
native pepper,
Interesting about Huawei phones but I am stuck with Telstra next g because that is the only system that works at home.
I am off to the Telstra business centre in Barolin St. (thanks Baz) today to see what they have to say.
Peter

G'day Peter, nothing to stop you using a Huawei or any other phone on telstra, it's only the sim card you need, which you will have in your old phone and most Huawei phones work on any 3g or next g system. All you need is to ensure it will handle the frequencies you are going to use.

Although I'd give vodaphone a miss, their coverage is terrible we've been told by those venturing out of urban areas and can't get a signal anywhere.

phum · Veteran Member

Checked with Barolin St. shop, helpfull, but at the end of the day the answer was "check what works for other people". They weren't prepared to guarantee that any one phone performed better in coverage than any other" Seems to me that their phones are rated by features and price not performance as a phone.
He said of the Huawei y300 "probably as good as any other"
Anybody had any experience with this phone?
Peter

native pepper · Senior Member

phum wrote:
Checked with Barolin St. shop, helpfull, but at the end of the day the answer was "check what works for other people". They weren't prepared to guarantee that any one phone performed better in coverage than any other" Seems to me that their phones are rated by features and price not performance as a phone.
He said of the Huawei y300 "probably as good as any other"
Anybody had any experience with this phone?
Peter

We have two U8180 huawei and one Y300, all very much the same. The 300 is less than $100 new on Ebay now and is a bit better than the 8180 because it uses jelly bean. Again it depends on what you want, there are also plug in antenna's for them, they work really well and less than $20. They do make a bit of a difference when the signal is low, so worth it if you are going to go way of the beaten track. If you're just gonna cruise the coast and main highways, it really doesn't matter what you have, there's pretty much signal everywhere on the tourist trails.

We had telstra and was costing us a fortune, so after meeting some people who had an optus signal when we had no telstra, we got an amysim sim card ($2), $15 credit and tested it out. Now we just use amysim as it is about %70 cheaper then telstra for phone and internet and 30% cheaper than optus itself. Now we use amysim and don't have a telstra phone.

-- Edited by native pepper on Saturday 12th of April 2014 09:40:48 AM

phum · Veteran Member

can you give me a bit more info on the plug in antenna?
Peter

oldbobsbus · Guru

I have just started a thread here that goes some of the way to explaining why the selection of a phone is important for the network you want to use..

native pepper · Senior Member

phum wrote:
can you give me a bit more info on the plug in antenna?
Peter

G'day Peter, this is the one we use, there are a few around but this was cheap and only bought it to try, but is does work well. if you don't want to wait for one from china, they are about $20+ in Aus and can be found on Ebay.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CRC9-Connector-3G-Phone-12dB-Aerial-Antenna-Signal-Booster-For-HuaWei-Black-new-/121073078260?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item1c30848ff4

Baz421 · Guru

phum wrote:
Checked with Barolin St. shop, helpfull, but at the end of the day the answer was "check what works for other people". They weren't prepared to guarantee that any one phone performed better in coverage than any other" Seems to me that their phones are rated by features and price not performance as a phone.
He said of the Huawei y300 "probably as good as any other"
Anybody had any experience with this phone?
Peter

Peter bad luck about Barolin St but they won't "push" one product above another.

The Telstra Dave with an antenna like this would IMHO be very good. We get mobile coverage and Internet coverage with these antennas (van antenna is on a 25mm square camping pole that extends) and if you go bush you will be happy with performance. We quite often have reception where others don't and because we go remote we want the service so we pay the price.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/like/280748600831?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=107

As others have said if you follow main roads etc and don't go bush maybe you don't need it.

Same antennas here for $149

http://onwireless.com.au/smart-antenna-cel-fi-repeater/telstra-smart-repeater.html

No allegiance to Telstra just what suits us.

about Barolin

baute · Senior Member

I have a Huawei y300 and a telstra tough 2 phone. Down the south coast of NSW near Mystery Bay and 10 km north of Victorian border near Eden I was unable to get any reception on the Huawei. I was able to get minimal patchy cover with the telstra tough. I have a plug in external aerial for the telstra tough which I used and successfully made phone calls but not connect to any Internet. I use telstra as my phone provider. Both phones are blue tick but I find the Huawei a useless piece of junk. I only use it as a wifi hot spot for my tablet. I use the telstra tough as my main phone and find it brilliant. I use a iPhone 4 for work and have trouble at times getting reception in the suburbs of Sydney. Personally the smart phones are dumb in my opinion. They use data in the background, the battery life is useless in comparison to a low tech phone. I have had the telstra tough about 3 years and it has saved me and others in areas where the smart phones are useless.

Baz421 · Guru

baute wrote:
I have a Huawei y300 and a telstra tough 2 phone. Down the south coast of NSW near Mystery Bay and 10 km north of Victorian border near Eden I was unable to get any reception on the Huawei. I was able to get minimal patchy cover with the telstra tough. I have a plug in external aerial for the telstra tough which I used and successfully made phone calls but not connect to any Internet. I use telstra as my phone provider. Both phones are blue tick but I find the Huawei a useless piece of junk. I only use it as a wifi hot spot for my tablet. I use the telstra tough as my main phone and find it brilliant. I use a iPhone 4 for work and have trouble at times getting reception in the suburbs of Sydney. Personally the smart phones are dumb in my opinion. They use data in the background, the battery life is useless in comparison to a low tech phone. I have had the telstra tough about 3 years and it has saved me and others in areas where the smart phones are useless.

Unfortunately you don't know how good your reception (READ ANTENNA and associated circuits) is until you buy it and try it.

I can remember sitting in a creek mouth North of Darwin fishing and one of those in the boat needed to call out as a rellie tried to ring as someone was in hospital. His phone - no reception only connect and no voice,,, my phone an old Nokia 3110 or 3115 I think 100% reception.

My next phone another Nokkia had no reception in the same creek mouth. Just goes to show - progress is there to help us,,,lol if it wasn't so annoying.

baute · Senior Member

Oh I also use my telstra tough as a plug in modem for my laptop. I can access Internet on my low tech phone but can't install battery sucking apps so there is no action going on in background. I only use data that I choose not compulsory updates that happen in background on smart phones. I use prepaid cap en core from telstra. $50 gets 3.5gb data month, $950 included calls, free calls 6pm to 6am. On my Huawei I use telstra long life $50 for 6 months includes not much but can use credit to buy data pack when travelling if I want to use my tablet.

phum · Veteran Member

"Unfortunately you don't know how good your reception (READ ANTENNA and associated circuits) is until you buy it and try it."

This is the problem, but I can understand resellers reluctance to let you try before you buy.
What I cant understand is why the reception is so variable.
I live 11k from town and can only get next g mobile and no landline broadband, 4k further out of town gets Optus and Telstra mobile and adsl.

It appears that an external antenna is the answer but it appears that most phones don't have the facility to attach them. How do you get aroung this?

Peter

native pepper · Senior Member

phum wrote:
"Unfortunately you don't know how good your reception (READ ANTENNA and associated circuits) is until you buy it and try it."

This is the problem, but I can understand resellers reluctance to let you try before you buy.
What I cant understand is why the reception is so variable.
I live 11k from town and can only get next g mobile and no landline broadband, 4k further out of town gets Optus and Telstra mobile and adsl.

It appears that an external antenna is the answer but it appears that most phones don't have the facility to attach them. How do you get aroung this?

Peter

G'day Peter, you have to understand there are those who no matter what anyone says, only their viewpoints are right, because the propaganda they are programmed to accept says so, irrelevant to the reality.

Most modern smart phone including Huawei have the ability to connect to an antenna and from what I've learn over the years of travelling is the difference in reception revolves around economics, when dealing with large providers. They tend to sell you something for the area they are in, not for what you want and the area's you may be going to be in and probably wouldn't have any experience outside their cities with reception. As we travel constantly, we've had the opportunity to observe what works where, not what people claim and the majority stay on the tourist coastal and main highways, so don't understand what's really available and works. Signals also depend on weather conditions, topography and man made obstacles, so it's extremely hard to make any firm observation on any phone or service.

We only settled on our current phones because they are cheap, work really well in most places and are able to be connected to either optus or telstra and others were happy with them everywhere we went. The same for service provider, used to use telstra but changed to optus (amysim) because of the economics and very little difference in service provision over the last 2 years. We pay $39.90 for 4gig and unlimited sms and phone calls on one phone and the others, 12c a minute for calls and 12c for sms. If we found a cheaper provider that provides as good or better service, we will change as for us it's all about economics and having as much money to spend on enjoying ourselves, than being locked into expensive contracts and services.

The worst phones for reception and expense we've come across have been iphones and windows ones, Nokia Huaewi samsung all work well depending on the model. If economics is not a problem, you can get a dedicated outback phone which is pretty expensive and you can get antenna amplifies for all of them, which have more than 23db increases.

You may not have the technical understanding, but if you do your own research on the net and may I suggest you go onto Ebay and ask sellers about their phones for what and where you want to use them, you will get the right answers. Become informed as best you can, so you can make the best choice for you and not for profit growth or enslavement to brand.

I've found the majority of sellers on Ebay provide this and most times more real information to buyers that you will ever get by going into a shop. After sales service is excellent in our experience. if you don't like it, send it back and get one that suits or a refund, with no arguments or rubbish sales talk at all.

-- Edited by native pepper on Monday 14th of April 2014 11:20:35 AM

oldbobsbus · Guru

native pepper wrote:
G'day Peter, you have to understand there are those who no matter what anyone says, only their viewpoints are right, because the propaganda they are programmed to accept says so, irrelevant to the reality.
Most modern smart phone including Huawei have the ability to connect to an antenna and from what I've learn over the years of travelling is the difference in reception revolves around economics, when dealing with large providers. They tend to sell you something for the area they are in, not for what you want and the area's you may be going to be in and probably wouldn't have any experience outside their cities with reception. As we travel constantly, we've had the opportunity to observe what works where, not what people claim and the majority stay on the tourist coastal and main highways, so don't understand what's really available and works. Signals also depend on weather conditions, topography and man made obstacles, so it's extremely hard to make any firm observation on any phone or service.
We only settled on our current phones because they are cheap, work really well in most places and are able to be connected to either optus or telstra and others were happy with them everywhere we went. The same for service provider, used to use telstra but changed to optus (amysim) because of the economics and very little difference in service provision over the last 2 years. We pay $39.90 for 4gig and unlimited sms and phone calls on one phone and the others, 12c a minute for calls and 12c for sms. If we found a cheaper provider that provides as good or better service, we will change as for us it's all about economics and having as much money to spend on enjoying ourselves, than being locked into expensive contracts and services.
The worst phones for reception and expense we've come across have been iphones and windows ones, Nokia Huaewi samsung all work well depending on the model. If economics is not a problem, you can get a dedicated outback phone which is pretty expensive and you can get antenna amplifies for all of them, which have more than 23db increases.
You may not have the technical understanding, but if you do your own research on the net and may I suggest you go onto Ebay and ask sellers about their phones for what and where you want to use them, you will get the right answers. Become informed as best you can, so you can make the best choice for you and not for profit growth or enslavement to brand.
I've found the majority of sellers on Ebay provide this and most times more real information to buyers that you will ever get by going into a shop. After sales service is excellent in our experience. if you don't like it, send it back and get one that suits or a refund, with no arguments or rubbish sales talk at all.

NP, I hope you read your own posts, you are the one trying to force your opinion on the OP..

Almost ALL new phones on the market today will only connect to an external antenna with the aid of a dock, yes there are connection points under the battery cover but they are for programing and not for connecting an antenna too.

One of the last phones made that had a dedicated external antenna port was the Samsung s5220.

phum · Veteran Member

Research is what I am attempting to do but I have never heard a seller saying his product wasn't any good so trying to get an accurate and honest answer from them is unlikely.
Re. cradles/docks.
The Telstra fellow (Barolin St) said that they won't honour warranty on phones that have been used with passive antennas as they can damage the phone, is this correct?
Do docks work differently?
Peter

oldbobsbus · Guru

phum wrote:
Research is what I am attempting to do but I have never heard a seller saying his product wasn't any good so trying to get an accurate and honest answer from them is unlikely.
Re. cradles/docks.
The Telstra fellow (Barolin St) said that they won't honour warranty on phones that have been used with passive antennas as they can damage the phone, is this correct?
Do docks work differently?
Peter

Here's one for a Samsung S3

another one for an Iphone 5

If you search that sellers site he may have one for any of the phones you are looking at including an Huawei which I agree are a good phone just not my choice.. smile

native pepper · Senior Member

oldbobsbus wrote:
native pepper wrote:
G'day Peter, you have to understand there are those who no matter what anyone says, only their viewpoints are right, because the propaganda they are programmed to accept says so, irrelevant to the reality.
Most modern smart phone including Huawei have the ability to connect to an antenna and from what I've learn over the years of travelling is the difference in reception revolves around economics, when dealing with large providers. They tend to sell you something for the area they are in, not for what you want and the area's you may be going to be in and probably wouldn't have any experience outside their cities with reception. As we travel constantly, we've had the opportunity to observe what works where, not what people claim and the majority stay on the tourist coastal and main highways, so don't understand what's really available and works. Signals also depend on weather conditions, topography and man made obstacles, so it's extremely hard to make any firm observation on any phone or service.
We only settled on our current phones because they are cheap, work really well in most places and are able to be connected to either optus or telstra and others were happy with them everywhere we went. The same for service provider, used to use telstra but changed to optus (amysim) because of the economics and very little difference in service provision over the last 2 years. We pay $39.90 for 4gig and unlimited sms and phone calls on one phone and the others, 12c a minute for calls and 12c for sms. If we found a cheaper provider that provides as good or better service, we will change as for us it's all about economics and having as much money to spend on enjoying ourselves, than being locked into expensive contracts and services.
The worst phones for reception and expense we've come across have been iphones and windows ones, Nokia Huaewi samsung all work well depending on the model. If economics is not a problem, you can get a dedicated outback phone which is pretty expensive and you can get antenna amplifies for all of them, which have more than 23db increases.
You may not have the technical understanding, but if you do your own research on the net and may I suggest you go onto Ebay and ask sellers about their phones for what and where you want to use them, you will get the right answers. Become informed as best you can, so you can make the best choice for you and not for profit growth or enslavement to brand.
I've found the majority of sellers on Ebay provide this and most times more real information to buyers that you will ever get by going into a shop. After sales service is excellent in our experience. if you don't like it, send it back and get one that suits or a refund, with no arguments or rubbish sales talk at all.

NP, I hope you read your own posts, you are the one trying to force your opinion on the OP..
Almost ALL new phones on the market today will only connect to an external antenna with the aid of a dock, yes there are connection points under the battery cover but they are for programing and not for connecting an antenna too.
One of the last phones made that had a dedicated external antenna port was the Samsung s5220.

Of course you'd be right if you were stuck in the last century and failed to read the links provided on this thread.

You could also beam your pearls of wisdom to the people in the Winebago and Trakka with galaxies on telstra and ourselves using Huawei, camped between Binalong bay and Bay of fires. That you can't plug and antenna into a phone with out a docking bay, amazing information.

Then again, the little hole beside the earplug hole on our Huawei's may just be in our imagination. May have to get some help here, it seems retail and online outlets are lying about their products and the many varieties of antenna's, plug into thin air and not phones. Wow, that's so cool, what brilliant technological advances, what will they think of next.

Thank you so much.

Baz421 · Guru

oldbobsbus wrote:

One of the last phones made that had a dedicated external antenna port was the Samsung s5220.

That's what I use and it's gr8 mate,,, don't want to loose it.

Baz421 · Guru

native pepper

can you say something succinct in a few lines please,, and leave out the long winded diatribe,,, too hard to read and not relevant in many instances.

native pepper · Senior Member

Baz421 wrote:
native pepper
can you say something succinct in a few lines please,, and leave out the long winded diatribe,,, too hard to read and not relevant in many instances.

Reading requires intellect and the thread is about phone recommendations, can you point out where my posts don't fit the subject, compared to this one of yours.

oldbobsbus · Guru

oldbobsbus wrote:

One of the last phones made that had a dedicated external antenna port was the Samsung s5220.

I got that wrong it was a C5220 you can see the plug that covers the external antenna port in the last photo.

We are currently using the Samsung S5830-T for telstra, but as you will see this seller has put the wrong details in the listing where it says the UMTS is 900/2100mhz when infact being a T for telstra it would really have UMTS 850/2100mhz.

I point this out FYI as there are many traps for young/new players out there, and also as NP says lots of sellers that have NFI about their product.

I might add that although we are happy with our phones we don't get 100% coverage with them and I am not suggesting of one second that you should buy one of these.

Also note that the old c5220 only has UMTS 850mhz and as such wouldn't be all that flash in the metro areas as it was designed specifically as a Blue tick country area phone.

oldbobsbus · Guru

Interesting answer that I got when I asked on Whirlpool if a y300 has an external antenna connection port..

Does the y300 have an external antenna port on the outside of it.

Wow. Not a chance. A smart phone that can connect an external antenna? I have never seen one.

oldbobsbus · Guru

This was my next Question and the answer..

Thanks for that can you tell me what is the connection point just to the right of the camera on the back of the phone

That's where you plug in the antenna or patch lead. Mine sits in a cradle and the antenna is in the roof. If you're looking for one, there are lots around, these people have some good stuff. We bought a splitter from them for using the phone and tablet in our caravan, they have a lot of antenna's for y300 and you could try ebay, must be a lot there.

http://onwireless.com.au/mobile-phone-antennas/huawei/huawei-ascend-y300.html

http://onwireless.com.au/2-way-3g-splitter-sma.html