For the rest of the community here are the maps of Australia relevant to the Boost service.

One again they will be needed to be overlaid to achieve what Telstra display and still keep in mind that the Telstra map also includes the areas where they say you will need an aerial for the service to work.

Try2findus wrote:

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Thanks for all the replies and discussions. I see what you mean Geoff, the coverage maps are not a fair comparison. I read on the Boost site, as someone has already pointed out on here, that Boost does use 100% of Telstras network, but they have a slower speed cap than the full Telstra access. Does this matter??? We are supposed to be on holidays aren't we? But I guess for those that stream movies this could cause a problem. The research and procrastinations continue.....

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 I was on Boost for a while - didn't stream videos.  But I did Google, email, use Wikicamps as well as make calls and send texts.  They were as good as Telstra for that.

Try2findus wrote:

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Thanks for all the replies and discussions. I see what you mean Geoff, the coverage maps are not a fair comparison. I read on the Boost site, as someone has already pointed out on here, that Boost does use 100% of Telstras network, but they have a slower speed cap than the full Telstra access. Does this matter??? We are supposed to be on holidays aren't we? But I guess for those that stream movies this could cause a problem. The research and procrastinations continue.....

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 Hi Penny,

Thank you for your understanding.

We have had Netflix for about 18 months and stream or download movies and docos regularly and we have not noticed any difference whatsoever with the capped speed of Boost compared to Telstra.

In fact I would go as far as to say that Telstra at times slow the speed to their paying customers when it suits them.

If I were a 15 year old "gamer" then maybe I would have to stay home and play games while hooked onto the Telstra NBN but for us (me and the wife) old grey dudes roaming around the countryside then the Boost service, at least for me, is fine. 

Dickodownunder wrote:

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To all those above that are quoting that Aldi is a lesser service, yes you are correct as at this moment Aldi are not providing the full Telstra coverage so service may be less in some areas.

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 I may (or may not) switch again when we leave here.  I went with Aldi to save money because no-one has service out here, but I want to keep the number active on those occasions we travel back to 'civilisation'....

Unfortunately, Telstra is the only carrier responsible for the provision of services under the communications guarantee legislation.

Every call you make irrespective of your carrier includes a small flagfall amount that is given to Telstra to provide services in areas where it would otherwise be commercially unviable.

This means in little 'blink and you miss it' places you may very well find a Telstra signal servicing just a handful of homes.

Surprisingly, neither Telstra nor the Australian Government have any satellites. They use Optus's (yes most of our military comms, Foxtel and VAST sat TV also use Optus's birds). They are located over Noumea.
In some remote tourist locations (eg the likes of Windjana Gorge, WA) where there is no fixed wiring there are Telstra phone booths with a standard home phone bolted on the wall for you to use 1800 reverse over the Optus satellite system.
If you have an Optus phone you can simply stand near the phone booth and you can receive great Optus signal.

You will also see in some highway rest areas a strange looking parabolic dish pointing horizontally with a post and platform a foot or so in front of it.
These are carefully aimed at an over the horizon phone tower perhaps up to 100km away. You put your phone on speaker and place it on the platform to get a signal to make a call.

Otherwise the Optus coverage is only in towns and within 5 km of leaving you get nothing until the next town.
Regardless of choosing Telstra or Optus (yes, there is only those two, everyone else is reselling them) most of the roads between towns will have next to zero coverage.
If your phone is of the type that continually scans the bands looking for a signal you will find your phone's battery can be completely exhausted within 2 hours unless you turn it to flight mode until you enter the next town whereby you are inundated with messages.

CAUTION:

Many of the reseller deals provided by the likes of ALDI or Boost do NOT have the complete coverage that the parent carrier offers. IE, there arrangements may only be for coverage in certain areas and you may also find that outside of capital cities the deal may mean that the cost of calls and data is priced at a much higher rate.
EG Vodaphone roams onto Telstra or Optus outside of Sydney Melbourne or Brisbane at twice the call and data rate, and even then only to major regional towns.

 

If you normally use Optus at home, I recommend you go buy a $99 Chinese made smart phone such as a ZTE from a Telstra shop and top up with prepaid amounts and use that for calls and data (turn on the phone's hotspot feature to use your laptop or tablet on WiFi) when your Optus coverage lets you down

-- Edited by Hylife on Sunday 15th of April 2018 09:40:51 PM

The coverage maps on Boost's own website show that they do NOT give coverage to all areas that Telstra does. For example Telstra now covers Cape Range National Park, the Boost coverage maps at boost.com.au/coverage-map/ both 4g and 3g show it has no coverage there. While Boost may be a great provider in many ways, it is wrong information to say that they cover all of the Telstra remote areas, they don't, nor do they claim to. Harrison Astbury has it wrong.

Hi
I have read with interest and in some cases disappointment, at the negativity with how this subject has been handled on this forum.
Not only in this topic but some others that I have read just recently.

My experience and previous history comes from the transport side of operations rather than the home and then Caravan travel experience.
We operated 3 trucks, one my husband operated most of the time and two trucks that we had regular and reliable drivers operating throughout most of Australia including Sydney Melbourne Adelaide Perth Darwin and Brisbane and north Qld.
Phones and data were always in the forefront when it came to service and cost.

Prior to about 2013 we only relied on Telstra because they were the only provider that actually provided.
At around the beginning of 2014 one of our drivers changed his phone provider from Telstra to Boost and my husband immediately lost it, stating that we would never have contact with him.
I had to remain open minded and just went along to see how it all worked.

We already had high gain aerials fitted to the 3 trucks for the telstra provider and after three months we noticed no real difference with the drivers phone service.
As the two drivers were responsible for their own phones and they used them both privately and for company use (we subsidised their company use) the second company driver went to Boost as well.

With the new rest and driving regulations they both enjoyed the monetary savings they made while they were parked up watching movies and being able to talk to loved ones without financial penalty.
They both boasted to me about how much they were saving but knew not to mention too much about it to my husband.

We noticed no difference except for the grizzling of my hubby telling us all that this will fail.

It is funny now, but it reminds me of some on this forum with no offence meant.
You are forgiven!! :)

Another year went by and I changed hubbies phone to Boost and even he, as sceptical as what he did not notice any difference.
I was not confident enough to change our work office Telstra service as I really could not find a reasonable alternative and it was a landline service as well.

We have now sold the trucks and retired and have been using the Boost service on the road on our personal travels for well over a year without any problems.
I renew the service on both our phones every 28 days which is different to the 30 days on other services but the money we save is well worth it if compared to telstra.

To the people who are still claiming that the others are a lesser service then I really suggest you actually have a look.

At the time our drivers reported that other services like Aldi provided little service in some mining areas, particularly in WA as that was the deal that Aldi had with telstra.
Their other comments were that a Telstra service was the only provider that worked when they needed it.
It doesnt take them long to work just where reception will work.
These drivers talk amongst themselves and with many others while on the road and generally know how things really work.

If you feel you need a phone service in an area that is not serviced by telstra and Boost then you really need to go and get a Satellite Phone.

To the people that have offered alternatives I back you completely as we were in doubt until testing the service for ourselves.

To the original post, if you are still listening telstra is the best service but you do not necessarily have to pay their prices.

Does Boost match these prices (just came up I have not had to check and I am going away for the day.)

 

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