I'm unsure if this should be in I Digress or here. So please be kind to me if I have erred.
The main point of the posting is to share with you the links attached. That's where The Good Oil resides ... not in my ramblings.
(Oops .. A couple of the links won't open directly .. sorry you may have to copy & paste them .. I'll fool around on 'edit' & see if I can fix them - fixed two)
........................
The time has come to replace/renew my long life mobile plan, so this time I decided to do a little bit of research rather than rely on 'common knowledge' or the stuff that people tell you at happy hour et al.
OUR SITUATION
These days we are on the road only occasionally (one long tour, several East Coastal holidays & perhaps a couple of local bush camps per year). We expect to do another western trip out to Winton & the SWQ area in 2020.
When touring, all our e Mail including bills and frequent contact with our family is by voice calls, SMS & Messenger photos & videos, done on one of our mobiles. We rarely use the mobile data when at home. Our Kogan/Dick Smith/Vodafone 365 plan was cheap & reliable giving us what we wanted but only on the coast & a few large centres. Elsewhere it was rubbish.
OUR NEEDS
For us, I believe that the best fit is a long life data plan that uses the whole Telstra Mobile Network, includes unlimited calla and SMS and around 5Gig of accumulating data/month. That leaves us with Telstra, or BOOST at around half the Telstra price.
Boost is not owned by Telstra (unlike Belong) but has purchased for resale, access to Telstra's whole 3G & 4G network plus several Customer Service functions. Some people think that it is owned by Telstra because they receive some Telstra branded 'paperwork'. Not so. BOOST is owned by Boost & is the only reseller that has access to the whole Telstra 3G & 4G networks (including Telstra's Belong)
We have chosen to avoid any porting issues and abandon our old & little known Vodafone number and get a new SIM only Boost plan. User Reviews of Boost tell an interesting story .. either love them or hate them. A lot of the issues seem to be in porting. A technical mate of mine has used Boost across much of Australia, as well as for all of his home data, for the last 2 years or so and is very happy with them. He is about to get another service for his Wife.
THE PLAN
Our new plan on a Boost $2 SIM loaded with $150 prepaid - 80Gig over 12m + unlim voice incl 13/1800 & SMS + some internat calls etc. will be initialised & loaded today. Update ... Initilisation seems to be going OK & I have the Telstra 4G signal. All good so far & a lot of e mail stuff coming in branded Telstra more prominently than Boost.
THE PHONE
The next issue is our iPhone that we prefer to use for amongst other things, access to the Apple to Apple Messenger rather than other similar apps, given that our children & Grandchildren all have iPhones. Easy & free.
Our hand me down iPhone 5S MF352X/A was introduced when the 800mbs (band 5) was used for CDMA so does not support that band. Bugger! Both Optus, & Telstra in particular rely on band 5 for much of their 4G LTE network which they purchased when CDMA was turned off in Oz. BTW Apple shop in Sydney quoted me circa $50 for a new battery install.
But good news, Telstra 3G is available in probably all areas that 4G is. So I'll still have full coverage albeit a bit slower perhaps. As a light user that shouldn't worry me. But I have a cunning back up plan. If it becomes a problem, I can switch the SIM to our other less smart Telstra unlocked phone that does support band 5 & uses the same size SIM card.
To help in my research I used the following sites. If you are interested in the real data then take some time to trawl them carefully including the FAQs. There is a tremendous amount of information on the sites & you'll no longer have to rely on hearsay.
Many of my ex-Technical colleagues have ditched their fixed line NBN and gone over to Mobile Data for all their internet & comms needs. One even has his highly developed hobby/lifestyle farm with gates, fences and buildings etc controlled using the Optus Mobile network.
I'm getting used to my slow NBN after superfast Telstra Cable broadband so perhaps I'll try using even slower mobile data from my PC for a bit to see if I can cop that. Big potential savings.
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 1st of October 2019 10:11:40 AM
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 1st of October 2019 10:14:37 AM
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 1st of October 2019 10:15:17 AM
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 1st of October 2019 11:15:58 AM
Whenarewethere said
11:38 AM Oct 1, 2019
We have gone from a few land lines & a dumb phone on a plan. Now using Boost, I bought the 6 month pre pay & other half has the 12 month pre pay.
Dropped my Moto G6 so bought a G7. We use hotspot for our Mac. My neighbour has very slow NBN & I keep him up to date with mobile speed which is a lot quicker than NBN.
Rob Driver said
12:39 PM Oct 1, 2019
+ 1 Cupie
Here is a link from a post on a similar topic that was up on here some 18 months ago.
It had some very accurate information and unfortunately accompanied with comments from the knockers of the service.
The following is a summary of our experience with Boost in June and July of this year;
We tried Boost prepaid on the basis of their claim of use of the full Telstra network and for those not travelling to isolated areas it is fine, however in late June this year we were in Coober Pedy and had no reception, whereas our Telstra mobile data had full service. Neighbouring caravanners with Telstra phones had full coverage. This experience was repeated elsewhere. (Note: both phones were set up correctly for the service employed)
On our return to Port Augusta I changed mine to a Telstra prepaid and as we continued our travels to more isolated areas we were able to compare the two side by side (identical phones btw). The phone on Boost had coverage about 80% of the times that the Telstra phone had full coverage in the more isolated areas (100% in the more populated areas). We have since swapped the other phone to Telstra
My take on Boost is that if you are travelling in the more populated areas, and not worried about coverage in between major towns, it will be fine (we may go back to it at some stage depending on where we intend to travel)
I also need to point out that Telstra will not provide full coverage everywhere, so for those travelling to really remote areas a satphone or similar device would be advisable. We carry a Delorme InReach that has two way texting capacity via satellite as well as real time tracking, and a KTI Safety Alert PLB for absolute emergencies
Cupie I reckon you'll be surprised at the speed you'll get with mobile data, we've got rid of the NBN at home and our service via Netgear Nighthawk is fine for our needs
Good luck with your new setup
Cheers, John
Rob Driver said
08:31 AM Oct 2, 2019
We used Boost and Telstra side by side while we were in business and we had no difference at all between Boost and Telstra at Coober Pedy.
My wife set up the Boost service on some company phones after we had reports from our employed drivers that Boost worked exactly the same as Telstra in country areas. We then tested the two side by side without any difference in service.
Since retiring I have been through Coober Pedy spending a week there in May 2018 and Boost worked fine.
While River Rat May report differing services I would not blame the service but rather the surrounding geography or the equipment being used.
The only difference that we can report on any variation between the two services is as River Rat reported that the Telstra 5G is a lot faster for internet data.
I have also noted that all phones are not the same even if some are blue ticked. From personal experience a Samsung that was blue ticked had a lot lesser ability to get either Telstra or Boost than a similar model IPhone.
River Rats advice of using a Sat Phone in more remote areas is good as there are many areas where there is no standard mobile service and also as he uses the mobile service for home internet it will eliminate the need for an NBN connection. In fact many report that the Telstra mobile service is better in some areas than is the NBN.
Regards
Rob
Cupie said
10:45 AM Oct 2, 2019
bentaxlebabe wrote:
+ 1 Cupie
Here is a link from a post on a similar topic that was up on here some 18 months ago.
It had some very accurate information and unfortunately accompanied with comments from the knockers of the service.
Seems like my research revealed what I could have picked off this previous discussion. Oh well, I FEEL a lot more knowledgeable on the subject now & am happy with my decision to switch, which by the way went smoothly except for the mistakes in the SMS that I sent to my contacts advising of the number change!
I do have a faint recollection of having read this thread at the time ... Terrible memory (& comprehension) these days.
Despite my iPhone 5S not supporting 700MHz band 28, I still get 4G on it at home. Obviously using the higher frequency bands (1800MHz B3? that is used on about 50% of towers).
oldbloke said
09:25 PM Oct 11, 2019
IMO Boost is owned by Telstra. Here is my bank debit when i took out the Boost 12 month prepaid plan for 240gig plus calls.
IMO Boost is owned by Telstra. Here is my bank debit when i took out the Boost 12 month prepaid plan for 240gig plus calls.
Hi ,, I can understand why you might have this view.
Yes, lots of customer interface material to Boost customers comes with Telstra logos & no reference to Boost, which would understandably lead to this commonly held eroneous conclusion. eg. I note that my mobile makes no reference to the fact that my Telco is Boost but rather tells me that I am connected to the Telstra 4G/3G mobile network.
WRT your account, perhaps Telstra bill you direct & then aggregate all such bills & do a bulk transfer with accompanying details to Boost, adding of course a margin to cover costs & profit. Boost may well do their own Credit Management.
This would have been negotiated in an overarching contract between Boost & Telstra that described all services to be delivered, performance standards & of course charges, probably on a pro-rata basis.
Boost may find this sort of arrangement attractive as they do not have to establish their own Sales Administration & Billing infrastructure to deal with every Country in which they choose to operate. Quite a common decision for the smaller players.
The following is taken from a Boost Community site ..
Theres often questions asked in the community around Boost and Telstra including what the difference is, are they the same, does Telstra own Boost and so on. This should clarify it for everyone.
Firstly, Telstra does not own Boost. Boost owns Boost. Telstra and Boost have an agreement wherein Boost re-sell their NextG (3G network) *see note whilst utilising some of Telstras back end systems. This in no way means Telstra owns Boost.
Telstra as a company offer a suite of products and services across multiple platforms where as Boost focuses on bring value to its customers in the pre-paid mobile market. Whilst Telstra offers mobile services on both its Next G and 4G networks, Boost only provides services on Telstra Next G (3G) network.
As the Boost uses Telstra Next G network, in some circumstances a Boost SIM will work in a handset locked to the Telstra network however if youre ever unsure its best to check by calling Boost on 1258881. This doesnt mean you can use a Telstra SIM to activate a Boost service or use a Telstra recharge voucher on a Boost service.
.
There is nothing new about this of course. Some 20 years ago when I worked for Telstra I was involved in negotiating & delivering on contracts that we had in place with many non Telstra organisations (Service Providers) who resold Telstra services. Those services including such things as "Call Centres, Service connection and alterations and sometimes billing & billing enquiries' were delivered by my staff who did not purport to be other than Telstra staff.
We had negotiated with the non Telstra organisations to provide these services at a bulk price that included our costs plus a profit margin. Had we not done this, leaving aside the views of the ACCC, those organisations would have just gone to our competitors like Optus.
Remember of course that Telstra is the market leader in these areas and has in place all of the infrastructure, systems, processes & knowledge base to deliver such services for their direct customers - the majority of the market.
This wholesale part of Telstra's business was conducted by a separate Business Unit 'Industry Services' and I understand that it still exists, perhaps by another name though.
* Note BTW there are some 'errors' in the Boost Community post in that at the time of its posting, Boost may have been reselling only 3G but as we all know they now resell access to Telstra 4G as well.
Just google 'Is Boost owned by Telstra' and you will get lots of information that will discuss the question.
Just another confusing aspect of our convoluted Aussie Communications environment. All in the name of the Free Market Competitive model. LOL
Edit .. BTW, My previous SIM was purchased from Kogan who owned part of the old Dick Smith (online ?) organisation who had a mobile phone reseller arrangement with Vodafone. I don't recall ever getting anything but the Kogan Branded SIM (just like my Boost SIM) that indicated that I was a Kogan Customer. The Mobile told me that I was connected to the Vodafone Mobile Network. Pretty much the same I think.
-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 12th of October 2019 10:54:11 AM
-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 12th of October 2019 10:55:53 AM
dabbler said
10:45 AM Oct 12, 2019
Sorry oldbloke, Boost is a private company, independent of Telstra and simply pay Telstra to use both their technology and administration services (IE billing). Check the Australian Business Register and/or Boost website.
Cupie said
10:58 AM Oct 12, 2019
dabbler wrote:
Sorry oldbloke, Boost is a private company, independent of Telstra and simply pay Telstra to use both their technology and administration services (IE billing). Check the Australian Business Register and/or Boost website.
I'm unsure if this should be in I Digress or here. So please be kind to me if I have erred.
The main point of the posting is to share with you the links attached. That's where The Good Oil resides ... not in my ramblings.
(Oops .. A couple of the links won't open directly .. sorry you may have to copy & paste them .. I'll fool around on 'edit' & see if I can fix them - fixed two)
........................
The time has come to replace/renew my long life mobile plan, so this time I decided to do a little bit of research rather than rely on 'common knowledge' or the stuff that people tell you at happy hour et al.
OUR SITUATION
These days we are on the road only occasionally (one long tour, several East Coastal holidays & perhaps a couple of local bush camps per year). We expect to do another western trip out to Winton & the SWQ area in 2020.
When touring, all our e Mail including bills and frequent contact with our family is by voice calls, SMS & Messenger photos & videos, done on one of our mobiles. We rarely use the mobile data when at home. Our Kogan/Dick Smith/Vodafone 365 plan was cheap & reliable giving us what we wanted but only on the coast & a few large centres. Elsewhere it was rubbish.
OUR NEEDS
For us, I believe that the best fit is a long life data plan that uses the whole Telstra Mobile Network, includes unlimited calla and SMS and around 5Gig of accumulating data/month. That leaves us with Telstra, or BOOST at around half the Telstra price.
Boost is not owned by Telstra (unlike Belong) but has purchased for resale, access to Telstra's whole 3G & 4G network plus several Customer Service functions. Some people think that it is owned by Telstra because they receive some Telstra branded 'paperwork'. Not so. BOOST is owned by Boost & is the only reseller that has access to the whole Telstra 3G & 4G networks (including Telstra's Belong)
We have chosen to avoid any porting issues and abandon our old & little known Vodafone number and get a new SIM only Boost plan. User Reviews of Boost tell an interesting story .. either love them or hate them. A lot of the issues seem to be in porting. A technical mate of mine has used Boost across much of Australia, as well as for all of his home data, for the last 2 years or so and is very happy with them. He is about to get another service for his Wife.
THE PLAN
Our new plan on a Boost $2 SIM loaded with $150 prepaid - 80Gig over 12m + unlim voice incl 13/1800 & SMS + some internat calls etc. will be initialised & loaded today. Update ... Initilisation seems to be going OK & I have the Telstra 4G signal. All good so far & a lot of e mail stuff coming in branded Telstra more prominently than Boost.
THE PHONE
The next issue is our iPhone that we prefer to use for amongst other things, access to the Apple to Apple Messenger rather than other similar apps, given that our children & Grandchildren all have iPhones. Easy & free.
Our hand me down iPhone 5S MF352X/A was introduced when the 800mbs (band 5) was used for CDMA so does not support that band. Bugger! Both Optus, & Telstra in particular rely on band 5 for much of their 4G LTE network which they purchased when CDMA was turned off in Oz. BTW Apple shop in Sydney quoted me circa $50 for a new battery install.
But good news, Telstra 3G is available in probably all areas that 4G is. So I'll still have full coverage albeit a bit slower perhaps. As a light user that shouldn't worry me. But I have a cunning back up plan. If it becomes a problem, I can switch the SIM to our other less smart Telstra unlocked phone that does support band 5 & uses the same size SIM card.
To help in my research I used the following sites. If you are interested in the real data then take some time to trawl them carefully including the FAQs. There is a tremendous amount of information on the sites & you'll no longer have to rely on hearsay.
https://oztowers.com.au
https://www.mobilenetworkguide.com.au/australian_mobile_phone_frequencies.html
https://www.whistleout.com.au
https://www.frequencycheck.com/models/GwKyG/apple-iphone-5s-a1533-16gb-apple-iphone-6-1
The next step.
Many of my ex-Technical colleagues have ditched their fixed line NBN and gone over to Mobile Data for all their internet & comms needs. One even has his highly developed hobby/lifestyle farm with gates, fences and buildings etc controlled using the Optus Mobile network.
I'm getting used to my slow NBN after superfast Telstra Cable broadband so perhaps I'll try using even slower mobile data from my PC for a bit to see if I can cop that. Big potential savings.
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 1st of October 2019 10:11:40 AM
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 1st of October 2019 10:14:37 AM
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 1st of October 2019 10:15:17 AM
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 1st of October 2019 11:15:58 AM
We have gone from a few land lines & a dumb phone on a plan. Now using Boost, I bought the 6 month pre pay & other half has the 12 month pre pay.
Dropped my Moto G6 so bought a G7. We use hotspot for our Mac. My neighbour has very slow NBN & I keep him up to date with mobile speed which is a lot quicker than NBN.
Here is a link from a post on a similar topic that was up on here some 18 months ago.
It had some very accurate information and unfortunately accompanied with comments from the knockers of the service.
The truth is revealed.
thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t64550414/telstra-or-optus/
Regards
Rob
The following is a summary of our experience with Boost in June and July of this year;
We tried Boost prepaid on the basis of their claim of use of the full Telstra network and for those not travelling to isolated areas it is fine, however in late June this year we were in Coober Pedy and had no reception, whereas our Telstra mobile data had full service. Neighbouring caravanners with Telstra phones had full coverage. This experience was repeated elsewhere. (Note: both phones were set up correctly for the service employed)
On our return to Port Augusta I changed mine to a Telstra prepaid and as we continued our travels to more isolated areas we were able to compare the two side by side (identical phones btw). The phone on Boost had coverage about 80% of the times that the Telstra phone had full coverage in the more isolated areas (100% in the more populated areas). We have since swapped the other phone to Telstra
My take on Boost is that if you are travelling in the more populated areas, and not worried about coverage in between major towns, it will be fine (we may go back to it at some stage depending on where we intend to travel)
I also need to point out that Telstra will not provide full coverage everywhere, so for those travelling to really remote areas a satphone or similar device would be advisable. We carry a Delorme InReach that has two way texting capacity via satellite as well as real time tracking, and a KTI Safety Alert PLB for absolute emergencies
Cupie I reckon you'll be surprised at the speed you'll get with mobile data, we've got rid of the NBN at home and our service via Netgear Nighthawk is fine for our needs
Good luck with your new setup
Cheers, John
My wife set up the Boost service on some company phones after we had reports from our employed drivers that Boost worked exactly the same as Telstra in country areas. We then tested the two side by side without any difference in service.
Since retiring I have been through Coober Pedy spending a week there in May 2018 and Boost worked fine.
While River Rat May report differing services I would not blame the service but rather the surrounding geography or the equipment being used.
The only difference that we can report on any variation between the two services is as River Rat reported that the Telstra 5G is a lot faster for internet data.
I have also noted that all phones are not the same even if some are blue ticked. From personal experience a Samsung that was blue ticked had a lot lesser ability to get either Telstra or Boost than a similar model IPhone.
River Rats advice of using a Sat Phone in more remote areas is good as there are many areas where there is no standard mobile service and also as he uses the mobile service for home internet it will eliminate the need for an NBN connection. In fact many report that the Telstra mobile service is better in some areas than is the NBN.
Regards
Rob
Thanks for that link Rob...
Seems like my research revealed what I could have picked off this previous discussion. Oh well, I FEEL a lot more knowledgeable on the subject now & am happy with my decision to switch, which by the way went smoothly except for the mistakes in the SMS that I sent to my contacts advising of the number change!
I do have a faint recollection of having read this thread at the time ... Terrible memory (& comprehension) these days.
Despite my iPhone 5S not supporting 700MHz band 28, I still get 4G on it at home. Obviously using the higher frequency bands (1800MHz B3? that is used on about 50% of towers).
IMO Boost is owned by Telstra.
Here is my bank debit when i took out the Boost 12 month prepaid plan for 240gig plus calls.
Hi ,, I can understand why you might have this view.
Yes, lots of customer interface material to Boost customers comes with Telstra logos & no reference to Boost, which would understandably lead to this commonly held eroneous conclusion. eg. I note that my mobile makes no reference to the fact that my Telco is Boost but rather tells me that I am connected to the Telstra 4G/3G mobile network.
WRT your account, perhaps Telstra bill you direct & then aggregate all such bills & do a bulk transfer with accompanying details to Boost, adding of course a margin to cover costs & profit. Boost may well do their own Credit Management.
This would have been negotiated in an overarching contract between Boost & Telstra that described all services to be delivered, performance standards & of course charges, probably on a pro-rata basis.
Boost may find this sort of arrangement attractive as they do not have to establish their own Sales Administration & Billing infrastructure to deal with every Country in which they choose to operate. Quite a common decision for the smaller players.
The following is taken from a Boost Community site ..
..
Whats the difference between Boost and Telstra?
-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 12th of October 2019 10:54:11 AM
-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 12th of October 2019 10:55:53 AM
Yer .. Wish that I had said that. LOL