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Thread: Telstra... Vodafone... Optus... Advice Required...

  1. Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ash460 View Post
    A mate was testing the new HTC 4G Velocity on Telstra in Brisbane yesterday. Sent me a sppedtest pic of 34 ping, 54.16Mbps down and 18.32Mbps up. They launch on Tuesday.
    yeah 4G.. well, um, better not go out of the city as it drops out never to be found again until you go back to the city. And these speeds will drop as more users move over, so nah...

    I was on Optus, but even with full coverage, data would drop out.. Not to mention Optus have no Optus to Optus free time anymore. I ended up getting out of Optus and moving to Vodafone. I've not noticed any change in speeds vs Optus, but calls and SMS's to my fellow Voda users are free as well as combining mine and the misses contracts gave us a 10% discount...

    I don't think any carrier is brilliant. IMO I would grab a prepaid $10 sim from Optus and Voda, and try the services out in the areas you frequently go. Then decide based on your own research.

    ---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:31 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Yeldarb View Post
    Next time you look at your Optus or Vodafone Bill, look at the locations where you made the call. If it has a "-V" it's a Vodafone build site. The rest are Optus sites that Vodafone shares the tower and the Antenna system. Before that they were sharing the base station as well, but Optus said up yours, you're dragging us down. So Optus installed modern Nokia and Huawai kit, with 2x back haul to each site. Lots more reasons to avoid Vodafone.
    Nar.. you're wrong. I designed and installed about 200 Optus sites, and 60 odd Vodafone from Byron to Cairns, and they've installed "Co-locations" - which means they have their own equipment installed on an Optus tower. Yes they share the tower, but it's all totally separate equipment. There is no way in h3ll Voda or Optus would share any equipment, let alone a network. Both Voda and Optus use microwave antennas to shoot up to 3-4 towers away from a central hub which feeds into their own fibre network..
    Last edited by Wardski; 19-01-2012 at 08:35 PM.

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by SarcasticOne View Post
    possibly...
    SGS2/GN: 21mbps HSDPA
    iphone4S: 14.4mbps HSDPA
    iphone4/3GS: 7.2mbps HSDPA
    Certainly explains why my 3G speeds are so sh1t (iPhone 3GS)

    Where'd you get those figures from Sam?


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  3. Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Caffeine Fiend View Post
    Certainly explains why my 3G speeds are so sh1t (iPhone 3GS)

    Where'd you get those figures from Sam?


    Sent from my iPhone using TapaTalk
    These are the phone specs, not network capability. www.gsmarena.com has most of the phone specs if you need to know what your phone is capable of

  4. #24
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    Wardski talking about common locations for antennas is spot on, used to do telecoms network analysis and you'd see multiple carriers hanging off the same tower with different flavours of antennae.

    Good suggestion on trying the prepaid sims too, probably the only way youll really find out what works for your situation.

    There will always be blackspots in a RF network, unless we have a flat earth and remove the buildings.

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wardski View Post
    yeah 4G.. well, um, better not go out of the city as it drops out never to be found again until you go back to the city. And these speeds will drop as more users move over, so nah...

    I was on Optus, but even with full coverage, data would drop out.. Not to mention Optus have no Optus to Optus free time anymore. I ended up getting out of Optus and moving to Vodafone. I've not noticed any change in speeds vs Optus, but calls and SMS's to my fellow Voda users are free as well as combining mine and the misses contracts gave us a 10% discount...

    I don't think any carrier is brilliant. IMO I would grab a prepaid $10 sim from Optus and Voda, and try the services out in the areas you frequently go. Then decide based on your own research.

    ---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:31 PM ----------



    Nar.. you're wrong. I designed and installed about 200 Optus sites, and 60 odd Vodafone from Byron to Cairns, and they've installed "Co-locations" - which means they have their own equipment installed on an Optus tower. Yes they share the tower, but it's all totally separate equipment. There is no way in h3ll Voda or Optus would share any equipment, let alone a network. Both Voda and Optus use microwave antennas to shoot up to 3-4 towers away from a central hub which feeds into their own fibre network..
    Sorry, but you're wrong. There are no rules about how to deploy sites. There been so many projects over the years. Back this "co-location" was happening, they defined them as Optus-lead or Voda-lead sites, based on how the transmission got back to the SDH Hubs. When I worked for Optus mobile (the group that built the Greenfield sites) up until May last year, they going through the last of a project to split away from Vodafone equipment. In the colocation sites they used the same Nokia cabinet, used the same microwave link back to a fibre site, then it was split back to different RNC's via mux's. These at old sites, but it did happen.

    In situations where Vodafone have their own sites they have many more hops to fibre. They scrimp on bandwidth, in some regional area like Cairns, they use the same E1 to drive the 2G and 3G site. We're upgrading Vodafones transmission now nationally, I see it everyday.
    Last edited by Yeldarb; 20-01-2012 at 06:40 AM.
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  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wardski View Post
    These are the phone specs, not network capability. www.gsmarena.com has most of the phone specs if you need to know what your phone is capable of
    this ^

    ---------- Post added at 07:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:39 AM ----------

    i do find my galaxy nexus loads pages substantially faster that people's iphone4... havent done a side by side with a 4s tho...
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  7. #27
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    Well that's just sold it for me. Definitely going Android when the phone finishes its contract next month


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  8. Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Yeldarb View Post
    Sorry, but you're wrong. There are no rules about how to deploy sites. There been so many projects over the years. Back this "co-location" was happening, they defined them as Optus-lead or Voda-lead sites, based on how the transmission got back to the SDH Hubs. When I worked for Optus mobile (the group that built the Greenfield sites) up until May last year, they going through the last of a project to split away from Vodafone equipment. In the colocation sites they used the same Nokia cabinet, used the same microwave link back to a fibre site, then it was split back to different RNC's via mux's. These at old sites, but it did happen.

    In situations where Vodafone have their own sites they have many more hops to fibre. They scrimp on bandwidth, in some regional area like Cairns, they use the same E1 to drive the 2G and 3G site. We're upgrading Vodafones transmission now nationally, I see it everyday.
    Interesting. First I've ever heard of this one, and even my mates doing Optus Telco design at Aurecon are scratching their heads with what you've just said. So if you worked @ Optus, you would have known my best mate Peter Bellas then

  9. #29
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    Haha, Peter Bella's, yes, I know him, he's a PM there. He liked to call me Harry.

    The JV (Joint Venture) Moran sites started in 2005. For a very long time VHA and Optus where sharing 3G Nokia equipment. Not like that now, most sites have been "Split", but they still share the same shelter.

    Have a chat to Peter, he'll give you a history.

  10. Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Yeldarb View Post
    Haha, Peter Bella's, yes, I know him, he's a PM there.

    The JV (Joint Venture) Moran sites started in 2005. For a very long time VHA and Optus where sharing 3G Nokia equipment. Not like that now, most sites have been "Split", but they still share the same shelter.

    Have a chat to Peter, he'll give you a history.
    Man, I can't believe ole Pete is still just a PM.. He said he was going to own the Optus/Singtel design team not long after I left the boys.... Well, I guess he kinda does - man that guy has been around. I have a lot of time for Pete.

    We were sharing other carrier's shelters, Telstra exchanges, allocated teleco rooms (like Toowong tower, and chermside ATO buildings for example) even when I was designing sites late 1990's and 2003-04. Sharing RF and switching equipment is new to me (and data speed wise, what a bad decision!). Optus sites using this arrangement must have been internally designed, as my old team still working @ Aurecon (on every Optus roll out since 1998) have not designed any this way.

    I wonder if equip sharing became more prevalent when the rules changed making co-locations no longer "self-assessable" (ie, go do what you want) under the planning code???

    Man I miss the old days of site designing - hitting the road in a 4x4, LOS studies in a 65m cherry picker on top of a mountain in 20knt winds, or island hopping in a helicopter in the Whitsundays
    Last edited by Wardski; 20-01-2012 at 08:26 AM.

  11. #31
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    By the way, this doesn't represent the whole Optus Vodafone networks. This concerns mostly metro sites, stills make sense to share sites. Wardski, you of all people should know how hard it is to get decent cheap greenfield sites.

  12. #32
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    I was just up at the Whitsundays, you must have scoped out Shute Harbour, Airlie Beach and even Hamilton Voda/Telstra sites. The tracks are terrible at Shute, the Klugar struggled..,fun though

  13. #33

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    god damn, how many telco design people are there here??... we should start a little sub section or something!

  14. Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Yeldarb View Post
    I was just up at the Whitsundays, you must have scoped out Shute Harbour, Airlie Beach and even Hamilton Voda/Telstra sites. The tracks are terrible at Shute, the Klugar struggled..,fun though
    Yep. Did all of of those sites. We had a Pajero on that whole run and used Airlie beach as a base (except when we did Brampton opposite Mackay, on the way up the coast). Whitsunday's island (Telstra site) is amazing. Only 1 candidate there - A little 8m pole on top of the highest mountain with heli access only and with views to die for (litterally). Hamilton was a POS when I was there. 3 candidates we looked at were all rubbish (including the Telstra site which is pretty low). Not sure if Sth Mole or Lindeman island sites got up. We took the LOS panos of the fatboy Telstra site from a heli on Sth Mole on our way to Lindeman. Amazing times. Was paid 5hit, but loved every minute of it.

    ---------- Post added at 10:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:26 AM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by spooon View Post
    god damn, how many telco design people are there here??... we should start a little sub section or something!
    There are a lot of ex telco designers out there for sure. Some who worked for TCI, Connell Wagner (now Aurecon), etc, etc.. Most challenging sites were roof tops, buildings, concealed shopping centre signs, polycarbonate palm trees from the UAE (the Harbour Town palm tree is one of mine). Monopole/Lattice tower greenfields were boring as fcuk.

    I've designed telco sites for Optus, Voda, AAPT, One.Tel, Crown Castle, Orange 3G and NTL in my time.. Crazy shi7
    Last edited by Wardski; 20-01-2012 at 10:30 AM.

  15. #35

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    Yeah I've done Telstra, Optus, Crown Castle and 3GIS... also done a bit of work over seas for the Empire's O/S carrier in Honkers, but mostly work for Telstra...

    ahh so you did the Harbour Town tree :P Yeah I hate roof tops... and water towers... Although the biggest thing at the moment is doing the over build work, the amount of capacity being built into the network is INSANE, and running peak most of the time... Smart Phones are going to be death of us all!

    I've been around the traps for a while now, ex-NDC, came in just as One.Tel finished up, so we probably know the same people. Actually if you know anyone from CW/Aure, then we definitely know the same people! I was there up until Wednesday, now I'm moving across to WA (still with same company) to slide further down the slippery slope of this incestuous industry... But it's amazing how many people you come across, everyone knows everyone else! Small world :P

  16. Default

    Quote Originally Posted by spooon View Post
    Yeah I've done Telstra, Optus, Crown Castle and 3GIS... also done a bit of work over seas for the Empire's O/S carrier in Honkers, but mostly work for Telstra...

    ahh so you did the Harbour Town tree :P Yeah I hate roof tops... and water towers... Although the biggest thing at the moment is doing the over build work, the amount of capacity being built into the network is INSANE, and running peak most of the time... Smart Phones are going to be death of us all!

    I've been around the traps for a while now, ex-NDC, came in just as One.Tel finished up, so we probably know the same people. Actually if you know anyone from CW/Aure, then we definitely know the same people! I was there up until Wednesday, now I'm moving across to WA (still with same company) to slide further down the slippery slope of this incestuous industry... But it's amazing how many people you come across, everyone knows everyone else! Small world :P
    Yep, you have definitely been around then. You would know Wayne Sanders and Mark Rushton. The planning and elec team have a high change over (so no mentionables) but those 2 are the key CW/Aurecon peoples I've known for the last 10 years. Mark is a tad loopy, and Wayne always pushes well about his belt, but they get the job done.

    I think I got out of Telco purely because of the up's n downs - and working for CW/Aurecon was average at best.

  17. #37
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    So i'll most likely get laughed at here....

    But swapped back to Vodafone from Telstra.

    Ping rates now <200ms (as opposed to >700ms and in some instances >2000ms) and download rates of >2.8Mbs and uploads of >1.7Mbps ... alot better than Telstra's download 0.10Mbps, and uploads of 0.01Mbps (in most tests during 10am-3pm, uploads were 0.00Mbps).

    At Coorparoo (home), downloads of >3.9Mbps, and uploads of >2.5Mbps, which is faster than my ADSL2+ internode service! Go figure!

  18. Default

    Quote Originally Posted by CharlieBrown View Post
    So i'll most likely get laughed at here....

    But swapped back to Vodafone from Telstra.

    Ping rates now <200ms (as opposed to >700ms and in some instances >2000ms) and download rates of >2.8Mbs and uploads of >1.7Mbps ... alot better than Telstra's download 0.10Mbps, and uploads of 0.01Mbps (in most tests during 10am-3pm, uploads were 0.00Mbps).

    At Coorparoo (home), downloads of >3.9Mbps, and uploads of >2.5Mbps, which is faster than my ADSL2+ internode service! Go figure!
    HA, jokes..

    I moved from Optus to Vodafone before Xmas last year (but not because I had any coverage issues), and to be honest, other than saving a bundle of $$, I've not noticed any difference in coverage or network speed. I will say that data doesn't drop out any more, vs my Moto Xoom tablet which is still on an Optus data plan for a few more months drops out continuously - even when its on full bars...

  19. #39
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    Ive got a network guarantee - 30 Days - If im not happy with Voda, I can get out fee free - just return the handset....!

  20. Default

    Quote Originally Posted by CharlieBrown View Post
    Ive got a network guarantee - 30 Days - If im not happy with Voda, I can get out fee free - just return the handset....!
    Can't complain about that. What phone did you get?

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