Mobile Coverage in The Country - Telstra Vs Optus Vs Vodafone

jimmyjamesjimmy on 26/05/2025 - 13:45
Last edited 26/05/2025 - 13:46 by 1 other user

About 10yrs ago I was with Optus and switched to Telstra because Optus's country coverage was terrible in many of the areas I visit in Vic.

I'm still currently with Telstra mainly because I needed coverage in the country (mainly Vic), I also need an esim for my Samsung LTE watch and I travel overseas and need people to be able to contact me on my main mobile number.

With the price increases of Telstra, the cost of keeping their services has become less and less appealing over the last 2yrs.

From my understanding Telstra, Optus and Vodaphone are the only carriers that support esim for watches whereby my phone and watch will use the same mobile number, so I figure my options are limited?

However, I am interested in finding out if Optus and Vodaphone are now useable in country? Does anyone have any real world feedback they can pass on?

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Comments

  • Protractor on 26/05/2025 - 13:50
    -1

    The short answer is don't believe any of Telstra's claims.Or maps.Hopefully their spin (BS) will be challenged in court by the ACCC if they back Vodaphone .& other telcos recent complaints.

    • DOGGYWOWWOW on 26/05/2025 - 13:55
      +4

      From my experience bouncing between boost and Optus the full Telstra network is definitely better than Optus when in the country. Whether it's worth the price premium depends.

      • Dr Phil on 27/05/2025 - 19:25
        -2

        Ahhh But that has all changed with Optus and Vodafone combining thier coverage in regional areas this year.
        Id guess thier combined coverage in regional areas would be as good if not better than Telstra now.

        • 2esc on 27/05/2025 - 21:51

          When did this change and where?

          Optus and Vodafone are absolutely hopeless in Central and East Gippsland, Victoria(several different phones tested).

          When i got my son a phone last year we tried Optus, Vodafone and Kogan all hopeless we settled for Woolworths for him as the service was close to Telstra coverage and good enough to stay in touch with him.

          Optus, Vodafone and Kogan basically had no service a kilometor north of our house we are on the north edge of a small town about 2 hours east of Melbourne.

          Sadly i have to use Telstra because of work and even Telstra doesn't work as extensively as there coverage maps claim.

    • ricadam on 26/05/2025 - 14:02
      +5

      It still dpeends. There's one place on the border of QLD/NSW inland for camping that only has a Telstra tower. No other networks for 50kms. I can't see that changing but for that alone given the risk of emergercies happening (and to watch NRL by the water) it's worth it.

      • Protractor on 26/05/2025 - 14:06
        +2

        The reality is the govt should encourage multi telcos per black-spot tower so the cost is spread on telcos and consumers have choice. Each telco could transmit differently if required to broaden coverage.As it is it's 'almost' a monopoly for telstra who choose or not, to fix their problems. Tax payers have invested in most of those towers directly, and local populations deserve a share of the benefits, by way of coverage.

        • Zephyrus on 26/05/2025 - 14:17
          +3

          But that costs money because there's extra equipment.
          Really what the government should be doing is forcing access to remote towers for all networks so there's only one set of equipment at each one..

          The government pays for the tower, they should be able to force access agreements.

          • Protractor on 26/05/2025 - 15:22
            -1

            @Zephyrus: Telstra games it. (Mates in both sides of govt.) And the shareholders drive the process via profit expectation.
            I'm sure they write the contracts and the minister of the day just signs off, indirectly 6 signatures away..

            • simplystu on 26/05/2025 - 21:54

              @Protractor: don't only blame telstra …
              many of those sites - with single TELCO towers == privately owned land +++ private $$$ deals for that single TELCO to access that land.

              ESP case in rural areas (farms/etc).
              if other TELCO's want access - then they should pay accordingly as well.

              • Protractor on 26/05/2025 - 22:15
                +1

                @simplystu: The current rules are too telstra friendly, and they fine tune tower locations to suit their agenda, not the locals,nor passing trade. The Black Spot program has been milked and dominated by telstra, and the social dividend doesn't match their 'coverage' claims. And if they dispute that, they should welcome ACCC intervention and scrutiny.

          • 2esc on 27/05/2025 - 22:09

            @Zephyrus: Telstra profit 1.8 billion 2024. Telstra estimates the cost of a mobile phone tower to be around $400,000. So yes towers are not cheap but selectively added more every year forcing as you say could make a huge difference.

            Years ago when the Dargo fires were on in East Gippsland a transportable mobile tower was temporarily placed on a hilltop nearby and there was phone service up to 40 kilometres away even in the botton of many valley's.

      • Dr Phil on 27/05/2025 - 19:27
        -1

        And there are places that only have coverage from Optus or Vodafone.

        This is often the case in small country towns and remote areas,
        Only one carrier covers such areas.

  • MS Paint on 26/05/2025 - 14:00
    +1

    This post may be of interest.

  • Associated87percent @ Telstra on 26/05/2025 - 14:08
    +2

    No.. More and Tangerine also have the multi-number thing.. but they're resellers, and you won't get the full Telstra coverage (i believe)

    • Protractor on 26/05/2025 - 15:27

      As per the misleading telstra maps nobody ever has got the full telstra coverage, outside mega built up areas..Telstra has admitted that already. (Hence the editing of the claims on the map page recently) (And no it wasn't 'misinterpretation or accidental) To get anywhere near that coverage you have to buy inflated monopolised Celfis etc.That is the latest admission.

      Best of luck to Vodaphone's et al, with their claims, I say.

      • Associated87percent @ Telstra on 26/05/2025 - 18:34
        -1

        Ok

    • jimmyjamesjimmy on 27/05/2025 - 09:45
      +1

      Thank you, both More and Tangerine look like good options!

  • BargainMe on 26/05/2025 - 15:07

    Switch to Telstra Prepaid, you can get a $350 12 month sim for about $285 online so that's $23.75 per month for access to full Telstra network

    • jimmyjamesjimmy on 27/05/2025 - 11:48

      Good option, ahh dang it looks like you can't do one number between phone and watch with pre-paid :-(

  • LanceVance on 26/05/2025 - 15:10

    I've got 2 SIMS in my phone, one personal and the other work. Work is Telstra and my personal one is Woolies. Both run off the Telstra network and I always have the same coverage on both when regional. That tells me that a provider using the Telstra network would be perfectly fine for a fraction of the cost.

    • Colin2905 on 26/05/2025 - 17:00
      +3

      That tells me that a provider using the Telstra network would be perfectly fine for a fraction of the cost.

      Until you find yourself somewhere where there's Telstra Retail coverage, but not Telstra Wholesale. Map questionability aside, go to https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/Guides/Telstra-mo… and scroll down a bit until you find a map with a slider in the middle. Move the slider left and right a few times and it'll give you some idea of the Retail vs. Wholesale coverage difference.

  • nicktork on 26/05/2025 - 15:14
    +5

    I have a dual SIM phone. SIM1 is Boost (Full Telstra 5G network) and SIM2 is Amaysim (Optus 4G network). Out of a couple of hundred nights camping around country Victoria, I can count on one hand the number of times Optus worked better than Telstra.

    • mhz on 28/05/2025 - 11:12

      I thought that all Telstra wholesale customers like Boost didn't get access to their full 5G network?

      • nicktork on 28/05/2025 - 11:35
        +1

        Boost is the only MVNO that gets access to the full Telstra retail network.

        All the others like Belong, Aldi and Woolworths get access to the Telstra wholesale network, which doesn't have the same coverage.

  • mirridon on 26/05/2025 - 16:01

    Yes, at the moment Telstra/Optus/Vodafone are still the only providers supporting eSIMs, but honestly, I have to say Telstra has definitely gone downhill based on my experience, I'm using a eSIM, dual SIM, and using both Telstra and Vodafone.

    Since Vodafone’s recent upgrades, I’ve actually noticed I get better rural coverage with Vodafone, which surprised me. For example, when I was up in Kilcoy, Queensland visiting and camping, I had full 4G reception with Vodafone, and no drop outs, great latency, (was streaming netflix easily) but zero reception with Telstra. That’s pretty odd, considering Telstra has long been known for having superior coverage especially in rural areas.

    My advice? Test it for yourself. Grab a couple of prepaid SIM cards, one from Telstra, one from Vodafone, and see which one works better for your needs. You can try out their month to month plans if you want to experiment without locking into anything long term, or buying a bunch of prepaid sims just to give it a go.

    Personally, I was considering switching back to Telstra a year ago, but I’ve been with Vodafone for the last five or six years, and with the recent improvements, I no longer see a reason to switch. In fact, I’m even thinking of canceling my second Telstra SIM because it doesn’t really offer me any meaningful backup anymore.

  • [Deactivated] on 26/05/2025 - 17:40

    It's all localised. Optus still sucks in parts of regional Victoria that I travel to regularly. Optus still sucked inside office buildings in the Melbourne CBD too last time I was with them. But I was on Catch during covid and my signal was awesome at home, it was just going back into the office that hurt me.

    I was in Sydney recently though (in the Hills area) and couldn't get a Telstra signal. Was informed that is the norm in some spots up there, Telstra just sucks, have to have Optus.

  • simplystu on 26/05/2025 - 22:07
    -2

    these days … it's a mute issue … ESP due to … "ESIMS".
    1 single mobile phone can utilise both Optus + Telstra network at same time … for very very little cost.

    gone are the days of "satellite phones" … even remote 4WD in WA … you have almost complete coverage in the remote parts - from the 2 major carriers (combined).

    [EDIT] : vodaphone === 100% nah - well atleast not in WA regional towns.

    • Protractor on 26/05/2025 - 22:16
      +2

      moot*

      Also

      you have almost complete coverage in the remote parts - from the 2 major carriers (combined).

      you're absolutely dreaming

  • tabitha731 on 27/05/2025 - 10:05

    absolutely don't even both going on the vodafail network.. it can barely work in the metro areas, let alone regional areas. thats why vodafail is trying to throw shade on telstra, coz they know their coverage is way below sub-par. Teltar network & reach is strong, by wat ever means they do it.. its strong & reliable. Voda has to "double its network coverage" just to meet the baseline of wat Telstra & optus have!

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