Finally out of contract with Telstra and able to save some money. Question is, do resellers (Telechoice etc) offer the exact same coverage as Telstra?
We live and travel in a regional area and need the best possible coverage.
Do Telstra Resellers Provide Equal Coverage?
offal spokesman on 28/01/2018 - 22:23
Comments
No one except Telstra has full use of the Telstra mobile network.
Boost mobile uses the full telstra coverage.
Thanks. I stand corrected. Boost has the full Telstra network in terms of coverage but not speed.
Do you have any proof?
There is a lengthy thread on Whirlpool suggesting that the coverage may not be the same between Boost and Telstra retail, further adding to the confusion.
See https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2674047
We live and travel in a regional area and need the best possible coverage.
Sadly you must get a Telstra service, not a reseller.
Look at every Telstra reseller website e.g. Aldi Mobile and there will be a page saying how they use something like 90% of the coverage - so not all of it and most likely not regional.
Try Boost Mobile. They use the full telstra network and are your best alternative to Telstra. Much cheaper
What about belong? The Telstra owned budget brand?
nope, they use the gimped Telstra Wholesale like ALDI, Telechoice and the rest.
Telstra or Boost are the ONLY options for Full Telstra coverage. And if you work on a mine site, then Full Telstra might be your only option.
If you want "the full Telstra coverage" you need to go with Telstra. Telstra in some way limits what it makes available to resellers whether it be in terms of coverage, speed, etc.
Whether or not that makes a practical difference to you is entirely dependent on your specific requirements. Unfortunately it is in effect impossible to determine the impact until you sign up to a particular service and find out for yourself.
I had this issue when i was travelling to remote areas for work. If you zoom right in on "certain areas", the coverage maps for resellers and telstra are different.
There are two possibilities:
- The resellers don't have up to date maps
- They're not getting the full coverage.
I have a few reasons why i don't think it's the first, but most are arguable.
Also, the wording of the advertising.
"We use australias largest network", "runs on telstra 4G network" - ok, how much of it? what about 3G?
Outcome: i accepted my fate and went with aldi.
As a corporate Telstra customer, I can confirm (direct from Telstra) that wholesale coverage is nowhere near as Good as direct.
From our account manager. The wholesale network is based on the Optus coverage map and no 4Gx.
They basically turn it down for wholesale. Typical Telstra.
The mobile specialist commented that there is no fair play legislation so they can do what they want.
My own anecdote: I changed from Telstra to Aldi a month ago and immediately noticed an average drop of a bar in my home. Still good coverage compared to Optus and Voda though.