Is Optus Reception Really This Bad?

dTer on 23/11/2022 - 18:33
Last edited 23/11/2022 - 18:36

I'd been paying $58 a month for Telstra's cheapest sim plan, and thought it was a bit expensive. Swapped to Optus with their $49 a month plan with a free Galaxy S22. I figured Optus should have pretty good reception, and sold the phone.

Since swapping, I've noticed lots of little weird intermittent issues. Calls seem quite glitchy, no matter where I am, and I find myself constantly needing to ask the person on the other end to repeat themselves.

In my workplace, I now no longer have reception in about 50% of the building, when I used to have reception everywhere.

Driving around, I've been finding calls dropping out in certain places where they never used to.

Every now and then, the service indicator on my phone will have a ! next to the 4G/H+ icon, and the service will stop working completely. I need to restart my phone to fix it.

I have never had any of these issues with Telstra. I have tried a new SIM, factory reset my phone, tried in another phone, and it is all the same.

Is Optus really this terrible? It feels like a rip-off for a half-assed service.

TL;DR - Optus bad

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Comments

  • Heaps for Cheaps on 23/11/2022 - 18:37
    +4

    It depends on the area… For example, at my friends house there is virtually no reception with Telstra and phone calls will NEVER come through, but with Optus they do…

    And vice-versa, in some areas my service with Optus is awful yet the other carriers do it just fine.

    • original15 on 23/11/2022 - 18:45
      +1

      Agree. My folks Optus dominates and Telstra really struggles, but on my commute to office there are some Optus drop outs hence personally go for Telstra (Altho less relevant now with less commuting)

  • pjetson on 23/11/2022 - 18:44

    Does your existing phone support all the bands that Optus uses?

    • dTer on 23/11/2022 - 19:04

      I believe so, it is a Pixel 4XL.

  • Wiadro on 23/11/2022 - 19:05

    its ok, but not great, i moved to their $29.50 plan from a previous plan from being with Telstra for 10+ years (i usually churn from T to O every few years to see how bad it still is for a month or 3)
    I'm waiting for a good jb hifi deal to go back to telstra.

  • timthetoolman on 23/11/2022 - 19:07
    +2

    Went from Telstra /Aldi to optus and it's been utter trash. 0/10 would not recommend

  • CyberMurning on 23/11/2022 - 19:26
    +1

    Phone provider is like looking for gf.
    Your best mate hot gf may not suitable for you.
    So, no point asking strangers whats the best unless they live sleep and work with you 24/7…. Just keep trying and pray a lot.

  • scrimshaw on 23/11/2022 - 19:46

    There's no 4G reception in about half the shopping centres I usually visit — have to rely on public wifi networks. Currently on amaysim which is an Optus MVNO.

  • foolsgold on 23/11/2022 - 20:11
    +1

    wait till Optus allows you to cancel the service and you have to return the phone that you sold

  • ECE on 23/11/2022 - 20:15

    Yes

  • The Value on 23/11/2022 - 20:20

    Metro Sydney. The furthest I've been away from Sydney is Wollongong.

    Optus mobile user for 10+ years.

    It's fine. Whenever I lose reception, a simple "turn off and on again" usually fixes it.
    It used to be quite poor in Western Sydney but I don't remember the last time I was upset with the quality of the service.

  • Darude Sandstorm on 23/11/2022 - 20:35

    I moved from Kogan to Amaysim and holy (profanity) is it slow and reception is much less available in and around melbourne. (profanity).

  • bobbified on 23/11/2022 - 21:02
    +1

    …their $49 a month plan with a free Galaxy S22

    They still give out 'free' phones with their plans?

    • donga100 on 23/11/2022 - 21:22
      +1

      $49 a month for what is probably 24 months isn't exactly "free" when you consider the same network/service can be had for far less.

      • dTer on 23/11/2022 - 21:24
        +1

        It was a heavily upvoted deal here a month or so ago. It's 24 months, $49 a month, SIM only plan. It just comes with a free phone. No catches.

        Edit: 24 months, not 12. Link to deal: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/728860

      • dTer on 23/11/2022 - 21:25
        +1

        Apart from the catch that the service is shit haha

      • bobbified on 23/11/2022 - 21:27

        Not sure what OP gets for $49/month, but that's how much the normal monthly repayment on an S22 would be around without a plan.

        I pay $55/month or so with Vodafone just for the plan and have been doing that for years and don't get anything extra (part of it is sheer laziness and the other part is I like to have a lot of mobile data in the event my home internet goes down and/or I need to work remotely).

  • Mcuser on 23/11/2022 - 21:23

    Yep

  • Screamingeagle on 23/11/2022 - 22:22

    I used to have Optus a few years ago and I changed because despite living in a major city I could not actually make or receive a phonecall inside my house, I had to go outside to use my phone for voice calls. And at the time I was well inside their 4G areas.

  • branners on 24/11/2022 - 07:10

    Optus good or bad, Voda good or bad depends on where you are.
    My advice to anyone considering changing to a new provider would be to check out the towers close to where you live, with the ACMA website; https://web.acma.gov.au/pls/radcom/site_proximity.main_page

  • Sleeqb7 on 24/11/2022 - 11:12

    Depends entirely on the area.

    I went from 5 bars with Optus at home and work, changed to Woolworths Mobile (Uses Telstra network) and now get 2-3 bars tops in those locations.

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