Next G

[MotherNatureVer2]

: Finally a win for those of us who are having to suffer the really bad service of the Next G phones.

They are now touting a blue tick phone that seems to work out here. If you are having problems with your service ring the help line on 1800 888 888. Then for personal users select option 1 & option 1 again.

It might take a bit on the phone but as a resolution I am getting 3 new Country phones + an amount put onto my account for the other phone we have, with a cancellation of the rest of the contract (for the two still on contract).

Well worth the phone call if you are stuck with the Next G service only. Apparently the Country phone (ZTE165) isnt for latte sipping cafe types but as a robust workers phone (ideal for us out here) it hits the spot. It isnt a pretty phone nor is it a multi tasking thing ..... it is actually a phone first & foremost .... about time :P

[redxm]

Yep I can vouch for the ZTE, good phone and mine has survived a few drops. I have had mine in the car kit parked next to a car with a Nokia, I had service, Nokia didnt

[gtfpv]

you shoud try it in a dark room . it has a flouro aura around it . and heats up your ear when you use it .

[Pinch]

ZTE 252 is now my NextG country/farm/4WD phone. I got an 8dB gain magnetic mount antenna and patch lead from some place in Ashfield for about $50.

Seems ok, but without aerial didn't work as well in as many places than my old handheld only Hyundal HGC (yeah circa 1997) or Kyocera did on CDMA just up until they turned it off.

The 252 had some issues when first released, like my father in law's, but mine seems to be ok. Not used everyday though.

[MotherNatureVer2]

Well I will find out on Tuesday how good they really are ....... Will let you all know

[Fantome]

Mother Nature, if you want a spare ZTE 165 "country phone" you can have mine, we're only 50 kms west of you. The "rugged design" and "durable casing" has become discoloured and peeled off after only six months light use. It has been kept in a case from day one. Telstra has offered to replace it at a cost of $125 + $39.50 diagnosis charge. This matter has now been placed in the hands of the Dept. of Fair Trading. The female half of Fantome has a new Nokia 6120 which out performs it as does the LG 550 fitted to my fire service vehicle. If I didn't have to work between Gil and Broken Hill I'd be an Optus customer by now

[MotherNatureVer2]

Thats suprising Fantome. We have a few locals here with them & they love them, hence me checking it all out.

Must say yours is the first Ive heard about being that bad. I would tell telstra to stick their $125+ and you want a replacement. Use the 1800 number as they are Next G specific. Not sure what it is but they seem to listen.

We have locals with the Nokia & LG550 but they dont work out here. I get great service on my Samsung A501 in Gil and anywhere there is a tower.... just not here as there was a bad placement of the tower ..... down near Dennykymine .... Good for Coolah .... bad for us :(

[InfernoSR]

Thats rather interesting IMO... so far my LG TU550 has been awesome... we now have 3 in the family and the Bathurst SES has atleast 4 of them in 1 family... :P My parents have one out in Wee Waa and has been great for travelling even without the car kit fully installed.

[MotherNatureVer2]

Hubby currently has a LG TU500 .... biggest bit a heapa ever known to man ....... A couple of his mates have the LG TU550 ... one shot his during target pracitce ..... we all believe it was on purpose ..... It never found any more service that our ones.

The thing for us out here is service, we dont need all the bells and whistles ,...... we just need to ring people when we want not drive 2k's to find service .... Most of our phones work well ..... when your in any other town apart from our own.

Most of our troubles are service related due to the placement of the tower .......

[GasoLane]

The best thing I ever did with a mobile was to change from Telstra to Vodafone.

Does Vodafone work around there?

[MotherNatureVer2]

Wish it did....... we are stuck with this telstra crap until another telco can get servie uot here.

[GasoLane]

Hehheh...sounds like your as happy with 'Next G' as the Farmers around here.

[TURBOTAXI]

OK - from expeience driving around the west.

1. The Generation1 ZTE ie 151 are CRAP. We got rid of 400 of them after a few months. They were replaced with the Nokia 6120 - much better unit - only fault is that you cant hard wire a booster antenna.

2. The Jasjam is a good phone but pricey and the chipsets are not really that advanced anymore.

3.Booster antenna's make a huge difference - I get reception all through the forest and from Mendooran to Sydney . (just try to get a hard wired booster rather than a passive pick up)

[Pinch]

Originally Posted by TURBOTAXI

3.Booster antenna's make a huge difference - I get reception all through the forest and from Mendooran to Sydney . (just try to get a hard wired booster rather than a passive pick up)

What is the difference between the two? I have a magnetic mount antenna with a patch cable for my ZTE, and it makes a big difference to handset only, but if there is something better I could have a look at getting that too.

Cheers

[TURBOTAXI]

Originally Posted by Pinch

What is the difference between the two? I have a magnetic mount antenna with a patch cable for my ZTE, and it makes a big difference to handset only, but if there is something better I could have a look at getting that too.

Cheers

If you have a patch cable that plugs into the phone you are hard wired. a passive pick up is a cradle the phone sits in.

[Pinch]

Originally Posted by TURBOTAXI

If you have a patch cable that plugs into the phone you are hard wired. a passive pick up is a cradle the phone sits in.

Right, that makes sense!

Ta

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by TURBOTAXI

3.Booster antenna's make a huge difference - I get reception all through the forest and from Mendooran to Sydney . (just try to get a hard wired booster rather than a passive pick up)

Assuming your phone has a connection

Mine does everything else except connect to an ext antenna :

[TURBOTAXI]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Assuming your phone has a connection

Mine does everything else except connect to an ext antenna :

There is a passive pick up that will cradle the phone and boost signal.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by TURBOTAXI

There is a passive pick up that will cradle the phone and boost signal.

Ooh quick, show me where to get one of those!

[Falcon Coupe]

I had my ZTE for 3 weeks, I'm quite happy with it, never dropped out, receives in areas some other don't and battery lasts 6 days.

It's larger than many new phones but robust and fine for a tradesman, i don't need fashion accessories.

[WizBang]

I had mine work ZTE since November when we got over a 1000 of them .The rubber on some of them is peeling off but mine is still fine .They are very large which puts most people off and not the best looking phone .But don't get drop out too much in the country on hands free and the foxtel works great with the large screen .

[MotherNatureVer2]

Just an update. We now have had the phones for a couple of weeks and they are great for what we need. I was hoping to use one of the three that were sent but the teenage girl who at first said before seeing them 'Im not having a brick', changed to once looking at the other 14yr old sending texts from our lounge room (an unheard of thing up till now) that she thought they looked OK & yes she would have it .........

So now I am looking for another one for myself. (Fantome, if you would like to sell yours Im interested ) Roy so you have a Jasjam ???? Is that the one your talking of as being good through the forest ??

[Peuty]

MotherNature, I honestly wouldn't bother with a JasJam, we found that they are unreliable at best and bits like to fall off them too.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Peuty

MotherNature, I honestly wouldn't bother with a JasJam, we found that they are unreliable at best and bits like to fall off them too.

That is a very polite way of describing the worst piece of rubbish that have ever been connected to a phone system.....

Jimjams are baaaaaadd mkay...

Trios are fairly good, Blackjacks are a bit silly but not too bad and Crackberrys should be banned.

[Fantome]

pm sent

[MotherNatureVer2]

Thanks for the heads up Peuty, cant say I even know what they look like but I think they are more a PDA thinggy ????? Dont really need all that stuff. I have a computer at home ....... all I really need is a phone......

[MotherNatureVer2]

Replied ty

[FGX-351]

The 165s get pretty good coverage but like any other ZTE they are the daewoos of telstra's range.
Newer ones arent as bad as the first generation models but not that much better.
I honestly dont feel right selling them to customers.
Btw I work in a Telstra shop lol.

[Darthur]

ZTE's are vile. Only buy one if you can't afford a proper phone. There are plenty of other phones with the bluetick now aswell. I would reccomend any other brand over ZTE bar Sagem. They are the 2 brands to stay away from in phones.

[DeansXR8]

telstra give these ZTE's to their technicians to use. They seem to cop a fair beating, the only phone i've had that is a ruggered is the old nokia 5110.