Wide Mobile Coverage SIMs in Australia

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Wide Mobile Coverage SIMs in Australia

Posted 14 July 2019, Updated 30 July 2019

tl;dr

In Australia 4G coverage is now larger than 3G coverage. This means in Australia coverage for data through mobile phones is now wider than coverage for voice calls through mobile phones. This should be taken into consideration when purchasing SIMs. Two SIMs in particular are mentioned with different functional coverage although on same 4G network.

Summary

Very cheap phones with dual 4G slots and 700Mhz coverage are now becoming available.

In Australia 3G coverage is now not as good as 4G coverage with Telstra. There are likley still some areas where 3G coverage exists but 4G coverage is absent.

The other two providers, Optus and Vodaphone now have excellent 4G coverage in urban areas.

4G coverage without VoLTE enabled AND where there is no 3G coverage means SIM based phone calls and SMS/MMS cannot be sent or received. It does not matter if your phone is VoLTE enabled or not, the service provider must also enable VoLTE for your SIM.

The SMS/MMS replcement, RCS, does not require VoLTE. Because RCS in Australia is basically a failure (see below) and since VoLTE (see below) is a limited 4G add on service, 3G is still needed for SMS/MMS messaging when VoLTE is not available with 4G.

ALDImobile SIM

A good buy for wide 4G coverage in Australia without VoLTE.

Suitable if you have a cheap Android 4G capable phone, don’t need to make voice calls and don’t need SMS/MMS and are happy with social media or chat apps such as Telegram

Also suitable if you use iMessage, all your friends, family and other contacts are iMessage users then all you need is wide 4G without VoLTE.

AldiMobile provide very inexpensive prepaid SIMs that enable very wide 4G coverage but without VoLTE.

ALDImobile indicates their coverage is not as wide as the full Tesltra coverage. Tests show that neither their 4G or 3G coverage is as wide as full Telstra 4G and 3G coverage. If 3G coverage is absent where 4G coverage is present you cannot make phone calls or send/receive SMS/MMS over 4G with ALDImobile, even if you have a VoLTE enabled phone.

Coverage through Woolworths SIMs appears to be the same as through ALDImobile SIMs.

Boost Mobile SIM

A good buy for wide 4G coverage in Australia with VoLTE.

If you need SIM voice calls, SMS/MMS and data then you need 4G with VoLTE and a recent phone that is VoLTE enabled. Boost Mobile provided prepaid pins that are functionally equivalent to both postpaid and prepaid Telstra SIMs.

Comparing SIMs

Telstra, Boost Mobile, ALDImobile and Woolworths all use the Telstra 4G network. The Teltra 4G network is the only one with rural coverage and this is reflected in higher charges to use their network. Of the four, Telstra SIMs are the most expensive. Boost Mobile have straightforward prepaid plans, including 365 day plans. Woolworth prepaid plans are normal monthly type plans but working out the monthly price after the first few months is not obvious. ALDImobile have a flexible but odd arrangment. They have a low cost but high charge PAYG (pay as you go) base plan upon which you can add packs at cheaper rates, typically monthly. If you have exceptionally low usage it is theoretically possible on ALDImobile to pay $5 for your first year (including cost of SIM) and $15 per year after that on a PAYG only plan.

What are the differences between Boost Mobile and Telstra prepaid SIMs?

  • Boost Mobile 4G speed limited to 100Mbps?
  • Telstra SIM provide access to Telstra Air WiFi network that includes Fon access
  • Discounted tickets and data free access to some sports events?

Mobile data versus WiFi Hotspots

With cheap mobile data it is now less of an issue to put up with the inconvenience of finding and using free WiFi access, when mobile access is available.

If you still want to use WiFi access points instead of mobile data there are multiple choices near city centres, typically cafes.

Inconveniences of WiFi access outside a home or work environment include drop outs, slow speeds, highly limited range and limited accessibility.

What SIMS support VoLTE (Voice calls and SMS over 4G)

  • Optus
  • Vodafone
  • Telstra
  • Boost Mobile (uses Telstra network)

What SIMS support VoWiFi (Voice calls over WiFi)?

If your SIM does not support VoLTE then it is unlikely to support VoWiFi.

  • Optus postpaid only?
  • Vodafone postpaid only? Vodafone prepaid does not support VoWiFi
  • Telstra
  • Boost Mobile (uses Telstra network)

What inexpensive phones support 4G LTE?

The Umidigi A5 Pro was on presale at US$99.99 on AliExpress, reached a presale count of 27 000 and is still climbing.

This phone has been tested. Besides listed attractive features such as dual 4G slots, LTE Band 28 (700 MHz), 4GB RAM, 8 CPU cores, 32GB Flash and triple cameras, the A5 Pro surprisingly supports Camera2 API as well as OpenGL ES 3.2 and Vulkan with its Mali G71 GPU.

The phone supports the MTK chip service mode code *#*#3646633#*#* and this was used to verify with Telephony, BandMode that both SIM slots support 4G LTE band 28 (700 MHz).

Both VoLTE and VoWiFi have been confirmed to work.

There are no notification LEDs on the phone. However notifications can be received on inexpensive watches such as the Xiaomi Huami Amazfit Bip and Umidigi Uwatch2.

Some terminolgy is outlined below

WiFi

A serivce to enable data to be interchanged without wires. Typically uses 2.4GHz and 5GHz unlicesnsed radio frequency bands. A SIM card is not required to use WiFi. You can leave a SIM out of a mobile phone and still use WiFi for Internet, but not make or receive normal voice calls or SMS/MMS that rely on SIM for identification.

Mobile phones will also allow SIMs to be turned off with WiFi turned on or allow flight mode to be entered with WiFi subsequently turned back on (which leaves SIMs off). With SIMs off and WiFi on, Internet can still be accessed. This can help dramtically save battery power.

SIM

A small card that plugs into mobile telephones and other mobile devices enabling electronic identifcation of a subscriber to telephone and data services through mobile phone telephone towers. In Australia typically associate with a 10 digit phone number starting with 04.

WiFi Network

A service provided by a WiFi device that allows multiple WiFi enabled devices in range to communicate with each other, including itself. A SIM card is not required.

WiFi Hotpsot

A WiFi device, typically a modem, sometimes a mobile phone that forms a WiFI network and also allows connection from other WiFI devices to SIM based data services.

Public WiFi hotspots typically do not encrypt connections to them, meaning any sensitive data that is not encrypted can be exposed. Not as big a hazard as before when web sites did not force use of https, meaning users are being forced to encrypt. However care is still required. WiFi networks that force all connections to be encrypted will always require a password to be entered to access the network

Helpful to save power. In a remote location with very marginal 4G reception a data modem or WiFi spotpot with a good antenna can be left powered by a car battery while others with mobile phones can enter flight mode and just turn on WiFi, helping save their batteries from being quickly drained by weak signals.

3G

is a SIM based communication technology, primarily focussed on providing normal telephone voice call and SMS/MMS messaging services. An additional service is Internet based data services.

4G

is a SIM based communications technology primarily focussed on Internet based data services. An add on enhancement is VoLTE

VoLTE (Voice ofer LTE)

An additional SIM based service that may be available with 4G that enables 3G type voice and SMS/MMS services to be made available over 4G. Will then only use 3G for voice calls and SMS/MMS if 3G is present but 4G is too weak.

VoWiFi (Voice over WiFi)

A voice service that may be available provided a SIM is inserted in a device, WiFi is available and there is no 4G or 3G signals present or they are weak. VoWiFi is for SIM based voice only additional service. It does not enable SMS or MMS. SIM just needs to be inserted, the SIM does not need to be turned on or active. Flight mode can be active with just WiFi turned on. The phone with VoWiFi can access a WiFi hotspot but it will not use the SIM of that WiFi hotspot for call identification, it will use its own non active SIM.

VoWiFi is very helpful for saving power in remote locations with weak signals.

RCS (Rich Communication Services)

A competitor to iMessage by Apple. RCS is an IP or true Internet based SMS/MMS/Chat service with proven delivery using telephone number as ID. RCS is known as Chat by Android.

Might work in Australia with Telstra between some expensive older phones, such as S7, that are no longer updated or no longer receive updates.

A big disappointment. Around since 2007, has been forgotten about in the hype about 5G and since other chat services have left RCS behind in the dust, such as Telegram.

As of July 2019, Goggle is attempting to fix issues by bypassing telephone companies. These fixes are being trialed in the UK and France. Hopefully there will be a worldwide fix by late 2019.