No need even for a second phone if the iPhone is the one you intend to use after the test period. Just insert the new SIM and trial it for a few hours each day in the periods you are most likely to use it everyday. An example would be peak periods, late afternoon, lunchtime and morning each time for an hour or so. If the reception is what you wanted then just get another SIM and port your number before activating that one. Make sure to test over the weekends and after school hours eg between say 3 & 6 pm weekdays to get some idea if congestion will be an issue. Reception should be readily apparent but congestion will be a little more fickle to track.
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Well, I already have one and I’d rather not be switching SIMs in and out. I’ll ppick up an Optus and a Voda sim (yeah got lots of phones) and see how they are around here. I dont travel much anymore so really only need at home and around town and very occasionally on the road.
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Np just some phones have better reception than others…even just to test reception on your iPhone will be worthwhile and should only take about 10 minutes or so to test around your house and maybe another 10 to test it at your shops etc.
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Exactly. I think my iphone SE and iphone 7 willbe up yo the task 
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An update as the shutdown gets closer.
Vodafone’s going early, in December this year; Telstra in June 2024; and Optus in October 2024.
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… potentially subject to project slippage and/or customer rebellion. 
For me the problem is not so much mobile phones and tablets as the “other devices” mentioned in the earlier post.
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The “other devices” - I have been sent a new dongle for the remote medical monitor and told to take the old 3G dongle to the tip for recycling. Fortunately at no cost to me (although the service is $300 a year and I get one report).
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MY SMART meter modem, 3g, WAS replaced with a 4g, modem 3 months ago. So many devices are affected by the demise of 3g.
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It’s a similar scenario to when the older 2G or CDMA services were removed and 3G took over, or when Telstra’s shutdown the original analogue mobile network for digital and CDMA. I’ve had devices from every generation. While I miss some, I don’t miss the slow speeds when using data services.
To note - the electromagnetic spectrum is a limited resource. 4G is a more efficient technology than 3G. 4G provides more data capacity and a greater number of connected calls/services for the area covered. The 4G services provided by Telstra and Optus include the 700MHz bands which are intended to provide coverage equal to or greater than the 3G they are replacing. Final judgement will not be possible for us regional living or travelling Aussies until the 3G is fully decommissioned. I’ve noted there are still areas where my mobile connects to 3G in preference to 4G.
It may be of interest - the recently announced preliminary findings of ACCC Regional Mobile Infrastructure Inquiry. The inquiry invited public submissions. Given the opportunity for critical commentary the findings have much to say about the future of 4G and 5G, and scant on the impact of 3G being shut down.
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Is it very efficient when it doesn’t exist on the users side in a practical sense while 3G bubbles along burning resources.
In leafy Eltham the ‘Grey Spotted Telco’ is as common an experience as corrugated unsealed roads across regional Australia. No 3G? No reliably available service and often no service at all regardless of 4G or 3G ( 5G - dreaming!) Telstra and/or Optus alike depending on where one is standing at the moment.
Dual SIMS can be relatively expensive for those of us lucky enough to usually have one of the two at enough signal strength to use and have a phone that can use weak and variable signals (the selection of same getting no input from Choice reviews). One need not be in the bush or between regional cities to suffer what in many locales is 3rd world coverage.
It is not only phones but all sorts of devices reliant on wireless services from alarms of all sorts to payment devices and more.
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Empathy can be delivered in many ways, sincerity optional. We only have to go outside or stand in the window to have confidence most calls will connect. For others in our district there have been numerous offers of assistance and promise from the Federal MHR. Usually to the once in 3 yearly cycle of a new mobile black spot program.
No problem just up the road from the Mountains with $19M of Federal money recently spent on upgrading the state controlled local main road to help traffic access around the zoo up the road.
Improving Mobile coverage around the Glass House Mountains and township, a work in progress since at least 2014?
How significant a problem area or a response to the true nature of the problem?
The Telstra mobile tower located barely 100m from the town centre and a short walk to the railway station remains lost in the woods. Sometimes we “can’t see the wood for the trees”. Hopefully there are fewer trees and there is less wood in leafy Eltham.
P.S.
Despite the economic realities of the mobile network providers, coverage and delivery of reliable connectivity has long been a promise of the Federal Governments irrespective of leadership. Accountability less evident with the outsourcing of all things digital.
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The time has come, step by step, with Vodafone in the lead.
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Hi, I have just joined the Choice Community having discovered it by accident whilst searching for a reliable information source regarding the planned shut down of the 3G network.
We have two Xiaomi Redmi brand mobiles a Note 10 and a Note 9 Pro.
Having just been notified by Catch Connect that the Note 10 phone will not work on the upcoming change-over to the new 4G network I went to the on line Xiaomi Global Assist site only to find that they could not offer any advice!! I tried going to the Catch Connect chat service linked to the changeover only to find another brick wall.
Does anybody know where I can go for some tech advice on whether any of the the two
models (Note 9 Pro and the Note 10) will work on the Australian 4G network. I don’t want to go to the expense of purchasing two replacement phones un-necessarily.
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Welcome @Kenmar1 to the Community.
First of all, the 4G network has been the widely available generation of mobile network for a long time now. Also, the shutdown of 3G has long been advised.
From what I can see, your phones are both 4G capable and should be good. However, there are some older 4G phones that could have problems with some newer features like Volte and could have a problem.
I am in the same boat. An older Oppo phone, and has been on 4G since day one, but Optus sent me a few messages that it may not work once 3G shuts down. I shall see.
One problem is that a lot of phones use 3G for triple-zero emergency calls, and there are phones that are 4G-capable but not VoLTE-capable. As a result, Telstra has deferred its 3G shutdown until late August to give people time to upgrade their phones.
Telstra customers can check if their device will continue to function after it switches off 3G by texting “3” to 3498. In addition, Telstra will soon add a voice recording to the start of calls made using 3G-dependent devices as a “reminder to take action”. This will be removed when the device has been upgraded.
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The following are the Bands used in Australia
The Note 10 Redmi supports the following LTE Bands
The Note 9 supports the following LTE Bands
The current 3G bands in the 900 MHz allocation are going to be revamped to the the LTE 4G bands, and as seen above both the Note 9 and Note 10 support all the required Bands for 4G including any of the revamped MHz bands. OPTUS and Vodaphone (TPG) used to use the 900 MHz for 3G transmission, this will be changed to 4G transmission. Telstra already used the 900 MHz band for LTE 4G. This will be the same for the 850 MHz bands as they will all move to 4G transmission for those that used them for 3G. Catch Connect use the OPTUS network for their phone service, I don’t think that your phone service should be impacted unless Catch Connect are not willing to pay for the access to 4G version of the 900 MHz band from OPTUS (this would only impact the areas that they use 4G in that band).
There are some styles of the Note 9 Pro and the Note 10 that support a more limited amount of 4G bands such as the M2003J6A1I (Xiaomi Curtana A), to really determine compatibility the model number will help determine what bands your phones support.
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You may need to go into your phone settings menu to turn on 4G and also to turn on VoLTE. My older Android phone has settings to use 3G only, or 3G and 4G depending on what it finds best signal from. We have lived in an area with both services and marginal coverage. It appears from online content and similar questions asked that both of the Xaomi models mentioned are VoLTE capable. At least in other countries. If a 4G model phone does not have VoLTE capability it will still connect to the 4G network and provide data/SMS services. It will not be able to make or receive voice calls.
You might consider contacting Xaiomi support for absolute certainty quoting your model number as features can vary between the same models supplied to different markets.
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A site I use for finding phone band support is frequencycheck.com (if you use Firefox and or use a ad blocker this site will be much more pleasant to use ad wise, just remember they generate their funding from ads). For Xiaomi ones the section to look under is at Xiaomi Device Frequency Band and Carrier Compatibility Information
If they have the model number the list will be more usable than if they just look for the Xiaomi Note 9 or 10 as there are multiple versions of these including 5G ones of the units.
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