Mobile with best reception for rural area

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Mobile with best reception for rural area

sxz

695 posts

Ultimate Geek

#152313 23-Sep-2014 13:23

I've been asked to help with a new phone in an area that has between 0-2 bars reception for Spark & Vodafone networks.

I really like the Vodafone femtocell, but in this instance it's not practical, as reception is needed over the whole farm if possible. Plus, these people are with Telecom (if Vodafone had a solution however......). I believe telecom does have better reception where this farm is.

My question is this: Is there any phone (on any network) that priorities good reception above everything else? Is there a list of phoes with best reception? Telstra Ausralia shows the Galaxy S5 and the Xperia z2 mini as being best for rural areas. Is that true for NZ cell frequencies?

I see some places sell cellphone repeaters. Can these be installed with an areal at each of the main farm sheds? Are they legal in NZ? are they effective?

Cheers!

wongtop

543 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1134570 23-Sep-2014 14:01

Telstra uses similar frequencies to the Spark network, so if a phone has been tested by Telstra and shows good reception in rural areas, this should be indicative of the handsets which are likely have good reception on Spark.

Cellphone repeaters are generally not legal, though I think 2degrees allow one type of repeater on their network. Probably not useful for you though.

Inphinity

2572 posts

Uber Geek

#1134571 23-Sep-2014 14:04

As far as I'm aware, the Cel-Fi repeaters are approved for use for 2degrees or Spark. Whether they're suitable for your needs is another story.

coffeebaron

5699 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1134907 23-Sep-2014 20:33

I'd get something with LTE 700 band; i.e. HTC M8, Galaxy S5 (newer version), iPhone 6. Ultimately once voice goes over 4G, and coverage expands, an LTE 700 device will give you the best coverage.

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timmmay

16230 posts

Uber Geek

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Subscriber

#1134925 23-Sep-2014 20:59

I went to a presentation by a member of a rural council who wanted to provide phones to their staff with the best possible reception. At the time their testing that was the S4. The S5 is probably better.

quickymart

5436 posts

Uber Geek

#1135029 23-Sep-2014 22:07

Blackberries used to be quite good for areas with poor XT signal.