Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Mobile reception is appalling in rural Australia, and it varies considerably with what carrier you are using - Telstra, Optus, Vodafone etc.
I was doing some work back in the early 00's in the New England Tablelands of NSW, and I recall the mobile phone range not coming on until about 5K's out of Armidale.
Smaller towns like Walcha, still had absolutely no range - and I was doing a job whereby it would have been very handy to have it - but there was none.
I don't believe it has changed much since then.
I currently have a 3G phone. We live on rurally 5 days a week. (About 30mins drive to the nearest village). If I go to the highest hill on our land, stand on one leg facing north-west when the wind is blowing at approx 5 knots and the sunspots are low, I can maybe manage to make the reception symbol change from that clothes-line looking thing to the '3G' logo. No bars though, of course not. I thought 3G was supposed to be for the 'man on the land'...or woman.
When I'm in our Sydney apt it's a different story. I can easily get 2 bars if I stand near the balcony door. Otherwise it's still spotty at best. This, in the middle of so called civilization.
Mind you, no probs making or receiving calls 100 miles outta Podunk, Wext TX.
6 years ago i could not get any phone reception at all from my flat, which is less than 5km from Brisbanes CBD.
Im with teltra and certainly seem to have fewer problems these days. Going to my parents house (300km west of Brisbane) I get a perfect 5 bar reception the whole way.
I have recently discovered that how new your phone can affect it's performance on a given network.
There are few places in rural SW WA that I have no signal, now that I have a new phone using the same network as before.
I now have coverage that I would consider "acceptable" or perhaps "pretty good" compared with Canadian mobile coverage in rural areas.
There are two issues with cell phones in America. One is coverage and the other is the phone. Verizon and the CDMA technology does a very good job - at leasat from Illinois to the Pacific Ocean. If you pair it with a really good phone then you get great coverage everywhere except in the mountains. It is why you travel with a CB and a NOAA weather radio, too.
if you do not have a good phone it doesn't make any difference who your carrier is. Sprint and VErizon roam on each others CDMA towers in rural areas. Sometiomes a different phone number will make all the difference in the world. I just went through this with a new CDMA phone The new number dropped calls, couldn't send text, etc.. The new phone number has no such issues. Most the give away phones with new contracts are not that good; it is why they are free. AT&T dominate in the large cities. I do not think their technology is as good as CDMA; I've had both AT&T and T-Mobile. The AT&T pay as you go phone was no good in a city but it was okay outside the city, T-Mobile doesn't work in rural Ameirca but it is fantastic in California.
Rural areas are tough because the cell towers are not located very close to each other. You wimply need as strong phone with 2 or more bands. One is not enough. This is some of the issues we have in rural America. I've had Motorola, Sanyo, Samsung, LG and iPhone, flip phones, touch phone and now the smart phone. I've had leather gloves, body gloves and no gloves, plus phones with and without the protective screen cover. I prefer leather for the flip phone, The rubber type body buard for the non-flip phone and a screen cover is a must. I much perfer Samsung and iPhone. for better builds and better cameras.
Location: Metro Atlanta (Sandy Springs), by way of Macon, GA
2,014 posts, read 5,101,169 times
Reputation: 2089
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20
America has many more major cities than Australia, so I imagine the urban influence is more pervasive in rural areas than here. There are few places more than about 200 miles from a major city, while here there are towns 2,000 miles from a major city.
wow, I never realized Australia was so rural
By the time you get down to the 43rd largest city in Australia, the population is 32,000+
I agree 100% with Trimac20's comment - I lived in the US for >5 years and AU for 5 years.
Simply put, Australia is like 60~70s America in terms of infrastructure development. The amenities in Australia are crappy compared to the US. For e.g., not having many retailers, benches in the parks, limited choices of items, foods, and so on.
Another reason that rural AU feels even more rural than rural US comes from the stronger suburban feel the Aussie residential areas have.
If you try the google street maps, the American suburbs feel more 'urban' than the Aussie equivalents b/c the US houses are at least 2-3 stories tall covering broader areas, whereas the Aussie houses are mostly single-floored with roofs covering most of them.
Did anyone who's been to both AU and US notice this?
This is not necessarily true. It depends upon the state, region, architecture, geography and history of the area where you live. In the old south, for instance you find moss hanging in the trees and the large mansions that are a hold-over from the days of slavery. In the southwest single story homes with the tile roofs and swamp coolers are more common due to the oppressive dry desert heat and sand storms. The Midwest has four seasons. It is not unusual to see the two story clapboard farm houses twenty miles apart because the lower level of the house was used for entertaining and eating while the upper story was used for sleeping. It is also mucb more humid in the summer and most home today have air conditioning. The small compact bunglow and cape cod designs are more common in the Midwest too because most lots are smaller a 1/4 acre or less. And yes you can find the mansions scattered about but, it is more rare and very out of place -- kind of like raising a pet lion at home in the middle of Sydney. .
Something else to remember is the geography of America dictates may things. There is two major mountain ranges that stretch from Canada to nearly the southern border, five Great Lakes plus several great rivers that criss-cross America, that flood and divide it, and large lakes, too.
What is true in Georgia and Louisiana is not necessarily true in Illinois or in New Mexico or even in Nw Jersey. Most little rural towns do not have many retail stores or many services. It depends upon the state, the population and the area in which it is located. Something else to remember is that farm communiites don't pay a lot of attention to what the large cities and their suburbs are doing. In Illinois for instance Chicagoland and its suburbs is 10M people. There is only four other owns in the rest of the state that approach 100,000 or even 50,000 residents. Less than 10,000 is far more common. Many of the Chicago suburbs are over 100,000 population. Cities 100,000 or less that are not in the Chicago area do not have suburbs; we have subdivisions, which is entirely differnt. Most suburbs are small ciites with their own governemnt. The subdivision has no such form. .
..."Another reason that rural AU feels even more rural than rural US comes from the stronger suburban feel the Aussie residential areas have. If you try the google street maps, the American suburbs feel more 'urban' than the Aussie equivalents b/c the US houses are at least 2-3 stories tall covering broader areas, whereas the Aussie houses are mostly single-floored with roofs covering most of them. "
?
What standardbredgal said is very true for the areas she lived in, but it is not true for every rural area in every state in America. .The North is as different from the South as the East cost is from the West Coast. The huge difference is Liberal versus Conservatve and most of it is rooted in religion. The north is where you find the Lutheran, Catholic, Methodis, Episcopal , Presbyterian Angelican, Greek Orthodox and Mormon Churches, and Jewish enclaves. The south is ultra-conservative, ultra-Christian. It is where you find the Baptists, Assemblies of God, The south spawned the KKK and the Hitler mentality of: if it ain't white,. it ain't right and it should be eradicated", but hid like the cowards under white sheets to burn and kills. The hate groups still have a death grip on the sourth.
You need to know the history. During the Civil War the South tried to withdraw from the United States to keep the slaves. The US Constitution clearly seperates Church and State. The south is mad because the 10 Commandments and other religious items cannot be displayed on Governent property. Religion is banned in fedreally funded schools. And the south is mad about it too. So yes, if you are in a southern state and you are not white and straight, you ain't right. And it is sad.
When you get past the road block of the evil twins, church and politics, there is little difference between rural areas in the US and Austrailia I live except crops. I live 200 miles from St. Louis or Chicago and 20 miles from a neighbor town. What might be different is this. In the USin most rural counties the city that us the seat of governernment usually has the hospital, doctors, lawyers, grocers and other services - wheras the other communiites in the county not so much.
After reading this, I feel compelled to point out that America is a large and diverse nation; you cannot believe all that you read, because many people are completely ignorant of what other parts of the nation are like.
I wonder if Australia is the same way, where wild rumors abound. Do people in Sydney have wild, vivid imaginations when it comes to the reality of life in the desert outback?
After reading this, I feel compelled to point out that America is a large and diverse nation; you cannot believe all that you read, because many people are completely ignorant of what other parts of the nation are like.
I wonder if Australia is the same way, where wild rumors abound. Do people in Sydney have wild, vivid imaginations when it comes to the reality of life in the desert outback?
Seriously. How can someone be so ignorant to perpetuate ridiculous stereotypes about his/her own nation like that?
Seriously. How can someone be so ignorant to perpetuate ridiculous stereotypes about his/her own nation like that?
You mean like people from other parts of the USA asking if it is safe to visit the south if you are black?
That was a thread here on CD by the way......
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
