Will the Fairphone 2 work in Australia

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Sorry, I just assumed that. :slight_smile:

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I am asking that because my girlfriend is from Australia, so I go to that land more than once; sadly I’m from italy, I was curious about the option to use two sim in my phone when I will be there, one italian and one australian (if it works).

thank you all for the answers!

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Hi Deedend,

As it happens, I was in Australia last March, and my FP1 worked like a charm with a prepaid card I bought on Sydney Airport. Not sure what provider it was, but it was a fairly (pun not intended) big one.
So I think you should be good there too.

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Thank you a lot for the information, I hope that FP2 will be compatible too (even if I had read that for LTE there could be some bands that will not works)

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2 posts were split to a new topic: FP1 Connectivity problems (Austrlia)

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Hey all,

I’ve done some legwork! I’m not an expert by any means, so take this all with a grain of salt. I’d love if someone could double-check what I’ve written and provide clarification, I’m particularly unsure of the practical differences of FDD and TDD for 4G technologies.

Anway! I’m from Australia trying to get the phone as well. I’m not an expert in cellphone networks, but here’s my understanding:

Here are the bands that Fairphone 2 works on, as linked above earlier in the thread:

  • GSM/GPRS/EDGE (2G): Quad-band: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz

  • WCDMA (3G): Bands 1 (2100 MHz), 2 (1900 MHz), 8 (900 MHz)

  • LTE Advanced (4G): Bands 3 (1800 MHz), 7 (2600 MHz), 20 (800 MHz)

We can compare this with the network frequencies for Australia, obtained from the GSM World Coverage Map:

  • 2G: 900, 1800

  • 3G: Telstra offers 850/2100, Optus offers 900/2100, Vodafone offers 850/900/2100. Vodafone are phasing out 850 as indicated here.

  • 4G: Telstra offers 700/900/1800/2100, with 2600 in “some areas” - they will likely use it more in 2016, according to wikipedia.
    Optus offers 700/1800/2600, as well as 2300 Mhz in Canberra, and 2100 Mhz in Darwin, Cairns, Sunshine Coast, and Hobart.
    Vodafone offers 850/1800 Mhz

Ok, here are the answers anyone coming to this thread is probably looking for. 2G should work fine with everyone [Edit by @Stefan, Source], for 3G and 4G I’ll break it up by provider.

Telstra:

  • 3G: 2100 Mhz is supported. However, reading this comment carefully implies that the 2100 Mhz is only used for the downlink, meaning 3G probably won’t actually be supported.

  • 4G: 1800 Mhz is support, and 2600 Mhz may be used more in 2016. I would be inclined to say that there is no “uplink” and it won’t be supported… however, this post on an Australian Networking forum (ctrl+f to “4G Band Plans”) implies that there is both a “Tx” (transmission) and “Rx” (receiving) frequency in the 1800 Mhz bandwidth. So it might actually work for 4G! I’d love for someone to provide more insight either way :slight_smile:

Optus:

  • 3G: 900/2100 Mhz are both supported. So I think Optus 3G should work.

  • 4G: 1800 and 2600 Mhz are both supported. However, I am unsure if one is uplink and the other is downlink, or if an uplink/downlink is workable on both.Whirlpool forums seems to think so, but I can’t confirm. Either way, my guess is that 4G will work, but I’m not certain. I’d love it if someone could help me here!

Vodafone:

  • 3G: 900/2100 Mhz are both support. So I think Vodafone 3G should work.

  • 4G: 1800 Mhz is supported. However, I am unsure if it there is both an uplink and a downlink on this frequency. Again, Whirlpool forums seems to think so, but I can’t confirm. My guess is that it will work.

My Verdict:

Telstra: 3G probably isn’t supported, 4G might be.
Optus: 3G is probably supported, 4G probably is as well.
Vodafone: 3G is probably supported, 4G probably is as well.

I’m with Vodafone at the moment, so I’ll put in my Sim and if it doesn’t work, I’ll try with Optus.

Again, I’m not an expert, and I’d love if someone could provide more details, particularly in regards to 4G.

Thanks for reading!

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12

Hi @moomaniser,

Thx for this complete guide regarding fair phone and AU networks.
I’m planning to go to AU soon, and I was wondering if I shall order a fair phone 2 now as I’m still in Europe.

Did you try (or anyone else) the phone in Australia?

It would be great to have a positive test feedback, including the provider used for FP2.
Cheers,

Alban

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I’m planning to go to Australia too, maybe at the end of the next year… If you try FP2 in that land before can you report how (and if) it works?

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Noone has tried the phone in australia yet. Or anywhere in the world to be exact. Except for a few prototypes

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Hi @albans, sorry my reply is a few days late! Fairphones have not been sent out yet (I think), and mine certainly hasn’t been. I ordered mine a long while after I wrote the above comment - just a couple of weeks ago actually. Delivery is expected to a family friend in the UK in January, and then they are sending it to me in Australia (they owe me a favour so it’s cheaper than other mail forwarding).

So yeah, I won’t be able to play around with it until probably mid-late January. However, I will be updating this thread with my experiences as soon as it arrives, so you can look forward to that.

So with that all said, I would be very surprised if there are not other people who get their phone in Australia and post about it before me.

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Hi @moomaniser, thanks for all the info on bandwidth. I’m in Aus too and considering getting the FP2. Have you got yours yet and if so how its going?

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Hey @olaf1 and anyone wanting an update:

Due to the delays in production and delivery, my phone took longer than I said earlier. It arrived at my family friend in England on Monday 14th Feb, so I’m hoping to have it soon. I still plan to update this post with details :smile:

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Thanks for the update @moomaniser, look forward to hearing how you go with FP2

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I am also looking forward to hearing an update @moomaniser. I have been interested in the fairphone for sometime, however as it happens I am currently in the market for a new device. Hoping to hear good things about the FP2 in Australia. My current provider is Dodo(Optus network) but will consider changing if Optus is not compatible.

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Just stumbled upon the request now … yes, both are working here in Australia. We had SIMs from TPG and Amaysim in the FP1 and I have an Amaysim card in my FP2 - afaik are both Optus operated* - but tbh I don’t think it’d make much of a difference, though, @moomaniser answer is more detailed there :wink:

3G and 4G are working fine and I generally had no issues with connection so far - besides the usual issues here on the country side :slightly_smiling:

* @PKontzionis - it should work with Dodo as well

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Thanks for the info @retrovertigo. Also has anyone been able to get the VAT refunded if they’re buying the phone in Australia? I can’t find a way to do it, as they won’t ship to Australia, so you have to ship it to somewhere in the EU (and hence pay VAT), then to get them to forward it to Aus.

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I came back from Australia a few days ago and would like to ad some remarks from experience using my Fairphone 2 (Western Australia between Esperance and Exmouth March/April 2016):

  • Optus network (Optus SIM and Coles/Optus SIM) works fine (up to 4G where available).
  • My German T-Mobile SIM could connect to Telstra network after switching SIM to 4G/3G/2G as peferred network mode (only 2G didn’t work at that place). I could connect to the mobile site from T-Mobile where I could have bought data volume.
  • Telstra has the best network coverage; at some remote places they are the only ones who provide service. At one of these places I tried to my T-Mobile SIM. In rural areas there is no service at all (see also the coverage maps of the providers).
  • 4G is only available in bigger cities (in my case mainly Perth).
  • I preferred Optus to Telstra because they had special offers on data volumes (double volume) and seemed to be also cheeper in general (without offers).
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@olaf1 tbh I didn’t even try to get the VAT back as assumed I would still be “European customer” - even if I then organise the phone to be forwarded to me in Oz.

@AFS - that’s a great trip, isn’t it :wink: you are right that Telstra still offers by far the best coverage, but you are paying for it - at least if you get a SIM straight form them. In case someone is interested, cheaper alternatives are:

  • ALDIMobile => uses the Telstra 4GNetwork
  • Amaysim => Optus 4G Network
    I am with them as they offer the most transparent pricing model on the market; started by the German SIMYO guys
  • TPG seems to be the only 3rd party carrier using the Vodafone 4G Network (others use the 3G network only)
  • general & more up-to-date comparison could be Whistleout - Mobile Plans comparison

:zap: Be aware that you often see offers similar to “Pay $20 get $450 worth of calls”. This is due to per minute rates of $1. Once you are over your limit the minute will start actually costing you $1. In addition you also pay a so called flag fall per call - like in the old days when someone actually had to set up the connection for you. That means a 2 minutes call might cost $2.20.
Amaysim and ALDIMobile have clearer pricing. YOu pay $10 you get e.g. $10 worth of calls for $0.10 a minute + no flagfall.

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Mines currently working well in Australia, using the Optus network. I get 4g too. :slight_smile:

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I can add to the chorus of satisfied Fairphone 2 users in Australia. I’m with Virgin (Optus network) and have been using mine for a few weeks now and everything seems to work as it should. (I don’t get 4G, but that’s because I’m still on my old 3G plan.)

Thanks to @retrovertigo, @moomaniser and the other earlier contributors to this thread who gave me the confidence to buy one and get it shipped via a friend in Austria!

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