no reception in 4g area

[sevyz]

have been to a few places lately (in the outback: innamincka, oodnadatta, arkaroola) where my friend had 4g with a few bars on his phone whereas mine showed no reception at all.
when i moved to another town reception is back as normal.
it's a "samsung a7 (2018)", all firmware and software are up to date, settings are correct. i've tried to switch to flight mode and back, turned the phone off and on again, wouldn't change anything. in settings/connection/mobile networks/network operators i've even tried to select manually, but telstra wouldn't show up at all.
i'm on a prepaid plan but i don't think this matters.
any idea what's wrong?

[SteveW_52]

Are you and your friend both on Telstra (full SIM not secondary ones like Aldi etc.)?

Not all devices are made equal unfortunately, and antenna design and LTE implementation is an area of variability - that's why Telstra doesn't give the Blue Tick to a lot of devices. I don't use Samsung phones so I don't know if Telstra ever marketed the A8 but that model isn't in any of the Blue Tick lists I have going back several years (including 2018).

[sevyz]

@SteveW_52 

thanks!

both on telstra.

samsung a7 (2018) was bought in europe, probably hasn't been on sale in australia and therefore not been tested by telstra. i guess that's why it won't show up on a blue tick list?

[SteveW_52]

Probably. It would seem like that model doesn't have great low signal performance, but I am not familiar with it. It might also use different LTE bands than what is used in those remote areas. I have been out there a few times and had trouble with some handsets, but others work fine - blue tick ones.

Did you try sending SMS at the time, they sometimes work even when voice doesn't..

[cf4 · Accepted solution]

The main frequency band used by Telstra in remote locations is band 28 (700 MHz). Your phone does not support band 28 and is the reason it has no reception in those remote locations.

[sevyz]

thanks, cf4!