Important information when choosing a repeater.

Australia has a very mature mobile phone network environment with Optus, Telstra and TPG/Vodafone currently operating networks nationally. This however does not mean that there are not coverage black spots or areas with poor indoor coverage. Australia is a geographically a large country with a total area of 7,692,024 km2 and around 2,300,000 km2 of this has mobile phone coverage. Telstra claims they are  largest network covering  99.3% of the Australian population.

Coverage on any mobile network depends on where you are, the mobile device you're using, and whether there’s an external antenna attached. It's important to understand that different devices have different capabilities. Each device performs differently depending on network coverage and device type, make and settings.

Some important factors to consider when choosing a mobile device and any accessories are listed below:
• Where will you be using your device – metropolitan areas, regional areas, rural areas, out at sea or indoors?
• Will you be using it?
o in handheld mode
o with a directly coupled car kit and an external antenna
o with a patch lead and an external antenna
o with an in car booster

There are rogue vendors selling illegal repeaters on the web and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has the following web page with some helpful guidelines.