Leaving petrol in the tank

Thanks everybody for the replies and to CraigB for raising the subject. Ashore's debit card solution is great and will solve my objections on that score as well as providing security for internet purchases.

I chose Telstra ADSL because my mobile and home phone are with them, so I get a small rebate. Also they had a self-install kit so I didn't have to lose a day's income waiting at home for a technician. (the house has Optus cable but Optus wanted to go through the whole install process again - permission from landlord, inspect the premises, blah, blah.)

I still have a few months to run on the Telstra contract but after that will definitely look at all the options put forward.

regards
Coldamus

Straight from the Tel$tra broadband site:

Things you should know
Monthly Plan Allowance (MB and GB) means combined upload and download data transfer (except for some traffic provided from time to time by BigPond at no cost). For the purposes of calculating usage, 1 Gigabyte = 1000 Megabytes. Unused usage forfeited.

I really cannot believe people put up with this tripe.
400MB for $39.95 then $0.15/MB beyond that - can be a very expen$ive account to operate especially as the 400MB is for 512K download speed.
With my 512K connection, I can usually achieve ~52KB/sec downloads. Extrapoloating that gives you only ~131 minutes before you blow your budget !YEOUCHY :eek: (400 x 1024 / 52 / 60)

The sting in the tail is that even just browsing the web, there is so much two way traffic, which you DO get charged for, that you can blow this 400MB real easy.

<Hinch> Shame Shame Shame </Hinch>

And I keep getting an Indian man calling at tea time wanting me to come back. Go jump in the bog swamp is my reply :p . (my name for Bigpond)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sturdee

Craig,


I am on Optus cable 13 gig plan for $ 69.95 a month. Currently they also give a free 9 gig midnight to dawn extra download which is not generally advertised. When we exceed this we are not charged extra but access is reduced to dial up speed. :eek:

As my daughter uses the lion share she pays $ 50.00 and I pay the rest. Also as we use Optus telephone service I get an extra discount on my phone (for using both services) of $ 9.00 a month.

BTW there was no installation fee and no fixed contract.


Peter.

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Peter,

I can see that for your usage model, you do seem to be getting value for money, and good luck to you say I :).

Thing is, for me, I have absolutley no need for that amount of bandwith in a month, so why should I pay $30 over what I'm paying now for a heap of space I'll never use?

I reckon that if I could get a gig per month at the cable speed I'm getting now for $5 extra, well then I'd be reasonably happy.

Craig

Howdy all--- On the questions and answers re internet connections. I have been with TPG and the plan is 20 Gigabytes per month at a speed of 1.5 MBPS and all this for $49.95 per month. A similiar plan is still available for metro users and another plan which is dearer is available for country users. Check the TPG website. I am more than happy with the service and the plan we have. I paid for the modem when I changed to ADSL. You find the slow servers very quickly and I can only use about half of what is provided.

I dont know of any better deal available.

Kind Regards

Mike. :D :D :D :D :D :D Thats a TPG Smile.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MICKYG

Howdy all--- On the questions and answers re internet connections. I have been with TPG and the plan is 20 Gigabytes per month at a speed of 1.5 MBPS and all this for $49.95 per month. A similiar plan is still available for metro users and another plan which is dearer is available for country users. Check the TPG website. I am more than happy with the service and the plan we have. I paid for the modem when I changed to ADSL. You find the slow servers very quickly and I can only use about half of what is provided.

I dont know of any better deal available.

Kind Regards

Mike. :D :D :D :D :D :D Thats a TPG Smile.

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Mike,
It's great that you are so happy with your deal. Well done you :)

However, how do you know that you are actually getting 1.5 MBS?

And is that download, or DL + UL combined?

What is the total cost of your service over the contract period. ?

Also, TPG buy their bandwith from Telstra don't they?

Quote:

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Also, TPG buy their bandwith from Telstra don't they?

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ADSL is over the phone lines (copper) which is all Telstra. Everyone else are retailers and uniformly cheaper than Telstra.

Download speeds and upload speeds are different with ADSL. Mine is 1.5mbs download and 256kbs upload. Download limits are really download and upload combined.

Grunt,
There is, is there not, a freebie software program you can download that will "count the bytes" and report on what you are actually getting?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kiwigeo

Richard.....are Telstra still charging for uploads as well as downloads?

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I dunno mate. I just get the flat fee charged each month. And it's always changing - if I'd hung out for three weeks, I would have got different deals and free install. I didn't hang out because I'd just missed the free install by a week. It's one of those weird things, and the TELSTRA shops are friggin' useless. Do all your research on the net, then ring Telstra and get them to talk you through it. I forget the difference it made now, but it did make a difference.

Cheers
Richard

Quote:

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Originally Posted by craigb

Mike,
It's great that you are so happy with your deal. Well done you :)

However, how do you know that you are actually getting 1.5 MBS?

And is that download, or DL + UL combined?

What is the total cost of your service over the contract period. ?

Also, TPG buy their bandwith from Telstra don't they?

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Hi Craigb,

From decent servers we're regularly getting around 150kbps downloads so I think that equates to the full 1.5MBps. (Found this online if you're interested. http://www.tcpiq.com/tcpiq/linespeed...nectionId=4733 Shows TPG to avg around 1200kb so a little less than the full speed but still not toooo shabby)

Only the download is metered (as far as i know) and after 20 gig the speed just throttles to 64k.

For a 6mths contract total cost would be approx $488 which included a Dlink ADSL modem. (At the time of "signing up" there was no 6mth min contract involved)

As stated in a post above all providers use Telstra lines.

Hope that helps.

Regards Mike

As long as your neighbours have wireless it only costs you the d-link
much cheeper and no limits.



. He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead.

No contracts I say, thats why I'm with iinet on the Lite scheme with the fax line on iiphone for $50 month:


<TABLE class=table_generic cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TH> </TH><TH>iibroadband2 monthly price</TH><TH>iiphone monthly line rental</TH><TH>down/up speed (kbps)</TH><TH>quota (peak + offpeak)</TH></TR><TR><TD class="ctl_primary primary_text line_dark" noWrap>pay as you go
with iiphone</TD><TD class="light line_light">$29.95
($59.95 cap)</TD><TD class="light line_light">$29.95</TD><TD class="light line_light">up to 12000/1000</TD><TD class="ctr_light line_light">500MB, then
$0.06/MB</TD></TR><TR><TD class="cbl_primary primary_text" noWrap>pay as you go
without iiphone</TD><TD class=dark>$39.95
($69.95 cap)</TD><TD class=dark> </TD><TD class=dark>1500/256</TD><TD class=cbr_dark>250MB, then
$0.06/MB</TD></TR><TR><TD class=gap colSpan=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD class="ctl_primary primary_text line_dark" noWrap>starter
with iiphone</TD><TD class="light line_light">$39.95</TD><TD class="light line_light">$29.95</TD><TD class="light line_light">up to 12000/1000</TD><TD class="ctr_light line_light">2GB + 2GB</TD></TR><TR><TD class="cbl_primary primary_text" noWrap>starter
without iiphone</TD><TD class=dark>$49.95</TD><TD class=dark> </TD><TD class=dark>1500/256</TD><TD class=cbr_dark>1GB + 1GB</TD></TR><TR><TD class=gap colSpan=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD class="ctl_primary primary_text line_dark" noWrap>light
with iiphone</TD><TD class="light line_light">$49.95</TD><TD class="light line_light">$29.95</TD><TD class="light line_light">up to 12000/1000</TD><TD class="ctr_light line_light">10GB + 10GB</TD></TR><TR><TD class="cbl_primary primary_text" noWrap>light
without iiphone</TD><TD class=dark>$59.95</TD><TD class=dark> </TD><TD class=dark>1500/256</TD><TD class=cbr_dark>5GB + 5GB</TD></TR><TR><TD class=gap colSpan=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD class="ctl_primary primary_text line_dark" noWrap>medium
with iiphone</TD><TD class="light line_light">$69.95</TD><TD class="light line_light">$29.95</TD><TD class="light line_light">up to 12000/1000</TD><TD class="ctr_light line_light">20GB + 20GB</TD></TR><TR><TD class="cbl_primary primary_text" noWrap>medium
without iiphone</TD><TD class=dark>$79.95</TD><TD class=dark> </TD><TD class=dark>1500/256</TD><TD class=cbr_dark>10GB + 10GB</TD></TR><TR><TD class=gap colSpan=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD class="ctl_primary primary_text line_dark" noWrap>heavy
with iiphone</TD><TD class="light line_light">$89.95</TD><TD class="light line_light">$29.95</TD><TD class="light line_light">up to 12000/1000</TD><TD class="ctr_light line_light">40GB + 40GB</TD></TR><TR><TD class="cbl_primary primary_text" noWrap>heavy
without iiphone</TD><TD class=dark>$99.95</TD><TD class=dark> </TD><TD class=dark>1500/256</TD><TD class=cbr_dark>20GB + 20GB</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

There are a few marginally better deals available but they all seem to have contracts. Don't buy a modem off an ISP, get one from your local geek for a $100 and save yourself the brass.

Cheers

It's great to see veryone using wonderful service providers, but who do they call when something goes wrong? Telstra......(i sell Telstra so i'am biased)

If you are on ADSL great, i can't get that and use ISDN but i would be checking the speed that your paying for, as ADSL share's bandwith amongst all user's on that exchange no matter if they are with Telstra, Optus etc the more poeple that log on the less bandwith that is available.

I all su*** as i can't get it at home and stuck with 128Kbps at least that is guaranteed. At work i have 1500kbps x 256kbps and pay $99 per month unlimited, run 7 computers off of this through a thing with lots of lights and cables (non IT talk) and the internet is very quick, i can't imagine needing much more than 256kbps running a single computer.

As stated before there are no ISP's even willing to talk to people in my small country town even Telstra countrywide aren't interested!

Guys & Gals,

Go to www.whirlpool.net.au

They evaluate all broadband services offered in Australia and give you a side-by-side comparison of the best for your area. There is also a heap of news as it comes to hand.

There is also a BB where you can see the same sorts of things that we discuss here about woodworking being discussed about broadband service provides etc (can't think of anything more boring myself - but it was useful when I was choosing my ADSL service).

I actually share my ADSL connection with my neighbours. I have a wireless router, so I got them to buy a iwreless card for their computer (about $60) and they connect through my network. They pay half the costs ($30 month) and for that, they get 4 gig a month at 512K.
Works out great. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by craigb

Grunt,
There is, is there not, a freebie software program you can download that will "count the bytes" and report on what you are actually getting?

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One of the punters for Internode has written a little free program which monitors downloads etc It is really handy, especially since we are sharing our connection amongst 5 other computers!! Its called mum.exe