Oz A2Kers: Broadband advice needed rather urgently.

I do not know if this applies there, but in shopping around for a new service I learned that some companies will cut in half, their internet/broadband cost if you go wireless and do NOT have home phone service.

For me, this was an option because i have a cellular phone. I can get all of my calls on it and there was no need to have a phone in my home.
Dropping the home phone reduced my bill by 32.00 and increased my bandspeed.
I stream movies ALL the time.
I download like crazy.
And I have yet to hit my 2 gig limit in one month either.

I'd be a bit hesitant about 2 gig If you download a few you tube videos and some music thats all gone.
5 gig is probably where you need to look

Regular
Download speed 500 kb
Monthly fee $24.95
Modem $5.00
Access time unlimited
E-mail accounts 1
Free Web Space 2 mb

it's not the fastest, but i don't stream anything anyway, except for the odd youtube, i love the unlimited download and hope that never changes

Yeah, I know, shewolf. It would be considerably cheaper from me without the home phone option, but my preference is to do most of my my phone communicating this way. I have an el cheapo cell phone & use an inexpensive pre-paid option. Actually, I use it for work purposes, mainly. It doesn't cost me much at all.

So 2 gigs is plenty for you, too? It's very interesting how internet usage varies between A2Kers. One of the options I'm considering is a combination of 2 gigs peak time combined with 2 gigs off peak ... at a very reasonable (almost) $30 per month. That's actually less expensive than my current land-line deal with my ISP!

OK. Thanks dadpad.

I'm getting confused now!

Thanks djjd. I must check out download speeds! I' seem to have over-looked that!

After years & years of frustrations with dial-up, the idea of fast, or considerably faster, is very appealing! (If affordable, of course!)

OK, this is where I'm at, at the moment:
I'm thinking my provider will most likely be iinet, because of Dutchy's recomendation, their very reasonable rates & the very positive info from the survey dadpad posted:

http://whirlpool.net.au/survey/2008/

So now it's a choice b/n 2 plans:

(1) the 2Gb peak & 2 GB off-peak download option

(2) & the (very reasonable!) 5 GB option rate that Dutchy said he had, combined with phone plan with the same company.

If the phone deal is considerably better than my current arrangement with Telstra ( ), I may well go with that!

I'll ring them for details, though.

It has been wonderful to have all your help & advice, everyone! You have no idea how utterly clueless I was on all this! Or perhaps you do?

Hi msolga

Sorry for being tardy with my reply but I'm presently in Port Lincoln doing some fishing and won't be home for another week. To answer your question, my usual bill fron iinet, Broadband plus telephone etc, is usually between $82 and $84 a month. Included in this is line and phone rental. There is a way of cutting out the line rental if you take a service called 'naked' but they don't cover my part of town yet. iinet uses the direct debiting method. I'm with a Credit union and my fees are taken out at the end of each month.

Thank you, Dutchy.

This is looking a good option. I will check out the "naked" option when I ring them.

Sorry to interrupt your holiday with my incessant questions. (I had no idea you were away from home!) Carry on now. Enjoy your fishing!

If anyone has the time today I'd really appreciate some feedback. I have today & tomorrow off work & am hoping to finalize some sort of broadband arrangement during this time.

I rang iinet a couple of days ago (after more comparisions with other packages with other companies). Here's what they considered the best deal for me. Including a few surprises.
........................................................................................
OK: 4GB in all. 2GB peak & 2GB off-peak.
That's $29.95 for broadband provision & S29.5 for line rental. $59.95 monthly for both.
DSL2.
Cost of phone calls will be extra, with a good rate for land-line & calls to mobiles
(I can increase my usage at any time (involving no extra fee) to the next plan (5GB p + 5GB o/p) if I find the 4G is not sufficient for my needs.)
..........................................................................................

So far so good. Quite an improvement on my current (dial up & phone line & phone costs with Telstra.)

Also I'm told I can pay with BPAY, which I'd be very pleased about. (They send me a bill each month & I can pay at the post office (a 5 minute walk away from home.) I specifically stated that I did not want to use my credit card. I'm cutting down drastically.)


The things I hadn't factored in, but are part of the deal:

* there's a $75 entry/joining fee. I didn't know that before. (Is this the usual arrangement?)

* The provision of a modem is not necessarily part of the deal. I can choose to provide my own modem or take up their option of of a "provided" wireless modem.

* To take up this wireless modem-included option, I would need to enter into a 24 month contract with the company. (Quite expensive, the modem) If, down the track, I break my contract with them, I will be required to pay $80 for the modem, plus a fee for breaking the contract.

SO .......
Obviously my response to this possible contract is complicated by my desire to include my line rental within the deal. But it looks a far better deal than I've been receiving from Telstra. (Not hard! )

My main concern is the length of the contract. I'm only considering such an arrangement because iinet has such a very solid customer satisfaction rating in the survey. And because their broadband provision costs are considerable cheaper than the likes of Optus, BigPond, etc. If they were a very small, insignificant provider I wouldn't even be considering entering into such a lengthy contract with them.

Any thoughts on the modem provision part of the deal, as well?

OK, I will continue looking today & tomorrow, but any feedback would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Olga

My "free" modem included a 24 or 12 month deal (forget which) with chariot.

I was already a customer, so didn't have to pay a joining fee.


I can't remember whether thee was a joining fee when I joined them back in the mists of time!

Hi msolga, when I originally joined iinet for broadband, I also signed up for a 2 year contract, and because of this I paid no joining fee or the cost of the modem. However I was already on 'dial-up' with them and that may have been taken into account also. The 2 years is nothing, it flies by in no time. I think you've done your home work well, would still recommend the 5G deal though. Good luck with whatever decision you make.

Just saying thank you for your fast responses, Deb & Dutchy. I'll be back later on. Right now I'm in a mad rush. Got an appointment across town at 11 o'clock & am still in my pjs!

Olga

I'm so glad you've brought this up!

I'm with Telstra - and they're everything people say about them - just bloody awful.

(Mind you - I used to be with TPG - and they were far worse!)

My contract runs out in December - and I'm sure I can find a better deal than I currently have.

Thanks dp and Dutchy for showing the options.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

et us know how you go.

AGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A lot of the information I was given when I last rang iinet is quite wrong. Apparently I was speaking to an operator in South Africa who didn't have her facts straight! And I've just driven a local (oz) iinet phone person, trying to sort it out, around the bend. For 40 whole minutes! I need a drink! (And so does he, I think!)

<taking a deep breath before continuing .... >



OK, THIS is what he suggests would best suit my needs:

The iinet Naked DSL home package #2

Which means: $59.95 per month (direct debit from my bank account or credit card, NOT via monthly BPay invoicing arrangements as I was told...)

For my $59.95 per month I'll receive:

*16 GB per month ..... 8GB peak + 8GB off peak usage.

* I will no longer need to pay for phone line rental & there will be no extra phone costs. Free calls to land-line phones in Oz & and (I'm told) good rates for o/seas calls.

HOWEVER: some initial financial outlay is required on my part:

* $159 for a new modem supplied by iinet. He doesn't think I need a wireless modem for my needs, as I'll be using only one computer.

* $79.95 installation fee

* & some (inexpensive) converter attachment to my phone socket, to make attachment to the new modem possible.

* I'll need to buy one of those 2/3 phone sets (so's I have more than one in the house) that can be used with this modem & throw out my old ones.

AS WELL:

I will lose all access to my computer & home phone line for about a week as the conversion from dial-up/current phone line undergoes the necessary "adjustments". Don't ask me about the details because I don't quite understand this process.

So. What do you make of this, guys?


(I'm off to have a drink & a bit of a lay down! )

innet's naked DSL Plans.

(I'm home# 2)

http://www.iinet.net.au/naked-dsl/plans.html

Oh, I forgot to mention: the contract deal is the same: 24 months.

ok msolga, maybe the initial outlay for the 'naked' connection seems a little bit much but look at the savings over 24 months for 'line rental' and 'phone rental', just over $900.00!! I do think it is great value including iinet's telephone charges. I can't have 'naked' where I am but would definitely take up the offer you're talking about if I could. Let's know how you're getting on.

btw. the seafood is still delicious in Port Lincoln.

I'm sure the seafood at Port Lincoln is utterly fabulous, Dutchy. Please save a little bit for me!

I'm actually not at all worried about the initial outlay for the new proposal. I can see it's a great deal. Absolutely!

The problem (tonight) was undoing all the completely wrong information I received (via the Sth Africa iinet connection). I wasn't told anything about the "naked" options during that call, & was given a lot of quite innaccurate information, besides ....
The fellow on the local iinet phone information service was so astounded, I think he honestly thought I'd made it all up! ... or perhaps I was a hoax caller? Or something .... He was getting kinda cranky, because it took so long & he ended up staying 20 minutes overtime. (I'm sorry about that, too.)

And me, I was trying to get things absolutely clear, in my usual dogged fashion.

Anyway, after all that, I can't imagine getting a better deal. I just hope that "around a week" without phone or internet, is about right!

msolga when I changed over from dial up to broadband iinet sent me an e-mail with all the necessary information, and I knew exactly where I stood. I suppose the same will happen again once the 'naked' option becomes available to me.

What do you want me to save you from here, cray, whitng, abalone, garfish or do you fancy a tuna steak?