Wireless Broadband

[W00DY]

Hi all,

Does anyone have wireless broadband (3, telstra, virgin???) and if so is it worth it?

What are the speeds like? I want to make sure if I go down that path the speed will be comparible to cable, is this possible?

Appreciate any advise.


W00DY

[broadbean]

You will not get anywhere close to cable modem speed - ADSL 1 maybe. While it's technically possible, most 3G based wireless standards are around 1Mps (megabits per second) download. The fastest ADSL 1 is around 1.5Mbps. Cable usually is anywhere between 2Mbps and 8Mbps.

Anyway, regardless of the technical speeds, they should be good enough for most things, except online games where latency can be a drag - so to speak. It's great for web surfing and downloading, but may struggle with video conferencing, which also depends on the upload speed.

Hop over to http://broadbandchoice.com.au and have a look at the relevant forums.

[jammy2]

As broadbean mentioned, the average speeds are comparable to ADSL's 1.5mbs with a theoretical maximum of 3.6mbps for three, vodafone and optus. I believe telstra has services with 7.2mpbs and better coverage outside the CBD with nextG but if you pay through the nose and more for that service.

Best deals at the moment for Christmas are vodafone $39 monthly plan for 24months with free USB modem and Three's $24.50 2gb or $49.50 5gb plan with free modem also for 24 months. Only if you are within the companies respective 3g zones as you either get dial-up speeds (for vodafone)or get charged a hefty excess if you are not (for three)

Advantages, you are not locked to your phone line (ie don't need a phone plan with Telstra) and wireless access of course go anyway access if you are within the 3G zones

[Killakoala]

This is Telstra NextG speed. Frankly it is fast but only if you download one large chunk of data. Normal browsing is slow due to latency. (Comparable to 1.5 ADSL speed, so not sluggish)

It is also very expensive, as all of them are. Iburst or Unwired offer better value for money, if you can get coverage. I've used both Iburst ad unwired when i lived in Sydney and i found Iburst to be much better.

I am going to sell my Telstra NextG USB dongle if you want to offer me something for it. I think they retail for about $200 in the shops. I also have a 6dB antenna with a magnetic mount that will boost your received signal. (The dongle has the latest firmware installed)

My NextG plan is on the fastest speed. The other speed they have is 256Kbps.

[SteveGriffin]

I use iBurst because we can't get anything else 21km from the Brisbane CBD. We live in a mobile coverage black hole so no 3G or nextG coverage, Optus's main exchange less than 1.5km away but still no ADSL because due to the stupidity of Telstra's copper network we are 11km via copper to the exchange.

IBurst delivers us a blistering 388kbs download / 16kbs upload which as it turns out to be in the 3% slowest in the country. This outstanding service costs me $99.95 / mth.


If you can get ADSL or Cable grab it!

[DStrom]

We use Telstra Next G at work, its fast but not as fast as they say it is ...

A few other options worth considering Vodafone currently have 5 gig plan for $39, not as fast as Telstra or the other networks, but has a decent download limit ...

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22899779-5013037,00.html