Broadband

[W00DY]

Hi Guys,

I am currently with Optus Cable and pay $49.95 per month for 1gig download.

Can anyone recommend any better cable, ADSL (if it is as fast) or Wireless plans which are a little cheaper?

I have been looking at the wireless setup but it does not seem to be any cheaper (just more conveinent I guess).

Anyway what plans are everyone on?

Cheers,

W00DY

[bwhinnen]

I have Telstra Cable. $59.95 a month for technically unlimited, but they may cap you to 64kbps speeds if you go over 10Gb limit.

Depending on how many cable users there are in your area ADSL could be quicker on some of the bigger plans. Wireless is limited to between 2 - 11mbps in most area's although it shouldn't be long before the 54mbps stuff becomes more readily used. I know the company I used to be with in Darwin is now 54mbps for it's backbone...

Cheers
Brett

[gstark]

Optus sprout forth about how fast cable is, and yes, it is faster than DSL.

provided there's nobody else on your connection.

And only as far as their POP.

Beyond that, your speed will only be as fast as the slowest portion of the link you're conencting to.

We're using exetel - http://www.exetel.com.au - and can't recommend them highly enough. Their rates and service are excellent.

PM us if you go down that path; they have a referral scheme, and we may as well take advantage of it.

[birddog114]

I pay $69.00/ Monthly with Optus Cable and get unlimited download (12Gb).
And I also ave the 2nd connection with TPG on ADSL 512k

[christiand]

Have a look at this site:

http://www.whirlpool.net.au

it should help you find a suitable ISP and plan. BTW TPG has an interesting offer on 1.5Mb ADSL.

HTH
CD

[BBJ]

Hi All, I use Westnet and have done for some time, after having Satellite and another adsl conection before that.
I have only just dropped my plan a bit as i am spending my time on here and less downloading.
Premium 512k / 128k Unlimited² 30 GB
30 GB $79.95= 60gig which i used or got close to it.
Now i am on Premium 512k / 128k Unlimited² 14 GB
14 GB $59.95=28gig
I have never had a problem with the service they provide and i think they are great and very pro active on the forums at Whirlpool a must for finding providers.
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/
Cheers
John
BBJ

[fozzie]

I pay $49.95 per month through 'Internode' for 16000MB/256 Kbits/second. (Plan is ADSL-HOME-256-STANDARD).
Using 'Billion' Wireless ADSL Firewall Router 'BIPAC-743GE' with Belkin PCI Card 802.11b (11 Mbps).

Cheers,

[dperrett]

woody,

plenty of information can be found here.

i am currently with pacific internet but their plans aren't that great. i only joined them because they had a special offer of free installation.

now i am thinking of moving to teegee. they have a good deal on at the moment.

dave.

[sirhc55]

I am with Telstra Bigpond @ $63.85 for 12Gb. I use a Netgear wireless router 54Mbps to mac airport. Very happy

Chris

[PlatinumWeaver]

I'm with internode.. good people

[Mj]

Woody... I'm with Bigpond... only option for me in my location, but basically does fine... $59/month for unlimited (throttled after 10GB).

I suggest having a look at what plans Optus is currently offering... they and others will often offer new plans but not tell you, and generally you can shift to a better plan anytime. I was orginally on a Bigpond 3Gb $89 plan and was never notified of a better choice... had to browse their site and find it myself, but they had no problem swapping me over. Optus would behave pretty much the same.

Michael.

[W00DY]

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

I will check out that whirlpool site and see what I can find.

I''l let you know.

W00DY

[Greg B]

Woody, notwithstanding what dave said above, I reckon Pacific have great plans

Pacific Internet 128/512 $55 per mnth unlimited downloads
(128 during peak - 8am-6pm mon-fri - 512 all other times.)
For me, this worked out cheaper than dial up + phone line rental + calls
(Express Off-Peak 512)

Unlike lots of others, unlimited means unlimited. No amount after which you are slowed down, no extras. You might struggle to find better on ADSL. Watch out - I have seen other ISPs where the "Peak" times are ridiculous (e.g 7am to midnight seven days a week)

I recommend Pacific, very happy with them

http://www.pacific.com.au/for_home/

You get the usual 5 email addresses and 10 mb home page.

[Onyx]

Woody, you have an overwhelming array of choices. IMHO, if you are able to get cable and/or ADSL in your area, don't consider wireless - it's not very competitively priced, and getting worse as newer high speed DSL deals are introduced. Also if you're thinking of switching ph companies too, iPrimus have those all in one packages that might work out (100 local calls free per mth included with line rental, $25 1.5Mbps ADSL plans, etc)

[skippy]

I was with Optus cable for about 2yr at my previous address, then when we moved into an apartment Optus wasn't an option and I had to go with Telstra. ADSL couldn't get into the building because of the phone equipment the builders used, so Bigpond Cable was it.

I run a Netgear router, and surprisingly, I rarely have probs with any of it. It's more common for the Netgear box to need a reboot than Tel$tra screwing it up, and on average it's probably every few months I reboot the router.

I started out on 3GB plan too, but when they introduced the 'uncapped' one; actually throttled at 64kbps when you exceed 10GB, but otherwise uncapped/128kbps; they notified me. No catches, no new plans, just start paying less for more data. Hard to argue with.

I'll be moving soon, and will be staying with cable. Don't really mind whether it's Optus or Telstra.

[atencati]

Wow. Choices. That would be nice. In CA we get one choice if that, still not available in some areas unbeleivably. However. The firestation I am assigned to currently has an antenna array on the roof. A local telecomunication company wanted to put a relay on it but the city said no. We allowed them to come in and do it "off the books". In return, we get free T3 bandwidth and they gave us a 108mbps wireless router. VERY NICE!!!!!! I do all my upload/download at work now aand use home for everything else.

Andy

[Raydar]

Telstra 512 down 128 up.
$ 70 month. Unlimited

Haven’t had any probs with it in 12 months or more

Cheers
Ray

[MATT]

TPG 1.5/256 $50 a month 20Gig then throttled.

MATT

[dperrett]

after reading what greg said above, i thought i'd better clarify my comments on pacific internet:

i am extrememly happy with the service they provide. never had a problem for the last 9 months i have been with them. i just think there a better value plans around. i am on the unlimited express off peak 256 plan. other isps are offering similarly priced deals with out the hastle of being limited to off peak times.

dave.

[gstark]

Wow. Choices.

It would be nice here too, Andy.

Unfortunately, it's not what it seems.

All of the providers buy their wholesale connection from the one supplier, Telstra, who is truly the big gorilla in this case. They were recently under investigation for setting their own retail prices below the wholesale prices they were charging, and thus being anti-compettetive.

Points to watch out for for Oz subscribers.

1: the cost of extra bandwidth. If you're on a standard Telstra plan, it's $150/GB.

Many ISPs charge a lot less, as little as $3/GB. If you go with the widely advertised Telstra $30 connection, you get all of 200MB allowance, with any excess at $150/GB. Your first month might cost as little as $180 if you happen to DL 1GB.

Telstra include outbound bandwith as part of your download allowances, so you're paying for traffic in both directions. Nobody else does this. Remember that images are bandwidth intensive, and each picture that you upload and/or download will be counted.

There is no such thing as unlimited downloads with Telstra. Capping your connection speed when you hit a certain bandwidth limit is not unlimited, despite what the marketing bullshit says.

You might not be paying any extra, but you're back at dial-up speeds. Why are you paying for a broadband connection and only getting dialup speeds?

If you have any fantasies of running your own server, you will need a static IP address and no ports blosked. Many ISPs provide this as standard. Many don't; understand your needs and research your potential ISP fully.

The market is very volatile. Telstra are still trying to lock customers into two year contracts. Given the market's volatility, this will cost you money, and anything beyond a six month initial contract should be viewed as suspicious behaviour on the part of the ISP.

Some ISPs are now providing a free DSL modem. Evaluate the cost of this free modem; if it's a USB connetion, it can only be used on the one pc, and connection sharing amongst several pcs may be more difficult to achieve. Generally speaking, the four port ethernet units represent the best value.

[shutterbug]

Hi Woody,

I am with http://www.exetel.com.au they have been great, price is good too. There modem prices are very cheap, make sure you get a combination wireless one...so you can surf the net in your lounge....

I usually process my wedding jobs on my lappy around the house

[Greg B]

after reading what greg said above, i thought i'd better clarify my comments on pacific internet:

i am extrememly happy with the service they provide. never had a problem for the last 9 months i have been with them. i just think there a better value plans around. i am on the unlimited express off peak 256 plan. other isps are offering similarly priced deals with out the hastle of being limited to off peak times.

dave.

dave, I would be very interested to be pointed in direction of those ISPs. I have a couple of friends moving to ADSL, and have recommended Pacific to them. The off peak arrangements are fine for me because I work normal business hours and it is off peak nearly all the time I am on at home. And even the lower 128 rate is still considerably better than my crappy dial up. And of course, it is cheaper anyway!!!!

But one of the two friends would probably be online during "peak" times - he works from home - so if there is a better option for him I would be interested.

(I have been with Pacific, previously Zip taken over by Pacific, for 7 years or so - one attraction of Pacific ADSL for me was retention of existing mail address, another was totally unlimited downloads/uploads, but I really couldn't find anything better at the time)

[gstark]

Greg,

Broadband Choice (go via the Whirlpool.net.au URL mentioned earlier in the thread) allows you to compare different ISPs by speed/cost/features.

SwiftDSL and IINet are both reasonable providers and service your region; Pacific and TPG are also ok.

Whirlpool has forums where the merits of many can be (and are) discussed, but be aware that it's also earned a nickname of "whingepool", and in some respects it's a little like that other photography forum we all know and love.