Broadband & home phone - Advice needed

[Gecko :)]

Hi All,


I would like to upgrade my internet from 'good old Dial Up' to Broadband (finally)
and I would know where to start!,. there are so many deals out there

I would just like to know what everyone else uses?

I dont use the intenet alot, other than this site everyday,. and checking emails etc and would like to be able to occasionally watch utube clips , download songs, etc
I dont want a expensive deal,. but I also dont want something I cant use either,.

Also, I got scammed into going back to Telstra for our home phone as they were offering a good deal with no contract, so I had nothing to loose,. but now the deal has run out, I need to change my home phone aswell, as I am not happy with Telstra.
So I will be looking for a Broadband/Homephone deal

Any help appreciated,

Thanks Kelly

 

[falconboy]

There are lots of broadband ISP's around, but I would stick to ones you have heard of for starters (although many of the no-names are still very good).

Its hard to tell how much usage (in gigabytes) you will use, but if you want to be able to use Youtube now and again without worrying about running out of data use, I would go for a plan at least 10gb up.

I'm sure others will have their own good and bad experiences, but I have used TPG for 9 years and have been very happy with them. I mean noone is perfect and with internet there are a lot of variables in possible problems (especially when Telstra phone lines are at the middle of the problem) so even with the best ISP there will be issues now and again.

Go to www.whirlpool.net.au and have a look around. Somewhere there is even a broadband survey that went into some depth concerning many of the ISPs and customer satisfaction.

I work as a home IT consultant and I'd keep away from Bigpond at all costs. Bigponds service is ok, but IF and WHEN you do have a problem, its like pulling teeth trying to get anywhere. Like anything, the bigger the company the more pathetic the service is. Having said that, TPG's service has outsourced to India/Phillipines or somewhere they don't speak like us, so its not the best anymore either

If you can, although they are slowly stopping offering it as its easier to use the copper lines, I would go for OPTUS CABLE (over ADSL) any day of the week. I live up a right of way so can't get cable to the house, but if I could, I'd be in like flynn. Its QUICK, stable and just seems to 'work' out of the box. I rarely have customers with problems with it, and when they do, its usually not a service problem but a PC or modem issue.

 

[Hetty]

Whirlpool has pretty much everything, you can compare plans and stuff and it tells you what is bundled with home phone.

http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/

edit: beat me to it Falconboy!

With TPG though, if you don't have much experience with computers and broadband, I'd stay away from it. The customer service can be rather difficult. I believe it's outsourced to India.

 

[falconboy]

Whirlpool has pretty much everything, you can compare plans and stuff and it tells you what is bundled with home phone.

http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/

edit: beat me to it Falconboy!

With TPG though, if you don't have much experience with computers and broadband, I'd stay away from it. The customer service can be rather difficult.

Unless you speak tagalog

 

[croc_hunter_penny]

I had been with TPG for many years, until my parents changed to Bigpond last year and i'm not happy about it. as soon as this contract ends we'll most likely go back to TPG.I noticed that "Chariot" is pretty much exactly the same as TPG, anyone had any experience with them?

 

[meshe1969]

Another vote for using whirlpool!!

 

[Retic]

I have been with Optus for years and am very happy with them. I have a combined home phone/Broadband deal which includes all local calls, long distance and mobile calls to Optus mobiles and capped calls to other mobiles. They have various rates depending on what download limit you want, I have 7 Gig which is more than enough for us.

 

[spilota_variegata]

I use TPG because I live in Alice and we don't have ADSL2. I currently pay $69 a month and get 25 gbytes download a month. For 4 extra cents a month I get 500 free minutes of VOIP which saves me a couple of hundred dollars a month on STD phone calls. The only thing about TPG is the help desk is in India and it is plainly obvious that they read their IT support from cards. I once asked one of the IT support staff if he was reading from a card and he said yes. Apart from that - and the cost they charge for changing plans or addresses, you can't go past them.

 

[reptile32]

most of these companys all go through telstra

 

[kakariki]

Just a word of warning....don't go Dodo. We had all sorts of problems with them. They direct debit & can't be trusted. We are currently with Telstra & will be changing to Activ8 Me very soon for internet only. No optus here and no adsl so we are going with the government assisted satellite broadband.

 

[jemnesa]

I have been with AAPT for a few years now & had no problems They have some well priced plans as well.
I got 12gb download limit 512kb speed & pay about $40 but they have some new high speed plans but they are not available up here yet

 

[HoffOff]

Virgin broad band!

 

[benjemen]

I have used many ISPs but i cant fault Internode. They use optus technology.

I have a naked dsl2 connection which means you can get broadband speeds and you dont need a phone line connected with one of the telcos.

And I use nodephone (internode) which is VOIP. untimed nation wide calls. and 5c min International calls.

 

[Nicole74]

• Free standard modem
  
• Free connection
• Speed up to 20Mbps
  
• 7GB data allowance
  

• Line rental included
• Unlimited standard local calls
  
• Unlimited standard national long distance calls
  
• Unlimited calls to Optus GSM mobiles

Thats what i have.,,Been with optus years have had no problems..

 

[ashley81]

im with optus is $99 fpr 20gig and phone(unlimited local and national call)

 

[Fuscus]

I've just subscribed on the optus fusion ( adsl + home phone) 20gig at $99 pm ( 24 month lock-in) I've previously been with internode and was happy but they mucked us around big time. Optus did stuff up the installation pack ( they forgot to include the password) but that was resolved with one phone call, in fact the help desk wouldn't let me hang up until he was sure we connected. And they didn't try to do any onselling