Good morning, just wondering if anyone out there knows much about how to deal with our home phone facility whilst we are absent from our home (around 7 months). I spoke with Telstra to firstly, try to suspend my account and pay a nominal fee for keeping the service,(no joy there) and secondly I do have a good plan and have had for many years and if I cancel the service naturally the plan is gone and I have to pay reconnection fees etc. I Just don't like the thought of giving them $60+ per month for nothing.
In the meantime, I have purchased the Telstra 4GX Wi fi (as shown in one of your Nomads letters) and I am currently using it at home everyday all day (works well here).
Any thoughts on what to do with home phone facility. Happy to pay $30per month and keep the phone going but cancel the internet.
Bushpie said
09:53 AM Jan 16, 2016
Cancel them both...... When you get home you should be able to get as good a plan as you have now .......if not one of their competitors will .........
hako said
09:59 AM Jan 16, 2016
I agree with Bushpie - cancel the account. They have no loyalty to you and when you get back you will find prices have dropped both for Telstra and other providers.
Good Luck.
wasn_me said
10:19 AM Jan 16, 2016
I haven't had a home phone for 2 years. Not much point when I'm away half the time.
I have a telstra $60 B.Y.O. (mobile phone) plan, That includes $800 calls, 1-5G data / month. $10 / additional G of data.
Works for me. Previous when I had home phone + mobile, bills could be up to $180.
Cheers Pete
Bruce and Bev said
10:23 AM Jan 16, 2016
Agree with all the comments above. Cancel your Telstra home phone and if you really want something connected to a copper wire when you get back, have a look on google and see which Telco is offering the best deal that suits you.
We got rid of our land-line phone about 2 years ago (a huge mind shift for oldies used to always having that piece of plastic on the bench) and only use our mobiles. Cheaper and more efficient than a land line - why - you can even chat to your family and friends whilst in the smallest room in the house lol
Big Gorilla said
11:09 AM Jan 16, 2016
The only reason I keep the home phone is for 13, 1800 and 1300 numbers. These cost an arm and a leg to call on a mobile. I am about to get NBN and change to Iprimus as they had the best NBN deal for me. It includes a landline with free calls !!!
My mobile I have on a Telstra Freedom pre-paid plan. I pay $30.00 a month and get $250.00 credit which also includes overseas calls and text. There is also a fair amount of Data included, but I don't use any. As I use my laptop for the Internet, I threw away my you beaut Samsung phone and bought a $39.00 Nokia from K-Mart. I only use it for calls and text.
-- Edited by Big Gorilla on Saturday 16th of January 2016 11:13:19 AM
reeb51 said
11:51 AM Jan 16, 2016
We dropped our home phone back to $30. We are away for 4 and a half months each year and having two mobiles between us and with the call allowance with our pre paid plans do not use the land line. Next step is to get it cut off completely. We have a mobile wireless 4g with Telstra. With the pre paid plan with unlimited calls to Telstra numbers and a generous amount to others why have a land line?
leajoy said
03:08 PM Jan 16, 2016
We are going through the same process too. We have dropped our home phone back to about $22/month as we want to maintain it for the moment. We both have good mobile plans so don't use it for phone calls, just an alarm monitoring system. We have had Telstras mobile wifi now for over 2 years and have just upgraded to the 4GX on a plan. We have no home internet at all and dont have the need for it as the wifi works well and we take it when traveling. Hope that helps
brickies said
03:29 PM Jan 16, 2016
What is the package you need , We have a telstra set up mobile phone no internet $30 a month unlimited SMS and mobile calls and for internet we have WIFI from IPad prepaid $140 for 16G and top up when required it last for 2 year if you are a small user
loosecannan said
03:58 PM Jan 16, 2016
Thank you all for your ideas and experiences. I think the way to go is get rid of the internet and just keep the home phone(we live in a retirement village and need a land line for medical alarm monitor).
I hope Telstra don't charge exit fees?? (everybody else does).
Bruce and Bev said
05:28 PM Jan 16, 2016
Peter - exit fees are usual for mobile phones IF you are on a plan, ie you pay $XX a month. If its pre-paid, then no, you wont.
Many Telcos don't charge 1800 calls and its only a local call charge for 1300. It is a premium charge for a 1900 (unless youre chasing the Cashcow on Ch7's Sunrise programme when its capped at either 55 or 99c for the call. If you are pre-paid, then often they do charge. The worst for charging premium rates is Telstra, but again it depends on what type of service you have. It always pays to ask before you act.
We have a pre-paid Telstra which we buy a $10 voucher for from a servo (Testras on-line site is a minimum of $20) and only use it to keep the ph no active (pre-paid SIMS do expire if you don't top up payments regularly). This gives us coverage in remoter areas. 1800 and 1300 are premium charged
Both the BOSS and I have an Optus phone on a plan - which offers more features, no premium charges and its about half the price of the equivalent Telstra offering.
Lesley F said
07:00 PM Jan 16, 2016
Cancel the service, they may take an extra 1 or 2 months payment, because that's the way they work - ggrrrr.
If you have a contract, it'll cost you $$bucks to break it.
I recently purchased a dongle, wifi, it cost $79.00 and suppose to last approx. one year. you can buy more expensive ones.
Baz421 said
09:29 PM Jan 16, 2016
loosecannan wrote:
Thank you all for your ideas and experiences. I think the way to go is get rid of the internet and just keep the home phone(we live in a retirement village and need a land line for medical alarm monitor). I hope Telstra don't charge exit fees?? (everybody else does).
If you are keeping your home phone as stated above, you will probably be able to use Telstra Air a free Wi-Fi service as you travel.
He's the link to see if you qualify,,,, they have transponders/transmitter all over the place ie their stores and public phone booths.
Good morning, just wondering if anyone out there knows much about how to deal with our home phone facility whilst we are absent from our home (around 7 months). I spoke with Telstra to firstly, try to suspend my account and pay a nominal fee for keeping the service,(no joy there) and secondly I do have a good plan and have had for many years and if I cancel the service naturally the plan is gone and I have to pay reconnection fees etc. I Just don't like the thought of giving them $60+ per month for nothing.
In the meantime, I have purchased the Telstra 4GX Wi fi (as shown in one of your Nomads letters) and I am currently using it at home everyday all day (works well here).
Any thoughts on what to do with home phone facility. Happy to pay $30per month and keep the phone going but cancel the internet.
Good Luck.
I haven't had a home phone for 2 years. Not much point when I'm away half the time.
I have a telstra $60 B.Y.O. (mobile phone) plan, That includes $800 calls, 1-5G data / month. $10 / additional G of data.
Works for me. Previous when I had home phone + mobile, bills could be up to $180.
Cheers Pete
We got rid of our land-line phone about 2 years ago (a huge mind shift for oldies used to always having that piece of plastic on the bench) and only use our mobiles. Cheaper and more efficient than a land line - why - you can even chat to your family and friends whilst in the smallest room in the house lol
The only reason I keep the home phone is for 13, 1800 and 1300 numbers. These cost an arm and a leg to call on a mobile. I am about to get NBN and change to Iprimus as they had the best NBN deal for me. It includes a landline with free calls !!!
My mobile I have on a Telstra Freedom pre-paid plan. I pay $30.00 a month and get $250.00 credit which also includes overseas calls and text. There is also a fair amount of Data included, but I don't use any. As I use my laptop for the Internet, I threw away my you beaut Samsung phone and bought a $39.00 Nokia from K-Mart. I only use it for calls and text.
-- Edited by Big Gorilla on Saturday 16th of January 2016 11:13:19 AM
I hope Telstra don't charge exit fees?? (everybody else does).
Many Telcos don't charge 1800 calls and its only a local call charge for 1300. It is a premium charge for a 1900 (unless youre chasing the Cashcow on Ch7's Sunrise programme when its capped at either 55 or 99c for the call. If you are pre-paid, then often they do charge. The worst for charging premium rates is Telstra, but again it depends on what type of service you have. It always pays to ask before you act.
We have a pre-paid Telstra which we buy a $10 voucher for from a servo (Testras on-line site is a minimum of $20) and only use it to keep the ph no active (pre-paid SIMS do expire if you don't top up payments regularly). This gives us coverage in remoter areas. 1800 and 1300 are premium charged
Both the BOSS and I have an Optus phone on a plan - which offers more features, no premium charges and its about half the price of the equivalent Telstra offering.
Cancel the service, they may take an extra 1 or 2 months payment, because that's the way they work - ggrrrr.
If you have a contract, it'll cost you $$bucks to break it.
I recently purchased a dongle, wifi, it cost $79.00 and suppose to last approx. one year. you can buy more expensive ones.
If you are keeping your home phone as stated above, you will probably be able to use Telstra Air a free Wi-Fi service as you travel.
He's the link to see if you qualify,,,, they have transponders/transmitter all over the place ie their stores and public phone booths.
Good luck.
https://www.telstra.com.au/