Any good wirless internet service besides Telstra and yuky slow Dodo?

graham (chickenman) · Senior Member

Any good wirless internet service besides Telstra and yuky slow Dodo?

woolman · Guru

If you want connection outside main centres then Telstra is the only one. The other providers "using" telstra towers don't have all towers available to them, so bit of a con.

Neil

Santa · Guru

Its pretty much Telstra or the slow road Graham.

bill12 · Guru

Try Aldi mobile . I have it for my other phone and find it cheaper tha Telstra, and aldi uses the telstra3g newwork. I use the pay as you go system. Works for me. Bill

graham (chickenman) · Senior Member

Santa i got both at present my dodo scum internet and a pre paid Telstra,i am app 45 km away from the nearest tower in Port pirie Sa,onmy telstra just at my wondow i get 3 bars out of 5 sometimes 4 but not tooften and telstra spped is quick.

I have totake my Dodo stick out of the van and put it on mytv antenna,maybe 1 or 2 bars if i am llucky, all iwant is value for money from my pension not a z rated service that Dodo supplies throgh the Optus network?

Also last year in s/e Qld at Rathdowney i got full bars on Dodo but was hard to load a page maybe 50% of the time, also Broken hill full bars i could not get into any pages to load on 2 goes,and there isnt anything wrong with my laptop.

I reviews i just looked at out of google about Dodo was like 80% complain about there coverage and data flow.

At present i am on dodo doing this note it takes app 10secs for my comment to go in this forum,with Telstra its like a split second.

HAS TOBE A PROBLEM WITH DODO INTERNET CHEAPIES I SAY?

Its a pity Telstra cant offer a pensioner a decent price as we get app a 1/4 of what a worker gets paid?

I just recharged my pre paid telstra 3 days ago with $50.00 for 3 gig.

-- Edited by graham (chickenman) on Sunday 1st of June 2014 01:10:59 PM

graham (chickenman) · Senior Member

Bill 2,there is no Aldi in Sa :(

Roving-Dutchy · Guru

You can buy Aldi Mobile online https://www.aldimobile.com.au/

Cheers

David

jetj · Guru

Have a look at Boost, it might suit your needs, on the Telstra 3g network.

valnrob · Guru

I think you've answered your own question. Dodo is a dead bird so really Telstra is your only real option. I use the 3 gig $50 telstra plan. Does me for the month but I suppose it depends on what your usage is. You may have to cut down internet usage.

Friar Park · Senior Member

Graham I guess its about how much you use your mobile and/or tablet. I bought a cheap unlocked mobile with no capability except to make phone calls cost me $79. I paid $60 to Telstra and i've got 12 months to use it. I paid $129 online for a tablet and got $99 modem from telstra (1 off payment) then paid i think $80 for 12gigs with 12 months to use it. Thats $449 for the first year $348 for subsequent years (providing all things remain equal) I own the phone and the tablet and i'm not contracted to any of them. I think the deal is not too bad. What do you think?

Friar

sandsmere · Guru

Unfortunately Telstra seems the best option. Specially if you are going into the bush.

The others just don't have the same range.

cooee · Senior Member

Friar said

<<and got $99 modem from telstra (1 off payment) then paid i think $80 for 12gigs with 12 months to use it.>>

Hi Friar I think you will find that it was $180 for 12 Gb for 12 months. Maybe you could check and let us know the cost or the name of the plan

cooee · Senior Member

It can get confusing when discussing phone and internet plans.

graham (chickenman) asked about wireless internet, and he did not mention mobile phone calls .

Some plans are for internet ( data ) only and some include mobile phone calls as well.

I think Graham needs to let us know whether he wants only data or mobile phone calls as well and then it may be possible to give better advice

Roving-Dutchy · Guru

You can buy a data package 1gb for $15 for 1 month from Aldi it just goes in with your mobile sim that costs $15 with some phone call time, that that doesn't expire for 12 months if you don't use your time up.
This is a good plan to use if you have a phone that you want to have available for occasional calls or emergencies you can add extra data blocks whenever you need them, if you have smart phone you can easily set this up as your Wi Fi hot spot.
Aldi uses the 3g Telstra network if you have a modem or phone that already uses the Telstra mobile network you can just change over to the Aldi sim
You will find a lot of excellent advice on the Whirlpool forum about various plans and suppliers http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/

Cheers

David

glassies · Guru

With my ipad i pay 180 dollars a year i never run out of gig i forget how much gig it is but
It always lasts me all year and i use it to play games and everything all i did was buy a sim card with
Thirty bucks in it after that it was thirty a month of 180 for the year so i went with that

For our office we use internode an australian owned company so we never have to talk to
Indians who we cant understand!! Fabulous service huge gig but 59.95 a mth they do use
A dongle or a stick for travellers but not sure how much however there website will show you

Its hard with net everybody has preferences

Baz421 · Guru

Graham I too think you have answered your own question and you have a Telstra dongle to provide the service you need.

Dodo doesn't necessarily have priority access to bandwidth on any Network and 3rd tier providers would be worst effected.

Imagine if 20 Dodo customers logged onto a Telstra tower and there were say 2000 Telstra customers using the tower,,, who do you think would have priority to the bandwidth???? A No brainer IMHO.

I was at Wirrabara SA recently for 10 days and had excellent Telstra service (I need to say we use external antenna) and when bush we often have service when many others don't.

Only paid $40 (I think it was) for 4g modem recently and $45 per month for 4gb with Bigpond (note Telstra have similar deals under their name).

We too don't have money to throw away, but if you go bush and want the service IMHO Telstra is best.

Cheers Baz

-- Edited by Baz421 on Sunday 1st of June 2014 08:07:23 PM

2foot6 · Senior Member

Graham,if you have a Telstra home phone you can bundle the phone and wireless internet and get the internet for $39.00 just a thought Peter.

tonyd · Guru

I swapped from Telstra to Optus, getting a dongle with 3gigs in it. Renewals are $30 for 3gigs, against Telstra's $50. Speed seems much the same. Worth a look.

Cheers, Tony

bill12 · Guru

You buy an Aldi chip, set it up online and pay online, and it will work anywhere there is Telstra coverage.There is no Aldi in Townsville either. Bill

Dougwe · Chief one feather

To start with I have a iPhone 4s (blue tick), iPad 2 (no net), Laptop. Telstra mobile plan $110 mth, 3g network. NO HOME BASE.

My phone is my internet modem, so to speak. All three items work through the phone.

For that I get,

$800 phone calls
5gb data.

I have had this plan for 2.5 years now and never once have I had a problem anywhere I have been in the playground, I' m sure there will be places but not so far.

Depending on data usage I have only had two months where I had to be careful as I got close to running out, so I just slowed my usage down. I have only got close to running out of phone calls one month.

I use a Telstra App(free to get and use) to keep an eye on my usage each month.

Yes a bit exe but works great for me. I gave contact with family and friends and they with me at all times. Works for me.

I might add that I have had mobile phones since the "Brick" and find my iPhone to be the best one ever, it is like a office in my hand out in the playground. I like the playground better than the office though.

-- Edited by Dougwe on Monday 2nd of June 2014 06:32:26 AM

RosieW · Guru

We went with Virgin. So far so good. We pay $40 a month for 12gig. We switched my prepaid Telstra mobile to Virgin postpaid as well, and kept his on Telstra. When I have no mobile coverage, neither does he. At least so far....

Friar Park · Senior Member

You were right Cooee, the cost was $180.

sorry

Friar

cooee · Senior Member

Hi Graham

A lot of people have gone to the trouble of writing to you with their opinion and advice. There are many differing opinions because people have different needs.

You have another month paid up with Telstra so you have time to sift through all the answers and try to make a good choice for your needs. What you need to do is work out is

· how much internet or data you need a month.

· do you make a lot of mobile calls and

· are you likely to be in remote places where the coverage is likely to be dodgy.

If you could give us a clue to these answers then I am sure we could give you the directions to the best plan. It is difficult to give advice if we do not know enough details of your needs.

This plan suits me but it may not suit everyone as it only has 2Gb of internet included.

Boost Mobile has $40 per month which includes :

Unlimited calls and texts to any Mobile or Home phone in Australia

2 Gb of Internet which can be used on your mobile phone or tether your mobile ( use as a modem ) to connect your laptop, tablet or computer via WiFi to the internet.

Boost uses the full Telstra coverage for mobile phones ( 100% the same coverage as full paying Telstra customers ).

The main difference is the speed of the internet, Boost only gives you 3G speed, whilst Telstra can give you 4G speed. I have been connected to Boost for about a year and have no complaints at all.

You can take your present mobile number with you to Boost.

I forgot to say it is Pre-paid only so you can drop off their plan whenever you like ( also they can change their rates whenever they like ).

There are cheaper plans around but be wary as Telstra and Boost are the only ones with the full Telstra coverage which I think most travellers agree is needed in many parts of Australia.

Cooee

cooee · Senior Member

Hi Friar

I was on that plan and keep a dongle so that I can use that plan if I need extra Data at any time.

MOLLUSCAN · Senior Member

I like Telstra. It is the most reliable home and away. My iPhone 4s is on a pre-paid plan which gives me free calls from 6pm to 6am so always in touch with family. I pay $40/month for 800MB and as long as I pay on time my $40 payments accumulate and when I am low on data I can use that money to buy more data. Really quick and easy to do on the phone.
When away I use the iPad for most of my internet 'stuff' and have the 12 GB at $180 for 12 months pre-paid, no problems. I take my macbook away just to upload photos and not for internet access although I could use my iPhone as a modem by using it as a personal hotspot but haven't really needed to yet.