Not really about caravanning but perhaps interesting to some.....
I have had Telstra internet access since dial up days and the service just getting better & better ..
We have cable (Co-ax) to our home and I eventually moved to the then minimum data allowance of around 5 or 8 gig/mth.
SWMBO got a iPad so that was not enough.
I upgraded to the next level of monthly data .. 50gig fast cable & got what I thought was great speed of around 30 mBps down & a paltry 1.9 up speeds.
Shortly after they doubled my data allowance to 100Gig/mth at no extra charge.
They later doubled my allowance once more to 200 Gig again at no extra charge.
(oh yes, there is the option for a free top up .. of 200 gig ... up to 3 times per year .. as if we need that)
Lo & behold they have just sent me a new modem/router (Telstra Gateway Max)of course at no charge & tell me that I'll have 100 mBps for 3 months free.
Installed it this morning & did a speed test from the ethernet connected laptop & got a down speed of 68.05 mBps & up of 2.45 mBps.
The in house WiFi is also very much improved with the downstairs LG smart TV now working OK on Wi Fi internet.
Telstra mightn't be the cheapest but it is hard to beat their quality.
BTW, we only use 12 Gb/mth at home. I might look into a hotspot service so that I can use my data allowance when on the road. At the moment I will have to purchase the modem, but who knows in the future a deal might be possible. In the meantime I'll just have to exist on the extra data that they keep sending me for my Prepaid 3G USB + Wi Fi 'dongles'.
Yes same has happen to me , I think why they have increased the download in the introduction of Telstra TV .
Yes, I think that you are right but I think that Telstra TV data usage doesn't count. Not that I have looked to closely as I have no interest in extra TV. Free to Air is more than enough for me.
With the new Gateway, I think that they are proving the technology that will be needed with the NBN HFC ( Hybrid Cable) that they will use for us poor buggars with co-ax cable. ie. No Fiber to the home for us in the foreseeable future.
We have adsl2 ands it bloody poor ,no more than 3.6 download and .68 upload ,they say that it's because we are so far away from the exchange (21/2kms) that's what country people put up with .
We now have an Ipad 4 mini which we are using on road has WI FI Telstra now has a prepaid sim card for the Ipad,16G for $140 expiring in 730 days , The old plan was 12G for $230 expiring 365 days . you got to like that .
Telstra now allows you to share data across devices, I believe.
So, if you bought a broadband dongle or wifi "modem" on a plan, say the cheapest at 1 gb/mth for $25 I think it is, you might be able to share the home broadband data. Worthwhile investigating. That way, when on the road you don't have to worry about chewing up the mobile BB data.
My home phone, mobile and mobile BB is with Telstra. I have a third party ISP for home broadband. I'm going to enquire to see if I can pool the data across the iPhone, iPad and Mobile BB. All up that would give me 10.5gb a month to play with.
Wife & I have a 2.5GB Telstra mobile plan each ($50 / month each). We have a total of 5GB shared whilst we use the same account. It's great. We have NBN which includes 500GB broadband and a basic land-line which we only really use for in-bound calls. Looked at other providers but after a stint with a couple of others, keep coming back to Telstra for a variety of reasons - eg. better mobile coverage, first telecom to offer ADSL2 from our local exchange (many years ago now).
Wife & I have a 2.5GB Telstra mobile plan each ($50 / month each). We have a total of 5GB shared whilst we use the same account. It's great. We have NBN which includes 500GB broadband and a basic land-line which we only really use for in-bound calls. Looked at other providers but after a stint with a couple of others, keep coming back to Telstra for a variety of reasons - eg. better mobile coverage, first telecom to offer ADSL2 from our local exchange (many years ago now).
I can't bring myself to go to other than Telstra.
Perhaps the fact that I worked for them for more than 40 years & that I am still a happy shareholder too, makes me a tad biased.
Notwithstanding, I see them as the leader in Aus with all the others snapping at their heels for scraps or looking to pick the low hanging fruit (mixed metaphors?), with none of them, in the past, willing to do the hard yards in spending $s to build the appropriate robust networks needed. Telstra did this despite the hamstringing & unfair attention of the ACCC. As Australians we aught to be proud of what was once our National Carrier, rather than looking at opportunities to bag it. Unlike the Singaporian attitude to their National Carrier (ie. Optus in Australia).
Had the Govt. just contracted Telstra (It was the only company in Australia with the relevant expertise) to build a FTTP NBN, then I believe that we would be in a far better position than we are now. The multi technology NBN is a joke.
-- Edited by Cupie on Wednesday 11th of November 2015 08:36:39 PM
Agree with contracting to Telstra. The NBN corporation (Transfield) has no care or responsibility and has not as much to gain as someone like Telstra who would have a vested interest in doing a good job. The people on the ground are so far removed from NBNCo they don't care. The word s "collateral damage" has been thrown about in Ballarat. There has done untold damage in the town. Have had a nightmare at mine & my mother's house. Help-line people were just rude and arrogant. The on-ground staff were just as bad. At one point I got an e-mail saying that my complaints were supposed to be attended to. Got the house number wrong, spelt the street wrong, had not finished one of the problems. The letter was signed by the Quality & Communications Coordinator | National Broadband Network Project. Well that was the final straw. Told the person how dare that they had that title when they couldn't even get my house number and street correct. I then got an e-mail from Stakeholder Manager | National Broadband Network making excuses for the Quality Manager's poor quality but this Stakeholder Manager refused to talk to me any further.
