Telstra Pleasant Surprise

Desert Dweller · Guru

Telstra Pleasant Surprise

Phil C · Guru

Yes I agree with DD, telstra may be expensive BUT the coverage is second to none.

Cheers folks

Bruce and Bev · Guru

you cant put them down for coverage and they have a great 24/7 on-line real time help desk that I've used a few times in the past and always got great service.

They haven't changed the pricing for pre-paid. Its still 10G for $100 and $200 for 12G - rather expensive 2G at $100 !!!!!

We obviously buy the 10G package.....

Recently though we've bought a hotspot from Optus and its $60 for 10G. Optus cover is a lot better than a year ago and now we only use Telstra for net data and phones in remote areas where they are the only Telco carrier

-- Edited by Bruce and Bev on Friday 29th of January 2016 06:37:11 PM

brickies · Guru

Bruce you will find when you go next time to top up you Telstra prepaid wireless internet you will find has DD has stated $140 for 16 G which expires in 24 months , You have to like that

jules47 · The Happy Helper

We have the 16g on our prepaid "dongle" - $140 - good value for us.

Desert Dweller · Guru

Bruce and Bev wrote:

They haven't changed the pricing for pre-paid. Its still 10G for $100 and $200 for 12G - rather expensive 2G at $100 !!!!!

Oh yes they have changed the pricing, that's what this thread is all about. Looks like there are a few other happy Telstra customers on here as well.

03_Troopy · Guru

They've changed the pricing on my mobile phone from $49.00 / month to $59.00 / month. Not happy about that.

Desert Dweller · Guru

03_Troopy wrote:
They've changed the pricing on my mobile phone from $49.00 / month to $59.00 / month. Not happy about that.

Obviously the extra 10 bucks they're charging you is making our computer dongle cheaper for us.

On a more serious note didn't someone say they were on a $40/month unlimited calls to any phone, unlimited texting plus 6gig of data plan in the Telstra Reception thread below this one? That sounds pretty good!

brickies · Guru

We are getting has part of a Telstra bundle a BYO mobile Sim card phone $30 a month unlimited calls and SMS but no internet , But you still have people out there knocking the carrier that provide a service where other carriers don't .

Delta18 · Guru

As soon as my current $70 2 year plan with Telstra expires I will dump them and go to Boost Mobile/ This is owned by and uses Telstra service.

For $40 per month I will have Unlimited calls and texts and up to 11 gig per month data.

http://boost.com.au/$40-unlimited-pre-paid-sim-plan.aspx

If this is more than required you can, as Lynne does on her phone opt for $20 per month and get 100 minutes talk, unlimited texts and 3 gig data.

http://boost.com.au/

brickies · Guru

If you look at Boost coverage map it is using Telstra old network and does not have the same coverage has up to date Telstra network , Great if you live in the big city but Grey nomads beware if you want to get out and about away from big cities

03_Troopy · Guru

I just got off the phone to telstra to get my phone unlocked, so I can choose my own provider and use prepaid if I want to.
Spent 20 mins being sent from pillar to post, only to find out they can't access my account because my birthdate doesn't match their information.
I find this a bit strange considering when I bought the phone and activated the account, I had to provide 3 forms of identification. And at the time I didn't realise that the girl on the counter forgot to hand back my drivers licence, so had to make a return trip of about 100Km to retrieve it.

El Gringo · Senior Member

Boost is not owned by Telstra, but does now use the Telstra network, but 3G only, no 4G coverage.
Also as mentioned above, less rural coverage than Telstra's own network, as they only lease out parts of the bandwidth.
Not a fan of Telstra's prices, though they are getting better, but you can't compare their coverage to anyone else.

Cheers,

deverall11 · Guru

Desert Dweller wrote:
....... Surprise surprise it now costs only $140 per 24 months / 16gig of data! Well done Telstra! It's nice to see something actually come down in price for a change particularly these days. Yes we know there are a few Telstra knockers on the Forum but we've never ever had a problem.
Cheers Keith & Judy

Just be careful with what you got. I recharged our dongle with that option only to find out later that my SIM card was on a different plan and this deal was NOT available for the plan that was on this particular sim card. Yes we now have Mobile Broadband plan. Still totally baffles me that we have Mobile Broadband plans. I thought internet was internet, unlike phones where you may want to find a deal that suits your particular usage such as free SMS or Free Time.

Very happy camper · Veteran Member

Hi all

Well meaning people are giving out incorrect information. Mobile phone plans change all the time and only current information is beneficial.

When someone says they are on a $50 plan it does not mean anything unless they look at their bill and tell us the name of the carrier ( Telstra or Optus ) plus the name of the plan (TELSTRA PRE-PAID Freedom Plus$30 .)

Armed with this info one can then check the website for current info and find that :

Some plans include the cost of buying the phone

Some are no longer available for new customers

Some have Data included some do not

Some have Texts incuded some do not

Some have calls to both landlines and mobiles included and some do not

Some are payable every month and some last for 6 or 12 months

And the list goes on.

Boost used to be 3G only but is now 4G (where 4Gis available)

The reception from Boost is exactly the same as the reception from Telstra.

Here is a link to Boost

http://www.boost.com.au/rates.aspx

I hope this info is some help

El Gringo · Senior Member

Very happy camper wrote:

Hi all
Boost used to be 3G only but is now 4G (where 4Gis available)
The reception from Boost is exactly the same as the reception from Telstra.
Here is a link to Boost
http://www.boost.com.au/rates.aspx

I hope this info is some help

Looks like my info was out of date, sorry about that, Boost does now do 4G.

As to coverage, while the maps looks pretty much the same, I would still wonder about the actual reception in many rural areas.

I would though be really interested to see if anyone is on the Boost network or tries it soon, as to just what you think of it.

It's definitely a cheaper option, so please let us all know.

Cheers,

Pamela G · Senior Member

some plans look good ie $400 worth of free calls, but what is the true cost of the call when you look at the connection rates and per second charging. It really is a case of doing your homework to see which plan either broadband or phone is right for you.

brickies · Guru

The best company is the one you are happy with .

Fried Rice · Guru

We've used Telstra all over the place for five years and 120.000 klms .. deficient performance would be in no more than one or two percent of our locations. That's pretty damn good in a country much bigger than all of

Europe! Their general customer service has in our opinion been steadily improving all along as well.

Fried Rice

-- Edited by Fried Rice on Saturday 30th of January 2016 10:30:13 PM

Desert Dweller · Guru

How come this post turned into a mobile phone discussion? We were talking about computer dongles.

03_Troopy · Guru

Desert Dweller wrote:
How come this post turned into a mobile phone discussion? We were talking about computer dongles.

From your original post, it was more a discussion about the merits of Telstra

Delta18 · Guru

El Gringo wrote:
Very happy camper wrote:

Hi all
Boost used to be 3G only but is now 4G (where 4Gis available)
The reception from Boost is exactly the same as the reception from Telstra.
Here is a link to Boost
http://www.boost.com.au/rates.aspx

I hope this info is some help

Looks like my info was out of date, sorry about that, Boost does now do 4G.
As to coverage, while the maps looks pretty much the same, I would still wonder about the actual reception in many rural areas.
I would though be really interested to see if anyone is on the Boost network or tries it soon, as to just what you think of it.
It's definitely a cheaper option, so please let us all know.
Cheers,

Thanks for backing up what I said Happy.

El Gringo, as I stated my wife now uses Boost as I did prior to needing a new phone for which I had to go back to Telstra to get the one I wanted.

We don't do extreme remote travel anymore but I can assure you that everywhere we need to go Boost coverage is every bit as good as Telstra including 4G where available. This includes across the Nullarbor.

Another benefit is that there is NO contract, you pay month by month and if you decide to change carrier just run out your current month & switch.

As soon as my Telstra contract is up (2 months) I will be back to Boost like a shot.

ps: I retract what I previously said about Telstra owning Boost as I cannot now find any links to back that up.

Cheers Neil

-- Edited by Delta18 on Sunday 31st of January 2016 10:55:03 AM

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