Author Topic: Australian Internet  (Read 6660 times)

cbr shadow

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Australian Internet
« on: August 21, 2014, 07:52:08 AM »
I've made another post about my wife and I moving from Chicago to Melbourne, where people here were extremely helpful with information.  I'd like to get suggestions on what home internet we should go with.  My wife tried to look into it yesterday but said she was overwhelmed with options (ADSL+ vs. Broadband, which company, etc) and there were negative reviews for every provider (similar to here in the US, finding a large ISP without negative reviews isn't possible, so that's expected).

Our requirements would be to stream video, decent speeds since she works from home quite often and requires video conferencing.  Other than that, just general web surfing and light downloading.  A reliable connection is important.

What company/speeds would you recommend?

Thanks!
Ryan

cbr shadow

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #1 on: August 21, 2014, 08:39:07 AM »
While I'm at it, I'll ask another piece of advice from Melbourne locals on this forum..

My wife's birthday is this coming weekend, so I'd like to get flowers delivered to the house in Melbourne.  Any advice on where to go for a reasonable price to get flowers delivered in Prahran?
Thanks!

cbr shadow

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2014, 03:08:51 PM »
Bump - Since I somehow forgot all the Australians would be sleeping when I posted :)

The Borgs

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2014, 03:42:30 PM »
We're in Queensland, but have been with Internode for internet and phone for a few years now. Reliability was key for us over price, since my husband works from home a lot, but they seem to be quite competitive pricing wise (I recently did a price comparison and found we could save $5 a month if we switched to an unknown quantity, that's simply not worth it to us, if my husband misses 10 minutes of work, that's more than a $5 cost). In about 8 years we've had 1 issue with speed with them, we called and the problem they said didn't exist (it seemed to throttle at 3pm each day) went away.

I've heard shocking reports about the reliability of Dodo from locals around here.

urbanista

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2014, 03:59:48 PM »
We use TPG for both internet and mobile phones. $50 monthly for landline (we want the landline) and ADSL++. The beauty of TPG is $15 monthly mobile phone plan (bring-your-own-phone, no contract).

Sorry, mate, have no idea about flowers delivery service. For me, the idea of receiving cut flowers as a gift is really weird.

marty998

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #5 on: August 21, 2014, 04:01:59 PM »
I've heard shocking reports about the reliability of Dodo from locals around here.

As the jingle goes....Dodo, Dodo, Internet that flies....

because you find they have all flown the coop when you try calling customer service.

A friend of mine called them up about a broken modem. She was then asked to email her complaint!!!

Yes CBR, all telcos are varying shades of bad. I remember when I got my first mobile phone. The box said "please call us to activate so you can get started". Like how the fuck LOL.

urbanista

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2014, 04:04:57 PM »
Yeah, I forgot to mention. Get ready for the fact that internet in Australia is slow no matter which provider you use.

But yes, don't use Dodo.

I've heard good things about iinet. We used to be with Telstra & Optus, the speed was no better than TPG, but Telstra is the most expensive service.

The Borgs

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2014, 07:28:05 PM »

I've heard good things about iinet. We used to be with Telstra & Optus, the speed was no better than TPG, but Telstra is the most expensive service.

Some relatives of ours have recently signed up with iinet. It took a few weeks and a few phone calls to get anything to happen, with responses like "well, it looks like it's working from here" from the customer service team. So not a great start there, but I appreciate that's just a single review too.

bigchrisb

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #8 on: August 21, 2014, 07:36:35 PM »
I've been using mynetfone for the last year or so.  Service was quick and efficient, and when I've called them with problems, they have fixed them then and there.   Suspect as they are a bit smaller their service levels are still pretty good?  From my experience I'd recommend them, depending on your distance from the exchange (ADSL2)

alsoknownasDean

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Australian Internet
« Reply #9 on: August 22, 2014, 03:03:27 AM »
As far as Internet here goes, DSL is far more common than cable, but cable will likely be available in hour area. They throttle the uploads something terrible though (I'm on cable that's 100mbit down and 2mbit up). Speeds of ADSL are a bit variable, but you should be able to get around 10mbit or so in many cases.

Get used to download quotas too. Most Internet providers here will have monthly download/upload limits. Fortunately for most of them, going over the quota doesn't mean extra charges, but the speed is reduced to near dialup speeds. Some carriers do offer unlimited, but of course it's more expensive.

The biggest telco/internet provider in Australia is Telstra (who happen to own most of the infrastructure too, formerly govt owned). They have stores all around the country and quite good support, but prices tend to be higher.

Optus and iiNet are two other major providers in the country. Then there's an awful lot of smaller carriers (although a lot of them are now iiNet subsidiaries). Some of these would include TPG, Exetel or Internode (an iiNet subsidiary).

Naked ADSL refers to a service with no landline phone service (which is around $30 a month). If you want cable, Optus and Telstra are your only choices. :)

One major site for comparing Australian phone/internet providers is Whirlpool (www.whirlpool.net.au).
« Last Edit: August 22, 2014, 06:03:49 PM by alsoknownasDean »

theconcierge

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2014, 03:52:15 AM »
Whirlpool is a great fourm.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

nora

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2014, 05:25:34 AM »
For flowers, you can google map florists and phone the closest one to her that delivers and give credit card details over the phone, or order online.

agent_clone

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2014, 07:11:03 AM »
Personally I have been with Optus, Telstra and I am now with iiNet.

Optus because Telstra didn't tag the phone line it took 6 weeks to get the phone connected initially, it was fine after that.  Telstra was ok, this was an existing service that my ex-housemate had connected.  iiNet I am happy so far I have only been connected for about 2 weeks though.

ADSL2 is the most common form of internet connection here.  Speed for that will depend on how far away you are from the exchange, and whether your exchange is overloaded, reliability will probably be more of a factor as to how bad your copper line is plus the distance to the exchange.  e.g. When I was with Optus I was I think 5-800m from the exchange and I connected at 16Mbps, my parents however are about 3.5km from the exchange and they connect at 2.5Mbps and their connection isn't too reliable, my boss has similar issues.  My boss has a backup 3G modem in his modem/router to provide a more reliable connection as his wife needs to stream stuff for work.

I have mostly gone with iiNet as, for various reasons, I was given the option of having no contract or $100 credit plus a modem/router, I chose the credit and modem/router.  If I was straight out choosing I would go with Internode as I dislike Peak/Off-peak plans but again, credit and modem/router (which I needed) and quotawise I will not make too much of a difference to me.  Internode was bought out by iiNet and are from my opinion effectively the same company, Internode however doesn't have peak/offpeak.

Oh I should also note that I was using a prepaid 3G modem/wireless router for a month before I moved and had my internet connected, I found that it would be quite slow at times, but fine at other times.  So I considered it fine for an interim solution until having a wired internet connection.  A 4G connection may be better (it is supposed to be faster) but not everywhere has 4G and you may need to check your area if considering it.  3G depending on how much you download/upload is more expensive as well.

I can't comment on cable.  If you were in an area with NBN (though getting the initial connection for this can be problematic for new installations, even though mine only took a week but they just needed to swap out boxes rather than install cables) I would recommend at least the 25/5 speeds and you could always up the speed from there if necessary, however unless your in a brand new building this is unavailable in Prahran at this point in time.

This_Is_My_Username

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #13 on: August 22, 2014, 08:07:30 PM »
try this comparison site:

http://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband

vjb

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Re: Australian Internet
« Reply #14 on: September 22, 2014, 06:28:06 PM »
For flowers, maybe try the Big Bunch (www.thebigbunch.com.au). Nowhere is really cheap for delivered flowers, but they have the most reasonable prices I've found, particularly for lilies and posies, and seem to have good reviews.