Internet choices

[Rockstar]

Hi All,

I haven't had to pay for internet for around 8 yrs and now I am moving into a house where this won't be possible.

Just wondering what options I have for a possible short term stay ( 3 - 12 mths) in a house with phone line already connected. The place receives mobile coverage but I am not sure of the reliability or speed of dongles as I have never had one.

I called Internode and it seems it will cost around $70/mth for an uncontracted adsl arrangement (15GB) including line rental. Connection fees of around $200 all up.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[chrispy]

Rockstar

I recently bought a holiday house, I needed internet access but did not want to connect phone or internet. I use internode at home but did not want to go down that path for the holiday house.

I bought the 5 Gb dongle from Telstra for $59 plus the 12 months 12GB for $180. The house is really remote but the dongle works fantastically well.

It is battery operated, rechargeable by power, so I can use it down the beach if I want.

Chris

 

[DaveM]

Depends on if you are after quality or quantity.

http://www.zetta.net.au/services/internet/dsl2-broadband

Thats who I recommend for internet (as well as internode) and they have a residential plan bundle for phone plus 50gb + 100gb for 78 pm with a variety of contracts

 

[Jamie M]

I always found TPG to be quite good.

We moved to a new PPOR last year and they didn't service the area so we ended up going with spintel - their customer service isn't as good and I've had a couple of connection issues.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[twobobsworth]

Depends what you need it for. I'm thinking of stopping my ADSL and just using my phone as a hotspot.

 

[Crabnet]

For short term consider a Kogan mobile SIM DATA 30 offering.
$10.00 a month for 2GB of data with a maximum daily allowance of 400MB.
Uses part of the Telstra 3G network.
http://www.kogan.com/au/mobile/
If it doesn't work out there's no great loss.

 

[TingTong]

Instead of using a dongle or your smartphone as a hotspot (some plans ban tethering), get a portable 3G / LTE router which has its own rechargeable battery. The Huawei E589 gives 6-10 hours battery life, does 4G (every band), 3G+, 2G etc. It gives me 20-40mb down and 2-10 mb up. It should be about AU$200 if they have them in Oz.

 

[chrispy]

Ting Tong

That's what I am using...I called it a dongle for want of a better description. Its really a mobile modem thingy

Chris

 

[TingTong]

Hi Chris thanks for clarifying, some people refer to USB modems as dongles so I wasn't sure which one you meant. These are better than using your phone as a hotspot because of the battery issue plus you can have up to 10 people sharing it.

 

[chrispy]

Ting Tong

Its great, when I am there with my son he can use the laptop, I can use the ipad and we can both use the wifi on our iphones, at the same time!! It works really well.

Chris

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

Take a look at www.whirlpool.net.au The site has a summary of ISPs and their packages, as well as a way to search and distinguish between them.

 

[redwing]

I've known people to get the Kogan $30 with 6GB Data when working away from home or for items such as iPAD

We use Internode at home, but I use my Smartphone with Telstra 3G as a hotspot elsewhere as it has 8GB Data per month included

 

[Rockstar]

Thanks for all of your answers.

I know my phone modem is a pain on Optus - very slow.

Rockstar

I recently bought a holiday house, I needed internet access but did not want to connect phone or internet. I use internode at home but did not want to go down that path for the holiday house.

The house is really remote but the dongle works fantastically well.

Chris

I heard that dongles can be up and down in speed and quality but your post gives me hope. I am in a 3G area so signal should be no probs.

I bought the 5 Gb dongle from Telstra for $59 plus the 12 months 12GB for $180.
Chris

Not sure what you meant by this?

 

[redwing]

Thanks for all of your answers.

I know my phone modem is a pain on Optus - very slow.

Wow, mine has been faster than my ISP before a recent upgrade

 

[b simpson]

Take a look at www.whirlpool.net.au The site has a summary of ISPs and their packages, as well as a way to search and distinguish between them.

I totally agree
Direct link http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/

 

[robbiejuve]

The level of quality that you need is important.

I am with Internode because at a certain time in my life a quality online connection for bad time wasting hobbies (gaming) was important to me.

If you are just browsing the net, I wouldn't go with internode, there are much cheaper options.

And of course the plan you get must match your needs. Unless you download torrents, you dont need 200 gig data which is what you should be getting if you pay $70 for a connection.