Vent re Telecom provider - be warned

[Debt Junkie]

Hi all.

I was going to log on and ask for advice on my new internet service provider and their associated security package - I was hoping to find someone else here who had used the same and managed to make it work.

However, in the 25 minutes it's taken me to get onto the net today, I've decided to instead warn you all off the combined package. Three weeks in, I've finally received and been able to install the correct modem. Installation of the security suite has resulted in loss of access to pretty much everything - word crashes, the internet fails 4 out of five attempts, and half the time my task manager won't even open. I would write more, but amongst the system freezes, these two paragraphs have now taken 10 minutes, and I'm a touch typer so I'm not the one slowing this down.

Sigh. Optus fusion and their 2008 security package have not worked well for me. And the 13 calls I've made today should give you some idea of the frustration associated with this. I'm now attempting to uninstall the security package.

Good luck to anyone else who wishes to say 'Yes'.

 

[Debt Junkie]

Okay, I went away (ie, restarted my computer after uninstalling the security package) and everything I've got works, and super fast! First time trying to access the net was a success, as was opening a word doc! Woohoo...

So onto my next question - what do you all use as an antivirus?I want to have some virus protection ... I use to have McAfee, but geez it slows the system down. How about Norton? Adaware? Trend Micro? What works for you?

Cheers!

 

[yo yo ma]

The Optus Wireless Fusion packages have been withdrawn in the past few days...

Optus today confirmed the Wireless Fusion service had been withdrawn and said in a statement the company wanted "to ensure that we deliver an optimal service to our customers".

Optus says it will not be accepting any new Wireless Fusion customers but existing customers would still be able to use the popular service without disruption.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,24366075-5014239,00.html

http://blogs.smh.com.au/gadgetsonthego/archives/2008/09/optus_dumps_wireless_fusion_bu.html

 

[BV]

So onto my next question - what do you all use as an antivirus?I want to have some virus protection
Cheers!

I'd recommend the free version of AVG

http://www.pcauthority.com.au/Download/109236,avg-antivirus-free-8.aspx

I've installed it on a few friends PC's and they are very happy with it.
It connects to the internet and updates itself as well.

cheers

 

[Beef_Hooked]

I used AVG for years and was very happy with it.

Then I found Avast, brilliant!

No resource goblin, updates daily without prompting and has saved my a$$ many many times. I've also used it to scan faulty computers and found viruses that AVG seemed to overlook.

It covers IM, P2P and email as well as browsing.

Free for home users.

Cheers,
Beef

 

[Debt Junkie]

Thanks to all for the advice ... and the news!

That news article is an absolute classic!! Except I'm tied into a 24 month plan .. Darn it, I thought I was on such a winner ... doh!

Have to say though, free line rental, free local, long distance calls and calls to mobiles is going to save me money. When I was able to use the internet (and now!!), downloads were faster - and until I downloaded the security program, I had no issues at all ... I haven't actually moved my mobile phone to Optus, though, and won't be.

From the news articles, I agree that the customer service officers can't keep up. The Indian call centre is spectacularly bad - they may have the same information to provide, but they have no power to go beyond it ... and that voice recognition system - aaargh!!! So far I have $100 off my first bill as a response to the first three weeks of mistakes (not including the last few days). Unfortunately that has resulted in an incorrect bill being sent And they haven't quite managed to factor in the six months of discounts that was part of the deal. Sigh.

It's turned into a joke at work, where I've spent at least two lunch hours a week for the past three weeks on the phone to either Optus, Telstra (previous provider) or the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (well worth a call if you're getting nowhere with your Telecom provider - they can give you the REAL complaints numbers ...)

Now, I'm going to use my working internet to check out AVAST, and AVG - thanks heaps for the suggestions - they're two products I've never heard of.

Cheers!

 

[LynnH]

DJ

Check out Panda - hubby got sick of Norton and now uses Panda and is very happy with it. He gets a lot of junk emails, and Panda handles this brilliantly. Two of my daughters also use it (they've used several other products and wouldn't use anything else). Cost is about $50 - $80 pa (I think) depending on what version you use.

http://www.pandasecurity.com

Cheers
LynnH

 

[GreatPig]

Used free AVG for ages, and am still using it on one desktop, but had problems with the latest version on a couple of laptops so switched to Avira. It had good reviews and has been fine so far. It just gives a popup ad for the pro version every time it updates but otherwise is unobtrusive.

GP

 

[RumpledElf]

Just had similarish debacle with Telstra. They finally made a nice cheap plan ($129 per month for 10G up/down, halfprice for the first year on a 3 year contract) so we pretty much instantly switched to it and took up the offer to change our phoneline to a pstn one for free.

The modem arrived within two days and wasn't activated so it just Wouldn't Work. Many hours on hold later and we finally got hold of someone who could activate it. So yay, fast internet. They wouldn't switch over my old email address from dialup to broadband (like, wtf?) but they did credit my account for 3 years of email address parking.

Meanwhile, the person who took my request for the changeover told me it might not be done this year. Right, not much use there, we don't want to pay for TWO internet plans for the entire rest of the year, we were budgetting for one to be cancelled straight away.

Countrywide told me it would be done in 2 weeks and that the initial contact didn't have a clue. Good news at least.

In two weeks a guy came out who hadn't actually been told what he was supposed to be doing, and sure enough instead of downgrading our line to 1 line + distinctive ring fax he converted it to two lines. With monthly charge for both and installation fee for the second line.

Many more hours of hold later we seem to have got it all sorted out ...

ETA: oops, forgot it isn't quite sorted out, we did this at 4pm Friday and our second line (fax number) has been disconnected all weekend ... it was supposed to be done in 45 minutes ... so I guess I'm on hold again on Monday morning.

 

[Debt Junkie]

I'd like to have 'great' telecom services, but I accept that's probably never going to happen.

What I don't understand is why all the services providers seem to be using 'abysmal' as their target performance level

What's wrong with 'mediocre' and a human on the line instead of voice recognition?? I'd switch providers for that! I'd switch providers for voice recognition and the guarantee of never being transferred to an Indian call centre again!

RumpledElf, I'd suggest contacting the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. In reality they don't do much - you tell them your problem, they write it down and give you a reference ... and a 'senior level' complaints area phone number - ie, the one normal people can't find on the internet or by asking on the general complaints line.

Then you call that area and start the discussion with 'TIO said to give you this reference number' - you'll be amazed at how they'll suddenly pull out all the stops to assist you ... however, let's keep in mind that their assistance is what got us here in the first place. Sigh.

Also, what some telecoms (like Telstra) won't tell you is that there are actual arrangements/customer services agreements in place - years ago with Telstra you'd get a month's free line rental for every working day they failed to connect a home phone number. I only found that out by calling the TIO.

Don't forget to fling about the words 'customer experience' as well. Apparently telecoms are throwing money at the concept. Ha ha. Must have been about $2 worth in the case of Optus.

Cheers!

 

[RumpledElf]

Telstra Countrywide is the first step before the ombudsman for us, they are actually pretty good at sorting things out, getting good deals for people who contact them etc. The main problem is I'm on a service that Telstra wants to discontinue and they haven't exactly provided something at a good price point up until now ($129 for 10G being a good price point, for Telstra at least). You should go read the rants on whirlpool in the ISDN section

 

[Aaron Sice]

Trend Micro - is a nazi but i have very sensitive files on board.

 

[RumpledElf]

Exactly 1 hour of Telstra hold later, I've now got the problem sorted (it was a problem noone could work out until 3 transfers and escalations of operators later), a free month and a bit line rental, a discount plan and an apology. Woot.

 

[wylie]

We have been on the Fusion 99 plan (upgraded from the cheapest one, which lasted us 3 days or so) which gives 20GB and suits our usage.

Be careful though, because local calls are free, but not calls to mobiles (at least not on our plan, perhaps they have altered it for new connections).

We have used Avast and currently AVG. Both free and both do the job.

 

[Olly]

An AVG user here. Had it for years - never missed a beat and never let me down.

Helped a friend set up her laptop the other night (Vista). It came with some trial software - Norton being one of them. She didn't want it as she'd have to pay for it once the trial period was over so we uninstalled and installed AVG and it found a Trojan straight away! She was well impressed.

Free for personal users and updates are free too. http://free.avg.com/


Olly

 

[Debt Junkie]

Hey all - an update ... I now have Avast. I'd like to have a look at AVG & Panda, but can't seem to get the AVG page up and haven't had the chance with Panda (due to a tragic addiction to a simulation game).

I have also installed Zone Alarm as a firewall (also free) and am very happy to now have a working computer system.

Wylie, re the free calls to mobiles, that wasn't part of the original fusion plan I signed up for (in August), but somewhere during my 13 calls to Optus on Sunday I got through to a fellow called John in the Adelaide office who advised it was a new addition to the plan, but that - surprise surprise - Optus weren't advertising it to existing customers ... you might want to try and get it, assuming of course, that I haven't been completely misinformed ...

Cheers