Best Mobile broadband for me?

Where do you see this $10 per month deal??? The deals as listed on http://www.telstra.com.au/specialoffers/prepaidwireless/index.html start at $20.

Andrew

I'm on the $10/150mb a month plan.
Can be found here:
Data Packs
This is on a plan though.

Use the LGTU500 with the old CDMA arial as a bluetooth modem to the computer. Works OK in range of a cell.

Richard,

I'm using a data pack option at present on my NextG phone because the bloody Telstra Home Line has a fault on it and I cant get my normal ADSL link.

Do you get notification on your phone when you are nearing your Data Pack limit?

Bill

Bill,

Don't think so and the data usage snapshot is pretty useless as there seems to be a huge lag. The increase from 20mb to 150mb/month for $10 suits me.

Under the "Data Usage Snapshot" area (which goes to "My Account" on my phone), there is a selection called "Usage Notice" which when activated on that page states the following:

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Your Usage Notice is turned on. To turn off your Usage Notice, simply click the "Turn Off Notice" link below. You will receive an initial SMS Usage Notice when My Data Usage estimates that you have reached 80% of your included data pack allowance, and a second SMS when you have used 100% of your included data allowance. You will not be charged for these Usage Notices.
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Andrew

Andrew,

Thanks. Will activate it.

This is what we do.

It works a treat.

After returning from our trip I called Telstra to have the 3GB plan dropped back to my ormal 150mb plan. The salesperson (they are all salespeople) then tried to sell me a data pack and modem, on a contract.

I asked him to explain how that could possibly be cheaper or better than the way that I currently do it. He couldn;t, and agreed that using your phone with data pack is the bext option in my circumstance.


if you text "use" to 176, you will get a SMS telling you what usage % and mb you have in the current billing cycle (handy for making sure that you don;t go over)- this is more up to date than the telstra usage meter (apparently)


cheers

Dave

huh? how could "pre-paid" charge you $18000 without your approval? The most expensive rate seems to be 13.3c per MB, not $2! Wireless pre-paid is not the same rates as Pay-As-You-Go.

Not as many people download 9GB via wireless broadband speeds... :-) Whilst the data packs might be cheaper based on a fixed usage, it really depends on an individuals usage and expectations. Sometimes the knowledge that you will not be charged any excess is reassuring and it only takes a couple minutes to recharge the SIM account, thereby resetting the 1 month period. Are you able to do that with those accounts Doug? If so, i might just move across to them. (I am in a situation where i don't want to be caught out during a month with no access or very expensive access, therefore the prepaid is ideal)

I use the prepaid Next-G SIM (set up for WBB) and WWAN card installed permanently in my laptop and it is great for everything i need. To say that it is bloody useless is misleading.

Andrew

Read what I typed.... the rate for Telstra Pre-Paid Wireless is $2.00 per MB download, Now I used the word ...IF , meaning IF I had Telstra Prepaid for the 9000 plus MBs I download / uploaded last month would have therefore cost $18,000 plus ....Does make sense now.

.

I did Doug thanks...hence my statements.

Where does it say $2/Mb for "pre-paid wireless" ? i'm not seeing that anywhere.

Andrew

Andrew
Yeh.... It's a bloody hard one to find , anyhow 2 blokes here in the C/park got caught, 1 has since gone over to Bigpond, the other one ... well I tried to warn him but he didn't listen and went and got talked into one of Telstra's little USB modems too, It's pitifully slow , total waste of money.

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G'day Doug, Andrew & Warstar

As I have found out Telstra and Bigpond are two different companies, each in direct competition with the other and this is where they trick us all up with wording of their contracts. I would agree with Doug T and say don't under any circumstances go on a 3 year contract as the market is too volatile.

The advertised data-rate for Pre-Paid Wireless is 13.3c per MB or part of, giving a 150MB DL allowance for the period. If I do a $50 top up of my account then for that period I the data-rate if 8c per MB with 650MB allowance. For $80 it is data-rate of 2.25c and 3.5GB, then for the daddy of em all ifyou pay $100 the data-rate is 1.65c with 6GB allowance.

I have been testing this stuff for about 3 months now by trial and error to see how much it will cost to do certain jobs when in the bush and this is what I have found;

Original cost of USB Modem $149 - I only have to charge it up once in any period of 12 months to keep it going;
My major use is to check emails and maintain three websites;
Second major use is ExplorOZ which is only an issue when I am looking at photographs within posts;

I do not intentionally DL anything when I'm on the road camping remotely, but obviously that does have to happen and I upsize my recharge to accommodate that period;

If the Telstra USB modem was going to cost me more than $300-400 in any year then I will not continue with it. The fact that I can't use Skype with this modem is an issue at this time, but I will develop a work-around for that one also, probably by buying another modem as Skype is brilliant at talking with people across the globe.

I can see Doug's point about $2 per MB and as Andrew has pointed out it isn't documented anywhere obvious. I am pretty sure the Pay-as-you-Go plan is a Bigpond service and I don't want to pay for anything I can't use, so when I did a $5 recharge for my Xmas Day testing while Fiona and I went bush for a few hours I had $12.37 to use which I blew away in 2 minutes as I DL my email (3 items with measured attachments).

I do have to look at the NextG data pack's next, but for now the pre-paid wireless from Telstra is OK for me, BUT, it can be very expensive as Doug pointed out. I have spent an hour or more on ExplorOZ with little impact on $9 balance but the minute I checked on someone's trip photos it gets eaten into pretty quick.

Happy New Year to all
Regards Paul & Fiona

Just be aware that this Pay-as-you-go "plan" is NOT pre-paid wireless per se......two completely different kettle of fish. It is not advertised everywhere because it is not an excess usage fee, rather a seperate plan for those that are either rich or don't use the connection very much, if at all :-)

To tarnish the pre-paid wireless setup with this $2/Mb charge theory is wrong. It is one of the pitfalls of "plans" as it is a plan concept only. You cannot be overcharged with pre-paid wireless unless there is something i am missing.

BTW the $100/6Gig pre-paid is very comparible to the $119/9Gig and $89/5Gig data plans, for those needing that much quota. The only low-usage plan seems to be $29.95 for 200Mb, which is the equivalent ($30) pre-paid value gives you 225Mb......seems to be better IMO. :-) The pre-paid plans seem to fit in roughly to the post-paid plans values, with the added benefit of being able to top up/upgrade at short notice (5 minutes for my last upgrade).

Any idea why you can't use skype with your USB modem P&F? I have no problem using the equivalent of the 880 USB modem.

I should say that i missed the low usage mobile datapacks (as pointed out by Richard W) which might be suitable for those on a mobile plan.

Andrew

Just a Tetstra thing with the wireless modem, there will probably be a work-around but haven't got to that part yet.

I've got virtually 'unlimited' download options at home and the only thing I do with that is regular upgrades for my software library of tools and checking out photography sites, etc, on the web. When I'm in the bush it's to relax and get more images.

Paul & Fiona