| [ Total Views: 795 | Total Replies: 23 | Thread Id: 5710 ] |
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 amazer
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| posted on April 27th, 2003 at 06:51 PM |
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Telstra ADSL
whos got it? any complaints?
Whats the deal with this "self installation fee"? $129 for 18 month contract.
Is that with telstra supplying a modem? What if I buy a modem from elsewhere ? will it be cheaper/better than telstra one?
It (net access) will work out cheaper for me than dial up, because I have 2 phone lines seeing as how I am online pretty much all day everyday. Plus
10% discount for having land/mobile phones + internet thru telstra.
Go for it or not?
Chris.... kombi pilot, oval dreamer... finisher #26971 2005 city to surf
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hool
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| posted on April 27th, 2003 at 07:04 PM |
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read the fine print very carefully!! the numbers sound good until you look at how much traffic is included, and how much the excess traffic will cost
you.
i haven't looked at the deal closely so i'm not sure of the details..
adsl is usually pretty good, but prone to interruptions. most adsl connections end up going over the telstra network anyway, however other companies
have better pricing packages.
most adsl connections have a set fee per month with some traffic provided and excess traffic is charged at a per-mb basis, so that if you have a busy
month your bill could be huge!
there is a company called iinet that provides adsl, usually cheaper than telstra, and on their plans they don't charge extra for excess traffic,
they just slow your connection down to around 56kbps... a much better option than paying a small fortune...
go to www.iinet.com.au for details
also, adsl is not available in all areas - are you in suburbia somewhere? you'll have to check whether your local exchange supports adsl, and how
far away you are from it...
self install is pretty easy, just plug some hardware into your phone line and computer, install some software and off you go. you don't
necessarily need to buy the equipment from telstra or iinet etc, you can compare prices with harris technology (www.ht.com.au) or search around and pick things up cheaper...
julian
[Edited on 27-4-2003 by hool]
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david
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| posted on April 27th, 2003 at 07:22 PM |
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i have adsl
i have had it for a year or more i guess and it is great ,fast ,you would not go back to a dial up trust me on that ,just watch it if you do file
sharing on kazaa or similiar as you pay for uploads as well, when you count how many dial ups you do in that month and use it a lot there is nothing
in it as far as cost goes so go for it ,i got the modem from from telstra
david:o:o
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amazer
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| posted on April 27th, 2003 at 07:27 PM |
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Thats where the strange bit comes. telstra call 500MB per month a light user. According to Ozemail I rarely go above 300MB and I would have thought I
am a heavy user. Maybe I need to download a healthy serve of porn. I dont like being a light user.
Chris.... kombi pilot, oval dreamer... finisher #26971 2005 city to surf
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KruizinKombi
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| posted on April 27th, 2003 at 07:44 PM |
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You'll find you use the Megabytes faster with ADSL. You'll probably find yourself downloading more multimedia than before, as well as just
plain surfing more.
Kruizin Kol
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 kombi_kid
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| posted on April 27th, 2003 at 07:51 PM |
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hey
try http://www.tpg.com.au they offer unlimited download ADSL for about the same cost as
telstra!!!
cheers
rhys
it aint just cool its aircool'd
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hool
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| posted on April 27th, 2003 at 08:15 PM |
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be very wary of tpg - i'm an ex-customer... they are cheap, but their service is non-existent, tech support is very ordinary and their network is
so congested that you never get the speed that you're supposed to get...
there are a few regular reviews of ISPs in Australia, TPG usually rate the lowest...
[Edited on 27-4-2003 by hool]
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OvalGlen
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| posted on April 27th, 2003 at 09:24 PM |
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I looked at tpg and with the over the limit costs ( anything over 500Mb I think ) it worked out fairly expensive.
Maybe I got it wrong but they charge a very complicated stepped usage scale....
Regards,Glenn>
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mhbourke
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| posted on April 27th, 2003 at 09:44 PM |
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Telstra adsl is getting better the self install still needs a telstra modem came with the package last time i heard.Works well when working but you
have not got much when it is down.Restricted in distance and areas(big towns not country villages)Other options ISDN still dail up but have 2
lines.use one at 56k and still have calls coming in or when the big download comes use both lines on the isdn bus and have 128k(30c hour) again
distance and if your local exchange is equipped, and look for specials they come out every 3 months or so( ex tech):sandrine
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lardo
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| posted on April 28th, 2003 at 06:23 PM |
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ADSL
Try netspace.net.au iam with them the quality is good,no dropouts.also you can purchase your own equipment and set up your self no problems.they also
have varios plans & if you go over they cut your speed back instead of charging more.
Big pond also charges for uploads.
cheers,neil
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crewcabconnection
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| posted on April 28th, 2003 at 07:42 PM |
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Telstra ADSL Value or Not?
Pro's - fast connection, they own the lines
Nice orange and blue logos.
Con's - lengthy contracts, service difficulties (outages) from time to time - then call em and listen to the answerphone message...
Modems they provide are okay, but you really need to add a firewall application or better still an ADSL router.
Other providers like Internode (in SA, but support national), IPRIUM, TPG, OPTUS are very competitive.
Try OPTUS at home if you can get it, they do cable TV, plus 50 free calls and ADSL for about the same money.
Telstra likes to bump off dial up customers to get the redial money....sure it's a software issue at your end sir!....don't forgive them
thier past sins.
I got FREE installation and they came and did it for me....now you do it yerself and pay them for the honour....erm how come?
Their ADSL billing can also be a hassle, as it's different to their normal billing and their hold-merry-go-round can drive ya nuts.
The hassle is that you have to sign a contract and don't know what you're getting....Telstra has improved big time in the last 12 months,
before that the service and software was lousy.
You pays yer money and takes yer chance.
Say's me on Telstra
Loves a lolcat
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jenz58
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| posted on April 28th, 2003 at 08:18 PM |
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Have had cable for a couple of years and think I'd probably go crazy if I backtracked to dial-up. Don't have cable TV or many other vises so
figure this indulgance is acceptable.
Find I'm not interested in downloading multimedia. Most music sites now you have to subscribe too. They have tightened up on the free music. Also
don't download films. If you are interested in these things they do download very fast.
Used to download programs and find cracks but in the end I didn't have the time to fix all the bugs I got in the system and this also got more
difficult to do. Usually got pop-ups from x rated sites which pays for these crack sites and so many gremlims got in to my machine 
I was initially using the computer for off-campus study, then for research purposes. Used to get up and do other stuff while the computer did
it's thing when on dial up (painfully slow), but now everything is so instant I stay. You can cover quite a bit of territory in a very short
time.
Great if more than one person is using the internet in the house as again it is a lot faster to get through stuff. Have 3 computers networked here
(maybe I could start an internet cafe?) My kids have all used it when studying (one still is)
Used to be with Telstra but changed over to Optus to have the one biller and to receive a slight discount.
I can have the computer online 24/7 and not pay any extra. I don't download a great deal and so have never had to pay more than the basic monthly
fee.
Both Telstra and Optus provide the modem.
Well I can highly recommend it.
Hey and no more disconnections when you are in the middle of downloading.
When on dial-up we ended up getting a second phone line. A must if you are online a lot and have people trying to ring you:o |
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amazer
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 10:51 AM |
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Ive been on an Optus/telstra infinite loop before. Unfortunately my phone lines have been plagued with problems. At first I was with optus. Ring
telstra and they say nope you are rebilled optus customer nick off. Ring optus on hold forever, much worse than telstra, 55 minutes before I gave up
one time, and then they have to ring telstra for the service (telstra owns the lines) and get back to you anyway. Also optus would occasionally
'find' calls from a previous month and put them on the next bill??? As much as I would like to change phone companies, telstra still has the
real monopoly.
I could rant for hours about my horrible dealings with telstra over my phone lines, but dont want to fry my keyboard with bad language.
couple of things that are scaring me are being hit for uploads as well. I do a lot of uni work form home, uploading/downloading between the unix
system there, so that might hurt a bit. And the 18 month contract going into the unknown.
My current deal with ozemail is fine except I get d/c every 4 hours and have to redial, and its costing me the same as this telstra ADSL. The speed
doesnt really worry me because I dont know any better.
I WANT to jump.. but... its all dark and murky down there.
Chris.... kombi pilot, oval dreamer... finisher #26971 2005 city to surf
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hool
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 11:07 AM |
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i switched from tpg to primus for dialup access and really like it. it costs about $25 per month for unlimited access and the disconnection is every 5
hours, not 4. i have my dial-up connection set to automatically re-dial, so it's not too much of a problem. if i'm downloading large files i
use a product called GetRight, which automatically resumes downloads (not restarts, resumes from where it was interrupted).
if you want some impartial advice on broadband options have a look at www.whirlpool.net.au for lots of useful info - they have plans and pricing info from most isps so you can compare them, plus
lots of news and comments on broadband in oz, very useful!
julian
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SKEWtYpe3
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 11:08 AM |
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u say your phone lines have problems ?
if ur lines have any noise on them or problems this might stuff with your adsl as that splits a single line into two lines.
i would just go cable, get the optus discount thing maybe.
:bounce
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amazer
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 11:24 AM |
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not a little bit of noise. when my phone lines go out they both go so much noise I cant hear anything at all. I would say 10 times in the 3 years i
have been online and had the 2nd phone line put in. (actually split the existing one) It began when telstra contracted out linesman. The contractors
employed monkeys. Everyone who has came has 'doctored' the original stuff up. Until the last one who said quote "whoever did this needs
a kick in the head". Hopefully Im clear sailing now. Ive got everything new from the street to the puter. Including the concrete hole in the
ground. Just dont bother asking telstra for refunds or compensation.
stuck with phone lines, no cable here.
Thanks for the website.
Chris.... kombi pilot, oval dreamer... finisher #26971 2005 city to surf
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fatboy
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 11:36 AM |
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To save me typing it again look at my post here
http://www.austech.info/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36410
most of my comments are still valid and "The general routine" unfortunatley applies to all suppliers as most of the problems are the result
of Telstra indifferance.
ADSL is definatley worth the trouble of getting it installed and with cable only available to a select few there really isn't any option for most
ppl
My company is also a distributor for Ozzie Net who supply ADSL from $79 with only downloads charged.
http://www.ozzienet.net/default.asp?ID=6273
You should know that once you have connected to a supplier it is an immense effort to change to another - hence me being with TPG but selling
OzzieNet.
BTW TPG have now tightened their security and it is not possible to bypass it.
However they have improved their systems to allow me acces to here even when someone uses bad language.
As an example when you guys see
"Fatboys a complete f*cking moron"(with the u not the *)
I see
"Fatboys a complete **censored** **censored** moron".
[Edited on 29-4-2003 by fatboy]
" Captain Picard, why are there no Indians on the Enterprise ? Don't you need IT Support ? "
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fatboy
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 11:41 AM |
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Yes they do deserve a kick in the head, when you disconect the second line it will improve the quality greatly.
Telsta do in fact give discount if ADSL goes down for set % each month you can get up to half your monthly fee back.
However since ADSL is very reliable (Through all companies) then they rarley have to do that 
" Captain Picard, why are there no Indians on the Enterprise ? Don't you need IT Support ? "
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amazer
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 12:31 PM |
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well tpg is out as it will cost me $85/month for just 400MB.
When I first got online and played around with small dial up ISP's you soon learn its worth the extra $10 to go with mainstream like OneTel (RIP)
and Ozemail. Is it the same with ADSL?
I would go with telstra for sure if it wasnt for being charged uploads. What does this C&P from telstra mean? | Quote: | Customers are entitled to a reduced installation fee of $189 for a
three month contract if:
a) they possess a modem from their previous Telstra BigPond broadband ADSL service or;
b) they have otherwise legally procured a Telstra BigPond broadband modem in good working order from an ex Telstra BigPond broadband customer.
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do you need particular modems for a particular ISP or are they just rorting people?
What about these 2
Blink 256 @ http://www.broadbandchoice.com.au/isp-info.cfm?id=15
or
Home 256's @ http://www.broadbandchoice.com.au/isp-info.cfm?id=11
$60 is my limit, otherwise I'll just dial up in ignorant bliss of the speed to be had.
Oh and what about the rest of my hardware. PIII 66MHz with win98SE. Is it worth the effort?
Chris.... kombi pilot, oval dreamer... finisher #26971 2005 city to surf
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kombikim
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 12:37 PM |
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We got ADSL at work a few weeks back and the service has been noticibly quicker & so far reliable, not sure, but as I understand it ADSL works
better in some locations than others |
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amazer
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 12:37 PM |
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Saw this at the techy forum (geez my head hurts) I think its classic.
bit too big. wont last long
[Edited on 29-4-2003 by amazer]
Chris.... kombi pilot, oval dreamer... finisher #26971 2005 city to surf
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fatboy
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 12:52 PM |
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Hey mate,
If I were you I would be looking at the the "Unlimited 256k package from TPG
http://www.tpg.com.au/products_services/adsl.html
Depending where you are it will cost from $69 to $99 but once you get rid of that 2nd line even at $99 it will be close to what you are spending
now.
6 month contract / free modem and a static IP allowing you to connect to your PC from anywhere make it a very good deal, and of course its unlimited
up/download
BTW you need to remember that the speeds quoted are theoretical maximums - I have done testing between the 256k and the 1500k and the differance in
actual speed are minute to non existant, with the bottle neck usually being "At the other end" - so stick with 256k
" Captain Picard, why are there no Indians on the Enterprise ? Don't you need IT Support ? "
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Che Castro
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 03:29 PM |
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dont go telstra! we used to be with them... 3gb per month... absolutely horrible!
we're with iinet like hool. its good so far 
Jon
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555bug
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 10:41 PM |
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just remember that ADSL is a lot slower than cable, the 256k connect is like 256/10=25Kb/s compared to cablw which varys all the way upto 500+ kb/s
so if its pure speed your after go optus. If youre after big DL limits iinet or datastore or whatever.
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jenz58
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 11:25 PM |
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From looking at monthly costs, as posted, go cable.
I pay $63.95 per month with Optus, unlimited time, fast and no disconnections. How many extra dial ups do most of you pay from due to disconnections? |
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hool
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 11:32 PM |
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cable is good, where it is available, but i think amazer has already said that cable is not available..
amazer, most isps will have their own equipment that they will sell or rent to you.. it is not strictly necessary to go with theirs and you should be
able to find the same models or similar cheaper elsewhere. before you do this you should check whether they will still support you if you buy your own
modem...
as for your hardware, that should be fine as well, the equipment and software should be available for 98SE..
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jenz58
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| posted on April 29th, 2003 at 11:37 PM |
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Sorry Chris just found where you said you can't get cable
Good luck
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amazer
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| posted on April 30th, 2003 at 12:08 AM |
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mm no cable. But I do live in lower class grubville. Most of the people
here that have computers are short term owners. They pick em up one night and sell em down the pub the next. No great surprise there's no cable
here.
I am quite happy with OzeMail's service. I rarely get bumped off prior to my 4 hr connection limit and speed is good for dial up. Well compared
to my mums, the inlaws and the library it is anyway.
The only reason I have looked into ADSL is cos I was looking to save money. I worked out its costing me about $60 per month all up with line rental,
ISP & call costs. Which is the same as cheaper ADSL's so why not. I cant get cheaper than $60 on dial up while feeling secure about service.
Looks like I wont save money, but maybe I'll get through the forum quicker and have more time to do uni assignments.
Thanks for all your comments. Most helpful. Funny how you can spend over 3 years at uni doing computer subjects and STILL know nothing.
[Edited on 29-4-2003 by amazer]
Chris.... kombi pilot, oval dreamer... finisher #26971 2005 city to surf
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