Broadband and home phone...

[Tenrocca]

Completely non cobra related, but seeing we have such a knowledgable bunch (an such a broad spectrum of people) I thought I would ask this question here.

Currently paying about $60 a month for standard ADSL at home (Telstra) and it is slow (although when I first got it it was so FAST compared to dialup- amazing how expectation change). So thinking of going to ADSL2. The other thing is my home phone is coming out at around 90 a month as well, so between home phone and broadband Im forking out $150 a month (and the girls arent even teenagers yet!).

What should I do? Optus home cap, that they have been advertising, IInet, soul? - anyone have any experience with any of these or another decent home phone and broadband supplier?

I cant even navigate my way around the bloody telstra bigpond site - it is stupid slow and cant find anything I want ie - what plan Im on!

Cheers

[LoBelly]

as with things cobra - there is a site

http://www.whirlpool.net.au/

this might be a good place to start

LoBelly

[Tenrocca]

great site - Thanks lobelly.

[400TT]

As above Whirlpool.net.au is the best source of info. I'm a regular there.

You might do better with one of the bundled Internet & phone services.

Optus & aapt do good value bundles.

ADSL2 is both faster and cheaper if you have access to it. You can do a search to see which providers are in your local telephone exchange. Then look up their web sites or call them to discuss plans/prices. Here is one of the better sites to check for ADSL2 availability.

http://www.adsl2exchanges.com.au/

Just note with ADSL2 the further away from the telephone exchange you are the slower the speed you will get.

With ADSL1 you can get up to 8000/384k speeds now. So that's still an option. Same deal though, you can only get close to 8000k speeds if you are next door to the exchange, the further away you are, the slower it is.

You can also look at Cable(Bigpond & Optus), although it's always priced at a premium compared to ADSL.

Also the general rule is that the faster your Internet connection the more data you will transfer, so the more usage you will require. Just human nature, especially if you have kids.

There is also VoIP(phone via the Internet), but it's not for the faint hearted. Huge savings can be made, but it can also cause huge heartache.

I have two broadband connections here for redundancy & capacity. aaNet 8000/384 ADSL1 & Bigpond Cable Extreme 17000/256. I don't have access to ADSL2. I also use VoIP for both personal and business use. But then again I'm a geek.

[sambo]

Based on your current $150/month, you will definitely come out ahead with a decent ADSL2/VoIP bundle. The main thing with VoIP is that you need an Analogue Telephone Adapter (ATA) for your existing non-VoIP phone, which start at about $120. Allow about $130 for an ADSL2 modem/wireless-router. I recommend the Dynalink RTA1025W for excellent speed and reliability.

I have the $19.95/month phone line from Telstra and iinet's $80 ADSL2/VoIP plan, which gives me 20/40Gb peak/offpeak.

I've been running that combination for 3 years and it's been very reliable. Several friends and family have a similar setup and find it great value. You can also go for lower plans and save about $10-20/month.

Paul

[ferociousfish]

Just stay away from Optus and Telstra. Both are woeful! Used to be with Optus however they have a very bad habit of overselling the line which results in slower speeds and the hardward they use is outdated and unreliable. I have been with Westnet for 18 months and wholly recommend them. Good product, good price and FANTASTIC service. You definately are paying too much.
Cheers

Dave

[boxhead]

That whirlpool site does look like it has alot of info.

I know very little about this broad band and ADSL stuff, we are on dial up at home and I am sick of trying to use it at home (thus I am using it at work).

What are the things that you need as far as the different plans?
Ie if you are to download songs or movies, what is the amount of space/size that is required?
See I dont even know what to call it.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Now, how do I open that cupholder thingy again.

[Rebel1]

Highly recommend iiNet, or as they are know in the sunny state..Powerup.

Good prices.....and works well.

[sambo]

Boxhead, your downloads will vary between about 5Mb (megabytes) for a single song and almost 1000 times that size (4300Mb) for a full DVD. Most movies however are compressed to play on your PC and weigh in at around 700Mb.

Broadband deals normally talk in terms of Gb (gigabytes, or 1000Mb). Your best bet is to choose a provider that lets you change plans (usually for a nominal fee), that way you can start off on a cheap plan and if you need more download 'quota', change to a higher plan next month. Make sure you ask them what happens when you go over the quota in a given month - most providers just slow you down to dialup speed until the end of the month but others charge you a bucket load for the excess. This is typical of mobile broadband providers at the moment. People are getting whacked with $1000 bills!!

Good luck with your choice.

Paul

[Trev]

i am with IInet at home and work and have found them to be quite good

just get shapedcto 64k when d load limit is exceeded this stops kids(meeee) downloading too many movies

Trev

[Tenrocca]

So tell me more about voip. can you keep your phone number? Does your computer need to be on for it to work, or does it just plug into your modem? hat are the ongoing and call changes like?

Cheers