Hi, I was wondering if I would get good reception with TPG Wi-Fi deal in the area I live.

Hi Melissa,

You're discussing two different things here.

What you have right now is Mobile Broadband through Vodafone. This is where the connection to the internet is made over the air, on a mobile network. The reason your speeds are slow is because in all honesty, Mobile Broadband is not suited to home use. It has certainly been sold that way for a number of years; but providers are starting to realize that with too many people on the network trying to do too much, speeds and signal quality are drastically affected. As such, you may start to notice very soon that service providers will start changing the tone of their advertising and recommending Mobile Broadband for what it's intended for; as a 'good enough' option when you're out and about with your laptop.

The alternative is a conenction over a fixed line, which can mean either ADSL2+ (connection over a copper phone line) or over a cable connection. Most homes only have the ADSL2+ option.

Many people avoid getting ADSL2+ because of the perception that you're paying for a landline phone service as well, which many people no longer use. We've written countless articles explaining why that's nonsense (click here to read Refresher Course: How ADSL Works)  but to provide the information in a nutshell: even accounting for the line rental you have to pay, a fixed connection over a copper phone line is far cheaper, more stable and provides far more data for your money than any Mobile Broadband connection.

So, what's Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi is a short range wireless connection between your modem and your computer. This is very important: Wi-Fi is not the name of a service that you pay a monthly fee for. It is a feature of the modem that you own.

How that modem connects to the internet...THAT'S what you pay for. So you may have Wi-Fi with Vodafone, but the modem itself is connecting to the internet over the mobile network, and then transmitting that signal back to your computer with Wi-Fi. But the more common application of Wi-Fi is with ADSL2+, where the modem is hardwired to the Telstra phone line connection point in your home, and then wirelessly transmits the connection, using Wi-Fi, around the house. This issue provides 99% of the confusion that drives most people nuts when shopping for a Broadband connection!

You could give us a call to see if TPG or Internode are available in your area. TPG provides very high value plans ($60 for Unlimited Data) with reasonable, if not fantastic customer service. Internode is more expensive, but provides excellent customer service and technical support.

Thanks,

Adam at CompareBroadband

1300 106 571