Hi, we are currently with 2 service providers one for the Internet and one for the home line rental.
We don't use the home phone and want to get rid of the home line rental so are looking for a Internet provider that has a wireless broad band so we don't have any cable connecting to the laptop to access the Internet. We have a 50GB down load and upload limit currently that we don't use much of. The Internet is mainly used for surfing the net, paying the bills and putting music in iTunes. I would like to know what type of plan would be recommend as we are paying $85 which is too much. Cheers, Cara
24/07/2012
Hi Cara,
Ok, take a minute, because there are a few misconceptions here that need to be addressed.
There are two ways of getting an internet connection to your home, for most Australians. These are ADSL2+, which uses a live telephone line to deliver a service, or Mobile Broadband, which uses Telstra, Optus or Vodafone mobile networks to deliver a service.
You currently have ADSL, which many people dislike because of the associated line rental for a phone that they never use. That's a fair point, but the economics are a little trickier than that. In a nutshell - Telstra owns the connection between your home, and the telephone exchange. So you have to pay Telstra for that part of the connection, and they give you a home phone service. Whether or not you use the home phone is irrelevant; what you're paying for is for that line to be active. Then you pay your service provider separately for the internet connection from the exchange. A cheaper way to do this is to pay the line rental fee to your internet service provider (from which they pay Telstra a wholesale price). This is known as 'bundling', and depending on which area you live in, usually makes the whole tnerprise much cheaper.
Of course with Mobile Broadband, you pay your service provider for the connection and that's it. Mobile Broadband is portable, quick to set up and can be very cheap, if all you need is very little data. Virgin (1300 106 571), Amaysim (1300 302 942) and Dodo (1300 136 793) offer very good value plans and use the Optus network. Vodafone (1300 106 571) offers plans that are a tad pricier, and Telstra (13 7663) are quite a bit more expensive, but have a stronger network in most places.
So it seems like Mobile Broadband is the best option, right? The problem with mobile, or wireless broadband, is that it degardes over time in a way that ADSL does not. You're effectively using radio waves to make your connection to the internet. This means you get interruptions from walls, trees and bad weather. But most frustrating, you also share the network with every other mobile and mobile broadband user in your immediate area, and that can make your speeds and connection quality very inconsistent.
Mobile Broadband can also be as cheap as $10 a month; but that's for a miniscule amount of data. And then you'll be slowed down even more for exceeding that limit, or worse; charged high penalty rates for every little bit of data consumed beyond that.
Your currently don't use 50GB of data; but say you use 30GB? Mobile Broadband is priced very differently from ADSL; the largest plans available top out at 18 or 20 GB. It's a very different value proposition.
Your currently pay $85 a month for 50GB. That's not great - you may want to call us on 1300 106 571 and we can look at who is available in your area, and find you a cheaper option. But Mobile Broadband holds few benefits besides its mobility. It usually ends up being the same price, or more expensive, for a vastly inferior user experience, regardless of how much or how little you use the internet.
Thanks,
Adam at Compare Broadband
1300 106 571
