We currently have a desk top computer and a lap top.
We are on the mobile super fast liberty 1GB plan 39.95 per month. We have just bought a ipad with WiFi and 3G as we travel a little we would like a plain that we can use at home and while away incorporating the three. I guess we need WiFi for home. Please advise how we are to go about this. Thanks, Peter.
31/07/2012
Hi Peter,
You're currently using mobile broadband, which is a wireless way of connecting to the internet via a mobile network, the same network that you connect to your phones with (if you're with Telstra). Mobile broadband is a great connection for very light users who aren't going to use more than 1 or 2GB per month, but honestly, at this point I wouldn't recommend it as your main connection.
Click here for the best mobile broadband plans.
The main trouble with mobile broadband is a question of reliability and speed. Mobile broadband can be affected by a range of factors, such as the time of day, the amount of other people who are online, the environment around where you're using the mobile broadband (e.g. the amount of trees, buildings, etc.) as well as your actual location, and even the weather. That means that, as I'm sure you'll have noticed, mobile broadband works differently at different times, and there's no real way to tell when you're going to have a quite brisk connection and when your time online will drag.
Particularly when you're talking about WiFi, mobile broadband isn't generally the right solution. The more devices you log onto a WiFi connection, the more it will drag it down – very often, mobile broadband simply isn't capable of carrying the load, and if you're talking about using three devices at once, I think you might find it insufficient. Instead, I'd recommend checking out a new ADSl2+ connection at your house.
ADSL2+ is much faster and more reliable than a mobile broadband, and it needn't necessarily be more expensive than what you're currently paying. I'd recommend you look into TPG's 20GB ADSL2+ and Home Phone Bundle Plan. For $39.99 per month, you'd get 20GB of broadband (10GB peak and 10GB off-peak), as well as the home phone (with an option of adding an extra $10 for unlimited local and national calls and 100 international minutes per month). If you already have a home phone connected that you'd like to keep with your current provider, you could sign up for an ADSL2+ only plan, like TPG's 50GB ADSL2+ Plan for just $29.99 per month. You can call us on 1300 106 571 for information about both these plans and/or to sign up.
Of course, when it comes to travelling, you'll want to have mobile broadband that you can take with you. However, you could easily pick up a much less expensive mobile broadband plan that you could use just when you were travelling – here, a 0-month contract would be particularly useful, as you could easily activate and deactivate it when you weren't at home and couldn't rely on the fixed line connection, and then deactivate it when you returned again.
If you want to be able to use your mobile broadband connection on your laptop and iPad at the same time, avoid the dongle USB modem in favour of a pocket WiFi modem.
Click here to read more about the best pocket WiFi deals.
Or you could call some of the following providers to see what they have available for your needs. We recommend:
Amaysim: 1300 302 942
Optus: 1300 137 897
Dodo: 1300 136 793
I hope this helps, Peter! If you have any further questions feel free to call us on 1300 106 571.
Mikaella
