Hi, I'm a full time student as well as being a pensioner.
I currently have Telstra's Home-Line Plus & Bigpond Elite Liberty 50GB ADSL2+ wifi which usually costs me around $125 per month. I really need a reliable fast internet connection for on-line lectures & a plan that is not so expensive.
25/01/2012
Hi Fiona,
$125 for home and internet is a lot! There are definitely better deals out there for you.
First of all, I would consider your internet usage. Are the on-line lectures you stream/download audio or video? If they're only audio, you probably won't need that 50GB per month; if they're video, consider how many of them you'd watch a month. To download a whole movie is only around 1GB, so again, you might want to downgrade.
Something like 20GB/month sounds like it might be more in your area. 20GB would be more than enough for you to check your emails, get the occasional lecture, and watch YouTube. I would recommend the TPG ADSL2+ 20GB Broadband Bundle which will be $39.99/month including your home phone line rental. For an extra $5 you can add unlimited local calls. Call us for more information about TPG or to sign up on 1300 106 571.
Alternatively, if you wanted to upgrade your internet usage, so that you could download all the lectures you wanted along with movies and music (you are a student!), you could try something a bit heavier. $49.50/month will get you the Exetel 200GB Broadband Bundle – more than four times your current data allowance for less than half the price. Call us for more information about Exetel or to sign up on 1300 106 571.
Sometimes Exetel and TPG can be difficult to get in more rural areas; if you have trouble with them, you could try any of the following providers. They will most likely be able to offer you a much better deal than your current Telstra one:
Dodo: 1300 136 793
iPrimus: 1300 137 794
SpinTel: 1300 106 571
Finally, a note about speed: when it comes to ADSL2+, you are paying for your data usage, not the speed. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) actually can't control the speed you get, as it is all about the distance you are from your telephone exchange. The closer you are to the telephone exchange, the faster your internet speed will be.
I hope this helps! Please feel free to call us on 1300 106 571 if you have any further questions.
Mikaella.
