Advice about wireless

[JohnK]

I can't remember the costs off the top of my head but it is pretty expensive, so I have set mine to 3G-only.

Roaming charges for 3 wireless are something like $1.65/MB! Mine is set to 3G-only as well.

Still having problems with getting constant signal in Spring Hill and posting on AFF takes well over 1/2 hour per post and renders the internet explorer window useless. As no one has any idea what is happening I am going to put that one in the too hard basket.

 

[oz_mark]

I have no idea how 3 handles roaming. My Telstra 3G modem will only connect to Telstra so issues with using other carries while in Australia.

3 has an agreement with Telstra so if you are out of the 3 network, you will typically cnnect to Telstra. Which probably explains the data roaming charges.

 

[Flashback]

3 has an agreement with Telstra so if you are out of the 3 network, you will typically cnnect to Telstra. Which probably explains the data roaming charges.

IME the roaming is turned off by default, and will only be turned on if you request it...

 

[JohnK]

IME the roaming is turned off by default, and will only be turned on if you request it...

That may well be true but that is not the advice I was given by a 3 salesperson! I am not sure what settings I had as default but I was told to go into my settings and ensure that I selected 3G-only if I did not want roaming.

I was hoping that roaming was blocked as a default which is the same as mobile phones....

 

[oz_mark]

That may well be true but that is not the advice I was given by a 3 salesperson! I am not sure what settings I had as default but I was told to go into my settings and ensure that I selected 3G-only if I did not want roaming.

I was hoping that roaming was blocked as a default which is the same as mobile phones....

3 phones will roam by default to the Telstra network, but for voice/sms there is no cost implication.

 

[drron]

OK.I am finally catching up with technology and using a borrowed Telstra 3G modem.It looks like I am going to have to be tied to Telstra because of the places I now end up working-eg Mt.Isa,Broken Hill,Burnie,Mt Gambier etc.
It does seem to me to be a little on the expensive side but I guess it will end up cheaper than $27.50 a day that the 4 Points Sydney want for their Wi fi access.
Any other traps?

 

[nlagalle]

Any other traps?

Watch your usage... Tel$tra love charging for excess usage.. I manage 60+ of them and one user burnt 11gb in one month - 10gb on excess usage - $1500 bill!

They have recently changed their plans and are slightly better value for money - 5gb is around $89.

Cheers,

Nick

 

[strewthbut]

Nick, do the high usage (5 gig +)Telstra data packs utilise shaping back to dialup speeds after the allocation has been reached?

My Bigpond(still $89 - hmm) 5 gig mobile data plan has offered this since October. Saves worrying about excess charges.

Worth noting that Bigpond & Telstra operate independently with their modems & plans, the modems/mobile cards are not interchangeable between between the two providers.
(probably legally dubious, but most can easily be unlocked and used with other providers sims-handy if you want to use o/s data packs or swap providers without buying a new modem)

 

[nlagalle]

Nick, do the high usage (5 gig +)Telstra data packs utilise shaping back to dialup speeds after the allocation has been reached?

My Bigpond(still $89 - hmm) 5 gig mobile data plan has offered this since October. Saves worrying about excess charges.

Worth noting that Bigpond & Telstra operate independently with their modems & plans, the modems/mobile cards are not interchangeable between between the two providers.
(probably legally dubious, but most can easily be unlocked and used with other providers sims-handy if you want to use o/s data packs or swap providers without buying a new modem)

No they don't offer shaping, Bigpond I believe are the only ones that do. There are also several differences between the products too.

You can actually swap modems between the two services (at the last check they could), but not the SIM cards.

 

[misstam]

OK.I am finally catching up with technology and using a borrowed Telstra 3G modem.It looks like I am going to have to be tied to Telstra because of the places I now end up working-eg Mt.Isa,Broken Hill,Burnie,Mt Gambier etc.
It does seem to me to be a little on the expensive side but I guess it will end up cheaper than $27.50 a day that the 4 Points Sydney want for their Wi fi access.
Any other traps?

I'm on Telstra Next G, also because my work takes me to a lot of regional areas.
It's fairly expensive compared to other wireless plans, but I really don't mind as I've had 100% coverage so far in the past year, even in the one-horse (or one-pub) towns. A few times everyone in my company has been out of mobile phone range & I've still had internet connection.

If you hook up your account online at the bigpond website, you can monitor your usage. What's handy is that they send out "You've reached 75% of your usage allowance" emails - this has saved my butt a few times in not getting charged for excess usage.

Where i can, I take advantage of free wi-fi access in motels/airports/coffee shops - generally anything requiring large downloads (system updates, program downloads,music, photo uploads etc) I try and do on free wifi, so there's less chance of going over my limit while I'm on the road.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with my Bigpond wireless - now if they could just bring the price down a bit!

 

[swissbignose]

All in all, I'm pretty happy with my Bigpond wireless - now if they could just bring the price down a bit!

I read somewhere (APC magazine, I believe) that one of the reasons why Telstra has their price so high is to intentionally minimise the subscriber-base (while not necessarily affecting profits) so as to ensure that the high speed is maintained. Their network is one of the fastest, and as you mentioned, coverage is first-rate.

Another reason is that it's Tel$tra.