Internet Difficulties
Posted in Uncategorized on 05/18/2009 03:25 pm by adminSorry for the lack of entries of late. I’ve changed to a Naked broadband set up and there has been 6 weeks of stuffing around in getting it set up. I hope to have it up and running within a week and I’ll add some more content then,
Don’t Worry , Be Happy!!
Sifu
05/18/2009 at 4:36 pm
[b]TIPS ABOUT CONNECTING TO NAKED INTERNET[/b]
For those who don’t know: “Naked Broadband” isn’t what you think! Until now when you got broadband/ADSL you had to also rent a phone line from Telstra for $21-$27 a month on top of your broadband fees: ridiculously expensive, and that Telstra phone line is otherwise useless because you can make cheaper phone calls over the broadband/ADSL connection anyway (called VOIP).
Telstra had their arms twisted by the ACCC and eventually had to agree to offer Internet without making you buy a Telstra phone line, but of course Telstra want to make it as difficult as possible. Since the ISPs operate from Telstra exchanges, they must pay Telstra to make the connection for them. So Telstra make you and your ISP wait for a ridiculous 4-6 weeks for the connection. (Of course once that 4-6 weeks is up, you can tell Telstra to kiss your shiny metal ass.)
Not all ISPs offer Naked plans. Here are a few that do:
* Internode. Not big plans but they’re cheap and tech support is in Australia. Best of all they don’t insist you first get a line with Telstra (which saves you a $59 connection fee). They also don’t charge for moving; they just restart the contract. Most ISPs charge you $$$ if you move.
* TPG and Supernerd are the next best deals, though TPG’s tech support is horrible (fortunately you’ll rarely need it) and they only offer Naked on an existing Telstra line. That means if you move into a new house you must first get a Telstra line ($59 connection fee) and *then* apply for naked after which the line is disconnected anyway(!) The advantage of Supernerd especially is that they offer huge plans for a good price.
A few other tips:
* Don’t go with Telstra or Optus. They offer incredibly poor value. Optus have a very nasty thing where if you go over quota they charge you 15c a Megabyte up to $300 *PER MONTH*. Worse: They wait for up to three months before billing you this extra fee. All that is buried in the fineprint so unless you’re a geek, odds are you won’t spot it or even realise the implications until your bill arrives.
* A VOIP provider lets you make and receive phone calls over the Internet. You *DO NOT* need to use the same VOIP provider as your ISP! You can use companies like SIPME.com.ua or PENNYTEL.com.au instead. Internode throw in a VOIP service for fee. Don’t use TPG’s VOIP service. It’s badly broken.
* If you don’t want to wait 4-6 weeks for a Naked connection, bite the bullet and pay Telstra $59 for a connection. It’s faster to do that and have that converted into a Naked connection, than to wait for a Naked connection on an inactive line. Question is “Do I want to pay those a*holes at Telstra a last $59 to make my connection happen faster.”
Pretty complicated, but once you’ve “gone Naked” there will be no more Telstra phone bills.
If anyone finds this useful, please leave a comment.
05/19/2009 at 5:49 pm
Thanks Beeje,
Nicely summed up. Just on principle I refuse to pay any more money to them. While you say telstra phone line costs $21 - $27 per month, Optus were about to boost my monthly fee to ~$55 per month, and that’s before making a single local call!
Just got to hang in now till it’s set up! Then they can kiss my shiny metal ass!?!