Best Value Internet?

[Paul (SA)]

Hi everyone,

I am trying to set my parents up with a new internet plan. Right now they have a prepaid plan which is bleeding them dry and given they are on disability pensions, this is not ideal.

Is anyone on a great deal or know of a company that provides a great deal in the Bundaberg area or Qld in general?

Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

Thanks, Paul

[Specialized29er]

I've been with Bigpond for 15 years and without a single problem ever.
Landline and unlimited super fast internet for $80 a month.

My mum lives in Bundy to, up near the Racecourse.

[noel_w]

Hey Paul
It's a bit like what car will suit my 60yo mate. It's a bit open ended. You may need to give us some more clues.
How is it delivered at the moment?
What data allocation would they use?
If ADSL do they want to retain their landline?
I am with iiNet which does have it's occasional challenges but seeing I work in I.T. and have a Telecoms background I can usually "explain" to them what I want done. I have stayed with them because they have a competitive plan which suits me and after it was up and running I have few issues. Their provisioning system has a few built in glitches, I can say that as I was a ADSL Provisioning Manager at an ISP in a previous life.
Whirlpool is a great resource if you have the time.

[peanut2]

I have changed over to NBN.  200gb data (now 400gb), free local, free STD, max $2/call for mobiles.  No longer pay line rental fees and the download speed is so fast.  I pay $80 per month. 
Before this we could only get ADSL1 and the download speed wasn't worth firing up the computer or tablet for.  So we really had no choice.  But on NBN I have a much better deal and I save a few dollars a month as well.

Peanut

[Bird]

What budget?
What sort of use?

[rossm]

Gidday

My first stop would be iiNet if available. I am a long time customer and their service has been second to none. The company has been taken over and the one fear is that things may change.

They have been particularly helpful with me on technical issues which may be a plus for your parents.

Cheers

[prodigyrf]

What budget?
What sort of use?

x2 but here's a good place to start
https://www.mybroadband.communications.gov.au/
and then when you know the exact service limitations you can go looking on various broadband comparison sites-
http://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband

[Paul (SA)]

 My parents are only looking for a very basic service. They wouldn't want to spend more than $40 a month. They live in A small village near Bundaberg so they cannot receive NBN or ADSL two.

They only use it for checking Facebook and the odd FaceTime chat with the grandkids.

20 GB a month would be more than enough.

[prodigyrf]

So they have a home phone on ADSL but can't get ADSL2+ at present?

Edit: For $40/month Virgin Mobile (Optus network) will give them 12Gb/month with BYO sim or Virgin Dongle but for that they could ditch the home phone for Boost $40 UNLTD (Telstra network) and get 3GB a month plus an extra 1GB each Sat and each Sunday during the month (11GB) and unlimited calls and texts to the grandkids anytime. The kids can give them 3 rings and they can ring them back. They can tether anything to the mobile phone of course with internet sharing.

[Kiwijohn]

No experience in that area but we are with Exetel, have used them for ADSL, ADSL 2 and now NBN.

If they want to keep their home phone they could do it for $29.99 a month (byo phone) - the smallest plan of 100gb limit should cover it.

Thanks

John

[prodigyrf]

Yes but with ADSL there's always the home phone cost (minm $22.95 less $3.50 pensioner discount) but hefty call prices-
https://www.telstra.com.au/help/download/document/personal-critical-information-summary-homeline-budget.pdf
So you're talking $50/m minm but you can get Naked broadband with VOIP for $60 and cheaper calls of course but not Telstra's concern if the copper goes pfft on you.

Hence ditching the land line for say Boost mobile (Amaysim is another) can make a lot sense for low data users on a budget and if not enough you can get prepaid data (Virgin and Optus?) for 10GB for $99 to last 365 days or there are $10 addons for 500Mb with Boost if you go over the odd month, or else you recharge early if that stacks up. Low data oldies should get with the program like many younguns and ditch their land lines altogether.

[grafy82]

So they have a home phone on ADSL but can't get ADSL2+ at present?

Edit: For $40/month Virgin Mobile (Optus network) will give them 12Gb/month with BYO sim or Virgin Dongle but for that they could ditch the home phone for Boost $40 UNLTD (Telstra network) and get 3GB a month plus an extra 1GB each Sat and each Sunday during the month (11GB) and unlimited calls and texts to the grandkids anytime. The kids can give them 3 rings and they can ring them back. They can tether anything to the mobile phone of course with internet sharing.

x2 for Boost mobile. We have been with them for nearly 2 years now and not a single drama. They just went 4G now too so you have full Telstra coverage. Plus being pre-paid, you can't go over on anything. No hidden charges.

[prodigyrf]

The lad and his tradey mates all use Boost although it's not supposed to be for biz use and they state 'reasonable use limit' in that regard. Tradeys largely use phone and sms for clients and suppliers so Boost don't seem to care with lots of that use as it's data that causes congestion. Mum and I both use Boost as you can't beat Telstra travelling.

That's the point too with fixed broadband if they tell you you're on RIM copper or can only get ADSL it will be flaky and slow whereas your folks can have good mobile connection. As well once you get outside the metro areas a lot of the cheaper broadband suppliers go missing (I can't even get Telstra's Belong offer in metro Adelaide)

Just a tip if they go onto mobile full time get a bigger screen for old eyes and in that regard DS have the Telstra Blue Tick 5" Lumia 640LTE 5" for $239 or the bigger 5.7" 640XL for $339 at present and both listed as first upgrade to Win10. We're both on Windows phones (mum 640 and me 735) and they're great bang for buck phones and easy to learn for oldy non-gamers and marginal apps users. Can't beat Here Drive for an emergency car GPS either and we're used to Windows on PCs.

In case you were wondering the BIL and I and the shooting mates, etc have all been there with this stuff with our parents' generation, although some of us have only picked up smartphones in the last couple of years. Windows and Boost for cheap dummies who still actually talk on phones 

[benben86]

I'm another boost user. Never had an issue. Not sure about all phones, but on my Samsung I can set my phone up as a WiFi hotspot for using wifi on ipads and computers etc.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[prodigyrf]

Yes we tether a laptop and Surface tablet to our Windows phones on the road and around the house the phones use our Naked Internet but obviously without that and only on Boost you'd switch off automatic software updates, etc and only update on weekends with the extra 2GB bonus.

[me217]

I know from my experience in it. There is a service provider that only provides to pensioners. And it was really cheap compared to most. They did dial up and adsl. Can't think of the name. It was about 5 years ago I had to deal with them.

[me217]

Just searched it. It was called tad Australia. But it seems it might of closed down. As there website is down. I know there dial up started at about 5 bucks a month.

[ATC]

Use a site called ADSL2Exchanges and put either your phone, or address (better) to see where the house is and how far from the exchange.

Also tells you what the line speed down would be.

I usually knock 10-15% of the speed and that's close to what you'll get on a computer.

Also tels you what ISP's have equipment in the exchange.

[dales133]

I just upgraded my mobile plan today and the 2 major concerns for me was a good amount of data and reasonable allowance for international calls.
Was already with slowdaphone and checked telstra aswell and ended up walking away with unlimited national and international calls,sms and mms plus $160 international calls to countries not on the included list and 9gig of data for 100 a month shared plan between 2 phones.
Oh and a free galaxy note 4

[Paul (SA)]

Thanks for all that info. Will def look into Boost and see how we go with a mobile setup.

Cheers!!

[prodigyrf]

I know from my experience in it. There is a service provider that only provides to pensioners. And it was really cheap compared to most. They did dial up and adsl. Can't think of the name. It was about 5 years ago I had to deal with them.

Too cheap-
https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/news/oneseniors-in-administration

Boost are owned by Telstra as is Belong for fixed net and Telstra is working on market segmentation like Qantas with Jetstar. You choose premium or no frills but you're not about to do your shirt with either. If you can get Belong in your area with reasonable speed on copper it's $60/month for 100gb with basic home phone included that gives you free local, 1300 and 1800 number calls (can't ring mob, STD, OS but clearly you can use Skype and the like)  Still, it's pretty hard to beat Boost if you can keep the data to the basics as many olds can and they're used to talking on phones.

[D4D]

Boost are owned by Telstra

You might find that is incorrect, Boost is only hosted on the Telstra Next G network not owned by Telstra.

[gronk]

Boost are owned by Telstra

I'm on boost and my voicemails come from Telstra.  If you talk to a Telstra shop employee, they tell you they are the same company .

[D4D]

I'm on boost and my voicemails come from Telstra.  If you talk to a Telstra shop employee, they tell you they are the same company .

They are wrong, Boost is an MVNO that use the Telstra Next G wholesale network. A few years ago Boost used the Optus network until they were kicked off.

[grafy82]

They are wrong, Boost is an MVNO that use the Telstra Next G wholesale network. A few years ago Boost used the Optus network until they were kicked off.

Not to be rude, but who cares if they're owned by Telstra or not. The deals are awesome and the coverage is great (Telstra 4g). All Telstra locked handsets are boost compatible. So for all intents and purposes, they are Telstra without the expensive name tag.