To Aussies thinking of broadband

[Binoculars]

Seeing Stan Sted's article on his problems with broadband in the mother country, I was prompted to write this for those who, like me six months ago, were wondering about broadband in Australia, the pros and cons, and where to start. The basic answer is to start at www.whirlpool.net.au , a terrific central broadband reference site for Aussies.

I live in a country area where cable is not available. Satellite seemed a clumsy solution so I waited for my Telstra exchange to be ADSL enabled; one of the compromises you have to make for missing out on all the problems of city life :)

Once I could get the service, I went researching. A magazine article alerted me to Whirlpool, where you can find everything you need to know, including whole forums devoted to most ISP's, with users' comments warts and all.

FWIW, I plumped for Internode ADSL, and not once have I regretted it. I previously had a separate dedicated line for my 56k connection. The line costs averaged $45 a month all up, and the ISP charge (Ozemail) was $25. Now for $80 as opposed to $70, I get 4.5Gb download allowance (which I can't get anywhere near) at 512kbps, and with that wondrous advantage of always online.

A case of horses for courses, naturally; if you only use internet for email it's not for you, but if you have a dedicated line, I recommend ADSL as having apparently got over most of its early problems. And I would recommend Internode to anybody as a reliable provider, and more importantly, an excellent after-sales service, based solely on my experience with them.

Happy to answer any email queries if required.

[BlueEagle]

Bino - As printed your link doesn't work, need to delete the comma after .au,

Cheers,

BE.

[Binoculars]

So edited. Ta, BE. :)

[Ausatco]

I would like to mention another worthy contender, Pacific Internet (PI).

$200 setup fee gives you a D-Link DSL-200 modem, which, unlike some other ISPs, you own, plus one ADSL splitter/filter to separate phone traffic on the phone line from ADSL. Then, for $64 a month I get

- 512k down/128k up ADSL
- 1Gb per month D/L
- Unlimited uploads
- 5 email addresses
- 10Mb webspace
- A helpdesk that answers pronto and is actually helpful
- Flexibility in account setup and management. (I was an existing customer of another ISP that was taken over by PI. That ISP allowed broader priveledges on its accounts than does PI, and was more "techy" oriented for the fiddlers amongst us (me!). Contrary to their basic policy, PI let me keep my old account and its priveledges, and my old mailbox as well as the 5 new ones, etc. They had a price and plan change 2 days after my account was set up. They gave me that new plan and price, saving me $200.00 up front, $5.00 a month and doubled the DL limit that I signed up for.

ADSL reliability has been spot on.

There is a new issue emerging for broadband suppliers - leeching and account profiling. I am a small user (I don't get close to my 1Gb a month, let alone the 8 or 10 where this issue kicks in) so this is not a problem for me.

I only ever had one phone line to my house. My dialup costs before PI ADSL were

- $22.00 a month for the plan
- $25.00 a month for calls
- $12.00 a month for diversions to my mobile when the house phone was busy with internet.

= Total of $59.00.

So for an extra $5.00 a month I get broadband and those other costs are wiped - it has to be a good deal.

I cannot fault them - PI has my ringing endorsement.


AA

[Binoculars]

Very much a case of horses for courses, Ausatco. That deal would probably suit me better than the one I'm on, which gives me 4.5Gb a month, way more than I could ever need.

For one month I decided to go back to their basic plan, $60 for 500Mb limit, but the habits acquired with ADSL connection meant I was always ahead of my ration. Just need something in between. 2Gb would be ample for me.

Still, each to his own requirements. The leechers who download things they don't need just to use up their allowance are fairly pathetic creatures. I look like using about 1.3Gb of my 4.5Gb allowance this month! But I love it!!!!!!!!