Simonrbh Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Hi All We've just returned from a 3 week holiday to see family and do a recce before moving over to QLD in Sept/Oct. We will be in the North Brisbane area, with family initially and then rent or buy somewhere between Redcliffe/Scarborough area and as far up as Glass House Mountains (Limits for commuting with work). It's the first time I'd been over since 2010 and then I didn't bother with smart phones or tablets/iPads. Now I have both, plus taking over our desktop and laptop, I'm interested in what it costs for internet packages. With family still in the UK it's going to be really important to us to be able to use the likes of Skype and FaceTime! Can anyone give advice? I was also disappointed to discover that free public wi-fi in the likes of shopping malls, coffee shops, bars etc seems to be virtually non-existent compared to the UK. Why is this? Is it right that the more rural you are the slower your internet is likely to be and less likely to be able to get fibre optic super fast connection? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Free wifi in public areas is a new thing for Australia but it is catching on so it shouldn't be long before we are up to speed lol. For Internet we are with bigpond and pay $93 a month for 200 gig including line rental, forget unlimited as well as it isn't going to happen over here, well a couple do it like dodo but it really isn't worth bothering with. There are cheaper ones than bigpond but they all use telstras lines anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul1977 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Hi All We've just returned from a 3 week holiday to see family and do a recce before moving over to QLD in Sept/Oct. We will be in the North Brisbane area, with family initially and then rent or buy somewhere between Redcliffe/Scarborough area and as far up as Glass House Mountains (Limits for commuting with work). It's the first time I'd been over since 2010 and then I didn't bother with smart phones or tablets/iPads. Now I have both, plus taking over our desktop and laptop, I'm interested in what it costs for internet packages. With family still in the UK it's going to be really important to us to be able to use the likes of Skype and FaceTime! Can anyone give advice? I was also disappointed to discover that free public wi-fi in the likes of shopping malls, coffee shops, bars etc seems to be virtually non-existent compared to the UK. Why is this? Is it right that the more rural you are the slower your internet is likely to be and less likely to be able to get fibre optic super fast connection? Because Australia is 20 years behind the uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 100's of cafes etc offer it in the inner city...the council is about to turn on free public wifi right down the city spine and across to southbank. Not sure about up at redcliffe though. http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/free-wifi-for-innerbrisbane-20140206-323gy.html Already free wifi in 22 council parks: http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/facilities-recreation/parks-venues/parks/park-facilities/wi-fi-parks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 http://www.tpg.com.au/products_services/adsl2-standalone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonrbh Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 Thanks for the replies everyone. I would have thought free wi-fi was goof for businesses as it means people can do business etc whilst they sit and have a coffee or hold a business conference call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathy99 Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 I'm in Sydney so not sure if you get the same service in brissie but we've recently gone with iprimus and have a fab deal, it's adsl+2 unlimited calls to 10 international countries and 200gb of data anytime for $99 a month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scattley Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Thanks for the replies everyone. I would have thought free wi-fi was goof for businesses as it means people can do business etc whilst they sit and have a coffee or hold a business conference call. What is good for business is quick turnover.....if you are encouraging people to stay longer to do business they are not having a meal and the table is not being reused...it's actually bad for business to have free wifi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Local parks by me all seem to have free wifi. Most people have data plan on their mobile so don't need free wifi anyway (so you could argue that we are ahead actually Paul ) I pay $17 a month and get 2gb of data as part of the plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Free wifi in public areas is a new thing for Australia but it is catching on so it shouldn't be long before we are up to speed lol.For Internet we are with bigpond and pay $93 a month for 200 gig including line rental, forget unlimited as well as it isn't going to happen over here, well a couple do it like dodo but it really isn't worth bothering with. There are cheaper ones than bigpond but they all use telstras lines anyway. I pay $59.99 for unlimited with TPG. I get about 13mbps and very happy. Streams netflix Iplayer perfectly! No need to go home now I can get the telly here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexmartin11 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Try to check if you can have NBN Fibre service in your location. It will be more reliable and faster than ADSL2+. Having the NBN service will no longer deal with Telstra lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I'm afraid Australia is still in the Jurassic era as regards WiFi and internet. After a promising start back in the 1990s it has languished to the extent that even 3rd world countries have a better service. Maybe one day we will catch up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Thanks for the replies everyone. I would have thought free wi-fi was goof for businesses as it means people can do business etc whilst they sit and have a coffee or hold a business conference call. See that to me is just plain rude. Free wifi is available at a lot of cafes in Perth and I'm sure it is in Bris too but to see someone sat there conducting business is taking the piss imo. Nothing gets on my nerves more than to see people out or in the cafe and they are all staring at their laptops, tablets or mobiles. My son works in the local cafe and the boss has told the staff if people are on mobiles while the staff are trying to serve them to move on to the next customer with better manners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Try to check if you can have NBN Fibre service in your location. It will be more reliable and faster than ADSL2+. Having the NBN service will no longer deal with Telstra lines. No-ones come up with pricing yet though have they? As far as I know, with fibre to the node solution the last bit may still belong to telstra and telstra are rolling out a lot of the fibre anyway. We are with iinet, no download limit, doesn't get throttled, we maintain our land line with them too and we pay about $100 a month, including calls on the landline. We could cut the bill if we went naked DSL but prefer to keep the landline. I've seen our reported speed, using an application, over 1Mbit/s which is plenty fast enough for what we use it for. Obviously if you are going to be using skype and facetime it wouldn't cost you anything from home as you would be connecting through your home router. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonrbh Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 See that to me is just plain rude. Free wifi is available at a lot of cafes in Perth and I'm sure it is in Bris too but to see someone sat there conducting business is taking the piss imo. Nothing gets on my nerves more than to see people out or in the cafe and they are all staring at their laptops, tablets or mobiles. My son works in the local cafe and the boss has told the staff if people are on mobiles while the staff are trying to serve them to move on to the next customer with better manners. In the modern, hectic world that we live in today, the need for mobile communication is greater than ever, particularly when work loads are stretched more and more and people end up doing the work of 2 or more as companies strive to keep costs down. People who are studying in further education and need to do research during a break period is also another example where mobile communication is a distinct advantage, perhaps even a necessity. The same can also be said of people who are travelling and need to access bank accounts, emails etc on the go as they have no base. All these are what I deem as permissible uses in the 'public arena'. This is totally different to people who, when it comes to being attended to by serving and waiting-on staff or at a counter, insist on answering a call on their mobile or continuing a conversation that they are already part way through. That, I agree, is plain rude but I do not consider the forementioned examples to be so too. Mobiles are a totally different scenario to wi-fi internet........imho! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexmartin11 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 We are with iinet, no download limit, doesn't get throttled, we maintain our land line with them too and we pay about $100 a month Paul, you can still drop your bill less than a $100. You go with VOIP service so there would be no more copper line rental. Since you mentioned that your speed is good enough, then you will not have any trouble connecting to VOIP service. Most providers have VOIP service since it will be cheaper for the call rates and sometimes calling local and national calls are free. I think the trial for fibre to the node had stalled. Most RSPs accept application for NBN Fibre service which is on a eligible location and once the FTTN, FTTH and FTTB are available they will just switch them over for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 In the modern, hectic world that we live in today, the need for mobile communication is greater than ever, particularly when work loads are stretched more and more and people end up doing the work of 2 or more as companies strive to keep costs down. People who are studying in further education and need to do research during a break period is also another example where mobile communication is a distinct advantage, perhaps even a necessity. The same can also be said of people who are travelling and need to access bank accounts, emails etc on the go as they have no base. All these are what I deem as permissible uses in the 'public arena'. This is totally different to people who, when it comes to being attended to by serving and waiting-on staff or at a counter, insist on answering a call on their mobile or continuing a conversation that they are already part way through. That, I agree, is plain rude but I do not consider the forementioned examples to be so too. Mobiles are a totally different scenario to wi-fi internet........imho! This modern hectic world is no different to the days of pre internet access mate. It's just that people feel the need, for whatever reason, to be continuously connected. Would it really hurt to switch the mobile off for half an hour while you go and have coffee with some friends? I doubt it very much. If people accept that the boss is going to want to contact you 24x7 then I hope you are getting paid 24x7. Otherwise more fool you. I have a mobile phone supplied by work but my boss knows that trying to get in touch with me after work and at weekends is going to be a waste of time. Even when I'm away on work trips I put my mobile in my room on charge and go out for a meal and a drink. Last thing I want when I'm doing that is my boss or the wife or anyone else ringing me. My wife knows that I will ring her and then I'm not going to be contactable. When I was at uni it was days before mobile phones, ipads, tablets and somehow we managed to get by with the study and still found plenty of time to drink. If you are struggling that much you are having to do research in a break period then you are just not well enough organised. Probably spending too much time updating your facebook page and checking your twitter feed, rather than studying, if truth be told. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Paul, you can still drop your bill less than a $100. You go with VOIP service so there would be no more copper line rental. Since you mentioned that your speed is good enough, then you will not have any trouble connecting to VOIP service. Most providers have VOIP service since it will be cheaper for the call rates and sometimes calling local and national calls are free. I think the trial for fibre to the node had stalled. Most RSPs accept application for NBN Fibre service which is on a eligible location and once the FTTN, FTTH and FTTB are available they will just switch them over for free. Yep I know mate, that's what I meant when I said we could go naked DSL but we prefer to keep the land line. Obviously the copper is still owned by Telstra and the only issue we've had is when it's stopped working twice in 10 years. For some reason the ADSL connection was OK but the phone stopped working, even though it's coming over the same copper and just has a splitter in the loft. I think it's maybe on different pairs and using different frequencies though. We have to lodge a call with iinet who then have to lodge a call with telstra to follow up. It's not been too bad, the first fault was in the house and telstra fixed it free of charge the second time it was in a pit in the street and the rest of the street was out, again no charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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