Guest nm123 Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I've been looking at what it might cost to get a mobile in Australia and I'm confused by the whole "cap" thing. Is that a cap on money or calls or both? We don't have any friends in Oz (yet) and so the majority of calls will be between my partner and me. He'll probably use his more than me as he'll need to call about for work. I'll be given a work mobile so not such an issue for me. We've got Skype so will primarily use that for calling the UK, but it would be good to be able to send cheap-ish texts from Oz. Do I need a landline in order to get the internet at home? What mobile/phone/internet tariff are you on? How much do you pay? What free minutes/texts do you get? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nm123 Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Oh and also I'd like to get online as soon as we get there so we can look up places to live, OH can check out job adverts etc... Can I get a dongle for the first month or so?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest31881 Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I've been looking at what it might cost to get a mobile in Australia and I'm confused by the whole "cap" thing. Is that a cap on money or calls or both? We don't have any friends in Oz (yet) and so the majority of calls will be between my partner and me. He'll probably use his more than me as he'll need to call about for work. I'll be given a work mobile so not such an issue for me. We've got Skype so will primarily use that for calling the UK, but it would be good to be able to send cheap-ish texts from Oz. Do I need a landline in order to get the internet at home? What mobile/phone/internet tariff are you on? How much do you pay? What free minutes/texts do you get? Thanks! You can normally get a cheap pay as you go phone from the airport when you arrive. The cap system totally confused me when I arrived, My wife had a Mobile on a monthly contract with a $50 cap. So she pays $50 a month for the phone, she can make up to $250 worth of calls without paying any extra, it is capped at $50. But if she goes over the $250 calls then she pays extra for the calls, if she uses less than the $50 she still has to pay the $50. Different caps give you different maximums so a $20 cap may give you $60 worth of calls. The interent normally needs you to have a landline telephone installed, But I think in some areas it can be different. I think its called naked adsl, no phone use Voip to make calls, but someone who has it may come on and explain it properly. You can buy a dongle and pay to top it up to use it, can work out an expensive way of getting internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nm123 Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 So the "cap" is really just the monthly line rental with X amount of minutes included? I think a dongle will be useful while we're in temp accommodation and finding our feet and then we'll go onto something else when we're sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest31881 Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 So the "cap" is really just the monthly line rental with X amount of minutes included? . yes, Now why could i not put it that simply :biglaugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nm123 Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 yes, Now why could i not put it that simply :biglaugh: Why couldn't the mobile companies put it that simply?! Coz really, the cap isn't a cap at all....................:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Collett Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 3 offers a Skype enabled mobile - might be worth a look: Three - Mobile Internet - Skype Best regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taff Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 If it's just you and your partner mainly, look at Virgin's offers, me my wife and daughter have Virgin mobiles and calls within our family (V2V) are free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerberus1 Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 I'd second what Taff said, myself my wife & son are all on Virgin with free calls virgin to virgin. With regards needing a landline to get the internet at home it depends on your location. Pretty much anywhere you should be able to get wireless internet (no landline required) but it's expensive in comparison to broadband and it's not the best connection method for skype (voip) calls (due to latency issues with wireless). If you can get adsl2 at your property, you wouldn't need a landline as you can go for 'naked adsl / wires only connection), however if can only get standard adsl, then you'd need a landline. Some areas are also have cable broadband via Telstra but I don't know if that's available without taking a landline package as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nm123 Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Thanks for all this, it's really useful.... If you don't mind me asking, how much do you all pay for your mobiles??? We expect to live in Sydney, and fairly central, so hopefully the naked (oo-er missus) adsl will be available. Saying that though if it's cheap enough to take a landline, I guess it won't hurt... Just one more thing to think about and I know we won't use it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest31881 Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Thanks for all this, it's really useful.... If you don't mind me asking, how much do you all pay for your mobiles??? Hi, If you go the 'Cap' route for your mobile, then packages start at around the $20 mark. My wife pays $50 a month ($250 value of calls) but we will be reducing that when the contract is due for renewal. She had it that 'cap' so she could to contact me when I was in the UK. probably go for the $20 cap as we dont make that many calls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Collett Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 I'm on the $49 cap with 3, which gives me $350 of credit. I also pay an extra $7.50 a month which gives me an additional 100 minutes of calls to UK landlines. Wife and 2 children also on 3. Calls between us are free, up to a limit which we never reach. All on a 24 month plan. Because 3 is also in the UK when in the UK you can pick up incoming calls without an incoming roaming cost - that has been very handy when I have been in the old country in the last year. If I was starting again (ie we weren't on a 24 month plan) I'd probably go with one of their Shared Cap plans, which provides higher overall credit and includes mobile internet: Three - Caps and Plans - Shared Caps Coverage in Australia is pretty good, and in any event when you are out of the 3 area you roam with Telstra's network: Three - Customer Care - Network Coverage - 3G & Roaming Best regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Thanks for all this, it's really useful.... If you don't mind me asking, how much do you all pay for your mobiles??? We expect to live in Sydney, and fairly central, so hopefully the naked (oo-er missus) adsl will be available. Saying that though if it's cheap enough to take a landline, I guess it won't hurt... Just one more thing to think about and I know we won't use it.... The Virgin contract I am on came with the iPhone 3gs and it is $70 per month and I get $540 call credit and 1 gig of data. The call credit can be used for international calls and texts and calls/texts to Virgin mobiles are free. :wubclub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sids Dad Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Thanks for all this, it's really useful.... If you don't mind me asking, how much do you all pay for your mobiles??? We expect to live in Sydney, and fairly central, so hopefully the naked (oo-er missus) adsl will be available. Saying that though if it's cheap enough to take a landline, I guess it won't hurt... Just one more thing to think about and I know we won't use it.... Well my son is surviving using the local Cafe's as nearly all of them have wireless internet and in you go, buy a coffee and sit merrily bang away online. There are also loads of Backpacker places where they have rows of free online PC's Not sure if this info is any good for you but it may assist you until you get sorted. We are renting ourselves in Byron Bay and are paying $70 a month for wired broadband. I'm sure you can get this cheaper on some sort of package deal though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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