Bluey

Can anyone recommend a free ISP provider in Adelaide we can sign up to. All the one I've found require payment up front. All we want is a freeserve type where you can get the dial-up connection, pay local call rates as and when, until we can get broadband sorted out.

Thanks.
Blue.







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Adelaide in October......

HKH

iPrimus http://www.iprimus.com.au have a prepaid dial up system that you can buy from shops such as Coles, Target, Harvey Norman. You get unlimited downloads for three months for $99 - local calls are charged separately by your phone company.

brian.w

3 months unlimited Internet access

yes but what are the charges from the phone company for using the service? i know there are several phone companys and some might vary in phone call prices but whats the average cost of calls each min over there for useing the internet.

as you say local calls charge separet from phone company.

do they not have what we have here in the uk unmetered access paying a fee each month with no phone charges included just the amount to pay each month and thats it.

HKH

Dial up costs about 22 cents for a local phone call for unlimited time - calls are not metered. You will have to have a access to a telephone line. There is a new service being offered by Communic8 which allows you to move your telephone number around with you. However there are set up costs.

As far as I know, the UK unmetered access is not availabe in Australia - no demand for it because the need is filled by internet cafes - sorry.

wizzywozza

You just have to ensure your ISP uses a local number for the local calls. Some use phone numbers that are in the STD zone and ARE at a cost per minute. I pay somthing like 15 cents for a local call through AAPT, but I have full service with them and a high user discount.

You also have to watch the 20 minute time out thing most ISP's use - you can get logged off if you don't use an anti idle programme while on the net, then get whacked for another local call to reconnect.

brian.w

so what does this mean? i am not sure how calls in oz work do i get charge by the min for calls or just one off charge and can talk as long as i want not getting charges by the min.

and does the same go for the internet if i got a prepaid isp and as you say it has a local call number i only pay the charge to start the call and nothing accurs after that or am i charged for each min i am online.

if i am charged by the min then this could work out expensive but if its just a one off call charge when calling and then free after that and talk or go online as long as you want after that then that should as good as unmetered access we get in the uk.

can you tell me more rather confused, reason i ask is i maybe going over there for 12 months next year and may take a laptop with me and when i stay with some relatives might go online from time to time but would not want to get them high phone charges as i was using there phone line too long and charged by the min or is this not what happens.

MrsDagboy

Brian, local calls here are a one off charge (usually 15-20cents depending on the carrier). So as long as you dont live in the sticks, most ISPs have a local number for you to call. So the only charge to the phone bill would be a local call. Then you just pay your ISP charge.

Usually the ISP charges are a monthly deal, some for a certain number of hours (which not many people use!) or unlimited access for a fixed price/month. Many are from as little as $20-25/month.

Hope this helps.

wizzywozza

OK - the local call charge depends on which telephone company you use for your home phone. They are between 15 cents and about 22 cents each.

In Adelaide the local area covers most of the greater Adelaide area, but excludes the outermost suburbs. Any calls you make to a number in the local area are the one charge only - in my case around 15 cents, and I can stay on the phone all day and night for that charge.

Most ISP's use a local number for the connection so you would only pay the one off phone call charge regardless of how long you are connected to the internet. You just have to make sure that your chosen ISP does have a local number.

I am with AOL here - no comment!! But they do have this time out thing so you need anti idle prgramming otherwise your net connection is cut off if you don't use the net for 10 minutes whiole connected, and the phone company makes another 20 cents or so when you reconnect.

wizzywozza

Just an afterthought - the unlimited access ISPs usually have very small Mb download limits and charge and arm and both legs for excess Mb usage.

AOL no longer do an unlimited package, I get about 95 hours a month for my $32 and use that in less than two weeks normally. However at the moment there is no Mb limit on it which I find usefull so I put up with the inconvenience of having to reconnect all the time.

HKH

iPrimus has completely unlimited downloads - one of the few who do.

brian.w

thanks everyone for that info i thought i would have to pay each min for internet access and calls to the phone company but i have been corrected.

thats cool so what do people recommend as a isp to use i was thinking of prepaid which i can buy from most places as i would not be under a contract for 12 months or something and not need to give credit card details to join up as i would only be there for 12 month maybe less so is prepaid any good.

as for anti idle prgramming where can i get this does all isps have this

HKH

For anti idle prgramming, just set your email programme to check for mail every 5 or 10 minutes - it works for me.

brian.w

This was one of them i was thinking of:

iPrimus has completely unlimited downloads - one of the few who do.

brian.w

For anti idle prgramming, just set your email programme to check for mail every 5 or 10 minutes - it works for me.

How do you do that?

im with aol in the uk now but was thinking if its right for me the prepaid isp so how would i be able to do this with that im not great on computer or this sort of thing unless i am shown how its done.

Dawn Adams

Prepaid is fine and dandy.

But unlike the UK where you get discounted rates for signing a contract for an extended period, in Aus (in my experience) you can sign up for a month, and if you don't like the service, go elsewhere.

However, I would ensure the provider was aware you were leaving them, or you might get charged for the following month. Given sufficient notice, there is no reason why you should get caught up in their billing preparations for the following month.

That said, I recommend you check that out with your chosen ISP before you put it to the test.