andym79

I have a few questions about landline phone in Aus.

Roughly how much does it cost per month?

Which is the best company?

Is there a BT equivalent, i.e someone who owns the lines?

How much is broadband?

And importantly how long are you fixed in to a contract for?

Buzzy--Bee

It costs us about $40 per month, we're with Telstra (equiv of BT). Broadband for a basic package is about $30 a month (very slow with low download limits), I have the superfast package as my work pays which is $80 odd per month for 1.5Gb speed and lots of download limit.

Broadband is far dearer and far crapper here than the UK. You learn to live with it.

Buzzy

AndyR1976

The cheapest monthly line rental is about $20 a month (think mine is about $21 through Telstra - no frills cheapo phone line). I use the mobiles most of thetime anyway andonly have the home phone because you need the phone line for hte internet!

Shop around for internet - Telstra are crap....you can get good deals with good speed and lots of download space for less than $40......

My mate is an IT nut (programmer by trade) who has a superfast connection at home with near to unlimited download for $35..... I can ask him who his provider is if you like?

The only annoying thing is that most have a 2 year contract....so if you choose the wrong provider and realise that there is a better deal its already too late and your stuck with the same mob for 2 years!!!!

bcworld

It doesn't have to be crap....there are plenty of providers offering 24Mbps ADSL2+ (not sure what you mean by 1.5Gb speed?).....like many people on here I will sing the praises of iinet. Decent broadband bundle with phone rental works out about $80-90 a month.

Buzzy--Bee

Ha ha sorry meant 1.5Mb speed which is the maximum available in my area, which is 25ks from Melbourne CBD.

ADSL2 not available to me.

Buzzy

scrubbedexpat020

I'm with Optus cable and get 12Mbps on speed tests. Pay $60 for broadband and allowed 12GB peak and 24GB off-peak.

My line rental is $24 per month.

Currently looking at VOIP. At the moment with Optus it is 3c/min to call UK. With Voip it is 8c for as long as you want.

Also, with voip you can get a UK number for the folks back home to ring. http://www.coms.com/ My concern here is they forget you are in Aus and ring me whilst I am asleep.

Suggest you read the voip section of Whirlpool for more info.
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/
They also discuss the different providers.

Pennytel has the 8c calls to the UK. http://www.pennytel.com/

Another Whirlpool favourite is MyNetFone https://www.mynetfone.com.au/whirlpool

Gotalk has an eat as much as you want for $14.95 http://www.gotalk.com/Products/VoIP/...9/Default.aspx

You need to set-up an ATA with your router or do what I am doing and wait to get one of these (cheaper - I only want to pay $200 max) http://www.telephonesonline.com.au/c...price_SIP.html

Then, I'll get a VOIP number for my daughter and tell the system to ring her phone only when it rings.

Get accounts with a few providers just in case one goes down. Try the nil monthly charge first before committing yourself.

I spoke to my sister last night using Pennytel and it was as good as the usual tdm call via the normal phone.

Optus contract is 12 months minimum, VOIP providers 1 month.

Ian

andym79

Thanks for the replies!

So can you get landline for 3-6 months at an address or is the minimum contract a year?

scrubbedexpat020

A minimum of 12 but you can buy yourself out on a pro-rata basis.

You can just rely on Voip provided you have broadband and then it's one month on a $5 pre-pay.

bcworld

If you are really just after broadband and are happy to use mobile for other calls then iinet offer Naked DSL where you don't have to pay for line rental. Plus you get a VOIP phone anyway.

http://www.iinet.net.au/products/naked/

You can get this with no minimum contract if you are prepared to stump up the $150 fees.

I think this product has been so popular however that they are having some delivery issues.

andym79

So I can't get a landline for less than a year, unless I give Telstra free money?

And unlimited broadband for £12 a month is a dream Australia has not realised!

SonicBird

Australia is the land that Broadband forgot, Andy!!!!

We're with Telstra - and to be honest they are better than Optus, but not much.... At least you get speak to an Australian if you phone Telstra..
We've got our broadband with Internode... www.internode.on.net - I don't think there's any tie-ins with internode- or at least there wasn't when we signed up. They seem pretty good.. although they do charge $99 dollars everytime you move - which has been 3 times in the last 18 months for us... so moving works out to be quite an expense over here!!

Good luck with your telecommunications decisions!
Sonic

bcworld

Oh god....I can't warn you off Optusnet enough......truly diabolical.....don't even consider going there. Makes me just thinking about it!

SarahJane2007

We are just about to move house and were thinking that maybe we wont bother getting a landline connected (we are with Telstra now and have been for 8 months) can we still get interent?? we both have mobiles...mine is with vodaphone and oh is Telstra...is there such a thing as true 'wireless' internet or through your mobile? is it dear? we dont use our landline...we use skype/msn live to chat to people.

bcworld

Yup there are products like this:

http://www.three.com.au/threestore/m...Cap29_12.xhtml

I know someone who uses this in Mt Cotton and the coverage is fine so I'd expect most of Bayside to be good.

SarahJane2007

Thanks for that...I'll have a look.