brian.w

Who has best coverage for mobile broadband with use of dongle modems and a laptop,who has starter kits on payg,but saying that is that not called pre-paid in australia.
Also who has best prices for useage and also i know 3 would be for one location i might be at in perth,but what about mandurah i checked them out with 3 and seems to be no coverage anyone from this area use mobile broadband what what do they recommend.
I would need to be using payg.or pre-paid if thats what its called over there cant remember.

Shakmaty

Telstra do prepay mobile broadband and their coverage is wider than anybody. I'm not sure about the price, but I know someone with them who is very happy with the service. I'm with 3 and at the moment the service is limited to greater metropolitan areas of state capital cities, and you have to tie into a 24 month contract. The price is good, I'm on a 2GB download limit for $29 per month and the 3GB package costs $34. There is no buy in fee with 3, not sure about the others.

cj321

Both Virgin and Optus (same system) do Pre-Paid Mobile Broadband. Click the links to check their offerings on the websites.
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brian.w

but how is there coverage in different area,would be no good to me if i got this and where i was had no coverage

brian.w

cant see any coverage finder to see what areas are like,how is coverage overall in western australia,and if my modem e220 was unlocked i could just get the sim right and be ok?
it says something about compatible modems and windows,i would be using the aspire acer one with linux.

as for virgin are they better?

cj321

See the Mobile coverage Map Here

Coverage is Perth metropolitan including Mandurah so it should be ok for your needs.

Virgin is usually a better deal than optus but they both use the optus network.

Modem should be OK but I don't know about linux, perhaps someone else can help with that.

Safin

I got virgin mobile broadband. It is useless. Keeps dropping out and often slower than dial up. We've returned it already, and are now battling to get out of the mobile phone contract that we got as the bundle. It said we were in coverage and we did get a good signal but that didn't stop the problems and support couldn't solve it - when i could get through tothem that is.

If you do try it make sure you complain immediately if need be, as there is no official trial period for the mobile broadband and they moan if you use data trying it out too much. I used 700mb and had it 6 days - 5 of which I was in correspondance doing the checks they asked for.

I've spent a year waiting for mobile BB in our area trying to avoid telstra's costs but at least they work - or so i am promised - i'll find out next week!

brian.w

so by the looks of my replys to my posts and people in w.a in the areas i mention perth and mandurah there cant be many using mobile broadband just yet,as not many giving feedback on what each network is like in w.a.want to get a pre paid pack to use with my modem and want a network that will give best results when i get there in jan.

Swerv-o

Those dongle modems are usually set up to run as plug and play Windows devices. There are hacks to get them to run under linux, but I have personally never had any success at getting them to run on my Thinkpad with OpenSUSE 10.3


S

mark213

Simply Telstra Next-G is the best coverage. Costs you may be better off with 3, vodafone or optus depending on your requirements. i think voda & optus work in mandurah, but 3 dont. All now do pre-paid mobile broadband only plans.

medwaymark

Try and get one on trial first...virgin do 30 days I think. We were in "Excellent Coverage", but just couldn't get a decent connection in the house, so ended up sending it back.

Safin

Virgin only do 30 days on the home modem package NOT the mobile BB.

I just had a real trial cancelling after 5 days (4 of which trying to sort the problems with their support team). Apparently they don't like you to have used much download either (400mb was classed as too much even though we downloaded at different times and locations at their request!!!)

savanna454

Not anymore!

'3' PAYG introduced about 2 weeks ago

http://www.three.com.au/cs/ContentSe...=1221530699083

upyerfud

Totally agree, if you want coverage outwith major towns and cities, Telstra Next G is the best option. I've had a Telstra/Bigpond wireless broadband card for the last 18 months and can usually get a signal of some sort anywhere my Telstra phone gets a signal. I've got internet in proper one horse towns in QLD ,rural NSW and NT where vodafone has had no signal whatsoever. It may be weak and downloads are slow some of the time, but it still works. I'd personally avoid Vodafone unless your living in a major population centre, their coverage is piss poor in my opinion.
I'm paying $89 for 5GB a month. Was initial 12 month contract. More expensive for sure but also more reliable than others for mobile phone and mobile broadband. Their customer service is crap though...

theotherphil

Ubuntu is working really hard to get these 3g modems working well. Ubuntu 8.10 has support for all the major suppliers and is easy to set up.

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