Help (again)

[Wedgie]

As i said, we are currently with Telstra, but we are exceeding the downloads way to quickly and the computer is becoming quite slow.

We are going to be changing to another company soon, what would you guys recommend?

Depends if you're after something cheap, something really good value or the best.
The best IMHO are Internode and Adam.
TPG are usually ridiculously cheap but the servie isn't as good.
Others are usually in between, do a browse of that site I put a link to and you'll get a good idea.

[Kahuna]

I am a Bigpond user and by way of disclosure a Telstra employee.
Some of your criticisms are fair enough Wedgie but I think your estimation of the upload usage incurred is way off.
Attached is a screenshot of my Bigpond usage page (I hope)

Untitled2.jpg

(149.37 KiB) Downloaded 346 times

[Psyber]

I must admit my anti-Telstra position was shaped when I had a BigPond dial-up plan before I lived anywhere where I could get ADSL.
Everytime there was a problem their "help" desk told me it was my set up, despite the fact my set up had not been changed.
The last time I said, "Well, I've just successfully logged on to a friend's TPG account to test it and it is fine there."

When I first got ADSL, BigPond's plans were nearly 50% dearer than iiNet's - I haven't checked lately.

Then there was the place I rented an office at in 2005.
The owners had been told by Telstra for 4 years that cable was all they could get in the area, and they only had capacity for their needs.
I was told by Telstra I couldn't get a second cable to the premises for myself.
I contacted Helen Coonan's office via my federal MP.
The next day Telstra rang and said they could give me a cable connection, if I paid to upgrade the connection at the footpath.
Then Optus rang, took a list of the numbers at the premises, and two hours later rang back to confirm one of the lines would carry ADSL.
The landlords then got a much better ADSL plan and gave me free access by way of thanks....

[Dissident]

Kahuna

That screenshot is flawed.

SAFooty should be the first shortcut.

[hearts on fire]

As i said, we are currently with Telstra, but we are exceeding the downloads way to quickly and the computer is becoming quite slow.

We are going to be changing to another company soon, what would you guys recommend?

Depends if you're after something cheap, something really good value or the best.
The best IMHO are Internode and Adam.
TPG are usually ridiculously cheap but the servie isn't as good.
Others are usually in between, do a browse of that site I put a link to and you'll get a good idea.

Cheers mate, we want something good, for a reasonable price.

I have heard good reports from people with Adam, so that may be the way to go.

[Dissident]

Price, speed and download/upload limits are the features of an ISP that are marketable, and easy for novices to compare.

So much goes into an ISP though.

Stability of the company (obviously Telstra won't have this problem, but many other "cheaper" ones will).
You don't wana company that is cheap to the point of extinction. In the end, running an ISP is costly, regardless of how you do it, and the cheaper accounts are the more likely you will either a) be looking for a new company, or b) have large increases in prices when you least expect it.

Support and helpdesk
You want things fixed, or at least know where an issue lies.

Internal infrastructure
How your connection gets to the ISP, the wya the company works internally is a huge difference.

Connections to the Internet
The internet is a huge web - and how you can get to it can be one of a myriad of ways. Redundancy of connections - what happens when a link goes down? Cheaper ISPs rely on one pipe to the internet, if it goes down - they are stuffed, and therefore you are too. Better ISPs have multiple connections and, quickly, can re-route connections. If a major pipeline goes down they can change to an alternative.

Free traffic
Many ISPs offer the ability to download from certain places for free, ie, it doesn't affect your quota. Game sites like STEAM (where you can buy games online etc) have mirrors at ISPs meaning a 4 Gig game can be downloaded without affecting your monthly limit. Radio stations, mirrors of major sites, news sites - a lot of ISPs will let you browse them for "free".



In the end I will use a phone company for just that - phones. My mobile and land line are through a phone company. But don't think that phones = internet. Totally different. I use Internode and always will until they close which IMHO will never happen.




If you are through Telstra, or Optus, or whoever - that's fine. If it's working, good luck to you! These are just some points regarding ISPs to think about rather than just cost, speed and downloads

[Kahuna]

Kahuna

That screenshot is flawed.

SAFooty should be the first shortcut.

Yeah well,on my PC it is. I suspect it is the way you set this site up. You even blanked out my account name.Everything is ok my end.
(I work the Bigpond Helpdesk )

Psyber I know where you are coming from and I don't want to be an apologist for Telstra,I've worked with them as a liney since 1976 so believe me I've seen more than my fair share of stuff that makes me just cringe and think "WTF?" The current administration is an absolute embarrassment
See ya Sol,don't let the door hit you on the way out. The company has lost the plot,run by accountants and admen. However they still do come in for exaggerated and/or unfair criticism because they are an easy target,especially on sites like Whirlpool where Telstra sniping is almost a .......almost a.........oh bugger it I've been out to Norwood today,don't usually drink Paleys,I don't know what I mean to say..........

[RoosterMarty]

You'll find people go with Tel$tra because they are either too lazy, or too technologically dumb to go with someone else.

Thats a bit harsh.

It is true mate. They also con people in by randomly calling them, the "customer" then says that it sounds alright and bam they put them on Telstra broadband or churn them away from their current ISP.

Also their "pay half price for 6 months" stuff sucks people in, they chuck them on a 24 month contract and after 6 months they get charged something ridiculous like $60 for 500Mb or similar.

A lot of people are with Telstra Dogger but if you read forums like Whirlpool you will see who the knowledgeable people sign with.

[Wedgie]

Some of your criticisms are fair enough Wedgie but I think your estimation of the upload usage incurred is way off.

It wasn't an estimation mate, it was a direct comparison of my old man's internet usage according to Telstra and 2 other companies.
With Iprimus and TPG he was going through less than 250mb a month, with Telstra he was going through over a gig.
Same browsing, same downloading.
Because his limit at the time was about 350mb he was paying about 4 times as much for Telstra and had poorer service, poorer speeds and virtually no helpdesk assistance.
Exactly the same sort of ratio with my mum too who had no choice being in the country as Telstra had a monopoly in her area at one stage but when competition opened up she too got to compare.
Ive heard a lot of similar stories with other people, Telstra love sucking in the not so IT savvy people, they bleed them unethically IMHO.

[Kahuna]

There's too many things to go into, the most obvious being they count uploads as download, if you are on a 15gb plan with Telstra you could probably get away with a 5gb plan with any other company, its nothing short of criminal in my mind.

And that is nothing short of criminal exaggeration in mine.

[Wedgie]

There's too many things to go into, the most obvious being they count uploads as download, if you are on a 15gb plan with Telstra you could probably get away with a 5gb plan with any other company, its nothing short of criminal in my mind.

And that is nothing short of criminal exaggeration in mine.

If you look at what Ive seen with my old man's and mum's usage its actually an underestimation, I should have said 4 times not 3 times but was being conservative.

The service both got when trying to work out why they were going over their limits and paying ridiculous amounts was nothing short of disgraceful too, I managed to explain to them in 30 seconds what several calls and hours on the phone with helpdesks couldn't. They've both moved onto other companies and are very happy now, no unexpected bills, no poor service, not as many dropouts, all are happy.

Good on you for sticking up for the company that you're working for though, I admire that!

Just with your screenshot Im confused about the discrepency between the graphic and the figures, am I missing something?

[Kahuna]

There's too many things to go into, the most obvious being they count uploads as download, if you are on a 15gb plan with Telstra you could probably get away with a 5gb plan with any other company, its nothing short of criminal in my mind.

And that is nothing short of criminal exaggeration in mine.

If you look at what Ive seen with my old man's and mum's usage its actually an underestimation, I should have said 4 times not 3 times but was being conservative.

The service both got when trying to work out why they were going over their limits and paying ridiculous amounts was nothing short of disgraceful too, I managed to explain to them in 30 seconds what several calls and hours on the phone with helpdesks couldn't. They've both moved onto other companies and are very happy now, no unexpected bills, no poor service, not as many dropouts, all are happy.

Good on you for sticking up for the company that you're working for though, I admire that!

It's not really a matter of sticking up for my employer per se. Telstra tend get the blame for everything deserved or not.

[Kahuna]

Just with your screenshot Im confused about the discrepency between the graphic and the figures, am I missing something?

Sorry,missed this part of your post. What are you confused about?

[Wedgie]

Just with your screenshot Im confused about the discrepency between the graphic and the figures, am I missing something?

Sorry,missed this part of your post. What are you confused about?

The difference between what the graphic shows was used in a month and what the Usage figure on the right hand shows was used in a month, I must be missing something.

Also on your previous post, I do agree they get blamed for a lot of what is not their fault too, probably set themselves up for that though, as mentioned previously I remember in the late 90s when Telstra was regarded as the premium internet service provider, things change.

[Kahuna]

The difference between what the graphic shows was used in a month and what the Usage figure on the right hand shows was used in a month, I must be missing something.

OK, to be honest I hoped someone would ask that. It sort of serves in a way to illustrate what value may be hidden from view (see disclaimer below).
From the graphic you will see that I am on the 25gig plan. From the right hand column you will also see I have d/l up to 85gig in a month.With less than 2% upload I may add . Over the last few years I would of averaged around 50gig a month on either the 12 or 25 Liberty plan. On the last day of your d/l month if you were capped you got your speed back and whatever you d/led on the last day,good for you. Free usage. Again if you look on the Whirlpool site in the Bigpond Forum you will see much discussion on this,look in the Capped/Uncapped thread or search for "Free Day"

The left hand column tells me how much I d/led before I got shaped.I never did get shaped because I always make sure I carry usage into the last day,therefore I have a full day to d/l what I wanted at full speed . No penalty.Today,coincidentally is my "free day". Queued up a heap of stuff.................















AND THE PR%CKS HAVE FIXED IT.IT DOESN'T WORK ANY MORE

[Hondo]

Well, I researched Internode and for our low level of usage (2-4 GB per month) it worked out slightly cheaper to stay where I was. That was after the Telstra "stay with us" discount, the 125 free SMS per month and saving on the new modem Internode needed us to get.

Not happy that I had to ring to get the price-match but, as I said before, we've never had any issues with the service. No way that Telstra should force customers to ring and basically beg for a better price.

I completely understand heavy internet users making a decision using more/higher criteria than mine which was 1 - does it work, 2 - what does it cost. I am sure if I was using 25GB+ per month I'd be with Internode or Adam (specialist ISP).

When it comes up again I'll re-research and price it all up again and see what's what. I am not a Telstra advocate I just have issue with inferences that I'm the world's biggest idiot for using them this time.

[Psyber]

..Psyber I know where you are coming from and I don't want to be an apologist for Telstra,I've worked with them as a liney since 1976 so believe me I've seen more than my fair share of stuff that makes me just cringe and think "WTF?" The current administration is an absolute embarrassment.

Yes, I'm aware the staff are not entirely happy with the administration either.
When I made the TPG comment there was a click as the guy [I assume] switched off his recording system for the moment and said, "Yeh, I don't use BigPond either at home."

I've written to shareholder services pointing out that I find it frustrating that as a Telstra shareholder I cannot recommend BigPond through the computer dealership I am a partner in, and I find Telstra mobile services too expensive compared to better deals elsewhere. On moving back to SA recently, I was going to keep my landline with Telstra and my ADSL with Internode, but they have now introduced a clause that says if you take only there basic landline service, you also agree not to use another ISP for your ADSL. I sent them another note saying that had forced me to give up having a Telstra land line service too.

Shareholder services don't reply either.
I inherited the shares, and plan to sell them as soon as they are up in the market enough again - if they ever are.
[Even with that financial incentive, I can't bring myself to recommend them to people.]

[Dissident]

Kahuna

That screenshot is flawed.

SAFooty should be the first shortcut.

Yeah well,on my PC it is. I suspect it is the way you set this site up. You even blanked out my account name.Everything is ok my end.
(I work the Bigpond Helpdesk )

I meant in Firefox mate - you have Whirlpool first!

[Kahuna]

I meant in Firefox mate - you have Whirlpool first!

Yeah,Diss it was my lame attempt at humour,suggesting the problem was at your end as the Bigpond helpdesk
are known to.
I'll try harder in future.

[Footy Chick]

I got my 3 wireless broadband and it's an absolute SHITELOAD faster than Optus.

Im impressed

I can't believe I put up with it for so long!