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Exetel Broadband - Free Activation (Save up to $99)

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Exetel Broadband - Free Activation (Save up to $99)
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achw on 02/12/2013 - 16:19 exetel.com.au (3998 clicks)

was looking for a new broadband provider - stumbled across this. already seems to be one of the cheapest plans out there ($20 for 100gb, plus $20 for line rental - or $40 for unlimited plus $20 line rental). if you had an existing service, activation was $59. if it's a completely new service, activation was $99.

you can add $10 for unlimited national calls, and another $10 for unlimited international calls to certain countries.

12 month contract with pro-rata ~$200 cancellation fee.

cheaper than tpg - i can't comment on service levels/speed though. whirlpool has the usual complaints - but no more than other providers there!

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  • GuniGuGu on 02/12/2013 - 16:24
    +2

    Argh!! I was tossing up between them and TPG a month ago.. Activation fee was a big turn off for me on both providers but TPG was a lil cheaper so i picked them.. now you throw this deal in my face :'(

  • battler on 02/12/2013 - 16:29
    +1

    so, if you are on an 'exetel' exchange:
    $50 for line rental, 100GB, and unlimited calls to landlines and mobiles.
    $60 for line rental, 500GB, and unlimited calls to landlines and mobiles.
    $70 for line rental, unlimited GB, and unlimited calls to landlines and mobiles.

    that's same as acecommunications deal from last year (the 500GB version)

    …and $10 cheaper than TPG's unlimited all in one package.

    • altomic on 02/12/2013 - 17:09

      where do you see "unlimited calls to landlines and mobiles."? or am I missing something.

      • battler on 02/12/2013 - 17:16
        +1

        Select the $10 EXECHAT add on… Which you will only see if you are on an exetel exchange .

    • itsfree on 02/12/2013 - 22:40
      +1

      If you're on a Telstra exchange, you have to pay $10 more, which means no company that I'm aware of has beaten my ClubTelco deal yet – even after a year.

      (p.s. if any of you happen to be interested in signing up, let me know beforehand so I can give you my referral URL :)

      • daydream on 03/12/2013 - 02:27

        How is ClubTelco cheaper than the Ace Communications deal with phone line and all local, national and mobile calls included?

  • videoman on 02/12/2013 - 16:30

    A friend of mine is looking to get ADSL2+ but they don't have a phone service atm (no phone number but they have a phone line installed in the house), how much would it cost them to get hooked up to exetel?

    • scotty on 02/12/2013 - 16:34
      +2

      You can choose "By Address". It says on the order form:

      Please either enter your phone number, including area code, or your address if you don't have a phone number yet

      No extra charge it seems.

    • esotericizm on 02/12/2013 - 17:30
      +1

      It depends on the the state of the phone line. If you've had one recently then its usually $59 but if it hasn't been in use for longer than 3 years your usually looking at $299 to get it connected and there's no way around this as its just what telstra charge.

    • yomama on 02/12/2013 - 17:46

      Just throwing a note of caution.

      I rented both phone line & internet at the same time from exetel about 2 years back.

      Realised after a few months that they had been charging me a "handset rental fee" even though no handset has been provided. (about $3/m IIRC)

      They came back saying that "This is an additional auxiliary service you have had activated with your previous telephone provider which has now been transferred to Exetel"

      Told them that I did not transfer any account, had no active service before this and they provided me with the new number (just moved in to the house).

      Alot of emails back and forth without them actually answering any of my questions. They offered a 50% refurn (lol).

      The internet service is actually not bad, but the above seems to be the norm with their customer service.

  • leon on 02/12/2013 - 16:33

    Some phone numbers (exchanges) are $10 more - just checked for a relative in Five Dock / Russell Lea in Sydney.
    Perhaps through a different wholesale provider.

    • mrshorty on 02/12/2013 - 16:38

      correct - i believe they offer telstra and optus wholesale

      I would prefer to pay $10 extra for the telstra wholesale (if both are available)

  • jelko on 02/12/2013 - 16:36
    +7

    If you want any type of support from an ISP, then I would avoid Exetel. They have no issues with cancelling your contract if you contact them too many times. Exetel would be fine if you know what you're doing but don't consider them for somebody who is not technically proficient.

    • Hessian Sack on 02/12/2013 - 16:38
      +10

      I like to think that Exetel's target market is stingy nerds. There should be a few of them around here.

      • slowmo on 02/12/2013 - 16:47
        +1

        i doubt it's for stingy nerds, it's for people who don't want to pay a lot, and don't use any bandwidth but still need internet access.

        as far as i know, Exetel kicks you out if you keep on using 100% of your (rightfully allocated) quota for a few months.

        Stingy people just want maximum gains for minimal/no costs. I'm not sure what Exetel's target market is to be honest.

        • mathew42 on 02/12/2013 - 16:53

          Cheapskates who value quantity over quality, although your comment about quota suggest even this is difficult to support.

        • IanPlatypus on 02/12/2013 - 22:59
          +1

          I'm with them and often use over my quota, no problems here.
          Been with them for 5+ years, only ADSL 1 :(

        • Tuba on 03/12/2013 - 06:35
          +1

          I do the same on adsl 2, no issues, maybe 3 times in 4 yrs Ive lost net, and it was back on in an hour or so. Been good for me.

      • gizmomelb on 04/12/2013 - 10:54

        stingy nerds would be war-driving past your house, stealing your wi-fi :)

    • Free Fall on 03/12/2013 - 02:23

      Do they charge the termination fee for cancelling your contract?

  • butwhy on 02/12/2013 - 16:37

    Thanks OP - perfect timing, was just about to reconnect :-)

  • shaybisc on 02/12/2013 - 16:41

    What are Exetel up to? I was a loyal customer until they decided to increase the cost by 46% in one massive hike, so I left. Now they are cheap again.

  • ycon on 02/12/2013 - 16:44
    +1

    I'm currently with ClubTelco, but I'm not that happy with the service (difficultly streaming video mainly). Much likelihood of Exetel being any better?

    • wildstone on 02/12/2013 - 16:51
      +1

      Isn't clubtelco just reselling Telstra (offnet)? I thought that would mean the service should be reliable.

    • mathew42 on 02/12/2013 - 16:52
      +1

      Cheap RSPs save costs by having higher contention ratios which typically lead to congestion during peak periods. I'd suggest looking on whirlpool for recommendations.

      • itsfree on 02/12/2013 - 22:42
        +1

        Actually, I switched from Exetel to BigPond and congestion was worse than ever.

    • [Deactivated] on 02/12/2013 - 17:13

      I personally don't think Exetel is gonna be any better than ClubTelco, go with something non-budget I guess…
      (I'm with ClubTelco, speed is fine here in Sydney city at ~17mbps)

    • itsfree on 02/12/2013 - 22:44

      I found that video streaming speeds improved significantly after I changed my DNS servers to the ones recommended by NameBench.

      • [Deactivated] on 03/12/2013 - 17:13

        DNS has NOTHING to do with the speed of video being served to you. At least not as far as I know, maybe youtube.com have set it up so you load balance on their servers or something weird like that.

    • onlyletters on 06/12/2013 - 15:17

      Same copper line, same problems I would assume.

      It all comes down to your distance from the Exchange.

  • pepsicles on 02/12/2013 - 16:45
    +4

    Do they need a telstra line? My dad, the genius he was, cut our telstra line years back when we were building our house.

    • onlyletters on 06/12/2013 - 15:18

      No, you can sign up using your address and previous number at that address.

  • Son of Matrix on 02/12/2013 - 16:49

    Nice savings!

  • lyl-Lychee on 02/12/2013 - 16:52

    Are these guys more reliable than TPG? I've been with TPG unlimited for a year now and our net is always going down. Just today I rang them cause of it. Dunno if that's a problem with TPG (likely) or our lines or something.
    Edit: shit, I'm still in contract with TPG for another 11 months.

    • voter1 on 02/12/2013 - 17:19
      +1

      its a catch 22 situation - imo tpg is slow because lots of people are on cheap unlimited plans - right now extel speeds are ok - but if they have these cheap unlimited plans then I would expect their service to go down too…

      • lyl-Lychee on 03/12/2013 - 12:14

        So true =( . I would have been willing to jump in while the going is still good though, even if just for a year. Would have been worth the hassle changing over and enjoying it for a year before it starts to shit out and the search for another starts again. Lather, rinse, repeat lol

    • [Deactivated] on 02/12/2013 - 17:53
      +1

      well Exetel do offer a real PSTN line, as opposed to TPG's quasi-VOIP (not compatible with fax or Foxtel) phone-like connection (from what I understand, it is essentially the same as having an ATA at the exchange end)

    • MissKitty on 02/12/2013 - 20:48
      +2

      I had Exetel at my old place and it was craptons better than TPG. Cheaper, faster and no slowdowns. Yes, there is basically no support. So that might be something to consider.

      • lyl-Lychee on 03/12/2013 - 12:19

        Sounds good. Would have been somewhat willing to trade uptime for support. I noticed Exetel have a facebook page. Nowadays I find with businesses which refuse to answer the phone or respond to their support tickets cause they've just been 'so busy', they're surprisingly more responsive when you write on the front page of their facebook.

    • wako on 03/12/2013 - 09:31
      +1

      TPG was terrible during my contract period, Even after 2 tech support guys came to house, My contracts up it magicly gets better, hardly any drop outs.. My god I was about to rip the modem out the wall and jump on it when it was in contract…

      • lyl-Lychee on 03/12/2013 - 12:03

        Lol so I'm not an outlier then =/. I thought my case might have had something to do with the aging wires in our house or something, but after reading this I'm doubtful. I've had the tech guys come to our place 3 times already within the last year and now likely a 4th time.
        I was a bit of a dumbshit and signed an 18month in exchange for a waiver of the $99 installation fee. I got what I signed up for.
        Although fine line is I am actually pretty impressed with their call centre staffing. They answer the phone immediately nowadays, and actually call back when I request a callback. - Yeah, I know that's cause they're outsourcing their call centre to India and probably paying their staff $3/hour labour hire. Way better than waiting in line for upwards of an hour listening to atrocious wait music, to the point where I'm spamming their facebook front page with angry shit.

        • samfisher5986 on 03/12/2013 - 12:09
          +1

          You can get out of any Internet contract if your phone line is having issues providing ADSL2 Internet on a regular basis.

          Contact the TIO.

        • lyl-Lychee on 03/12/2013 - 12:23

          Woah I didn't think about that! Thanks!

        • samfisher5986 on 03/12/2013 - 14:18

          Just make sure you have contacted your ISP first about the issue.

          It also helps if you have some kind of proper history first, for example:

          My internet requires a technician to visit every 2 months, its obviously never fixed properly etc.

          The TIO don't like it when you call them before doing that.

  • Yanoflies on 02/12/2013 - 16:54
    +1

    I just reconnected to TPG's bundle, oh wells, I live across the exchange so I should stick with TPG anyway.

  • MaMan on 02/12/2013 - 16:55
    +2

    WTF I am in Melbourne Metro and once I type in my phone number it changes from $19.99 to $29.99 for 100gb.

    • pjetson on 02/12/2013 - 16:59
      +1

      It's because you're on an exchange where they have to use Telstra's ADSL equipment.

      • MaMan on 02/12/2013 - 17:02

        Thanks probably still worth it.

        • noz on 02/12/2013 - 17:09

          And at least you're on a Zone 1 exchange. If you're on Zone 2 or 3, then add another $10 on top again.

        • denuto on 02/12/2013 - 17:44
          +1

          Yep, $39.95 for 100GB for me, in Outer Suburban Melbourne, hence not a deal at all

        • 4wd on 02/12/2013 - 20:55
          +1

          Ditto, Outer East Melbourne - Zone 2

          Still, I'm thinking of the $59.99 Unlimited, $7 more than I currently pay with Exetel, (for unlimited 1500), but the speed would increase twofold or more.

          AFAIAC, Exetel have been very reliable in the 3 years I've used them and speeds have been pretty much maximum except for a few months covering the time the London Olympics were on.

          Decisions, decisions …

  • Daabido on 02/12/2013 - 16:57
    +1

    I will stay with TPG's reclusive billionaire CEO instead of Exetel's … Well, let's just say, read Whirlpool.

    • team teri on 02/12/2013 - 17:13
      +1

      About a year ago Exetel decided to up prices during my initial 12 months contract period. Nasty! If a contract is binding for me it should be for them too.

      When I cancelled on them (as specifically permitted without fees under those circumstances) they debited $100 in early cancellation fees nevertheless and it took them weeks and threats to pay it back. Not the kind of business I want to deal with.

    • silvertone on 02/12/2013 - 20:59
      +2

      Ah, for what it;s worth, Exetel's "billionaire CEO" actually died nearly two years ago…

      http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/02/rip-aussie-tech-legend-joh…

      • abacus on 02/01/2014 - 21:10

        You negged because the CEO died??????

  • altomic on 02/12/2013 - 16:58

    hmm, I've been using optus cable for years on a cheap but limited 20gb/unlimited calls plan.

    got stung big time a couple of months ago by going over the 20gb limit. ouch.

    $50 for line rental, 100GB, and unlimited calls to landlines and mobiles.

    this sounds awesome

    • [Deactivated] on 02/12/2013 - 17:11

      you do know ADSL1 and ADSL2+ are generally much slower than Cable though? (depending on what cable plan you're on right now)

      • altomic on 03/12/2013 - 11:54

        yeah, but I'd be paying half for heaps more data. and my optus plan doesn't throttle at the limit. it just starts charging 15cents per mb (yeah, mb). it's cheaper to hook my mobile to my computer and pay that for internets.

  • jaykay on 02/12/2013 - 17:00
    +1

    I'm with Exetel fibre for nearly 12 months now , never been downtime once.

  • Gorodemon on 02/12/2013 - 17:04
    +1

    Don't go with them if you want fast and reliable connection. I was their customer on fibre network and I've never had more than 50Mbps on a 100Mbps plan. Customer service was terrible and their tech support will treat you like an idiot. Yes, they are cheaper than their competitors ($80/month for 100/40 Mb plan) and I'm now with Internode and even though I'm paying $ 94.95/month for a same comparable plan, I never regret it. Internode speed is constantly above 80 Mbps and sometimes more than 90 Mbps during off peak. Mind you, this experience is based on same hardware (computer & router) and software. The only thing that changed was the ISP. I am not affiliated with any ISP company, just trying to share my experience with Exetel.

    You get what you pay for in service industry.

    • nearbyghost on 02/12/2013 - 21:31

      How did you get fibre at home?

      • BenK-Oz on 03/12/2013 - 16:56

        nbn?

  • [Deactivated] on 02/12/2013 - 17:16

    Does this include the fee if you Telstra have to visit your address or reconnect you at the exchange? We have been off the copper network for around 7 years, have used fixed wimax alongside VoIP since then but are finding it a little expensive with such little quota per month (80GB with 7 people)..

    • mrshorty on 02/12/2013 - 17:18
      +1

      no - the connection charges can cost up to $299 to reconnect/recable you but best to check with exetel/telstra

  • aaronaldo on 02/12/2013 - 17:16
    +6

    As an existing customer it looks like I can't sign up for this, and the plans I can change to are a lot of expensive. Way to shaft the loyal customer!

  • samfisher5986 on 02/12/2013 - 17:20
    +2

    TPG has much better quality Internet then Exetel, especially when it comes to overseas.

    Also most ADSL2 problems are related to Telstra's copper phone line, not the ISP.

  • neonlight on 02/12/2013 - 17:23

    Does exetel use Optus or telstra lines?

    • barbarella on 02/12/2013 - 19:06
      -1

      optus

      • mskeggs on 02/12/2013 - 20:46

        I think you'll find they use Telstra and AAPT predominantly.

        • mrshorty on 03/12/2013 - 10:15

          upvoted - dont know why someone negged u for this comment!

      • bargaino on 03/12/2013 - 12:21

        No, optus don't run lines, just cable.
        Exetel use Optus DSLAMs, but it is still telstras copper wire running underground to your home.

    • Boodek on 02/12/2013 - 21:00
      +1

      Both. Many country exchanges - for example, Wodonga - are Telstra only so Exetel sells you ADSL via Telstra. Albury and Wangaratta on the other hand have Optus as well.

  • DeWalt on 02/12/2013 - 17:34
    +5

    I share the bad Exetel experience. I kept on getting bad support people when I used to be with them. They were rude and arrogant. When I changed to Exetel, my download speeds dropped noticeably. They blamed the modem. I told them that I had high speeds with my other service providers, prior to Exetel. Exetel said "it's the modem". I asked for the criteria behind that decision and they said "because we know". The jerks I spoke to could not give me one quantifiable reason (and yes, I did use the word quantifiable).

    When my contract expired, I was out of there. They gave me the 2nd worst "sustained" service I've ever had. And that's saying something, given i've had some really bad support from other ISPs, DELL, etc.

    • montemaj on 03/12/2013 - 09:56

      I agree. They always blame the modem. I have a 10gb plan with them. Supposed to throttle down to 100/kbps after 10gb but the speed is like 10/bps after I reached the quota. Keep sending them my ozspeedtest results but never get any reply.

    • zooboy on 02/12/2013 - 18:23
      +1

      that's normal with any isp on adsl

    • meanozbgnr on 02/12/2013 - 18:32
      +1

      mine took 7, and I know TPG took 20 days once, they can't control this time you can neg Telstra for that

    • FloatingPoint on 02/12/2013 - 18:53

      TPG took 2 weeks on mine. I think it's not really in their control.

    • COR80 on 03/12/2013 - 01:13

      Wow. iinet did ours from the previous Telstra contract in two and a half days.

  • garetz on 02/12/2013 - 17:46
    +7

    Had exetel for a few months, service was terrible, had intermittent disconnections why they couldn't figure out, tried multiple modems and computers, the problem was obviously on their end, but i just cancelled the service as not fit for suitable use.

    Now with Tpg, and loving it, same modem and hardware, 2 meg/sec downloads no issues.Not to mention True unlimited, i had a bunch of stuff needing download which accumulated over the 3 months before, and 2 terabytes in 1 month with no problems with tpg.

    You might save $99, but you pay extra with angst and stress.

    • [Deactivated] on 02/12/2013 - 17:55

      You get that with outsourced monkeys

    • meanozbgnr on 02/12/2013 - 18:42

      exetel is not an internet provider, they resell optus, telstra services (they do not have their "end") ;)

      connected last week tried multiple modems everything works fine, downloaded 12 gigs 1st day no problems. If I would judge internet resellers "your way" there is no good ones. I personally don't like optus and telstra but through reseller (like Spintel) I had no problems, local support no problems.

    • cpho on 02/12/2013 - 19:46
      +2

      Had the exact opposite :P
      Guess it's a bit of luck and dependant on your area.
      I had a few Exetel issues, and they fixed it up for me pretty quickly.
      The only time I had a real problem was when a woman customer support picked up.. that was horribad…

      • altomic on 02/12/2013 - 20:25

        The only time I had a real problem was when a woman customer support picked up.. that was horribad…

        yeah, women and IT…

        • altomic on 04/12/2013 - 12:40

          negger - it was a joke

      • CrocDundee on 03/12/2013 - 08:59

        It wasn't Jen from the IT Crowd who picked up?

    • thepigs on 02/12/2013 - 21:32
      +1

      i had exetel for 5+ years. Now on TPG unlimited everything - not without its problems but better internets than Exetel. TPG has more control over their delivery network than Exetel (which is basically a reseller).

    • abacus on 02/01/2014 - 21:11

      Your problems may not happen to everyone else, let alone one person.

  • Fappo on 02/12/2013 - 17:58
    +1

    I managed to snag a pretty good deal from Exetel last year; unlimited downloads/uploads, line rental, and free unlimited local and national landline calls for $49 per month.

    They're definitely no Internode in the performance department, but for the cost I can't complain too loudly.

    My main complaint is that they seem to throttle P2P traffic to around 1.2MBps. I'm pretty close to my exchange and sync at ~2.5MBps, but my torrent d/l rates always cap out at around 1.2 to 1.4MBps (but almost always closer to 1.2MBps).

    • Splashtash on 02/12/2013 - 18:31
      +1

      wow that is quite op man and i thought my deal was good~ i guess i only miss out on free calls every month for $10.00 more

      • Fappo on 02/12/2013 - 19:34

        I barely use the free landline calls (like many people these days, I guess), though it's occasionally nice to have.

        Unlimited data is very nice at this price though — even though I only usually use around 100 to 200GB per month. I'm not sure how their 'fair use policy' is, since I'm not usually too much of a download fiend.

  • iNeedMoreMoney on 02/12/2013 - 18:05

    Can you mobile bundle?

  • birnie on 02/12/2013 - 18:05
    +1

    I've gone from Optus, to Eftel with no issue.
    Exact same performance
    ….2 months till Eftel runs out (on their $80 plan) then Exetel, here we come !
    $50 ! Oh yeah :P

  • kspec on 02/12/2013 - 18:12

    is the $29.99 500GB plan throttles when its reach or is there a data excess overcharge?

    • Splashtash on 02/12/2013 - 18:30
      +1

      the speed slows dramatically but u can buy more when u go over~ it will never charge u unless you manually buy more gb

  • Merapi on 02/12/2013 - 18:16
    +3

    I have used Exetel for 3 years now. So far, I'm pretty happy with the service. Sometimes the connection is not great but then I just give them a call and they will sort it out in no time.

    Cheap internet, decent service, can't complain! I just wish they had this promotion when I signed up!

    Well done OP.

  • Splashtash on 02/12/2013 - 18:20
    +1

    Ive been with exetel for like 8 years~ ask anythign u want ~ they usually ok but past 3 years they have had some ups and downs on speeds~ but cant complain to much as price is so cheap~ I pay $39.50 per month for 20gig on and 20gig off peak with a phone line :)

    Yer if u want really good service and download speeds steer clear~ u get what u pay for~ but if ur an every day user I would take this offer up~ if speeds are slow for the month and u complain a bit sometimes they offer you half your bill back~

  • Koonit on 02/12/2013 - 18:26

    I only just signed up a month ago?!

  • chillemi on 02/12/2013 - 18:38

    It seems like Exetel really went down the toilet after it's owner John Linton unfortunately passed. I dumped them this year when they decided to drop the mobile broadband plan I was on and offered another plan which cost 4x as much with only 30 days notice.

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