Very good deal.
$70 for 100GB, $80 for 500GB for ADSL+home phone.
No activation or connection fees.
No contract.
If going on 6 month contract:
$1 modem
$10 off per month
Although exetel and iinet may offer more data, they either want a 24 month contract, expensive connection/activation fees etc.
Offer ends 31/5/15.
Referral for Belong mobile only. Referrer will receive $20 credit. Referee will receive $20 off next (2nd) payment.
Referral for Belong Broadband only: Referrer will receive $20 credit. Referee will receive $20 off next (2nd) payment.
Nope, just last week they were asking $60 for the modem.
I am with Belong from last 2 months, got free modem and everything is same as this deal. Planning to move to Spintel 200GB $49.95 no contract, no connection fee and no activation fee.
I joined Spintel a couple weeks ago and have received a telephone connection fee of $59.00 on my first bill. Unsure about any activation fees yet as still waiting for the adsl2+ to be connected, but they do advertise no setup fees and no contract.
As a Spintel subscriber, I'd advise strongly against moving to them. Especially if you are in a regional area with only access to a Telstra port. Speeds/pings are terrible during peak hours (basically 3pm-1am). Their network is severely congested, with services such as YouTube being almost useless for 1/2 the day.
Spintel have finally admitted there are congestion issues, and have said unofficially there will be network upgrades done soon, but who knows when that will be. Checkout their Facebook page as well as their sub forum in Whirlpool for more info. Plus they have the WORST customer service I have had the displeasure of dealing with.
On top of that they have just sent out emails informing users of a price rise, so the cost per month for month for me is going up from $80 to $110 for the unlimited plan (regional), and with no sign of network improvements, I'm thinking it's finally time to leave.
Exetel is only a 12 month contract.
And 100Gb costs $50/month INCLUDING Line Rental!
This is 20% more plus Line rental (of at least $23/month?) so in reality actually 40% more expensive.
That 40% extra well and truly exceeds any setup fees if you're going to be connected for more than even a couple of months.
actually, this deal included home phone. I used them before, although it's a bit expensive but there customer service is much more productive and helpful than exetel.
It may INCLUDE line rental but it DOESN'T include free calls like Belong!, not only that but the 12 month contract is a major disincentive for most people. I've been with Belong for 7 months and I'm yet to find a better deal.
"Belong’s ADSL2+ Bundle includes broadband and a limited phone service. The phone service gives you unlimited local calls, as well as calls to 1223, 13, 1300, 1800 and 000 numbers. The cost of those calls is included in your monthly fee, so there are no extra charges. For interstate, international and mobile calls you can use a calling card."
The contract doesn't worry me.. If you don't have good confidence that you'll be living at the same address and wanting internet at that address for at least 12 months, then you've got bigger problems in your life than finding the cheapest bare-bones service.
The included Line Rental and calls is a positive that greatly (pleasantly) surprises me given it's a Telstra subsidiary!
Contracts for me is not about staying at the same address it's more about signing up for 12 months and then finding out the service is sh!t.
@crohns: If its S#i+ You complain and if that doesnt fix it you go to the telecommunication ombudsman.
@crohns:
But for Telstra Wholesale ADSL the technical service you get with one provider is the same as the service on any other!
The only difference is in the support desk.. Which you'll rarely, if ever, need.
You can cancel any ISP contract that has poor service
Actually, it seems to indicate that line rental is included.
6 month 100GB would end up being $60 a month (with $1 modem)
6 month 500GB would end up being $70 a month (with $1 modem)
Just checked and Exetel (on Telstra) have changed their rates.. 100Gb is now more expensive ($54/month) and 50/50Gb on/off-peak…
There's no 500Gb plan anymore, now up to 1Tb, but again at a higher price ($77/month).
Makes Belong look significantly better than I previously thought especially if you value included calls (most don't these days).
No unmetred Netflix :(
yeh, it's telstra. only optus offering it now. But if you use US netflix, they still count the usage anyway
iinet also have unmetred Netflix (includes all other companies owned by iinet). Trying to find a way to get Telstra to fast track putting copper in at my new apartment complex which I moved into 2 weeks ago. Have been advised 2 - 3 months. Ugh!
They have unmetered "Australian" Netflix.
@samfisher5986: can't make everyone happy I guess ;-) personally I don't mind the Australian one. When I get through the content that's there then I might complain.
Thing about this one is, they don't charge for the 299 new connection fee from telstra. So if you set this up first, and get the modem for almost nothing. then churn to exetel or other adsl services save you heaps.
then churn to exetel or other adsl services
I'm not sure that will work (although I haven't tried it), because the Belong phone service is a "limited phone service". I suspect they've done this specifically to stop you churning.
From the Belong PDS:
You will be able to use your limited phone service to:
· receive calls to your phone service; and
· make outbound local calls and calls to 000, 1223 (free directory assistance), 13, 1300 and 1800 numbers.
You will not be able to use the limited phone service to make other types of calls besides those included in your bundle, such as national (STD) or overseas calls or calls to mobile phones. You can do so using a calling card which uses a local or 1300, 13 or 1800 access number.
I think by that they just mean that there's very little call types included. There's no indication that it's VOIP or anything else other than a standard phone line.
it worked, i tried it myself. I signed up with Belong, and now using exetel.
Yeh TPG done me over with this, Was on telstra, but when ever I go to change to new provider say it will be $299 because tpg changed my telstra line to some other kinda line, but I still have a homephone.. So not to sure…
On Nakedl ADSL with TPG? Have heard of Telstra techs and the like using up the "active lines" on your port at the exchange if you're on Naked ADSL… meaning you're a bit screwed when you try and change.
Supposedly you're best to always go without naked adsl for this and several other reasons…
No Im not on naked, Phone and internet bundle,
But for some stupid reason when I signed up, They only transfered the internet over not the home phone, Then had to do later, I dont really know what happend other than they fudged up, and now will cost $299 for reconection , Unless take a deal like this :)
Does anyone know if Belong will have a better download speeds compared to other budget ISP providers, like Exetel/Spintel/TPG?
Also, does anyone know if you get a static IP address with Belong?
I set my girlfriend up with them a few months ago, speeds seem quite decent as they're using Telstra networks, dynamic IP address from what I recall.
nope, its the same. can't say for tpg, but im with exetel now.
I'm getting better speeds with Belong than when I was with Internode, however in saying that, all the hardware should be the same because I'm using my old modem and I'm behind a RIM so don't get any different ports there.
The only time your speed will differ is when the SNR (signal to noise ratio) is changed. Some ISPs set it lower and you'll get higher speed but less stable connection and others set the SNR higher so that you get more stable connection but lower speed. With most of the ISPs you can get SNR changed by calling their technical support.
Budget or not, they'll use the same exchanges. Get a Billion 7800n/nl and double your bandwidth at the cost of instability.
How is this a bargain when you same price you can get TPG Unlimited
no contract
A contract doesn't matter when you have unlimited.
No Contract isnt a deal as you have set up fees if you change anyway
Thank god for my 500gb $45 plan from MyNetFone. It's a loyalty plan to be fair so it's not directly comparable, I think the normal plan is $60, still better than this.
Let's leave religion out of this…
Spintel - $55 unlimited data. No set up no contract. Month to month.
What's the performance like? Have read a huge amount of negative stuff about them on Whirlpool but was thinking of possibly trying them anyway…
I've just got connected to them. So far it's been good. Just a bit of goof up with the first bill which the call center resolved. Other than that I found their call center better than other budget ISPs. Gets connected quicker and helpful.
Doesn't look good according to Google. Spintel is terrible, not just during peak hours but all throughout the day.
What you see may vary location to location, though. I'm seeing their Brisbane stats, they might be better in your area.
$55 isn't for the 'Metro' bundles either, if your close to a city it jumps to $74.95.
I'm on a similar plan with Spintel for $55 unlimited including line rental and free local and national calls. Speed is ok and had very few service outages (maybe once every few months). For the price the service is fine, and given there is no eta for NBN I'm happy to stick with them for now.
Note that on the no contract option you are required to purchase a modem for $60 . There is no option to leave out.
So really it is free modem rather than free activation, because modem doesn't cost as much as $60.
How does Belong compare to TPG?
When i first got TPG my Sync speed was ~7.5mbps since then it has kept dropping and is now at ~3.8mbps. Line attenuation of 42 indicates I should be getting around 7.5. TPG says all is fine.
Line attenuation is based on the distance from the exchange. I think this does not change with ISPs
You are correct
Yes Exactly. and with a Line atteunation of 42 i should be syncing at 7.5 like i was before not 2.5-3.5. So there must be a problem with TPG's network port.
What's the SNR you are getting?
@dy4me: Hmm. I'd recommend you to contact the rep on whirlpool. There's a guy named Joseph.He is quiet helpful in such cases.
@zerocritical: I actually went thru the whole thing with TPG a couple of years ago. The tech came over checked everything and said its lower than it should be but its all fine. Not much else they were ready to do.
I was with Netspace before they got taken over by IInet. I had huge line issues, and during discussions they reluctantly revealed I was on TPG infrastructure. They had to manually lower my sync speed to get it stable.
The moment I was moved to Iinet infrastructure, my problems miraculously went away. So yes, being with a different provider can make a big difference. The line may be the same, but the equipment on the other side is not.
I'm with tpg aswell,get your line checked by telstra if you're getting drop-out or slow connection.
Doesn't hurt to get a modem that has SNR settings aswell. I'm getting about 1.1mb/s down at ~2.3km from the exchange.
I went with Belong when it was $10 setup and monthly-to-month contracts. The main reason I switched to them was because I'm behind a RIM and all the offers from other ISPs were considerably more expensive. I was on a $60 plan with line rental and 30GB data for so long, that paying $10 more to get local calls and 70GB data was a nice change, now getting 100GB makes it better value again.
I also like that if I am going to have a big download month, I can bump it to the 500GB plan and pay for it next month.
Tried two addresses (mine in New Farm, Brisbane) and parents out near Petrie… not available at either location… quite disappointing seeing as supposedly there are Telstra ports available at both exchanges… wonder what the issue is?
Try again in a month or two. I'm also on a Telstra port with no others available and I can get it now, where I could not, late last year.
Do you really not have Cable, NBN or ADSL2 in both places?
Don't have cable or NBN in my (quite old) building in the middle of New Farm, and don't have it out near Dayboro either… frustrating as hell. Have ADSL2 with MyNetFone and probably 800m from the exchange and only get about 1.6mb speeds…
My daughter's house showed up online as "not available", and I knew that should not be the case. I rang them and they said it was definitely available. I rang them again the next day to get connected, and they said it was showing onkine as not available so I could not place an order. I rang yet again on another day and was able to place an order and my daughter is now connected.
tl;dr: Ring them and ask. You may get a different answer.
A question for Belong users: Can you use VoIP on this? Also, I would want to keep using my existing modem, is that possible or do they insist you use theirs (in which case, I'll stay with Exetel)
Can you use VoIP on this?
Yes you can.
I would want to keep using my existing modem, is that possible?
Yes it is but Belong will not provide any technical support in setting up your BYO modem so you need to know how to do it yourself.
Thanks. Setup isnt an issue, as long as they provide the appropriate DNS info etc.
Yes and Yes.
I use a VoIP phone. Works fine
I also wanted to use my own modem. I phoned them, and they provided me with the authentication credentials to allow me to do so.
I strongly recommmend you use your own modem, because the technicolor one they provide is crap and gave me 10% lower sync speeds
Mine's in the cupboard at the moment. From what I could tell, it was locked, so I cannot sell it. But the LAN cables and Telstra ADSL filter it came with were worth the $1 I spent on it (only just).
My connection with Belong has been great. Had one issue, which turned out to be a line issue, and they sorted it out well.
Oh good. I use a Billion 7800VDPX which although its not great, is easy to manage for my purposes. I was going to get a VoIP phone but in the end opted for the AIO modem and just plugging my own phones through that. Works a treat.
Looks like Belong have changed the type of modem they supply now.
They no longer use the Technicolor TG797n which had some serious issues playing nice with Windows 8.1 late last year until they rolled out a firmware upgrade.
Instead, they now supply this one:
http://www.sagemcom.com/broadband/gateways/dsl-gateways/fst-…
My advice would be to get the free landline installation from Belong which is the ABSOLUTE BEST deal going on in Australia right now if you don't have a landline already (cause it'll save you anything from $59 to $299 depending on your specific situation).
Once you have the landline and initial ADSL connection set up, you can move elsewhere if you need more data.
This is exactly what I did personally myself. I was with Belong on their 70GB plan (which they since increased to 100GB for no extra cost) for about 5 months and it was enough for me most of the time.
However, then a 'little known' company called Netflix arrived to our shores….:)
I then switched to a no-contract plan with Dodo which gives me unlimited data for the same overall price (after accounting for line rental) as I was paying with Belong.
Used a referral so only paid $4 set-up fee to Dodo and getting pretty much the same sync speeds as Dodo uses Telstra wholesale where I live.
Mod: Self promotion of website not allowed in comments of other users deals.
Had a read of your and found it quite interesting. Really smart way to get around paying for installation costs and the like. Currently with spintel, but if I don't like them, I might consider swapping to dodo. The thing is with dodo, do you pay the $39.90/month for unlimited adsl2+, but also need to pay for line rental with dodo or another ptovider?
You can get your landline from anywhere you want. Dodo doesn't care.
You just need to have an active landline from somewhere as Dodo doesn't offer 'naked ADSL' (less and less providers do these days).
If you choose to bundle the landline with Dodo, their no contract price is $29.90 which is only for the line rental itself. There are no included calls.
This brings the total monthly cost to be the same as Belong's 100GB plan but you get unlimited data and are still not locked into any contract.
The fact there are no included calls didn't bother me at all as I don't use my landline at all to make any calls. As a matter of fact, I unplugged the phone from the wall altogether after getting random phone calls from Telemarketers (despite being on the 'do not call' register if I might add).
i got it for $30 the modem….last week ~~ noooooooo
Im pretty happy on Exetel (telstra wholesale). I made the mistake of registering on a new line rather then transferring my existing one, but it only cost me $59 (I think because it was a display house before and they were using the garage as an office so it had multiple phone lines).
The only reason I would move from Exetel now (I was forgetting about Telstra and counted uploads, and a few other things) would be if we were forced onto the new plans.
What's new mate? It's been there from long time.