Help with using my Telstra sims please

Lmareem on 24/05/2015 - 17:39

Sorry if this is long but: I am totally confused with how to manage my sims for my mobile phone and mobile broadband and looking for some specific help please. I've tried reading through all the posts here and on whirlpool but just ending up getting very confused so I thought maybe some kind person would look at my situation and offer some advice please? I live in Paynesville in regional Victoria.

All I have is a mobile phone (telstra unlocked) and a laptop with a telstra USB wi-fi for broadband. There is no landline installed to my residence (a cabin in a caravan park) and from what I can gather it would be a waste of money (and can't afford it!) to pay for one to be installed due to the arrival of NBN and/or wireless Aussie Broadband in the not too distant future. No-one will give me a time frame on when this might happen though.

I have a sim in my mobile (on simplicity) with $13.41 credit left exp 26/5. I am paying $20 a pop for 700mb of data to use for emails etc.
Although this is my only phone I don't use very much in calls at all.

I have another sim in my laptop usb for data. It has $30 of recharge credit exp 14/6 and 2gb of data left exp 13/6

I have one other sim that has $40 recharge credit on it expires 28/5

I have picked up 2 of the Telstra $1 $30 starter packs via the Coles deal so have those up my sleeve as well.

Can someone please advise me on how to make use of what I have to the best affect? I want to use up all the recharge credit I have and minimise the need to pay for recharging my phone and get as much data as possible to use in my laptop as I use it for study.

Thank you in advance!

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Comments

  • sparky347 on 24/05/2015 - 18:44
    +3

    Hi there,

    Firstly, learn the Long Life/Simplicity trick - anybody using Simplicity should, when you need credit, change offer to Long Life, recharge min $30, change back to Simplicity. That way you'll have $30 to use at Simplicity rates, but with a 6 month expiry.

    Laptop SIM - that depends which offer it's on - when was it activated? If you browse to m.telstra.com - the My Account page should give you a clue. If it says Mobile Broadband, it could be the old one (pre mid 2014) or the recent one (up to this month) and then there's a new one which is called Mobile Broadband Data Pass. It might say iPad offer (probably the best to have)

    I won't explain them all - I'll wait for your reply

    BTW nobody will give you a timeframe for NBN/Aussie because NOBODY knows :)

    (I do not work for Telstra - I used to - and I do this mobile/data juggling act myself)

    • red-hot on 24/05/2015 - 18:48
      +1

      THAT is so good!

    • fatwombat on 24/05/2015 - 22:29
      +1

      Hi Sparky347
      If I change the offer to Long Life, recharge min $30, change to Freedom. Will I get free calls to Telstra numbers with a 6 months expiry?

  • mareem on 24/05/2015 - 19:33

    Hi sparky347 - thanks for the reply.

    So if I've got this right. Switch my mobile to Long Life (but don't I lose my current credit balance if I do that?) then recharge $30 and change back to simplicity to get 6 months expiry.

    Laptop SIM - the one I currently have in my USB says Broadband Data Pass. So can I use the $30 recharge credit that came with it on my moile via creditme2u?

    The SIM I have with $40 recharge credit expires 28/5 - I suppose if I can get my mobile on 6 month expiry I can get this transferred via creditme2u?

    So, it will cost me $30 now to get my phone on a 6 month expiry but then I can use the recharge credit I have on my various sims?

    Thanks for your patience!

    • bonz on 24/05/2015 - 21:26
      +3

      Mareem, you're spot on on the concept of exploiting Telstra prepaid, i just want to add that while you're getting a $30 recharge from Coles make sure you grab another $1 telstra starter pack at the same time, when switching to long life and vice versa you won't lose your recharge credit, switch back to simplicity to keep 6 month expiry. I suggest you do it now since the other Sim with $40 credit expires in 4 days, and you probably already know of the $10/day creditme2u limitation, although there are reports that if you do it very quickly using different methods you might be able to transfer more than $10. Since you mentioned reading whirlpool you're probably aware of the $1 glitch of creditme2u to get 1GB but no one knows how long Telstra will permit this loophole, so if you're game get a few GBs on your data pass (as much as you're comfortable losing if Telstra claws it back) because your sole means of accessing the interweb is by mobile BB it's a worthwhile gamble
      Edit: may i ask why you pay $20 for a browse pack when you already have the data pass?

      • mareem on 24/05/2015 - 22:12

        Hi bonz

        The data pass is my current laptop sim not my mobile sim….hope that answers your query!

        Thanks for the suggestion of grabbing another $1 pack when buying a $30 to switch to long life :-)

        Not quite sure how the $1 creditme2u works to get 1gb - this is where I start to get confused and overwhelmed!

        Right now I'm just trying to rescue the credit I have on various sims and get as much data as I can in the bargain. Will work on the changing to longlife etc to get 6 mth expiry 1st up though and then check out the creditme2u options :-)

        • bonz on 25/05/2015 - 00:33
          +2

          Instead of spending $20/month on the overpriced browse pack invest in a pocket wifi or get a spare android phone stick your data Sim card in it and tether the data to both your laptop and mobile phone + smart TV if you have one, you could even send SMS using the credit from your data pass and/or buy apps/music etc. from google play store, otherwise the recharge credit from it will go to waste since you can't send it out like you can from a phone sim.

          ATM, when you cm2u $1 to the data pass it adds 1GB to the total allowance, it's meant to be 1GB for $10 recharge, my guess is someone in their programming dept left out the '0' when typing $10, read it up on whirlpool. Since you go through 5 GB a month why not sacrifice $12.50 for 10 GB (as a suggestion), if Telstra lets you keep it then recharge with $50 to set it at 365 days to digest your 10+5 GB.

    • fatwombat on 24/05/2015 - 21:54
      +1

      You can get an Annual Data Pass for $50 5GB https://www.telstra.com.au/broadband/mobile-broadband/prepai….

      • mareem on 24/05/2015 - 22:04

        Hi fatwombat…thanks but I pretty much need 5gb a month not a year.

  • stephendt on 24/05/2015 - 20:03

    I'm confused.

    Why are you spending so much on Telstra SIMs? If I were you I'd just switch to a single phone plan that offers cheap data (eg. Amaysim, Vaya, Telechoice) and just use Wi-Fi tethering to your laptop from there.

    I don't think you can use the NBN unless you're in a fixed dwelling.

  • mareem on 24/05/2015 - 20:20

    Hi stependt

    I have tried Amaysim etc - the tethering did not work despite literally hours on the phone/chat to try to sort it out. After much angst the only reason I am given is that the area I am in means a poor/slow relay/connection/tower service, yada, yada, yada. Sorry, I don't know the techie terms. Lucky I have a good head of hair because it would all be gone by now! Optus options are no good in my area as well due to coverage.

    • RockyRaccoon on 24/05/2015 - 21:20
      +1

      The point about the NBN is valid.

      It took 2 years or more from the time we were told our area would get the NBN, So maybe they will be faster as they are ramping up. Also with a caravan park you might find like many units that there are other hurdles to be climbed. So if you are concerned about the cost being wasted, you need to look at the comparison between 2 years of ADSL with telephone installation costs vs the mobile costs with limited broadband.

      If you get on well with your neighbours you could probably share the connection. By running an ethernet cable between the cabins, or a wireless set up (but the latter wouldn't be as secure).

      Just some things to consider.

  • mareem on 24/05/2015 - 21:38

    Hi RockyRaccoon and thanks for the suggestions.

    My caravan park has very few permanent residents and I have no actual neighbours - just holidayers as such so no go there I'm afraid. When I moved in the owner of the park said I could use the free wi-fi that visitors used but 2 weeks later he changed his mind. I had hardly used it too!

    • RockyRaccoon on 25/05/2015 - 13:57

      Sorry they cant work out for you. I was thinking if you havent already tried, a suggestion you make a "contribution" to use of the park's wifi. That maybe better, But you know the owner and how "helpful" they might be.

      • mareem on 25/05/2015 - 15:21
        +1

        That thought did cross my mind but decided that it could create more dramas than it is worth if usage is questioned and so on. Less you have to do with management/owners the better in my view :-)

  • sparky347 on 25/05/2015 - 00:00
    +3

    Hello all,

    Most of the points I would have made have already been covered above. Mobile Data Pass is quite limiting I think - I don't use it. Sure, you could Creditme2U to the data sim, but it won't help much as you'll only get to use that extra money at a rate of $2/MB - the old offers let you use extra credit at the rate/MB of the most recent recharge

    Move all the recharge credit to your mobile sim and use it as a bank. As above, you can transfer $10/day/method, and that's per calendar day so 23.55 and 10 mins later at 00.05 can be done. Be aware that you can Creditme2U INTO a data sim , but not OUT of.

    Because the mobile number associated with the Laptop sim is irrelevant, for the next cuppla months activate a new Coles $1 pack when you run out and change sim cards over. That's giving you 3GB for $1. Goes without saying - stock up - check expiry dates on the packs.

    And finally, no, don't use LL before Freedom, as you need to recharge $30 ONCE you're on Freedom to get the bonus credit, data and free calls. Even though you'd have a 6 month "recharge" credit expiry - all your bonuses would expire after 28 days - you can't buy browse plus packs on Freedom either, which is why I'm still on Cap Encore :) When you change from LL back to Simplicity, you'll get an SMS telling you that you need to recharge min $20 to enjoy bonuses, but you don't - Simplicity has no bonuses, just low rates

    Other tricks - Creditme2U extends recharge credit expiry by 14 days from when you transfer. So come 6 months time, before expiry, if you have heaps left, you can bounce $2 from your mobile sim to another mobile sim (cost you $2 to buy one) and then bounce $1 back - rinse and repeat every 14 days - that's real OzBargaining - can be dangerous if you miss one and lose your credit - probably best to just spend the $30

    Telstra will disconnect a service if it has a $0.00 balance for 6 months - I have multiple calendar entries to Creditme2U $1 to 3 or 4 ipad offer sims to keep them alive.

    Hope that's all helpful

    • bonz on 25/05/2015 - 01:10
      +1

      My wife and I are both on simplicity, we also do it your way, whenever 1 sim is about to expire we flip $1 from the other to extend it by 14 days, as you said it's very risky, once we missed the deadline by probably 1 hr, but not a big loss because i only had about $2 left in it.
      Re: your advice to stock up, OP already spent 2 lots of $30 shops, if I'm not mistaken OP lives in a caravan (park), stocking up would mean lots more groceries

  • mareem on 25/05/2015 - 00:03

    Just an update….I've been waiting on telstra chat for about 2 hours now to change my mobile to longlife….down to number 4 in line….yipeee Tried calling as well but couldn't get through the pick a number menu before getting cut off - 3 times. Ist world problem but aaaaaaaahhhh!

    • sparky347 on 25/05/2015 - 00:06
      +3

      NO NO NO

      Just change offer via the #100# option on the handset

  • mareem on 25/05/2015 - 00:12

    ok, done so now maybe stay on chat to try to get my $40 credit transferred?

  • mareem on 25/05/2015 - 00:16

    sparky your big last post change came through so reading avidly thank you :-)

  • daver on 25/05/2015 - 03:26

    Whether $1 per gb Telstra or flatrate weekenr Vodafone, most of our providers are doing good these days , country or city.

  • mareem on 25/05/2015 - 09:39
    +1

    Well, thanks Ozbargainers for the great assistance.

    So Iswithced to Longlife, recharged $30 then switched back to Simplicity and the lovely chat person I finally got through to this morning transferred my $40 balance from the sim about to expire to my phone so I now have over $80 of credit on simplicity with 6 months expiry :-)

    Now to find out about this $1 per gb thingy that's been mentioned. :-)

    • kima on 29/05/2015 - 12:38

      I tried it and only got 500mb not 1gb not sure if I did something wrong or its changed. would like to know

      • Supernanny on 30/05/2015 - 12:52
        +1

        It seems to have changed. I just tried it and got 500 mbb too. $2 per GB is still good value though.

        • kima on 30/05/2015 - 19:34

          thank you very much for confirming

  • Supernanny on 25/05/2015 - 18:59

    This thread was very useful indeed. Many thanks to the knowledgeable contributors.

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