Want a mobile operator that could fold at any time? One that runs on arguably the slowest last generation network in Australia, well you're in luck because Kogan Mobile is back! running on none other than Vodafone on their 3G network!
Both plans have unlimited talk/text. Price varies with data. 3GB for $29.95 and 5GB for 36.95.
Apparently 4G in 2016 (if they're around then)
Not for me, but the more competition, the better.
Enjoy :)
was Kogan any good before?
prepaid for 365 days, seem to be $30.41 for 5G & $24.6 for 3GB per 30 days, not bad at all.
at least it'll keep the competition, generally lack of good value prepaid plan for a while
They were fantastic when on telstra….. I have dreamed about this day… the second comming!!
However Vodaphone network = deal breaker
Have been through 8 carriers since their demise from Vaya to penytel but will be staying with Boost as this looks like a B grade sequel at best.
RIP Kogan mobile….. I will always remember you
I totally agree, On Telstra the Kogan Mobile plans were awesome, great value and awesome coverage. However using Voda now i think ill pass :(
The only thing I will point out, is vodaphone gets some great speed in the capital cities nowdays, they threw up a bunch of towers after that whole fiasco like 5 years ago with the ombudsman.
This on their legacy GSM network not LTE, so speeds are going to be very average & coverage limited outside of major metro areas.
Part of the reason Vodafone's coverage and quality improved was the increased uptake of 4G handsets, that and a mass exodus to other carriers meant their infrastructure was under much less load.
Despite the supposed improvement, I wouldn't touch them with a 10ft pole.
I called 1300 304 292.. and looks like now you can reach a human for support :O
Sure it wasn't a humanoid??
turing test complete!
Can't see any international calls option, was there international when it launched earlier?
Thanks - that's not very attractive plan for international callers then.
Using a mobile to call international should never end well. There are always smarter ways.
Kogan is crap
Very insightful review, cheers.
Haha not a chance in hell. Down-voted for their last (profanity)-up.
Wasnt there fault
Well, it was kind of both parties' fault IIRC. That said, it's a pre-paid or month-by-month so there's not much to lose.
It was clearly orchestrated by Telstra
Wasnt there fault
Where?
Haha, feeling the love.
Typo somewhere with the 5GB in title and 6GB in description.
I thought this would be cheaper given the limitations.
Its cheaper if you opt in for the 365 day recharge on 5gb plan. Works out to be around $30 per month. Still waiting for a plan that can beat Vaya's $18 plan.
Anything beats vaya.
Vaya are all good until they start charging random fees that you don't consent to, then continue charging you for 3+ months after you've ported your number out. Oh, and they also sometimes randomly turn off your sms or data, which can be fixed by calling them, if you manage to get through.
Fingers crossed that nothing happens, i just moved to Vaya from live Connected $11.99 plan + $9.90 plane freeze fee…
2 years with Vaya, no problems. Great value.
@Micoa:
yeah, the 'plan freeze fee' is fairly indicative of their dubious money grabs, you have to wonder why they didn't just increase the cost of the plan.
@Brianqpr:
I was with vaya/live connected from 2011 to late 2014, and I signed up a bunch of friends and family (without any referrals, just because vaya were that good). Then they burnt me with the above, charging ludicrous fees without any justification. "plan freeze fee", switching people to per kb billing if they'd pay a fee, "security fee" (even though i was billed a month in advance and paid for an extra month in my original live connected plan). All looked too shonky for me.
I've since moved to Spintel, and they're playing similar games. lured people in with a cheap tiering system where you can change plan for free, and have now significantly increased their fees and charge to switch tiers.
It never fails. Somehow every post about a mobile phone deal ends up with posts bagging Vaya lol
+1 for the Description :)
Any bargains or just junk?
Last generation network? Come on…
http://www.itnews.com.au/news/major-vodafone-network-upgrade…
As far as performance lets be fare…
http://www.zdnet.com/article/telstra-mobile-network-fastest-…
*associated with voda. just trying to keep it relatively objective..
vf 4G is great but not 3G.
The network spending is network (core) wide, not limited to 4G. 4G and in fact all data was first cab off the rank though as indicated in the article above. If you're inferring to 3G data speeds that would likely be due to spectrum allocation or something localized. I suspect the former but hey i don't have ALL the answers :)
I think that Voda are refarming quite a bit of 3G to 4G while Telstra and Optus are refarming 2G to 4G, so the more Voda invest, the more that Kogan coverage will go down.
As far as performance lets be fare…
How much?
I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was reading it correctly - Kogan Mobile is back?!? I will definitely be checking this out.
Lebara National Plan, $29.90 for 2.5GB and unlimited calls, plus 2GB bonus for online recharge, plus 50% off first month.. beats the 3GB Kogan plan (noting that Lebara is also Vodafone 3G and has not yet made mention of going 4G)
Beware. These plans do not support Call Forwarding unless you pay $14.90 for the "Premier Access Bolt-On" (which includes Call Forwarding in Australia) and are charged at $0.2 per minute. Normally an unlimited call plan covers unlimited call diversions but not in this case.
Thanks for letting us know. useful info.
My wife was with Kogan Mobile (Telstra) and it was good.
I recall Telstra pulled the pin on Kogan as another retailer (?)
was reselling to Kogan and that was canned by the Almighty Telstra.
I see a lot of people here bag Kogan but my experience with them has all been good. (Phones TVs)
I had a Kogan Agora HD phone and something went wrong with the firmware.
I contacted the Help Desk to see if I could reflash or something and
even though the warranty was just finished 3 months earlier Kogan took the phone back
and gave me credit for initial purchase + delivery + the extra screen protectors I had bought.(I did have to ask for that though)
Eh?
I was lucky to get Kogan Agora phone in 40 days. Then there were multiple issues ith the device, emails back & forth so many times. threw away the phone & bought a new Samsung.
Telstra didn't pull the pin on Kogan, Kogan pulled the pin on Kogan. They were pushing for low prices so aggressively that they sent their middleman bankrupt even though Kogan were 'legally' in the right, the middleman simply couldn't afford it and Kogan wouldn't compromise.
I got a Kogan Agora HD too, and it kept going dead for no reason until the battery was taken out and put back in. They never did end up taking it back. Makes a great $200 paperweight.
After launching some of the cheapest pre-paid mobile plans in Australia back in December 2012, Kogan Mobile will officially close its doors in 30 days.
The closure comes on the back of supplier ispONE entering voluntary administration today, effectively cancelling its contract with Kogan Mobile to provide 3G mobile services.
"An important message from Telstra Wholesale about your mobile service. Kogan Mobile services are no longer supported. You can't recharge but your number remains active for voice calls & SMS. Find out at http://goo.gl/9qYEEO about how you can keep your number & transfer your mobile service to another provider. Contact Kogan Mobile for support."
source :http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/article/524058/kogan_mobile_shut_down_what_need_know/
Kogan vs ispONE went to the supreme court because ispONE didn't want to supply the offer what they were legally required to supply based on a example by ISPone that "unlimited for $30/month" could be offered as Kogan took that example literally, Kogan won the court case but sent their supplier bankrupt. With no other supplier lined up because they just sent their only supplier Bankrupt they had to shut down.
It wasn't anything to do with Telstra, they were ispONE's supplier and they didn't want to nor were they legally obligated to supply to a company in administration. Why should Telstra subsidise ispONE's access fees so that ispONE can subsidise Kogan users many of whom were extracting maximum possible value from the network for a small fee. They didn't even need to keep limited running services running at all but they still did, so that everyone could port out.
If Kogan would have re-adjusted/rescinded their plans in the first place without forcing ispONE into court/bankruptcy, it would be a very different outcome.
I bought an unlocked S3 from Kogan, immediately go an error message, saying phone locked. Kogan said 'impossible' the phone is unlocked and they wanted photos sent to them before they would do anything. Back and forth for a week until they finally sent an unlock code. (in the mean time i put an empty mini sim adapter in and ending up pulling the sim contact pins out of the phone, that part was my fault though>) Never again buying anything Kogan. Pay another $100, get another year warranty and deal locally if trouble.
Kogan agocrapper
Yes that's right you ask keep thinking that Vodafone is bad… Keeps me with super awesome speeds because the network unlike Optus isn't congested. Once they are on the 4G network I may switch from my Vodafone plan
Different experience here. Just started using TPG simcard (shows Vodafone network). So far made around 35 calls in 3 days. 3 calls were disconnected, had a few where they could not hear me so had to call again + there was no network for about 3 hours (i missed a few calls/txt). Luckily there is special optus deal for TPG customers - just applied for $20 unlimited plan on optus. (had absolutely no issues before i started using vodafone network).
Yep loving how people still believe this, Vodafone have really turned it around, I rarely ever lose signal and speeds have been blazing fast.
nobody needs to believe it. They can try & find out like i just did. I am in Perth WA.
Last year vodafone still lost customers, so something must still be wrong with them. Which city are you in? Others might be having different experiences.
I'm in Melbourne and have been very impressed by Vodafone. Great speed, no drop outs (even when driving). Much, much better experience than I've had with Optus or Telstra resellers.
I'm currently on $40 a month for 8GB plan with Vodafone on their 4G network so I won't be in a rush to switch to Kogan, but I'd happily stick with Vodafone rather than Optus in Melbourne…. Other areas may differ.
Melbourne also… but I travel to Sydney/Wollongong regularly and no issues… lots of phone calls never disconnected, and data speeds have been awesome
I am with Voda, unlimited Aus call including mobile, 13/18 numbers, 4Gb LTE data, good customer service for $35 per month. I think its good value.
Very similar to Lebara, but I have a few vouchers @$15 from Groupon so that's half price for 2.5gb and calls/sms unlimited :)
3g seems fine in Sydney I don't have a problem.
I'm using lebara, same network better price.
Vodafone big neg for me.
Vodafone no 4G is a bit disappointing. Even otherwise I don't have band 5 on my phone, so i will be stuck on Band 3 only. As opposed to Optus who offer Bands 3, 7 and 40 which all work on my phone and are quite widespread in Melbourne/Sydney.
Vodafone don't have 4G where I live, but that wouldn't bother me if their 3g network was any good. Their 3G network is horrible too. At ~$25/month for unlimited calls on 12 month plan is still a good deal, but the compromise is the network. Rather spend more and be on a reasonable network. Would have been great if Optus, but even that is a compromise.
Got enough of those $17.90 Amaysim 5GB vouchers to last me a while, but maybe this will be an option after they run out
Oh Vodafone, what have you done?
Kogan…
Voda 3G no thanks, not around my area.
Last time I had to call kogan mobile I still remember being forced on hold to listen to a single Hall & Oates song looping mercilessly for 90 minutes.
shudder just remembering it
never again. at any price. (sorry ozbargain….)
Oh god… that song… the memories… nnooooooooo!!!!
regarding risking kogan mobile again - I am forced to quote hall and oates themselves "I can't go for that. no. no. no can do…."
Kogan hold music was "Maneater" for anyone who wants a reminder or preview of what you will get.
hours of this looping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRYFKcMa_Ek AAAHHHHHHHH
"You're out of touch… I'm out of time…"
Looks like a good deal for the 12 monthly $24.66 rate when they get 4G access.
More if they get it. Prob 12 months before we hear something
There isn't monopoly on mobile data is there? So why are the data caps so damn small….
It's like a match made in hell.
And plus 1 for the description
Where do I purchase this SIM card?
PLEASE ANSWER ME NOW!
Where do I purchase this SIM card?
PLEASE ANSWER ME NOW!
Yes sir.
At your local Telstra store, you genius you.
Eww, Kogan.