Seems like a good deal if you can't get ADSL, or if you don't use much data. Should be faster than ADSL for most people. Not fixed to an address according to Optus FAQ so great for renters.
EDIT: Turns out the speeds are capped at 12 mbit, which really lowers the value compared to ADSL.
I suspect it depends on what capacity is available in the area.
Said yes to Elanora on the Gold Coast 4221.
Shouldn't you be able to get cable? I lived in Elanora for years and it had excellent internet.
I have Telstra cable, but I was just interested, particularly I like to know what alternatives I have if I have to upload large quantities quickly which isn't possible on cable.
Yeah, also on Telstra cable. Third world upload speeds. Which makes it great for media consumption but very poor for media creation.
Is it because Optus don't have 4G coverage in the area?
I tried a bunch of addresses trying to figure out what the rule is but no luck.
Tried bunch of places in NSW: Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay and Crescent Head where they have 4G but all failed.
Echuca (VIC) worked fine though…
This should be the LTE-TDD in the band 40 something, which is mainly used for hotspot traffic offloading since they don't need paired spectra to operate (hence much cheaper auctioned price than normal LTE-FDD). Same technology used by NBN wireless.
The person I spoke to in the Optus shop said they have been having some issues with the availability tool. As long as you have 4G coverage, you can use this service.
My address showed as available last night but not today.
If you can't get adsl or its too slow id consider this ISP for 4g internets
http://www.vividwireless.com.au/home
If your ADSL is too slow, then Vivid is likely to be slower again.
still dont get how 4g speeds, can be that slow?
Sports cars are fast until you try to pack too many people into them. See where I'm going with this analogy?
To improve upon psyren's analogy, sports cars don't go any faster when they're on a road that is choked with other cars. So if the provider's bandwidth is insufficient, you're not going to realise the full potential of the technology.
@ceejay: that analogy is easier to understand …
Thanks, still waiting for NBN FTTN…at 3.5km from the exchnage
I know that feeling. We can only get two options: dial up or mobile. Make that one option and a b——- expensive one at that.
@psyren89:
This analogy makes no sense. The speed difference between a Ferrari with 1 person or 5 p people in it would be negligible for most people
Also not available in Canberra!
I thought nbn was available in cranberry?
Tried them for over 2 years… Horrible experience.
Will never go back to vivid wireless.
I wouldn't even get 1mbps with them most days
Is this a new product, was there an old price? Do you have to have the bundled modem or can you BYO? Is Huawei E5186 value for $240 upfront?
Looks like a new product.
I suspect you need to purchase this particular modem router for either the frequency band reasons or control systems it might have. Remember this is supposed to be a fixed location broadband.
Exactly, once setup you'll be limited to the local towers surrounding your house. Take your modem (which looks like it has to be the Optus one) to another location and, no dice!
Hopefully someone can confirm this. I assumed the address check was mainly to make sure that you had decent 4G coverage before selling. EDIT: Looks like it can definitely be moved.
Yes. The service operates on the 4G Plus network, but before moving we recommend you call us to check service ability in your new location.
From the CIS:
The SIM supplied with the modem must not be removed from the modem and will not work in any other device.
This is a completely new product to Optus. They did sell the modem before, but the plan is completely new
hmm, I use 50gb per month on ADSL2+ with Telstra but am having issues with freezing. Maybe i should switch to this as its $10 cheaper.
I still have a Tiny Dovado from when i was on wireless so would just need a 4G usb stick.
I get pretty good data on my mobile with Amaysim. Does a USB stick get as good signal as a 4G mobile phone?
I wouldnt give up a fixed line service for wireless. Even if it performs now, word will catch on, and you will be sharing speeds with all your neighbours.
This one comes with external antenna ports. Get a proper external antenna and mount it on your TV post on the roof and it should fly along.
Its congestion on the towers that slows it down once its popular.
I get perfect reception on my vivid wireless modem (i can see the tower from where it sits). At 5am its awesome, most of the time its 30k/s max. Wireless + Popular = slow.
If anybody goes with this, can they post back to say how the speeds are. Currently with vivid (only option atm), can be 10mb/s at 5am, but the towers get congested by 9am and its pretty much dialup speeds most of the time.
IIRC Optus now owns vivid anyway (they wanted their spectrum), so this might be a resell of that anyway (in that case, not real 4g).
Great to know there is a backup option tho if they can the vivid service and leave me with no service. Come one NBN!
Definitely not Vivid, it's via their 4G+ network
My first speed test was unimpressive. 5.61 Mbit down, 1.08 Mbit up. My phone got 27 Mbit from the same location.
Still suspicious its vivid reselling then.
Wow I wonder if 100,000 smashing this non stop will slow down the optus mobile networks data speed anymore than it already is….
Please put $70 per month in the title.
I had a chat to Optus and they could not guarantee a minimum service speed.
My area said it was not serviceable on the address checker by the chat representative confirmed it was available.
They weren't able to confirm primary mobile base tower based on my location =(
Use mobilesitesafety.com.au to determine your nearest mobile cell site
Oh that's just OzTowers, a pretty good alternative
ouch, expensive modem.
Tempted to get this as a backup for when the lovely top hat connection I have goes to shit (regularly).
Do optus have any quota free services/sites?
Spoke to them via chat to ask about this and the experience was not pleasant. After several misunderstandings on what I want the rep said that there were no "quota free" services applying to this particular offering.
Does this sound accurate? I'm not convinced the rep knew what he was talking about. Surly they have some quota free things on even their mobile plans?
The only good thing about this is the slow down to 256kbps after 60gb.
But who want to use the internet at that speed.
256kpbs is sounding great to my connection 4.5km from the exchange with consistent drop out issues.
I get 19.2mbps on 3g optus connection in my house, 4g should be faster (?)
Considering my current wireless plan with Telstra shapes me to 64kbps after 12GB, 256kbps sounds infinitely faster
What plan are you on?
is there an upfront cost for the modem?
no
No if going for a 24month contract
10 per month if on a 12 month
$240 if on month to month
For people struggling in outer areas - or on bad adsl connections - this is an absolute game changer. Lets hope they are not just restricting to non-adsl areas, and will start expanding availability.
I hope this gets Telstra and Vodafone's attention too!
definitely a game changer.
I'm most likely going to hold out for a little longer to see if the other carriers come to the party.
I'm not even in an outer area, I'm 12km from CBD!
It wouldn't surprise me if this is limited to sites that have either lots of LTE bands, or have LTE band 28.
Limiting to sites with lots of LTE bands would make sense from Optus's perspective.
Either that or they are limiting it to sites that are not glowing red hot from congestion
I'm afraid most people in outer areas don't have 4G cell towers, it's all 3G out in rural areas. :(
It's a shame they force you to buy their modem.
A complete guess, I'd say there's a chance down the road that they might not force this. It could just be an attempt to get a bunch of people using high volumes to see how the system copes.
Then again, if it was open for use anywhere in town and there was no modem purchase or contract etc I imagine CBD towers would get hammered.
Doesn't Optus charge $10 per extra GB on mobile plans? Just tether off your phone!
So you'd be willing to tether at $500 for the equivalent 50GB?
I think I'm the UNCO one! Lmao I didn't do the maths correctly.
Lol
So if you used 50Gb on your phine it would only cost you… $500, nice!
If you sign up for 2 years the modem is free. Since you can use it anywhere, it wouldn't really matter as much if you move within 2 years unless the signal is bad at your new place.
Would really suck to be an Optus 4G customer now…
OOPS… HOME WIRELESS BROADBAND IS NOT AVAILABLE AT YOUR ADDRESS.
Ok I just spoke to the Optus dude. He reckons that the wireless service isn't the same data as usual phone/data, so only certain towers work. None of which are near me (2440)….. He then tried to sell me a new Optus package, but he couldn't do better than the Legacy Woolworths or Bendigo Telco deals that I am on. So much for information super highway, looks like rural Oz is in a information super black hole.
Thanks for the info nrg.. that would explain why I can tether 4g data from my s3 to my laptop but cant order this service as the address checker says its not available at my address. :( bugger i was hoping to get of the my daily plus plan and get some decent amount of data for a good price
I doubt Optus have a clue. I spoke to 10 of them before I got cable broadband and each had a different story to what services I could get at my address. On online chat they only care about selling you something during the session
A relative lives in Bridgewater, a suburb of Adelaide about 15 minutes away from the CBD by car. He's stuck on Telstra 4G at about $50 for 8Gb of transfers. Optus' offer however isn't available in his suburb. Looks like it's a line of sight only service from the tallest building in your city.
This is a 4G(x) service - it won't need line of site to a CBD - it will be 4G toward based.
Looking at the Optus 4G+ coverage map of Adelaide, only the CBD and surrounding suburbs on the Adelaide plains are covered by the service. This is also the area with excellent ADSL2+ and WiMAX service. Areas without any ADSL service such as many areas in the Adelaide hills are covered by 4G, but not 4G+. To me it appears Optus is offering the service to people who least need it.
many areas in the adelaide hills are covered by 4g+.
I would say 4G+ cover is outstanding in these areas.
I suspect its available to locations where optus are spectrum rich (lots of deployed LTE bands), or to locations where their towers are heavily undersubscribed and they expect them to continue to be so into near future.
One would think the Adelaide Hills would be heavily under subscribed compared to the CBD and surrounding suburbs. I know my relatives and their neighours would kill for any sort of broadband with decent download cap. They've tried satellite (utter trash in terms of speed, latency, and reliability) and are currently sitting on tiny transfer caps with Telstra.
Awesome deal. THANK YOU! We live in an area with stable LTE-A connectivity (solid 210Mbps down and 92Mbps up). Happy to ditch 150GB of Internode nekkid ADSL bandwidth (at a humble 8Mbps down and 1MBps up) in exchange for the speed. Does anyone have a link to the specs of the modem?
Did you check the speeds on a 4G device, or is there a site where you can find a map/list of those speeds by area? I'm thinking the speed will depend on the modem as well as other factors. A
Also I would jump on this in a heartbeat if it throttled the data to VERY poor speeds (256 kbps) but allowed a much larger quota after 50 (at limited speeds). I think many people will get trapped for slightly exceeding (as they might be used to 100gbs or more) and have to pay $10 for the next 10GB, and then more. I understand that's what happens after 70GB but it's poor value if you keep having to pay.
Looks pretty decent, I wonder if they will use the VoIP port to provide a voice service as well. It should support an external antenna as well.
The quick start guide that comes in the box says (regarding the phone ports) "this functionality of not currently available". I can't see anywhere on the modem that allows you to connect an external antenna.
Edit: there are two hidden connection for antennas. It is unclear if they are for WiFi or 4G.
To those soccer fans out there, you'd better subscribe now as Optus today announce they have acquired exclusive right to broadcast EPL from August 2016. Price will jump…
Definitely somewhat of a game changer. The issue for me having low bandwidth limits high volume use…. But if I had high bandwidth my usage would exceed 70gb. So stay with slow but unlimited or move to faster but limited. If the shaping speed was a bit faster - say 768kbps I would move immediately. However at this time I will keep my 1.5mbps unlimited adsl.
^this. I'm the same, except I'm on 1.0Mbps :(
This is available for me (15 mins drive from Perth CBD), Optus 4G coverage is really crap in my area too. The coverage around my suburb is fine but I'm in a dead spot, even the Optus map shows the dead spot.
My note 2 has better download speeds than my adsl2 internet with tpg.
4Gx/4G Plus is the shit….
My note DL speed is 1.8mb/s with only half network strength where my adsl 2 tops out at 450 kb/s.
Yeh 4g plus is the way to go and my new phone has it but taking time setting it all up with apps and launcher setup.
For anybody considering this, I just chatted with an Optus rep who said that THERE IS NO REFUND even if, the day after ordering, speeds are a complete crawl due to congestion or some other reason. So if signing up for a 2 year plan, you could be up for a big cancellation fee! Even on the month-to-month, you'd be out $240 for the modem.
And there is no minimum speed guarantee…
You could alway sell the modem I suppose
You can also save $10 per month if you have a postpaid Mobile plan including BYO sims.
Typical…can't get ADSL, can't get cable and this service is not available at my address.
:(
I can top that, I can't get ADSL,fixed etc and I also miss out on the NBN satellite which my neighbour gets. Least I can stream (on occasion, when its not raining,cloudy or windy) in glorious 240p and Skype if one person turns the video off!
Love it, where's my donkey and cart I'm off to the pueblo.
Yeah I feel your pain, exact same issue mate.
Currently on the hunt for wireless cause DSL isn't an option and NBN is still getting rolled out. Was looking at vivid but reading a lot of bad reviews on here. Would go with this but the modem charge hurts as I don't wanna commit with a contract as I'm going to change over when the NBN is ready. Mmmm decisions decisions..
Vivid wireless (Optus) is $79 a month and unlimited for mobile internet. IMO that's the better option. Here is the post https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/187995
sandon drive bulli 70 kms south of sydney worked
I entered three different postcode areas. All where unavailable ("Oops… Home Wireless broadband is not available at your address.") but Optus alternatives where listed. Cable, DSL2+ and DSL.
Perhaps this is aimed at those who can only be connect to Optus via their 4G network?
Or do we need to live chat to confirm coverage?
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Will have to wait for at least 500GB plan to replace my ADSL I am 4km from exchange and no NBN and no cable.
If $70 for 100GB I'm in.
$75 for 250Gb and It'd be nearly mutany from ADSL1 areas
Yes you'd want 500GB or a technology improvement. I was squeezing 50 gb from 512Khps when Exetel resold unwired (noughties?) and mostly outside of peak period alone. Much - lower prices required.
PS: bit of pride in one's work would not go astray irt infamous brand and 'traffic congestion for my 2c.
There will never be a 500GB plan over LTE. we will all have 2Gbps NBN before that happens.
Tried NSW 2540 address and says not available. Weird.