I hate to say it but it appears that Telstra offers the best ADSL packages for users outside of areas where providers have their own networks etc. I've checked Optus, TPG and iiNet and Telstra seems to at least be the same price or only $5 - $10 more expensive. I'd love to be proven wrong but I'm not touching Dodo or anything like that because I know you'll end up with "unlimited" 128k connection or something.
Yet it is resold under another provider. My point is that the days of Telstra being a rip off, at least for off-net, are gone. I dislike them immensely, but every other provider out there reselling can offer no better deal. I understand what you are saying, but they aren't selling it as Telstra.
How to check Telstra's off-net pricing?
I'm with iinet off-net, $90/month for 150gb/150gb plus the speed pack, sync ~20Mbps, Netflix doesn't count towards quota
I'm $39.95p/m for ADSL2+ Offnet with Netcube Unlimited Download. Special deal, should've been $49.95. Negotiated ;)
This really does sounds like a good deal. Can I ask you a few questions?
-How are speeds at 'peak' times?
-How well does streaming work? (eg Youtube, Netflix etc)
-Any shaping / slowing of particular services?
Go checkout whirlpool and the netcube thread there. I wouldn't join them.
Already have. Interested to hear Alister's thoughts though.
Personally, I went with Telstra after being with a 'no-name' ISP for a while. Speeds with this ISP were fine, except at peak times (between 5pm and 10pm normally) when I'd get a fraction of my normal speed.
Silly me, I thought that being with Telstra would help prevent this sort of thing (seeing as they have a bigger network, hopefully not as over provisioned as these little ISPs). But it isn't actually any better! I still get slow downs during peak periods.
@mr626:
That's a shame. Absolutely no problems with Telstra where I am. I think in the last 12 months we've lost connection once and that was for a few hours. With their latest 1TB package I was hoping other providers had something to match, but they clearly don't. Hate to say it but think I'll stick with Telstra and upgrade if/when I need more bandwidth.
The link itself is fine in terms of remaining connected- we don't have any problems like that. And in non-peak periods we can get nearly max ADSL2 speeds (fairly close to the exchange). During peak times though our speed typically drops to a quarter of what it normally is.
Thankfully Netflix still works fine even during peak periods- very impressed with whatever compression algorithm they use.
The simple verdict:
Netflix is great - I can stream on two TVs at once even during peak hours without it stopping and buffering during the show. Quality is on auto detect but 90% remains on high quality.
Torrents are fast and so are other general downloads.
The more technical answer:
I am about 3km from the exchange but fortunately I'm in a fairly new development which means I am not connected directly to an exchange but rather a cmux (the newer version of the rim). A simple explanation is that a cmux is a mini-exchange - it is connected to the exchange via fibre (not copper) and then the copper lines are run from houses to the cmux cabinet. There is some congestion during peak hours (slows to 8-9mbp/s) but outside peak hours I am frequently 18-19mbp/s according too Ookla speed test.
Technically, Netcube (and other ISPs) are just reselling Telstra in my area as only Telstra can service cmux and rims at this point.
Netcube does have it's quirks (no POP in Brisbane, traffic routed through Melbourne) so pings aren't as quite as good as Exetel and TPG (who I was previously with) but outside peak hour, Speed Test recently reported a 44ms ping which isn't bad at all. A tracert command showed Netcube's DNS had some very weird routing (to www.nasa.gov) which took 15 hops (not part of PIPE) but this was solved by running a program called namebench and finding that the Telstra Business DNS was the optimal one to use and tracert revealed this was the much better option (only 9 hops to www.nasa.gov). The best thing is Telstra's Business DNS is open and free to anyone.
Overall I am very happy with my choice. I was a bit disappointed at times with web page performance using Netcube's DNS but using Telstra's fixed that concern.
Im with iinet off-net and have recently been looking at Telstras off-net deals.
As the OP said the pricing is very similar however the main reason i am thinking of swapping is because iinets quota is split into on and off peak where Telstras is one lump sum.
The off peak hour window is criminal compared to the on peak and you only get through half your quota before your shaped and forced to purchase data top ups on top of the turbo pack syncing ~12Mbps.
I looked at iinet back before telstra doubled their plans. iiNet was about $10 cheaper back then but that wasn't enough to make me sign up with them. I checked last night and I can't see any reason to go with anyone but Telstra. I'm not joining no name companies as I know what will happen. Also, you are right about the quota. Telstra's is one big chunk whereas iiNet and others have them split which is not convenient.
iinet turbo 100gb anytime $49.95 (includes netflix quota free) with home phone $29.95? :)
Receive a $100 Visa Card with Any 24-Month Naked, DSL Broadband or NBN Plan @ iiNet
100gb ouch! And is that split over peak times 50/50?
You would be crazy to sign up to that for 24 months with having the additional call charges on top not to mention the bucketload of data top ups you would need to stay un-throttled.
iinet turbo 100gb anytime $49.95 (includes netflix quota free) with home phone $29.95? :)
@tonester: got ya! ;) but thats still pretty steep for 100GB and the $29.95 for home phone is the minimum it will cost u as it doesn't include any of your monthly call costs on top.
@tonester: im with iinet now :p Telstra's deal is better for me due to the non split quota so iinet is not an alternative.
Take a look at NetCube, their regional prices were the best I found.
Currently on $50pm for unlimited adsl2+, so with phone line rental from Telstra thats $73pm. They had me up and running in a couple of days once my phone line was hooked up.
They are a small mob, and I have only been with them for a few months but other than congestion at the exchange during peak periods I cant complain. From all reports they are Telstra resellers anyway, so I would likely suffer the congestion even if I went with them.
If you do use them, please let me know as they have a referral program - 1 mth free for me if you pump in my details.
shamit, thank you and you are the 2nd person mention netcube. However, I don't know much about them and I am old enough to know that nothing in life is free. Good to hear that they work for you but peak period and congestion would make me scream. I'll definitely check them out on WP as I am sure plenty of people there use them and have more info.
Would telstra offer naked adsl to off net/regional customers?
Ive tried with iinet but was told I have to pay for the phone line rental anyway as telstra owns the equipment.
This has made me get iinets netphone (voip) on top of the adsl + turbo + home phone service which works out cheaper than just using the home phone line and being charged heaps more on top as the voip calls are very very cheapin comparison for an extra $10.
I don't believe so. At least not in my area. So we are stuck with paying for a basic Telstra phone line.
This is especially true when you factor in line rental (since if we are talking about 'off net' plans I assume you are somewhere that is only serviced by Telstra infrastructure = no naked DSL).
If you are like me (never use the home phone, but need to have it to get ADSL) the trick is to get the absolute cheapest home phone plan you can. This is called Telstra HomeLine Light Call charges are crazy expensive, but the base cost is $16.95 per month.
Here's a PDF detailing the plan (note cost is listed at $14.95, but it has gone up $2)
https://www.telstra.com.au/help/download/document/personal-c…
This home phone plan isn't normally offered- the average Telstra worker doesn't even know about it. The only way you can get on to it (as far as I know) is to speak to someone from the 'saves / disconnects' team at Telstra- they seem to be authorised to offer more than other departments in an effort to keep customers on Telstra.
Then you just combine whatever Telstra standalone ADSL plan you want.
Thanks very handy info.
Do you know if Telstra do voip at all?
No idea. If I were considering voip I'd go with someone like mynetfone
So I can setup a home phone on the Telstra HomeLine Light $16.95 per month and only use it for incoming calls then have my outgoing calls through mynetfone's voip service?
I was in the same position as you, OP, also regional. I thought I would never go to Telstra. I always used the cheapest and smallest contract (in my last case was clubtelco) provider and Telstra basic line rental with VOIP. Then Telstra offered a package which included ADSL, phone line with CID and included calls for $80/m - more data and cheaper than the price as I was paying for the separate packages.
Telstra have definitely become more competitive.
Yup. I am hoping that since Telstra doubled the data allowance on their packages that other off-net providers would up the game. Doesn't seem to have happened yet and perhaps it won't. So it will either be Telstra or wait for NBN in your area to get activated, and that won't be happening any time soon where I live.
Yeah, same. No plans for NBN in my area.
Another point about Telstra was that they didn't differentiate between regional and metro prices. Not sure if that is still the case.
Telstra wholesale prices were set to drop after the ACCC ruled starting Nov 1st. I'm hoping this does flow through to some price drops or plan improvements in the next few weeks.
So you recommend I hold off atm?
Well I'm currently holding off, but moving home in a few weeks so I guess I'll have to make a decision soon.
@xitrapharlax:
I bet this is as good as it gets, at least for a while. I revisited the netcube thread on WP and it is as I expected. I can't see any of the big providers offering 1TB packages at a price that would make it worth switching from Telstra. I get the feeling it's all about the NBN now or at least providers offering good deals on areas where they have their own hardware installed/setup.
Check the netcube thread on WP and you'll see why I'd never entertain the idea of joining Netcube/Dodo or any similar "budget" ISP. Looks like I'll just have to upgrade to the Telstra 1TB package.
Yeah, I started down that path and quickly concluded the price saving wasn't worth the performance hit.
Well that's a wrap for me. Telstra just opened up double data on the medium bundle so $89 gets you 400Gb. Works out good value compared to the competition for telstra only exchanges.
Probably too late but I see Belong has expanded their service area. Where I live, and I am remote, think an island with lots of interesting people and outside of a major city, I can now get Belong at my address. Price seems to be about $25 less than with Telstra for the same package.
I'd have thought that the term "off-net" could only mean Telstra, by definition.
If a company has their own ADSL equipment in a Telstra exchange, then that equipment forms that company's "net". If that company has equipment in your exchange, then you are "on-net" for that company. If that company doesn't have equipment in your exchange, then they can only supply "off-net" ADSL (ie Telstra).