Not a Telstra Customer, but Want Access to Telstra Air? Do It for $2!

Lrealfancyman on 15/12/2015 - 18:15
Last edited 20/12/2015 - 10:06

With Telstra's new offer of free access to Telstra Air hotspots across Australia until June 30 2016, I can only assume there would be customers from other carriers wanting the same thing, but don't want to pay for a recharge for a new service or switch over their current service to Telstra.

Well the good news is that you don't need to have an active recharge on you mobile service for it to be eligible for Telstra Air's Free Wi-FI offer.

So, you can buy a $2 SIM:
Activate it (the offer does not matter)
Put the SIM in a phone
Go to https://www.telstra.com.au/latest-offers/telstra-air-free-wi… on your phone
Press check eligibility and either sign up for a Telstra ID or activate with an existing one.
Remove the SIM from phone

You now have access to Telstra Air's Australian hotspots until June 30 2016, just login with your Telstra ID when connecting to any hotspots and your off. Enjoy!

Also if you are using this tutorial because you are a business customer that wants access to Telstra Air, I suggest using a different Telstra ID to the one with your business account on it, as some people have been reporting problems.

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Comments

  • ozhunter on 15/12/2015 - 18:20

    But if I want to receive an sms or make a call, I'd have to switch sims again.

    • realfancyman on 15/12/2015 - 18:23
      +6

      No, you just need to put the SIM in the phone for activating Telstra Air, then any device regardless of carrier, can use the network. I've updated my post to make this clearer.

  • peterpeterpumpkin on 15/12/2015 - 21:48

    Interesting. I had Telstra Air popup somewhere the other day. Pretty useful for now considering it's now "uncapped and unlimited" (http://www.news.com.au/technology/telstra-opens-up-telstra-a…).

    • realfancyman on 15/12/2015 - 21:51
      +2

      Yeah, I'm going on holiday and the hotel has a Telstra Air Pay-Phone Hotspot literally a few steps from the entrance, so can put the family on that and enjoy unlimited internet just like at home, hopefully with decent speeds too.

      • uggugg on 15/12/2015 - 23:48
        +1

        Haha This is exactly what's going to happen on my hols as well. And we are going to quite a small town so it's incredibly lucky the pay phone is literally outside the balcony

  • SirFlibbled on 16/12/2015 - 13:51

    Shame this offer isn't available to Boost customers

    • realfancyman on 16/12/2015 - 13:52
      +1

      What are you talking about? This thread is about gaining access to Telstra Air, if you are not a Telstra customer.

      • SirFlibbled on 16/12/2015 - 15:41
        -2

        I was just commenting on the fact that it's a shame that as a Boost customer I am on Telstra but still not eligible. I'm sorry if this offended some sort of OP ego.

        You'll survive. There there.

  • Davros on 16/12/2015 - 13:57
    +1

    Thanks, Drags out unused sim that came with now unlocked ZTE Qlux

    • realfancyman on 16/12/2015 - 13:58

      Haha

    • WatchNerd on 16/12/2015 - 15:09
      +1

      That unused sim has 5gb of data on it you know?

      • Davros on 16/12/2015 - 15:18
        +1

        Really?
        Looks like that'll be going straight in the tablet.

        • WatchNerd on 16/12/2015 - 15:23
          +1

          You have to activate it on the freedom plus.

        • Davros on 16/12/2015 - 15:24
          +2

          @28Degrees:
          Nice guesswork on my part, phew.

        • realfancyman on 16/12/2015 - 15:27
          +1

          @Davros: Yep and you can take the eligibility test on your tablet as well.

  • Davros on 16/12/2015 - 14:20

    Bloody Telstra, for some reason the "Check Eligibility" says I am a business customer.

    • realfancyman on 16/12/2015 - 14:21

      Yeah, this tutorial can also be used for people who are not eligible for Air as well.

      • Roary on 19/12/2015 - 05:04

        I also got I am a business customer with my new pre-paid sim
        Where is the bit in the tutorial that helps with that?

        • realfancyman on 20/12/2015 - 10:04

          Use a different Telstra ID to the one with your business account on it, as I previously suggested here: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/225574#comment-3300545

        • Roary on 20/12/2015 - 23:57

          @realfancyman:
          Its a new Telstra ID. Though its just a bug with new activations and after about an hour it registered for Telstra Air OK.
          Though it did use 9MB or $18 of my $30 pre paid credit, which Telstra refunded after I rang them to complain.

    • Davros on 16/12/2015 - 15:44

      Just got off from "chat" an apparently, even though the sim is working, it does not show up on their end yet so defaulted to business customer.
      Give it a few hours, turn off and on and it should work.

      • realfancyman on 16/12/2015 - 15:46

        If anyone else is doing this maybe create a new Telstra ID to prevent this happening.

  • Sherae on 16/12/2015 - 14:35

    When signing up, activating…etc Do we need to enter genuine personal info or can we use dummy credentials?

    • realfancyman on 16/12/2015 - 14:36

      No, you need to use your real identity. ID is required to activate SIM card (Medicare card, Drivers licence, Passport etc.)

  • Davros on 17/12/2015 - 11:46

    All working, activated with Telstra sim, took it out and put Aldi sim back in and it still worked.
    I am guessing this will only work as long as the Telstra sim is live, so 28 days. Wait and see.

    • realfancyman on 17/12/2015 - 12:23

      No, it still works even when the SIM is expired.

      • [Deactivated] on 20/12/2015 - 21:03

        Having activated the Air Wifi Hotpot access, do you think FON wifi access will be available as well. Or do I need to activate that seperately?
        FON wifi looks much more available.

        • realfancyman on 20/12/2015 - 21:04
          +1

          Fon Wifi will work but only Australian hotspots AFAIK.

  • [Deactivated] on 22/12/2015 - 05:29

    Just tried to active a sim. Seemed to be going well, until I got the, "Looks like you're a business customer" message. (I'm not and never have been.) How do I fix that error?

  • [Deactivated] on 22/12/2015 - 06:52

    Ok, allowed me to sign up to air and business error has gone now. Haven't checked it yet (not near a phone booth) but seems to be solved.

  • [Deactivated] on 22/12/2015 - 18:00

    Two questions:

    1. I'm not comfortable transmitting my Telstra username and password over wireless. Is there a way to change the Air username/password to something else?

    2. I noticed you can receive calls on the SIM, even if it's not charged. How long can I use that SIM for that purpose? (I assume it expires after some time?)

    • realfancyman on 22/12/2015 - 18:01

      1. No, you should have made a new Telstra ID when activating the $2 SIM.

      2. 6 months.

      • [Deactivated] on 22/12/2015 - 18:08

        Grr… They asked for my existing username/password to skip the identification check, and I don't think there was an option to separate the two.

        Thanks.

  • anastasiastarz on 27/12/2015 - 06:40

    Thanks OP! There's one of those payphones just around the corner from the station! :)

  • spinningfree on 04/01/2016 - 21:05

    Will this allow access to other peoples telstra air homespots? or just the Pay-Phone Hotspot ? sorry i'm finding this whole thing confusing

    • realfancyman on 04/01/2016 - 21:06

      Other peoples as well. In-fact any Telstra Air or Fon Wi-Fi hotspot in Australia.

      • spinningfree on 05/01/2016 - 07:08

        Thanks man! and then can I use the same login from my laptop or only the mobile?

        • realfancyman on 05/01/2016 - 11:03

          You use the same login for all your devices. You can only have 3 devices logged in at the same time though.

        • spinningfree on 05/01/2016 - 18:09

          @realfancyman:

          Sorry one last thing. I bought the sim, activated it, then when i went to check eligibility it says you need to turn wifi off… but with wifi off I can't access the website to check the eligibility. Do you know what I'm doing wrong?

        • realfancyman on 05/01/2016 - 19:52
          +1

          @spinningfree: Do you have your APN set to telstra.internet?

        • retiredfeline on 12/01/2016 - 02:54

          @spinningfree: I had the same issue, how to access the checking page without Internet, apparently a chicken and egg problem. I realised I had to turn on mobile data for the Telstra SIM. It won't give you Internet access but access to Telstra's website in their walled garden and that will let the check complete.

  • CyberMurning on 13/01/2016 - 18:23

    So I put prepaid Telstra Sim already activated months ago but not expired yet I to my note 3.
    Found the Telstra air. Payphones just five meters away.
    Connected.
    Says sign in to use.
    Open Chrome, Telstra page.
    Sign in
    Stuck at processing circle keep going round and round…

    Help?

    • realfancyman on 13/01/2016 - 18:47

      Try another hotspot.

    • retiredfeline on 13/01/2016 - 19:56

      I think the Air system was having some issues today. Also get the Air app, it makes signing in easier.

      • CyberMurning on 13/01/2016 - 19:56

        Thanks didn't know that app

  • retiredfeline on 16/01/2016 - 18:40

    Signed up using a bargain 50c SIM. Telstra is going to have to do more work to make Air work, given the competition from cheap mobile data and free WiFi in shopping centres.

    They need better availability. Often the process is stuck at getting IP address.

    They need to make the hotspot discovery more robust.

    They need to make signing on seamless and hassle free even with the Air app.

    They need more hotspots, there are only a few per suburb and mostly near shops. Maybe they haven't had much luck getting home broadband users to join the scheme.

    • realfancyman on 16/01/2016 - 19:10

      I agree with everything your saying here. Especially this point

      given the competition from cheap mobile data and free WiFi in shopping centres.

    • realfancyman on 16/01/2016 - 19:11

      Also where did you get the 50c SIM from? I need some SIMS :)

      • retiredfeline on 16/01/2016 - 19:16
        +1

        Unrepeatable unfortunately. I found a bunch of 50c SIMs at Target Morayfield. Most of them expired 31/12/15 but there were a few expiring 07/08/16 so I grudgingly paid 50c for one. :)

  • CyberMurning on 17/01/2016 - 17:22

    Found one, signed in, but I got :
    Whoops looks like you are not with Telstra air. Purchase an eligible broadband plan and gateway to get Telstra air.

    I have starter $30 pack Sim from Coles. Activated not expired yet but no credit left. Is this why I couldn't get connected?

    • realfancyman on 17/01/2016 - 22:31

      No. Could just be a bug in the system. Talk to Telstra

  • futaris on 09/02/2016 - 10:37

    Signed up recently and gave it a go.

    I'm getting a sustained 600KB/s on Steam at one of my local Telstra payphones.

    That was with a 130 mbps wifi connection.

    Anyone know if they use 5GHz or only 2.4?

    http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/5069765827

    5MBps down, 0.9 Mbps up.

  • futaris on 09/02/2016 - 10:48

    http://whrl.pl/Rexkkh

    140mbps down, 138mbps up.

  • retiredfeline on 05/05/2016 - 14:19

    The free data seems to have been extended to 30 Sep 2016: https://www.telstra.com.au/broadband/telstra-air

  • moonwalk on 08/06/2016 - 20:58

    i cannot join although i have a prepaid mobile. When checking the eligibility it always says i am a business customer. strange. anyone else in the same boat?

    • realfancyman on 08/06/2016 - 20:58

      How long have you had the SIM for? Apparently it can take a while before it becomes eligible.

  • SuperSonic on 28/06/2016 - 11:38

    My speed test result is not even 1 Mbps…i get 3 bars and when i log in says Telstra with Fon WiFi. Would anyone know what the problem is ?

    • realfancyman on 28/06/2016 - 16:28

      Have you tried other hotspots?

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