Home Internet or Mobile Phone Plans?

uniqualz on 31/05/2017 - 12:50
Last edited 31/05/2017 - 12:51

Hey All,

We are a family of 4 - kids are 11 and 15yo. I have a $30/month TPG connection at home for a business I run in England (I need the Telstra connection here for my virtual voip phone number in UK to ring through here in Brisbane on my home phone). But Telstra charges me $25 a month just to have a phone line, plus TPG is $30/month, so $55/month to just receive occasional UK calls and surf the TPG 50gigs/month. We almost never make outgoing calls on the land line.

But all 4 of us have mobile plans too that cost a fortune, I guess $80/month all up including all costs, so that's $135 a month all combined. I know that's minimal for some peeps, but it's a huge cost for us, particularly when it's only really data we use and make minimal outgoing calls. Is there a way we can combine deals somehow so we don't have to pay just for the priviledge of having a phone each connected? The mobiles are all on Amaysim $20/month prepaid plans.

Thanks V Much,
UniQ

Internet

Comments

  • dasher86 on 31/05/2017 - 13:00
    +2

    Not sure if you can do much about the VOIP but maybe consider changing your number to skype (of course depending on the clients)and using that to take business calls.
    as for mobiles consider switching from amaysim to other providers eg https://www.ovo.com.au/ovo-mobile
    or port in port out to take advantage of mobile deals that occasionally pop up.

    • uniqualz on 31/05/2017 - 13:08

      Thanks Dasher. Ideally, I'd love to dump Tel$tra as I'm paying them $26/month just for the line rental on its own. That seems a waste.

      • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 13:13

        I'd love to dump Tel$tra as I'm paying them $26/month

        You can't dump telstra and keep the TPG internet.

        • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 17:11

          Yes you can Spooker, if you're on a TPG DSLAM
          they include their line rental (free) in the ADSL plans

        • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 17:21

          @shawncro 222:

          they include their line rental (free) in the ADSL plans

          It's not free - it's a bundle (or unbundled local loop + adsl).

          I believe it costs $50/month for 50GB … slightly improvement on what the OP has.

        • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 18:10

          @sp00ker:

          Its still free
          you are using their DSLAM and effectively their service
          not sure why you're arguing this with me
          Free Line Rental, included with TPG ADSL2+ direct customers

        • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 18:21

          @shawncro 222:

          not sure why you're arguing this with me

          Because 'free' implies that it's somehow cheaper. It's not. Who care's if it's free or what the breakdown of the cost is. People only care about the total cost.

  • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 13:18
    +1

    1. Get a voip/sip app on your phone that'll let you receive the UK calls (don't worry about skype). There's plenty of them around. I'm guessing the UK voip provider charges you something for call forwarding to Australia as well?

    2. If you can survive without wired internet - get rid of both telstra and TPG. Just use your mobile phone tethering

    3. Look at one of the annual Kogan deals. Should give you a little more data. Use the VOIP app in #1 for international calls.

    You should be able to cut your annual spend from $1620 —> ~$720

    • vinni9284 on 31/05/2017 - 13:25

      "If you can survive without wired internet - get rid of both telstra and TPG. Just use your mobile phone tethering"

      Great idea however I hate to see how quick the data cap will be reached on mobile :-)

      Cheers

      • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 14:15

        I think you missed the part where the OP said he only uses 50GB on TPG.

        • vinni9284 on 31/05/2017 - 14:30

          Where do you pay $30pm on 50GB TPG plan for mobile? It sounds like the OP has 2 x fixed connections?

        • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 14:43
          +1

          @vinni9284:

          Where do you pay $30pm on 50GB TPG plan for mobile? It sounds like the OP has 2 x fixed connections?

          There's only 1 fixed connection and the OP is estimating his usage on that connection at 50GB/month.

          Most ISPs sell it as a home phone/internet bundle for $60/month. You can save a few bucks if you don't bundle it, ie get a home phone from telstra $25/month and internet only from TPG/Dodo $30/month

          The mobile usage is separate on 4 x $20 amaysim plans.

      • srhardy on 03/06/2017 - 17:38

        Optus $70 100gb mobile data sim only (with data sharing) + SIM ONLY with unlimited calls & test +10-15gb data (inc sharing) $40 $~ $110 a month 110gb-115gb total to be shared depending on deal …

    • uniqualz on 31/05/2017 - 14:13

      Thanks Sp00ker. I just had a squizz at what's available at Kogan, and it seems their largest data offering is only 14g per month. I'd say we use about 50g/month on the TPG thing at the moment, plus whatever the sprogs use at school.. I think we'd need about 80g a month. Is Kogan a chance for that?

      • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 14:21
        +1

        Which amaysim plan are you on? I only see $25/month for 1.5GB, so:

        TPG + Amaysim: 50GB + (4 x 1.5gb) = 56gb
        Kogan: 14gb * 4 = 56gb

        Just need to take care to use the Kogan data evenly across all the sims.

        How are you getting 80GB usage?

        You could always buy a couple of pre-paid starter pack for data only to get you through a high-use months.

  • vinni9284 on 31/05/2017 - 13:27

    OP, do you have IP cameras at home or plan to have IP cameras?

    The reason why I am asking is that it will be recommended to keep a fixed internet connection so it can send a signal/footage to your mobile whilst you are away from home.

    Cheers

    • uniqualz on 31/05/2017 - 14:08

      Thanks Vinni. Why is this a good thing to do.. do you mean for security.. like I wanna look around my house rooms while I'm away??

      • vinni9284 on 31/05/2017 - 14:24

        Correct. You need an internet connection at home if you wish to view your cameras on your phone whilst your away.

        • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 14:46

          Depends on the type of camera. There's plenty of 'cloud' cameras, where you don't need a public IP.

        • vinni9284 on 31/05/2017 - 15:14

          @sp00ker: Okay, so how is the image/signal going to be uploaded from the camera at home to the mobile phone whilst your away? How does the signal get uploaded from the camera to cloud?

        • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 15:15

          @vinni9284:

          Pre-paid starter pack …

        • vinni9284 on 31/05/2017 - 15:16

          @sp00ker: So you need a SIM with a plan? How much data is required to upload 1080p x 4 cameras 24/7 on cloud?

        • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 15:21

          @vinni9284:

          How much data is required to upload 1080p x 4 cameras 24/7 on cloud?

          Unlikely that any ADSL connection with a 1MB upstream can cope with that either. Most cloud cameras will upload a snapshot a discrete interval to get around this.

          As the OP stated, this isn't a requirement anyway for him, anyway.

          If you want to start inventing new requirements, then go right ahead. The OP wanted to same some money, by getting rid of his Telstra landline. I only suggested a few ideas on how he might go about it. Saving money will involve some compromises … can't get something for nothing.

        • vinni9284 on 31/05/2017 - 15:31

          @sp00ker: You have added your input in relation to the IP camera question as I responded to the OP. Therefore the answer originally wasn't directed at you.

          As both of us have concluded is that you need either a fixed or mobile connection "at the source" to send images/footage.

          And .. yes you can stream live via using the Arlo Camera on cloud hence use more data.

          The moral of the story is: You have to spend similar p/m for a fixed or mobile connection to upload images and stream live data.

          Don't forget I wasn't orginally talking to you. You just gave your 2 cents/mb :-)

          .. and you can give me a neg … all good :-)

        • uniqualz on 31/05/2017 - 16:25

          All good lads.. security not main issue for me anyway. Good suggs tho.

        • vinni9284 on 31/05/2017 - 16:41

          @uniqualz: All good OP. A friendly banter. For me anyway :-)

          By the way, are you paying the Telstra: $2.93 p/m private line .. or we will publish your details on White Pages and get every Telemarketer to call you … charge? :-)

          Cheers

        • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 17:13

          @vinni9284:

          I run hikvisions over the internet fine and had 4 cameras reporting to my hikvision app fine over 24/1
          I am on 100/100 now
          20fps live view (30fps 1080p to hdd) and it uses around 2mpbs over my connection
          RDP is good enough to view cameras, the OP should invest in a blueiris server and 8tb of hdd recording

  • cloudy on 31/05/2017 - 15:45
    +1

    Hi OP,

    You also have to consider if your average usage is just an average, or a maximum. If you switch to wireless, and you have a monthly spike (which I do when I download games, or new season of something that comes out on Netflix) you see spikes in data use. That is very dangerous on wireless plans as they are cheap when u stick within it, but you can get bill shock if you go above it.

    I now with my adsl, several times I reach my limit I just revert to dial up speed for a few days, which is cool for me. But no choice of data throttling on wireless plans I know of.

    • uniqualz on 31/05/2017 - 16:19

      Thanks Cloudy.. Was thinking the same thing myself.

  • PVA on 31/05/2017 - 18:12

    55 per month isn't bad for running a business really.

  • GOFYS on 01/06/2017 - 08:50
    +1

    Seeing as you have a virtual voip phone number, why can't you install an app like cloudsoftphone, or plenty of others available, and have your provider divert calls to your mobile?

    • uniqualz on 03/06/2017 - 09:53
      +1

      That's a damned fine idea.

  • farknos on 01/06/2017 - 09:19
    +1

    check and see if your voip provider is on a broadsoft platform, if so, have a look at below link,
    ive been using this for a couple of years and its quite stable,

    https://www.broadsoft.com/uc-one-communicator

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