Best Value Prepaid Reseller on Telstra Mobile Network?

• 

  Axelstrife on 27/02/2018 - 13:53

  +4

  Telstra Currently offer 2.5GB of Data + Unlimited Calls/SMS for $30 p/m

  Boost mobile has this exact same offering but for $20

• 

  mysterytal on 27/02/2018 - 13:54

  You'll get 3G access (calls, texts and some data) with any Telstra reseller.

  Do you want 4G (higher data speed) access to the Telstra network?

  What phone do you have?

  • 

    nickj on 27/02/2018 - 14:50

    All the Telstra resellers are 4G now (when the Optus and Vodafone resellers all had 4G, competitive pressure meant Telstra really had no choice other than to match it or lose network subscribers). All the Telstra resellers include a line that they "use part of Telstra’s 4G and 3G mobile network". Assuming the phone has 4G (which most reasonable smartphones made from late 2013 onwards should have), then 4G should work.

  • 

    Bangersnmash on 21/05/2018 - 17:00

    How do resellers work?, is normal providers better like Optus?. do kogan etc offer less line?. Trying to work out based on my band what one is best.

    • 

      ajd71 on 22/05/2018 - 14:49

      Resellers work by buying a chunk of the network capacity, and then offering it to condumers.

      They take the overhead of dealing with customers away from the original seller.

      Depending on the wholesaler and the resellers contract with the wholesaler they may or may not have access to the wholesalers full network. For instance, Telstra resellers are unlikely to be able to use the premium Telstra frequencies (2600/700).

      Basically like any other commodity market, they're buying in bulk, lowering their service costs (via reduced frequencies/bandwidth caps/customer interaction costs/no premium content) to reduce the cost of an offering compared to if you directly connected.

• 

  ExtraSalt on 27/02/2018 - 13:57

  if you consider native telstra, this might be an option. Yes its $49/month, but you get a $150 gift card if you are porting in, which works out to be $12.50 a month for 12 months which makes your plan virtually $36.50/month…$6.50 more than the plan you noted, but you get the comfort of 20gb data.

  https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/363518

  edit
  opps sorry, i forgot you were after pre-paid

• 

  LaScrooge on 27/02/2018 - 14:12

  +1

  Belong- 30$ for 5gb with unlimited data banking and unlimited text/calls

  • 

    Quantumcat on 27/02/2018 - 22:25

    +1

    Yes this, they call it post-paid but you can easily stop payments if you wish (if done through PayPal).

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  nickj on 27/02/2018 - 14:38

  +1

  The wife is on Telechoice, which is a Telstra reseller, on the 2 GB plan, which is $18 per month on no lock-in, or $16 per month on a 12-month lock-in. https://www.telechoice.com.au/sim-plans/list/category/12-mon… ; Also 5 GB for $25 per month on plan, or $28 with no lock-in.

  It's unlimited calls / SMS - and just about everything above $15 per month is now - it's now all about data limits (and for you, coverage). We're inner city, so for us coverage of Telstra resellers and Telstra proper is identical, so I can't really help with the coverage question. As an experiment, you could try buying an Aldi SIM for $5 without porting your number, activate it and put it in your normal mobile, and get a family member/friend to call you and see what the reception is like at your home/work/places of interest.

  If it's the same, could go with a Telstra reseller (Aldi/Woolies/Telechoice/etc), if it's worse go with Telstra or Boost (who are the only reseller who have the full Telstra network, but they might have theoretically slower 4G speeds (4G versus 4GX), but with only ~ 2 GB of data allowance speed is probably not your main issue. Ironically it looks like Belong, which is owned by Telstra, has the same coverage as all the other resellers.

  So your safest bets for coverage are Telstra or Boost.

  • 

    Jackal on 28/02/2018 - 11:32

    This isn't prepaid though?

    • 

      nickj on 28/02/2018 - 14:24

      True, I just checked the CIS and the Telechoice plans are indeed post-paid. However last time I was with them (over 2 years ago) you could bar most of the things that would incur extra costs (like international calls, premium numbers, and International Roaming). So then the main thing that you could be billed extra for is going over the data limit. And at least on Android phones, you can set a mobile data warning and limit level. I.e. you can lock down most of the stuff that you're liable to be charged for. To my mind the key benefit of prepaid is not whether you pay before or after, it's that you know what you're going to pay and you're immune to bill shock (and that nobody is extending you credit is a secondary benefit). And last time I looked with this carrier, you could basically do the same thing, albeit on a postpaid plan, with a bit of locking down. But yes, you are absolutely correct, it is not prepaid.

• 

  ajd71 on 27/02/2018 - 14:38

  +2

  Was up at Falls Creek in Victoria two identical phones, one on Telstra, the other Aldi.

  Telstra phone had no reception issues, Aldi had drop outs and no connection once we were about 2km from the village.

  While they don't publicise it, you could surmise that the resellers either don't get access to certain frequencies (such as the newer ones - 700 and 2600) and/or are locked out of certain base stations which are tagged as difficult to service locations.

  • 

    GarrusVakarian on 27/02/2018 - 14:50

    +1

    Aldi doesn't have access to Telstra's full network but Boost mobile does, from memory.

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  DaveD on 27/02/2018 - 18:09

  As most suggested here try Aldi, i find them quite reasonable cost wise and the best part is…no contract..Boost has full network but only problem they havr is 28 days billiny cycle..(so ultimately costing you for 13 months annually)

  • 

    nickj on 28/02/2018 - 14:31

    +1

    I have not used Boost, but I also had the same concern about 13 recharges per year versus 12. However when I checked the details, it's actually 12 monthly recharges. To verify, go to https://boost.com.au/plans-2/ , then expand the "How do I recharge?" section, and under "Autorecharge", it says: "With auto recharge your phone will automatically recharge each month so you can get on with the more exciting stuff. Your recharge will be set to the same date each month. So if it is a 31 day month your recharge will last for 31 days!"

    I.e. 12 recharges per year, not 13, just like Telstra prepaid with automatic recharge.

    • 

      DaveD on 28/02/2018 - 18:40

      +1

      Thanks mate, i think i might have missed that info…

• 

  Goldcoater on 28/02/2018 - 07:05

  I'm with Aldi on a M Value Pack $20 unlimited prepaid with 2.5gb data allowance with rollover. This plan is no longer available.

  Aldi have L Value Pack $25 plan that includes unlimited calls and texts, 4gb of data and 100 minutes international (to over 50 countries).

  We had issues with the Optus reception as my mothers new unit in South Tweed Heads (southern Gold Coast) so we both switched to Aldi and the reception was better but still a little dodgy. Mine is always four bar reception at Banora Point and works perfectly but ten minutes away in South Tweed my mums drops out and sometime when I ring her it goes straight to voicemail without ringing even though I know she is home. I work in Pottsville and barely get any reception there, it is the same for Telstra Retail customers. My workmates who are contracted with Telstra also complain (either SOS only or one bar).

  I'd suggest you buy an Aldi sim and test it in your phone before porting your number, it only costs $5, which you can use for calls etc.