Has Anybody Used Exetel?

ExtraSalt on 05/12/2018 - 16:50
Last edited 15/12/2018 - 19:01 by 1 other user

So my estate is an Opticomm-serviced estate. From what i believe, i can only use their recommended providers as my ISP.

Going through the list and having been with Internode the past (almost) 4 years, I thought im due to move on. Exeltel seem to have pretty good deals, but what are they trying to cover up?

Has anybody tried them? and what are they like in terms of customer service and speeds?

** Update ** I ended up trying out Exetel as Herbo suggested. Paying for Unlimited 100/40 Fibre. I've done multiple speedtest's since getting connected 12/12 (Morning/Afternoon/Assumed Peak/Before i sleep) and im averaging about 98.3 Down & 37.5 Up. I think i'll go ahead with the 12months pending how the rest of the month goes.

Internet

Related Stores

Exetel
Exetel

Comments

  • whooah1979 on 05/12/2018 - 16:51

    Exetel?

  • hogwarts on 05/12/2018 - 16:57

    I've used Exetel NBN - bad, way lower speeds than advertised.

    • ExtraSalt on 05/12/2018 - 17:08

      Good to know. Can always trust a highly acclaimed establishment as Hogwarts! Who are you with now?

      • hogwarts on 05/12/2018 - 20:08

        Aussie Broadband of course!

        • [Deactivated] on 05/12/2018 - 22:16

          Until tpg buys them

        • ExtraSalt on 06/12/2018 - 12:51

          AusBroadband don't have access to the fibre in my area :(. Opticomm has a stranglehold on providers

  • Seedy seed on 05/12/2018 - 16:59

    My work use them for our phones, back end is via online portal for that…

    Cs always seemed ok when we needed it, internet isnt as fast as my home net (but im pretty sure thats location not isp)

    They are actually a large voip provider afaik

    • ExtraSalt on 05/12/2018 - 17:54

      Ah k I see. Thanks I'll look into he parent company as well

  • Diji1 on 05/12/2018 - 17:00

    Avoid, they're terrible.

    • ExtraSalt on 05/12/2018 - 17:07

      Thanks.. Do you have any recommendations? Did you use them because they were cheap? Or because they were one of the limited ISPs offered via Opticomm

      • dcep on 05/12/2018 - 17:14

        they are the cheapest after the downfall of buzztelco & telecubes

        $40p/m 100gb @ nbn12

        • ExtraSalt on 05/12/2018 - 17:55

          I'm probably not going for the cheapest but best value. They just seemed overly cheap so it sounded a bit sus. I remember seeing them sponsor the big screen a Lt the MCG a whole back so one can only assume they are somewhat reputable… But then again Wish sponsors the LA Lakers and what a bunch of ass that company is lol

          • BooYa on 14/08/2019 - 04:54

            @ExtraSalt: You assume they are somewhat reputable.

            I would certainly agree that they have a very big reputation, for abusing their customers, and for having notoriously poor speeds to any server that they can't cache locally.

            Try any live video streaming website in Europe, and see how you go ;)

            They save money, partly, by underprovisioning their international connections many customers would probably never use (all of Europe).

            But they have half acceptable speeds to the US.

            I wouldn't call them reputable but disreputable, notorious for having ZERO regard for their customers

            The company founder once posted on his personal, but publicly accessible blog, that just as a herd of animals needs to be culled from time-to-time, so too Exetel customers need to be culled from time to time (it's still there on the Exetel website).

            He was referring to the biggest downloaders (even though they were all pn unlimited plans) and the most dissatisfied customers who constantly rang customer support, were very unhappy with Exetel, publicly criticized the ISP, made repeated negative comments on social media about them.

            Instead of spending some money to improve their network, they prefer to kick the most demanding customers who make up a large proportion of their total data use.

            Exetel would, ideally, only have people who only read emails once a day, and maybe read a few news article every day.

            They complain that they have a razor thin margins, and are lucky to make $3-5 per customer a month.

            But they still offer some of the cheapest unlimited plans in Australia, and hope the new customers will be light internet users.

            Then they find out that it's mostly the heavy internet users, who tend to be most attracted to unlimited plans (surprise, surprise!).

            So they cull (kick) them, even while still on contract.

            The ACCC has taken action against Exetel before for these types of practices, arguing that they are in breach of Australian Consumer Law, for misleading advertising (unlimited plans which were limited in many ways in practice).

            They also stated publicly that, because of their small margins, they couldn't defend the large number of complaints against them, lodged with the Telecommunications Ombudsman.

            So, instead of trying to resolve their problems through an independent third party, they would instead kick every customer who made a complaint to the Ombudsman, even if they were stil on contract (but they would release them from the rest of their contracts).

            The late Exetel founder (the one who likened their customers to a herd of cattle needing to be culled from time to time) called their highest downloaders thieves, because they were abusing the network, by constantly using their unlimited connections to download too much.

            He argued that those 'thieves' were breaching Exetel's Acceptable Use Policy, despite being on 'unlimited' plans!

            And that they needed to be culled as well.well, the ACCC rook them to task over misleading advertising (selling unlimited plans which were anything but).

            You can google it all.

            The company founder's blog (where he likened their customers to a herd of cattle) is available on the Exetel website.

            And the rest is easily found by using normal google search.

            Buyer beware.

            • ExtraSalt on 14/08/2019 - 06:00

              @BooYa: um….ok thanks i guess?!

              firstly, the term 'somewhat reputable' really means widely known but not completely 4 or 5 star.

              secondly, i do my own research before jumping into anything so nothing you have noted is news to me or anybody on this wider OzB forum tbh.

              thirdly, if you read my update i ended up signing a 12month with them to see how they went because Internode were becoming a piece of ass for me. i got the 100/40 Unlimited and pretty happy with their speeds and consistency. I'm on YT, Netflix, Stan & Kayo quite a lot (we barely watch regular tv at all), my wife on YT & Netflix & my kid is on YT Kids. I also do graphic design at home/work so i am uploading/downloading huge files all the time. I'd consider myself an above average data user and nothing has been throttled or disconnected for me.

              The founders issue with 'thieves' is real and every provider acknowledges and has policies against it (aka Optus' Fair Go Policy). It governs users to define where users are using a realistic amount or simply abusing the service for unrealistic data pulls. I think thats a really understandable clause as users could be illegally uploading/downloading movies, tv shows, games etc 24/7 which would hinder yours and my internet experience due to lack of available bandwidth….all hours would be unofficially 'peak traffic'.

              lastly, this is an 8month old post lol…your input would've been better considered (for me) 8 months ago

        • AlienC on 06/12/2018 - 04:35

          What about flip tv are they any good?

          I am pretty sure I saw nbn 12/1 unlimited for like $40/month for 6 months or something no cancelation fees no setup costs I don't know how they do it.

          Their main business is some TV subscription thing for channels from overseas I believe.

  • rompastompa on 05/12/2018 - 17:11

    Everyone will be different, due to location.

    Have a read of the Exetel forum on Whirlpool. You'll get an idea of their customer service, not necessarily your particular location experience.

    • ExtraSalt on 05/12/2018 - 17:52

      Thanks mate I'll give it a read through

  • blonky on 05/12/2018 - 17:31

    Had a terrible experience with a personal mobile plan; work also had major billing problems on our fibre internet - glad to be rid of them but cost us 3x months more payout than we should've.

    Would never recommend them to anyone.

  • Cheeper on 05/12/2018 - 17:35
    +1

    Used Exetel for the past 15 years, adsl-adsl2-NBN. Been great for me. Performance constant and communication is great if you approach them giving them the information they need rather than a heap of abuse. In all those years I only had to contact them a couple of times though. They do not play weird games with your payments either like some of the others try to do.
    You will find most people will have a complaint about their ISP, look them up on Whirlpool forums :-) .
    Many things affect the performance you get at your connection, not just the ISP.
    People just immediately blame the ISP :-(

    • ExtraSalt on 05/12/2018 - 17:52

      Thanks mate. Great to hear from somebody on the other side of the fence

  • CLoSeR on 05/12/2018 - 17:40

    Internode are much, much better.

    • rompastompa on 05/12/2018 - 18:15

      Internode is owned by iiNet who is owned by TPG. - Source

      New signups could be TPG customers rather than Internode.

      • cloudy on 05/12/2018 - 20:16

        What a bonus, TPG are the fastest ISP provider apparently

      • CLoSeR on 06/12/2018 - 08:24

        I am aware, Internodes systems and much of the network is still separate.

        Of course many pipes are shared.

  • hawkeye on 05/12/2018 - 18:45

    Is that larry Keto still running things

  • cloudy on 05/12/2018 - 20:18

    I’m with Exetel. If you look on whirlpool you can see some of my issues. I’ve been with them for a little less than two years under contract. And I’ve needed to contact them maybe 10 times ( yes way too often). Sometimes they can be ok in fixing an issue, sometimes I want to shoot myself when speaking to them (in fact most of the times), it also appears they are thottling my download speeds too, and when asked they didn’t deny doing so!

    They are cheap, which is why I went with them, but I’ll be leaving when my contract ends.

    • follow on 05/12/2018 - 23:31

      We optimise the performance of video streaming services to ensure you get the best possible viewing experience.

      Found that on their site. Makes sense as they're the second best ISP for streaming. They're also second best on Steam somehow…

  • herbo on 05/12/2018 - 20:19

    I’m with Exetel, been fine for me. On the 50/20 NBN plan @$60 per month (500 GB) in Ballarat Vic. Speedtest just now (evening) to Melbourne, result is 45/19. I came to Exetel from Telecube and they’re stacks better, haven’t noticed any drop-outs and speed is consistent. Can’t complain for the price. I mainly stream TV, Netflix, Kayo Sports, run Hulu from the US with no problems. One negative that comes to mind is that their provisioning is hopeless, takes a while to get connected, I think they do a credit check that slows it down.

    Pro tip - if you’re looking to try them start the sign-up process on their website and stop before you pay, leave it a few days and they’ll send you a $20 off one-off voucher. Go on month to month plan first to see what it’s like.

    • ExtraSalt on 06/12/2018 - 06:23

      Hey thanks herbo.. I went through a whirlpool link anitjer OzB user sent me and there were quite a number of positive feedback as well as negative… Your protip is exactly what I was trying give a go before I committed to anybody lol so I will no doubt try my luck. Exetel seem like a hit or miss company. Maybe they will be a hit for me.

  • [Deactivated] on 06/12/2018 - 13:03

    aren't they the guys who would sell unlimited plans then every few months find the top 15% of users and just terminate their accounts

    • BooYa on 14/08/2019 - 04:46

      Yes. They are notorious for it. Horrible attitude towards their customers.

      Exetel is not just the worst ISP in Australia, I would argue that they are the worst company in Australia.

  • curlyhart on 16/12/2018 - 19:12

    Are there any referral bonuses? Send me yours if you have one. I'm keen to sign up on the cheapest plan. I would be very happy to get 12, currently getting 5 with ADSL. Moving to Inverloch.

    • ExtraSalt on 16/12/2018 - 20:14

      Very kind… I asked Herbo for a refferal code as well but he seems to think they no longer exist even though it asks for one. He's got a pro top which is quite handy if you don't need a modem.

      • curlyhart on 18/12/2018 - 22:52

        Sorry, I didn't understand the bit about the modem.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join