New Phone Plan for My Grandma and I

LTjadeanja on 08/09/2020 - 14:10

TLDR, Belong sucks and I need a new plan for us.

I need a plan that gives at least 1GB data to grandma and preferably 25GB for me. She's out western NSW so coverage is so-so on Optus, and was crap when I used Kogan.

Any recommendations?

The story: I moved my grandma and I to Belong mobile a couple of months ago from Telstra (same coverage out where she lives, and much cheaper options) however we are having issues with MMS randomly failing to send, which is her primary way of sharing with the family.

Belong have been zero help, I got a reply in the support box and couldn't even view it. Then they closed the ticket as I didn't reply. I also couldn't call as the only number I found for them told me to go look at their site.

Mobile Prepaid Mobile Plan SIM Only Mobile Plan

Comments

  • Caped Baldy on 08/09/2020 - 14:22
    +3

    I'm with Belong NBN and they have useless customer service.

    Woolworths (telstra) is worth a look. 1gb (with rollover) for $10 and comes with 10% off woollies shopping once a month. Might need to recharge once a month with this.

    There's also 12gb for $60 for 180 days.

    There's also Dodo https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/536545

    Have a look here for other plans. I'm not sure how much you're willing to spend.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/pages/mobile-plans

    • Tjadeanja on 08/09/2020 - 14:42
      +1

      Thank you! The Woolies one might be worth a shot, she loves shopping there and who doesn't love a bargain?

      I'll check out the links 😊

  • i37 on 08/09/2020 - 14:42
    +3

    If belong isn't working out you'll need either Boost or Telstra direct. I suspect the issues your having are going to exist on all Telstra wholesale providers (Aldi/Woolworths mobile are both Telstra wholesale)

    I had weird issues on Belong but porting to boost problems went away. Same network but different backends it seems.

    • i37 on 08/09/2020 - 14:44
      +1

      But if you think it's purely customer service related and someone just needs to tick a box in the system other wholesale Telstra providers should work better.

      • DannyC on 08/09/2020 - 14:54
        +1

        For yourself Boost is popular on here and uses the full Telstra network. Im currently on Boost and the whole family n the missus moved from Kogan Vodafone to Boost Telstra. However, some people have had issue with customer service n porting but I have had no such troubles… Yet. Most places have outsourced customer service anyways.

        For grandma sending out MMS issues as one other person said use things like whatsapp, FB messenger or other web based chat services to send pics verses sending MMS. Super easy.

        • Tjadeanja on 08/09/2020 - 15:10

          Hopefully next visit I'll be able to start the introduction to online messaging for her - she's a really intelligent woman however worries that she'll break the phone!

          I've found a lot of success in doing face to face training with her - sadly I'm 4 hours away!

    • Tjadeanja on 08/09/2020 - 15:08

      I keep forgetting Boost is a thing.

      I'm thinking it'll be an issue across a lot of the wholesale providers, currently the only way to fix it is to switch off wifi and then switch the APNs back and forth a few times, sometimes a restart too.

      Royal PITA

  • djones145 on 08/09/2020 - 14:43
    +2

    tip "MMS randomly failing to send, which is her primary way of sharing with the family" should consider using facebook messenger or whats app
    that might be easier, sending over data

    optus aint bad cause u can share data too, pool the two accounts together

    although u did note the connect is poor

    • Tjadeanja on 08/09/2020 - 14:55

      She's gotten really good at using her phone in the last 6 months, the next step is to get her on the Messenger family chat - it takes time though :)

      I haven't ruled out Optus completely, was thinking of throwing myself on to them first and going to visit to see how the service went. They're all getting so pricey nowadays!

  • mrkorrupt on 08/09/2020 - 14:57

    buy $10 / $15 sims from woolies and change them monthly

    Eg. Telstra —> optus —> Voda — Telstra etc…. $140 a year and 300gb + data

    • Quantumcat on 09/09/2020 - 08:18
      +1

      That might be a little beyond Grandma

  • RockyRaccoon on 08/09/2020 - 15:39

    Given that Text and calls are free, you dont have to be on the same network.

    You can choose the best for her, which sounds like at least on Telstra's network and another for you for the 25GB

    Gone are the days of staying on same network which used to be the only way for free calls

    • Tjadeanja on 08/09/2020 - 15:53

      It's easier if we're on the same account as I pay for both services :)

      She doesn't use much data (I don't think she's ever cracked the full 1GB!) So I don't see it worth paying $45 for a small plan that she will barely use, and Telstra (to my knowledge) stopped offering cheap plans.

      Prepaid is always an option as well however

  • [Deactivated] on 08/09/2020 - 15:58
    +1

    Boost 👍

  • petestrash on 08/09/2020 - 16:57
    +1

    No help to you, but we have some relatives on Belong and they also have MMS issues, even Belong to Belong.

    • Tjadeanja on 08/09/2020 - 20:57

      It's honestly frustrating, I found a doco on their site for adding the new APN but it doesn't help.

      • i37 on 09/09/2020 - 19:23

        The Telstra wholesale network uses a different APN mdata.net.au for MMS I suspect you don't have the 505-01 part in the APN settings to override the phone defaults of telstra.mms APN so the messaging app on your phone keeps trying to use Telstra.mms. You could make sure you have the mdata MMS APN enabled

        • petestrash on 11/09/2020 - 14:37

          I can't find anywhere on my iphone SE (original) specifically for MMS settings.

          How can you set the 505-01 MCC/MNC on IOS 13.7?

          Also for a laugh, if you look at belongs help page for MMS
          https://www.belong.com.au/support/mobile/fix-a-problem/devic…

          It suggests setting the APN on IOS to yesinternet…

          • i37 on 14/09/2020 - 07:02

            @petestrash: Belong are missing an iPhone carrier profile.

            What a bunch of idiots copying optus help pages!

  • SF3 on 09/09/2020 - 01:14

    Can your grandma not use whatsapp or alike to workaround the MMS problem, as she'll have have data?

    • Tjadeanja on 09/09/2020 - 08:18

      She's really only just gotten fully confident in using text in the last 6 months so that's the next stage

  • Candour on 09/09/2020 - 17:33

    try aldi 365 for her, or aldi family if you use a lot

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