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1 Month Free 5G Home Internet + $0 Setup Fee for Month to Month Plans Starting from $75/Month @ Optus (Selected Areas)

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1 Month Free 5G Home Internet + $0 Setup Fee for Month to Month Plans Starting from $75/Month @ Optus (Selected Areas)
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samplegetter on 02/02/2021 - 15:55 optus.com.au (8039 clicks)
Last edited 01/03/2021 - 11:39 by 3 other users

I've been considering getting on to 5G for awhile now, but didn't want to commit to a contract and month-to-month previously required a $200 set up free to cover the cost of the modem.

Now that they've dropped the startup fee it's pretty much risk free for me to trial the service. If it's inconsistent I can just cancel without too much of a loss.

Available to eligible customers in selected areas. New services only.

Upon cancellation of any plan, whether a month-to-month or 24-month plan, you must return the Optus-supplied 5G device to us in good working order within 30 days of cancellation or you will pay a non-return fee of $330.

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closed Comments

  • yht on 02/02/2021 - 15:58
    +5

    Not avail in my area

    • Steptoe on 02/02/2021 - 19:51
      +1

      !Sorry, we do not have any plans available

      Same

  • onlinepred on 02/02/2021 - 16:02
    +1

    Is it only in the CBD perhaps? Not avail in suburbs around me.

    • BanannaMan on 02/02/2021 - 21:10
      +2

      Yeah or built up areas, I'm 12km from cbd & have it (built up area)

      • ColonialBoy on 11/02/2021 - 00:09

        Built up area just means you have street lights.

  • XeKToReX on 02/02/2021 - 16:04
    +1

    Modem stays property of Optus, yeah?

    • samplegetter on 02/02/2021 - 16:05
      +4

      Apparently so "Upon cancellation of any plan, whether a month-to-month or 24-month plan, you must return the Optus-supplied 5G device to us in good working order within 30 days of cancellation or you will pay a non-return fee of $330."

    • josefthedrummer on 02/02/2021 - 16:06
      +2

      I just signed up for this today. Modem needs to be returned to Optus within 30 days of plan deactivation. Otherwise you get charged $330.

  • Buy2Much on 02/02/2021 - 16:08
    +5

    Month to month is worth a trial. From my current experience, Optus 5G fluctuates wildly, they can be anywhere 10 to 110Mbps, usually around 40-ish mark. Their base station is within eye sight of my location. Occasionally lost connection, needed to restart my modem at least once a fortnight.

    • Christnanto on 02/02/2021 - 16:14

      Is the modem any good? Do I need to set up a mesh for a 2 bedroom apartment?

      • Buy2Much on 02/02/2021 - 17:01

        wifi is quite good for an average house. No need to mesh in apartments.

      • freo on 03/02/2021 - 12:05

        I have it set up in a 2 story, 4 bedroom brick home and the 5ghZ wifi signal easily reaches from the upstairs on a window sill - to the Smart TV at the opposite end of the house, and all the bedrooms .

        The critical element is having somewhere to put it which is closest to the tower - ie window sill or bench

    • GregFiona on 02/02/2021 - 16:37
      +3

      why so slow? what plan are you on? 50Mbps is their satisfaction guarantee speed.
      When I’m on a 5G area I usually get up to 600+ Mbps speeds(mobile 5G)

      • Buy2Much on 02/02/2021 - 17:06
        +5

        I signed up through Spintel which is unlimited speed and data for $70 on 24 months contract. They are Optus 5G MVNO, using same Nokia modem, same 5G network. There's only one 5G plan with them.

    • sacs2k1 on 02/02/2021 - 17:10
      +4

      I've been using this for the last 8 months and the minimum speed I get during peak hours is around 400mbps. Off-peak it goes up to 600mbps without too much fuss. But as with any mobile service, the speed you get depends on a lot of factors including your distance from the tower and the load on your tower node. I signed up when it used to be $70/pm unlimited and so far I've been pretty happy.

      • Geoff-bargain on 02/02/2021 - 18:45
        +1

        On this offer it says max speed is 100Mbps for $75 - need to pay $90 for higher speed.

    • kuikui on 02/02/2021 - 17:31
      +7

      I have a Optus 5G home broadband. I am getting the download speed average of 550Mbs all the times.

    • 0jay on 02/02/2021 - 18:00

      Sounds about on par with my Cat 6 LTE modem.

      That's in response to the comment re 10-110mb speeds, obviously I'm never going to get better than 300 with this gear, if that.

      I'm happy with 4G speeds though.

  • happychild100 on 02/02/2021 - 16:10

    Bit frustrating that i still can't sign up because i'm in an apartment..The 5g tower is about 150m up the road as well! Saying that, even 4g signal in my apartment is a bit sketchy, but anything has to be better than the 30/1 i can get on Telstra Velocity..

    • codito123 on 02/02/2021 - 16:33
      +2

      I signed up a few months ago using an address that they accepted and then got it delivered to my address (in the signup process). The tower is about 600m away.
      I do not get 5g apparently but I get speeds of above 150m always and the max I have had was 300. I had an issue with the modem as it was faulty but once that was solved all ok.

      • happychild100 on 02/02/2021 - 16:41

        That's interesting, i never thought about that.. Might be worth trying

      • jasondinh on 02/02/2021 - 22:41

        How do you do that? Do they allow you to send the modem to a different address?

    • zzyss on 02/02/2021 - 17:11

      Yeah, I'm in sorta the same boat. All the houses around me can get service but I can't. I'd do the trick about using a different address above, but I'm on an Optus 4G (500GB plan) currently, and I'd have to pay out my plan if I cancel whereas if I were able to sign up to 5G they'd consider that as a migration so the remaining modem repayments would be waived.

      Also, they say that if you use the modem at an address other than the one you signed up for, you waive your right to the network guarantee that lets you off your contract after your free month (if you signed up on a contract to get out of paying the Startup fee).

      Source: Optus Store rep.

    • BanannaMan on 02/02/2021 - 21:12

      In a few years they are doing upgrades to velocity to support current in market plans (100Mbps etc). I know it's far away but at least there's plans

      • happychild100 on 03/02/2021 - 15:22

        Yeah i did hear that, it's a welcome change at least but being stuck on 30/1 until then it's only going to get more frustrating

  • jay889344 on 02/02/2021 - 16:15

    Anyone know - if you get one of these and 5G actually isn't available in your area or an area you travel to with it, would it revert to 4G

    • henrus on 02/02/2021 - 16:23
      +5

      No they don't let you travel with it.

      The special Nokia modem lets them know what tower it's connected to so if you travel far they'll cut you off and call you asking for an explanation why you're not using your home broadband at home.

      • jay889344 on 02/02/2021 - 16:32
        +7

        Ohhhhh damn! Here I was thinking it would be a great solution for someone on the road often. Thanks for the info mate!

        • henrus on 02/02/2021 - 16:40
          +2

          What you're thinking of is proper mobile broadband:
          https://www.optus.com.au/broadband-nbn/mobile-broadband/sim-…

          Sadly nothing unlimited yet although if you do go over on any plans now it just shapes you to 1.5mbps.

          • maddykartik on 02/02/2021 - 18:26
            +4

            @henrus: i have been using this modem for last 4 months or so.
            Got it for $75 a month - unlimited speeds and optus sport.

            Have travelled to (with the device)
            Coffs Harbour - reverts to 4G (possibly no optus 5G there)
            Penrith - 5G works
            Carlingford - 5G works

      • maddykartik on 02/02/2021 - 18:27
        +1

        With this modem, Optus has such capability

        I highly if they are using/applying that, as i was able to use it in places outside of home address.

  • [Deactivated] on 02/02/2021 - 16:19
    -6

    Its been there for many months since mid last year, I am always pulled for the same by Optus and even when I shop in Westfield I visit there and they talk this. Its NOT new.

    Secondly, although I have been using 5G since its beginning last year, I don't want Optus because of extremely poor in the world Customer Service.

    CAUTION: When you try to cancel, they just transfer the call from one agent to another in Philippines call center and nothing happens, the agent picks up and waste your time understanding your issue slowly as its complicated in English while speaking to them and eventually s(he) says transferring your call to the right department and again an agent where you have to repeat same full story wasting an hour and ending up nothing but transfer from one to another guy within same department THAN the cancellation guy and you ll be active and billed to pay!

    Although the technical connections are good, because of the customer service practice, it is a big deal breaker

    • myketa on 02/02/2021 - 16:27
      +3

      Just log a case with the TIO problem solved.

    • Tarapara on 02/02/2021 - 17:54
      +1

      Wow i bet the agent on Philippines speaks clearly than you do. You just went round and round ranting away. It is one thing to complain about poor customer service but another to insult the poor agent for not having English as a first language who is just doing his job!

  • Nkl on 02/02/2021 - 16:33
    +4

    So glad I jumped on this last year when they only had one $70/month plan for unlimited data and unlimited speed.

    I'm lucky to be only about 40m away from the tower and I'm averaging about 300+ Mbps (some days even 400+Mpbs) and it's been amazing.

    They said they would cancel our plan for free if we keep getting speeds under 50 Mpbs but it has never happened (so far).

    • andyken on 02/02/2021 - 17:01
      +1

      what is the ping time? thx

      • Nkl on 02/02/2021 - 17:10

        I guess it depends on the time of the day but generally below 40 I think. I just tested it a few times now and it was 18-25 ms.

        Downloading stuff, streaming and gaming has been pretty smooth so far.

    • Guybrush57 on 02/02/2021 - 17:16
      +1

      Are you grandfathered in to a cheaper and faster plan?

      • Nkl on 02/02/2021 - 17:23
        +1

        Yeah, seems like it. When I signed up (June 2020 I think), they only had one plan available, $70 a month, unlimited data and no cap on maximum download speed.
        Hopefully it stays that way after 2 years expire, but I'll see what happens.

        • Guybrush57 on 02/02/2021 - 17:50
          +1

          I'm happy you get to keep it but sad for me because I have been eyeing it off since the beginning but it still isn't available in my area so when it finally is available I will have to pay $20pm more according to their website that includes a Fetch Mighty (useless to me as I already have it anyway).

          Telstra has had 5G in my area since 2019 and they have at least two bands but neither Optus nor Vodafone have even bothered to start thinking about deploying it.

          • Nkl on 02/02/2021 - 17:58

            @Guybrush57: That sucks, I hope the plans get better and cheaper everywhere once more people start using it. But knowing they can charge people more $ just because I doubt it will happen so easily haha

            I had issues getting NBN connected when I moved houses last year, and accidentally found out I'm right next to the 5G tower. I've been recommending it to everyone ever since but it's so hard to be eligible for it, even though some people are less than 1km away from the tower.

    • maddykartik on 02/02/2021 - 20:27
      +1

      Am 50m from tower. Speed between 300-400 mbps anytime of the day on 5G.

      Ping is around 20ms

  • User2049 on 02/02/2021 - 16:40

    If you cancel how do you return the items to Optus, do you go in-store or are you provided with a return satchel?

    • henrus on 02/02/2021 - 16:41
      +1

      They express posted a box (which showed up overnight), this included another box inside + a prepaid auspost shipping label. Just had to take it down to the post office to drop it off. All of the returns are done for free.

    • SteveAndBelle on 02/02/2021 - 17:00
      +3

      Yep, I cancelled my 5G service within a few days of receiving it as it just didn't perform as expected plus I needed to activate the 'Bridge' mode in the modem however they've blocked that but don't warn you so it actually wasn't even fit for purpose anyway. They sent a satchel out for the modem and then another for the Fetch Box BUT the satchels are designed for sending devices without packaging!! Unbelievable. The Fetch box was still sealed plus I had already packed the modem back into its box as it was absolutely pristine and I hadn't even removed the clear film from it! It was all literally 'as new' so I wasn't prepared to just chuck the packaging so I called them but they were closet to hopeless so I carefully removed the labels from the supplied satchels and stuck them onto appropriately sized packaging so I could send it all back the way it came. That was well over 60 days ago and I haven't heard anything so it must've worked :)

      • BigLeviathan on 02/02/2021 - 17:22

        Any reason why you need to change it into a bridge modem type? What's the benefit?

        • SteveAndBelle on 02/02/2021 - 17:24
          +2

          Just wanted my Router to do the routing as I currently have it and use the Modem purely as a Modem. Most normal home users wouldn't need to know the difference but I have cameras, a NAS and other things all managed by my Router and I'd prefer to keep it that way. It was just really frustrating seeing the Bridge Mode there as an option but it was greyed out :(

  • wellzi on 02/02/2021 - 16:54

    Damn I'd be trying this out if it was available in my area. :( … still worth a +

  • T1OOO on 02/02/2021 - 16:57

    not in sydney cbd! but i have 5g on my 500gb mobile plan! and use it in the cbd, pretty stupod

    • henrus on 02/02/2021 - 17:06

      Different types of products.

      The 5G fixed broadband is carefully managed hence people who may live in the CBD and 5G reception are inelgible.

      As a part of this deal at any time if you're not getting over 50mbps then you can cancel free of charge whereas on your 5G phone there is no minimum speed guarantee.

      • T1OOO on 02/02/2021 - 19:13

        Yeah and absolute crap for that reason. Even if they capped it at 500gb I’d get it. Vert stupid by Optus.

        • henrus on 02/02/2021 - 20:32

          Yep, it's annoying, you could get a cheap 5G phone and the current Optus one promotion (500GB) if you're desperate to be on 5G but otherwise, it's just a waiting game.

  • superm86 on 02/02/2021 - 16:59

    That's good deal.. I was thinking between this and spintel. I just signed up for spintel 5g.
    Which has 2 year contract but bit cheaper ($70) with no throttled speed. But it has $20 shipping fee as well.

  • Nohtyp on 02/02/2021 - 16:59

    I live in Sydney CBD and this plan is not available for me. Darn~

  • Fuzor on 02/02/2021 - 17:03
    -3

    If you can have a wired NBN connection, why would you consider a wireless solution? This just sounds unstable and unreliable as a long term solution to me.

    • henrus on 02/02/2021 - 17:10

      Faster and cheaper.

      I currently have Telstra HFC (old cable) which is unlimited $70 per month and speeds around 110mbps down and 5mbps up.

      In a few months, I'll be forced to switch to NBN FTTC (maximum speed 100/40) but the price will jump $40 per month if I stay with Telstra (other providers are about a $20 per month jump).

      I did trial 5G for a month and speeds were great sitting around 300-400mbps down and 20-30mbps upload (much faster than the NBN) and also cheaper but in the end, I ditched the 5G because the ping time was quite high and it frequently dropped out.

      • xenoic on 02/02/2021 - 17:30

        I had the 5G for a few months and it's very unstable. Not worth it when you need to rely on it for working from home.

      • Fuzor on 02/02/2021 - 17:33

        Exactly you just described a situation where you wouldn't choose a wireless option. Unless theres a massive issue, you would always get better results wired.

        The cost factor dont make sense, as you're not comparing technology but comparing Optus pricing with Telstra pricing.

        I have Optus NBN and the cost is the same between NBN and 5G.

  • SteveAndBelle on 02/02/2021 - 17:10
    +2

    The 5G plan wasn't available for me as I was about 10 houses out of their ridiculous coverage map area. Called them to explain and try to get one but they just wont budge if you're not in the designated area… so I just used my brothers address instead, stated I'd lived there for 'zero months & zero years' in the sign-up process then used my actual address as the delivery address. No lies, job done! Stupidly my brothers address was never referred to again anywhere, it was all registered to my address, ha!

    Anyway, 5G didn't want to work at my property of course however it dropped back to an excellent 4G service (170/35) but interestingly after testing & testing it around loads of different areas (running it off 12V on the roof of the car while parked) I quickly discovered how crap their coverage map really is. Most areas within the coverage map couldn't get 5G at all but I gotta say, when I struck gold it worked really well

    I was fine with it running at 4G speeds as that was so much better than what Telstra have blackmailed us into using (their crappy Velocity system) however I then hit another stumbling block of discovering the Optus firmware didn't allow 'Bridge' mode to be enabled which is something I absolutely need… so back it went :( So close!

    • henrus on 02/02/2021 - 17:16

      If you'd stayed on the service for longer using it on just the 4G connection, someone from Optus would have contacted you to find out more.

      • SteveAndBelle on 02/02/2021 - 17:19

        I dunno. I did read all about that in the terms & conditions and was a little concerned however everything (& I mean everything) reflected my own address, not my brothers address! It's as though they just need an address within the coverage map to unlock the application then that address is never used again. Either way it isn't a problem now so all good :)

      • CVonC on 02/02/2021 - 17:56
        +1

        someone from Optus would have contacted you to find out more

        Has that happened to you or anyone you know?

    • lgacb08 on 02/02/2021 - 19:40

      Sub 300mbs down with that massive ping is nothing to fancy about, Telstra 4g can even do that every day, nbn does that anytime.

      • SteveAndBelle on 02/02/2021 - 21:01

        Ha, spoken like someone in an area with decent Broadband & Mobile access :) Telstra has blackmailed us and a couple of surrounding suburbs with their unbelievably poor Velocity network and won't let anyone else in! We've even got FTTP but only with their purposely throttled back Velocity service which offers around 20/1 so anything better than that gets us all excited.

  • xenoic on 02/02/2021 - 17:29

    Been there done that.

    Very unstable even I'm just 8 KMs from the 5G tower. Speed fluctuates too much and it's never a consistent speed throughout. Had to rest the modem at least once a couple of days so it'll recalibrate the cellular signal.

    Ping is 20-30 ms at best
    Speed ranges from 10 Kb/s to 370 Kb/s

    Switch over to NBN 100/40 and it's heaps better for stability.

    • Duff5000 on 02/02/2021 - 17:45
      +5

      8km? I thought that was pretty far away for 5g?

      I was going to ask if 1km was ok distance from a tower.

      • xenoic on 03/02/2021 - 11:35
        +1

        Sorry my typo. It's 800 meters from the tower.

        Yes 8KM is way too far for the 5G

        • Duff5000 on 04/02/2021 - 12:33

          That makes more sense :)

          Answered my question too as we are pretty much 800m as well.

  • DaiShan on 02/02/2021 - 17:36

    Have only had an utterly terrible experience with optus 5g. Live in Mascot, and there are a number of towers in the area, including one a few hundred metres away. Irrespective of where I put the unit (including perched on window sills) it rarely holds a 5G connection, usually reverting to 4G. Speeds vary from 10 - 70 mbps.

    Particularly frustrating given that my 5G phone (on Telstra) pretty much always gets 300mbps+ anywhere in the house, and is often at 500-600mbps.

    Judging from the comments above it seems experience tends to vary and you'll either hate it or love it. With a free month and no setup cost it's worth a punt I guess.

  • AndyC1 on 02/02/2021 - 17:40

    IMHO if you get it then it will either work great or it will be a PITA and Optus will not be able to help you.

    Read the T&C very careful as Optus will NOT allow you to do anything that is not included in the T&C.

  • WaffleCrusader on 02/02/2021 - 17:40

    Got good download speeds but the upload speeds and latency were abysmal for me.

  • Clarky77 on 02/02/2021 - 17:43

    So this is free for the first month? And if you aren't happy you can cancel by the end of the month with $0 cost so long as modem is returned within 30 days of cancellation, is that right? Or is the month free only after a certain amount of time connected?
    Not available for me but could be good for family living closer to the city.

    • twist3d on 02/02/2021 - 18:20

      I cancelled after a month and just paid the $200 sign up fee when it was going at the time.

  • xers on 02/02/2021 - 18:15

    How is it for gaming? I assume it's going to be worse than an HFC NBN connection?

    • WaffleCrusader on 02/02/2021 - 18:20
      +2

      Not ideal. If you’ve got hfc nbn at your place, stick with that. It’ll be a lot more reliable.

      • xers on 02/02/2021 - 18:46

        Fair enough. It's really a shame because I'm currently paying 80pm for 100/40 with a 500g data cap so if disregarding ping this is a much better deal. Not to mention the included Optus Sports Sub as well.

    • Pelicannn on 02/02/2021 - 20:30

      FWIW I play on Telstra 5G and get 25-35 ping which is more than fine.

  • [Deactivated] on 02/02/2021 - 18:17

    I have this service and it's fantastic. Averaging 90 down and 35 up, never falls below 60 down (Mosman, Syd). Stable as a rock, no dropouts. Optus guarantees over 50 down at peak times on the $75/pm or they'll let you terminate the contract. Be aware that the modem is the size of a 2L milk bottle and just as heavy.

  • twist3d on 02/02/2021 - 18:18

    Watch out guys, I got on this bandwagon only to notice my latency was too high and unreliable for gaming. It sat around 100-120. I still had my wired connection and on that it was a steady 60. The speed however was great, sometimes hitting over 300mb but reliably over 100mb most of the time.

    Once I cancelled they sent me out another modem lol.

    Funny how they don't mention the latency when talking to the sales people.

    PS - I'm in Perth for anyone wondering.

  • coxymla on 02/02/2021 - 18:19

    Does the modem have any capacity for an external antenna?

    • twist3d on 02/02/2021 - 18:21

      I don't think it does from memory.

    • [Deactivated] on 02/02/2021 - 18:25

      Nope

  • rye on 02/02/2021 - 18:56

    Surprised it’s available at my home address. Tempted….

  • waygen on 02/02/2021 - 19:02
    +2

    Had 5G for a while and had really unstable connection. Good when it works (though high latency) but really frustrating when it stops working and that happened quite frequently. Finally had a few days of mostly no connection at the beginning of COVID working from home and decided to switch to NBN. Ended up with Optus NBN as they threatened a cancellation fee if I went with different vendor.

    The equipment return process was frustrating. The whole process was slow, they sent me return parcel that didn't fit the box and ended up taking longer than 30 days so I get charged cancellation fee. Had to ring them out to credit it back after returning.

    Proceed with caution. NBN is a better choice if it's available - much more stable and lower latency.

    • cc23 on 02/02/2021 - 19:39

      This is almost word for word my experience. Luckily (after a royal runaround) I had no termination fees due to the speed not meeting the 50mbps guarantee and moved to Aussie Broadband NBN, far superior connection for me.

    • Heybargain on 02/02/2021 - 20:22

      Similar experiences as this. Moved onto nbn when it finally became available and it’s been much more stable and less latency.

  • vikramhkumar on 02/02/2021 - 19:25
    +1

    Shd we, Wait for Telstra's competitive offer? 😏

  • dearears on 02/02/2021 - 20:14

    Nearest 5g tower is 4km away. what do you guys reckon? better than NBN100 ? Should I switch?

    • Heybargain on 02/02/2021 - 20:20
      +1

      You can trial the service and see how it compares

  • belongsinforums on 02/02/2021 - 20:15

    I've tried mobile internet for gaming. Horrible lag and packet loss. Fine for browsing i guess

    • BanannaMan on 03/02/2021 - 07:32

      Was that on the Optus 5g internet? No hotspotting off a phone

      • belongsinforums on 03/02/2021 - 18:58

        Nope. Hotspot. Probably 3g

        • BanannaMan on 03/02/2021 - 20:09
          +1

          I've used hotspot off 4g.. Few Nat issues but fine

  • stevelo on 02/02/2021 - 21:28

    My Superloop 6 months discount end soons (FTTP 100NBN), is there any good NBN 100 plan that under $80 or I should jump to 5G?
    and how do you send the 5G modem back to them?

  • Jammar on 02/02/2021 - 22:29

    Mine is $70/month unlimited, download is about 550mbps 24/7, don't see any drop during peak.

    • BanannaMan on 03/02/2021 - 07:31

      What's gaming like? Ping / any Nat issues?

      • xenoic on 03/02/2021 - 11:34
        +1

        Not great for gaming. Plenty of lags, pings are about > 20ms

        Last year when I had the 5G, gaming on COD war zone was horrible. Plenty of dropouts and in game lags.

        • BanannaMan on 03/02/2021 - 12:10

          Yeah thats what I've been reading too - some people said they were on nbn Pings of 20-40
          With 5G Internet above 100

          Till 5G gaming is a thing, I'd have to pass then

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