Heyas

Well its a long story and given my propensity to write long stories im going to try and keep it short :P


Short version:

I hate telstra, they suck, need new one, help! :P


Long version:

Couple of years ago i moved into my new house, having ascertained prior to moving that "yes ADSL is available in that house/street/country etc" :P

After moving in i rang Telstra to get said ADSL only to be told... no u have Pair gain lines and no ADSL for j00! Best u can hope for is ISDN 128k for the same price and 1 millionth of the performance...

So after much gnashing of teeth i order this ISDN and the technician turns up to install. Said techie being a paragon of virtue and a damm nice fella says to me "why dont u get adsl mate, this isdn s*** is old school and useless"... So i tell him i cant have it yadda yadda...

He replies, BALLS! I just came from the exchange, its enabled, u can have it, others in the street have it, copper line... yadda yadda

So we ring Telstra to check their original story, operator believes techie (as they should), she cancels that install of the ISDN, orders an install of ADSL (for 2 weeks away) and all is good...

1 week later, i get a phone call.. "Mr Aga u cant have ADSL there because exchange isnt enabled etc etc"

I reply.. WTF (politely :P) repeat previous saga, etc etc
She is quite firm in telling me the techies have it wrong, there is nothing in their system to say i can have ADSL etc, i should take the ISDN etc etc

So i am forced to take the ISDN, with much muttering...

Meanwhile techie arrives a fortnight later (same techie!) to install the ISDN...
Repeat of previous conversation together with much angst and chagrin at telstra headoffice...

This time techie phones his supervisor who confirms that he is STANDING in front of the aforementioned exchange with its installed ADSL thingambobby....and why cant i have ADSL?
Supervisor rings telstra lady who is telling me i cant have ADSL to confirm that i CAN have it and is defeated by the lady at head officer with her superior powers of bulls*** !

So after all this mucking around and interminable delays i finally ended up with a product i didnt want, from a company i didnt like because they were the only ones who could supply the product i didnt want and that was the "best" alternative to straight dial up :P

The kicker is that a week later my cousin moved in to board with us and ordered ADSL and got it one week later... in the same house, same street etc etc ... ARRGGGHH

So u can imagine i have less that generous thoughts about Telstra at this time..


So now i am thinking its time to change to a new ISP with faster service and better products


So the criteria! :)

I dont download a lot but i dont want to be caught short if i happen to get the urge to download
I like to game
I dont want to be paying excess megabyte charges
Id like a nice fat speed, good tech support and not too expensive. Around 70$ is what im paying now for my s***ty 128k ISDN so anything close to that is fine
I am also going to set up wireless thingy for my house so i can ... well u know what i mean :P

Happy to take bundles if needed, home has Foxtel, and we hardly use the damm phone anyway hehe


Any suggestions as to the best product, setup etc for me?

thanks

Aga

whirlpool is your friend

ya i had a look at whirlpool, lots of isps, lots of packages

the questions i had after looking there was which were the ones u guys liked and were happy with, and what was the best package as value for money considering same

not alot of people try alot of isp's

most people pick 1 and maybe churn 1-2 times then stay there... whirlpool will give u insights into all the plans and how people are finding them.. also you can work out which ones people are churning too and churning away from

iinet TPG or Internode
the only choice you need to make

Originally I would've suggested Netspace in addition to the 'node.. but NS isn't that great anymore, especially since they yanked the free data on peering services on the majority of their adsl plans..

Anyone here had experience with Spin/Comcen at all? Looking at them purely because they're one of the few who offer ADSL2+ in my area & because Netspace's ADSL2+ pricing leaves a bit to be desired...

last edited by darkjedi at 11:55:06 12/May/07

iinet or inode, maybe have a look at tpg

Internode or iinet

I choose aaNet because it's damn fast, reliable and cheap.

I'd still be with Internode but after my move, and finding out I'd have to go back to slow adsl speeds (formally adsl2) I jumped to Bigpond cable. No hassles so far...

I had the exact same problem as you, ITS BULLs***! it just means the exchange is full and they dont want to upgrade their equipment. I filled in an online application for TPG amd within 2 weeks they had removed the pair gains and we were online.

share your cousins adsl

he (cousin) just moved out and cancelled his connection etc

so im gonna cheat and use his line (since its full copper) and get my ADSL or ADSL 2 on that line... i just need to get it moved to where the pc is

thanks for the suggestions guys, will check those two out on monday :)

I've been with iinet for about 3-4 years and I'd love to be able to recommend them atm but the current plans they offer are complete anus so I'd say stay away from them for the time being until they can offer something better.

Internode.

I've been with iinet for about 3-4 years and I'd love to be able to recommend them atm but the current plans they offer are complete anus so I'd say stay away from them for the time being until they can offer something better.

iiNet's ADSL2+ plans are great, the ADSL plans suck. So only go with iiNet if they offer ADSL2+ at your exchange.

last edited by Tael at 16:07:01 12/May/07

iiNet's ADSL2+ plans are great, the ADSL plans suck. So only go with iiNet if they offer ADSL2+ at your exchange.

Quoted for Truth.

Internode is my ADSL1 provider of choice because of:

* Huge number of low-latency gaming servers, with their own fast Steam Content Server (both unmetered)
* Extensive and up-to-date download mirrors (unmetered)
* Huge pool of online-radio streams (unmetered)
* They don't shape P2P nor count uploads
* They rarely, if ever, screw you over (unlike iiNet)

Seriously, they are surprisingly awesome.

last edited by parabol at 16:50:49 12/May/07

i recently changed to uqconnect, because i like their australian support staff.

being on tpg myself, i think tpg sucks

TPG if ur leeching and serving and nothing else

Internode if u want a good allrounder and wanna play games


...is the general vibe

i coiuldnt be happier with iinet
fast, i like our plan (dont mind bundling with phone)

up all the time

if you can get ADSL2 at your exchange iinet is great. I use iinet ADSL and the plan is complete s***. I went from 150kb/s to 50kb/s because telstra upped their rental or something in that order. Telstra ruin the normal iinet plans so if you can get onto iinet's hardware they are great.

internode or westnet chris

yeh a whole lot of quota went out of iinet's plans too (i'm on an old plan with 24GB/24GB and free peered)

new quotas relatively suck arse, but you can get it back by bundling with phone in the case of ADSL2+

looking at the maths the phone thing does represent value for money at least over a telstra phone account

yeah my iinet 60gig on 60gig off adsl2 plan f***ing rocks my socks.

iiLeech

my hate grows :P

they (internode/iinet) cant tell me if i can get ADSL2 at "my house" because there is a conflicting product (that telstra installed ie ISDN) on my damm phone line!

arrgghh telstra!

and now i am told it will take a couple of weeks to get ISDN removed and of course the ever present fee to do so...followed by reconnection fees, movement of line fees etc etc

why don't you just use the other line (that your cousin used). Stick a $50 wireless DSL router on there and away you go
No nasty product codes, no provisioning mumbo-jumbo, no hassle, save time
As it's the same exchange you can have your existing PSTN number ported to the other line (you use cordless, right?)
I know it's a major hack but it will save you a bucket of time and frustration

I love iinet speeds (adsl2) however we have been f***ed around a few times in terms of downtime and other things. When you ring the c***s up every answer to a question is "blame telstra" which s***s me.

I wouldn't go TPG if you like online gaming. A few people I know on TPG get s***ty pings on peak time.

id love to use his old line... but then wouldnt i need to have a PC in there (?) to have the adsl go into, so that i could then beam the bandwith into my downstairs office... and meanwhile...

now i need to find a austel approved contracter to move the upstairs line downstairs... then i have to get it reconnected (how long does that take?) and then ask for ADSL from internode or iinet... arrghhh! :P

all you need is a wireless dsl router (i have a netgear wrg54g) at the line plug in your cousins room and it will beam everything from the router to your pcs whereever they are. (provided you dont have like stone floors or whatnot)
Telstra has an all-in-one wireless kit which is supported at the level I think would be good for you. You also don't need an austel guy, just ring up their homelines section and get them to swap the number to the other line (they reprogram the exchange equipment) and you don't wnat to pay for 2 lines.

to be perfectly honest you're getting shafted majorly because alot of the problems you are having are technological 'too hard basket' issues which are culimating in what you are right in the middle of now, and its' not at all your fault. You're getting hit with all these fees which are an indirect consequence of some technological limitations.
Telstra have a very productive and effective complaints system that gets results. You could ring up the Bigpond bbhd helpdesk (choose wireless) and calmly *explain* your situation. From your listed usage habits you are a prime bigpond customer. They should listen, especially any service specialist or team leader worth their salt.

similar situation herer except havent gone through all the bulls*** yet.
im leaning toward internode.

how long would it take from phonecall to online goodness.
two weeks max.
moving super soon.

how does a phoneline splitter (or whatever the corret word is)[i need to extend the lone as far as distance to my computer goes anyway] or should i get my mate to install a new line in his house.

also for someone who uses computer to invoice only and play games the rest of the time. which plan is best.
dont want to spend more than about 80/month

heya dranged

ya i feel like the piggy in the middle here :P

They are quoting 125 to remove ISDN from my line, at which time they will then try to ascertain if i can get ADSL (never mind the other line already had adsl :P)

I even considered taking a telstra product, and having a whinge about the whole dreary saga to them, but at 149 per month to get something competitive to what internode offers for 79... i just couldnt justify it