They sent an email, "How would you rate Telstra after your recent contact?" And, "out of a rating of 1-10, how much would you recommend us to a friend"?" Well, What do you think I rated them. "Could you tell us why you rated us so low?" Well once again you can imagine my reply. They asked me to engage with them through an email to sort it out"". I declined, replying that they had already taken 2 days of my time trying via tech calls and fob offs. What a bunch of w-----s. I am getting ever so closer to chucking them after over 40 years of custom. By the way 13 days and counting.

Telstra do have a crowd support forum. Things that hit there are usually fixed fast
https://crowdsupport.telstra.com.au/
However, why stick with dysfunctional support when there are others out there who are very good.

This link will help you get feedback about alternatives to Telstra.
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/92
Use the search option to search for comments about whoever you are considering.

Rob recommends Aussie. From the reading I've done, they are best at after sales service. You get to speak with Australian-based tech support who know what they are doing. Here's a quote for another forum

Basically the answer is Aussie Broadband unless you specifically know you need something else. Prices can be slightly higher (although deals tend to bring that down), but they deliver the bandwidth, and being able to phone someone who actually knows what they are talking about is worth it's weight in gold.

If you don't need tech support I found TPG bandwidth higher than advertised. They are about $10 per month less expensive than Aussie for a comparable plan. I would go back to them despite the hassles breaking loose.
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/05/nbn- ... dband-tpg/
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2770144

FWIW I would not go back to Internode. They are about the same price as Aussie but I found their support abysmal. They did not warn me Telstra was going to take out my line for service (neither did Telstra). They did nothing other than point the finger at Telstra when the Telstra site said the line was available and no service came back (days later it came up of its own accord). Internode may have been right but they should have followed up to ascertain how long the line would remain down. I think Internode discounted for lost available time (a pittance compared to the inconvenience). I can't be confident they would have done that had I not whinged about the service.

Currently I am with Optus on a wireless plan waiting for broadband to become available here. I have to admit it is tempting to stick with wireless. It suffers the occasional frustrating drop-out and speed is highly variable. For example, yesterday speed was around 12mbps, today it doesn't reach 6mbps. Realistically, there is a need to go back to FTTN broadband but the time using wireless tells me NBN25 would be ample for my needs plus when the offspring occasionally choose to work from here.

My 50 Mbps download with Aussie is currently running at 67 Mbps but upload is about 8/10.

I have a fixed wireless connection which has limits as compared to in town connections.

Steve has heard me rave about Aussie endlessly and I suppose I've been with them since before they were Aussie and that must be 12 to 15 years now for me overall. (previously Wideband).

Here in the eastern suburbs we get consistently 45+Mbps, 12ms ping and 19 Mbps uploads.
That will comfortably do full HD Netflix on 2 TV's and a HD Youtube clip on a pc simultaneously.
Much better than the 5Mbps we got before. (on a good day that was)
Still wish they had not weasled out and gone the full fibre for all.
Cheaper in the long term and would have put us back on the map for internet access/service for sure.
Politicians! Don't get me started.
Oh, looks like already have

Thanks people, I will read up on Aussie I think. 14 days and counting!! Received am email from them last night. "we are going to raise the price of your Platinum tech support up from $5 to $15/month. Really don't want customers do they?

It used to be try before you buy, to make sure you were getting what you pay for. now it seem you buy under contract and if its not what you were told bad luck, everything in the shops is wrapped up in pretty packaging so you cant even see what your buying or if it will do the job you intend for it, you get it home it doesn't fit, wrong type, wrong size blah blah blah. so you take it back and the shop assistant tells you "I cant take it back it's been opened" now this is not true they have to take it back if you produce a receipt.

not having a bitch (or am I?) lol just think it bs the way we are be told pay up and shut up! a guy I know in bris had his broadband go out during the flood some year ago to get by he went mobile but he was still charged by the provider for 3 months of non existent service, when he complained they said someone has to pay for it, its in your contract lol

I was sick of the doubled up charges from having a mobile account and a home account given all I used the home account for was internet, so decided to switch off the home account, I couldn't understand why i had to pay for a phone line I never used, now 10 years later I buy my mobile prepaid for $325 a years subscription through Kogan mobile which gives me 40 gig a month for around $25 the service uses Vodafone and Ive never had any issues since being with them in the last 2 years however if on a phone call the internet does get unstable at times.

That reminds me that I have to recharge the dongle at Mallacoota as it’s run out. Didn’t get much value out of it this time with fires and Covid.

It’s the only thing that we use Telstra for nowadays.

Digger wrote:That reminds me that I have to recharge the dongle at Mallacoota as it’s run out. Didn’t get much value out of it this time with fires and Covid.

It’s the only thing that we use Telstra for nowadays.

Hey Digger, is telstra the only provider you can use? if you bought your device from them they often lock them so you cant switch providers but just look up the brand and model on google for the unlock code. I see a lot of mobile providers sell data only packages specifically for mobile devices tablets and so on, however the seem to also charge extra for them, this was the first trap I fell in when going to mobile internet, then I saw these mobile hotspots popping up everywhere and started to wonder why not buy a phone that has external WiFi? so I bought a Samsung galaxy an use it's mobile hotspot app that's built into the phone, this basically turns my phone into a mobile modem allowing me to travel anywhere and as long as I have mobile phone coverage I have internet, my tablet and PC run through my phone for internet and it is often faster than either my sons broadband or my daughters NBN and with 40gig a month for 325 a year you cant beat it. that's through Kogan.

Woke up yesterday and no Adsl. Rang Telstra yet again. After the normal long wait, got through to someone with a continental accent. After about 1hour of farting around was put through to a woman in Aus. After about another hour of trying all sorts of things adsl was restored but was advised not to hook up as nbn was probably trying to connect. Was told to leave nbn box connected as nbn shod be connected within 24-48 hours. We have excellerated your case I was told. I have heard that before. Well 24 hours on and I am still waiting. Won't change carriers until things are a bit more stable.

peatop wrote:

Digger wrote:That reminds me that I have to recharge the dongle at Mallacoota as it’s run out. Didn’t get much value out of it this time with fires and Covid.

It’s the only thing that we use Telstra for nowadays.

Hey Digger, is telstra the only provider you can use? if you bought your device from them they often lock them so you cant switch providers but just look up the brand and model on google for the unlock code. I see a lot of mobile providers sell data only packages specifically for mobile devices tablets and so on, however the seem to also charge extra for them, this was the first trap I fell in when going to mobile internet, then I saw these mobile hotspots popping up everywhere and started to wonder why not buy a phone that has external WiFi? so I bought a Samsung galaxy an use it's mobile hotspot app that's built into the phone, this basically turns my phone into a mobile modem allowing me to travel anywhere and as long as I have mobile phone coverage I have internet, my tablet and PC run through my phone for internet and it is often faster than either my sons broadband or my daughters NBN and with 40gig a month for 325 a year you cant beat it. that's through Kogan.

Pete I approached a number of retailers regarding dongles and they all said that Telstra was the only one that had a prepaid. We already had changed phones and SIM in my iPad to Aldi. Incidentally we’ve been with them for about 3 years and I’ve never seen any difference in coverage from the Telstra network. I’ve done “Jailbreaks” on devices before but don’t think I can do it on my Telstra dongle.

The device itself works fine it’s just that Telstra wants $150 for 12 months with 30 Gig. prepaid which is too expensive. However it provides a convenient solution considering we use it at Mallacoota for TV for viewing apps a lot apart from as a convenient source of Wi Fi.

We often use hotspots off our phones when away. I have so much rolled over data from my Aldi plan on my phone that it’s very handy especially if the power goes down at home and takes out our WiFi.

Our NBN plan is 650 Gig a month. We are totally addicted to having Wi Fi in all aspects of our lives considering we are old farts. Living in the country the Telstra mobile network is our only option for good coverage though we have a tower for internet and mobile about 400 metres away and looking at our whole property. We are spoiled for coverage nowadays. However suppliers using the Telstra network are a good alternative and dealing with Aldi has been so much easier (and cheaper) than Telstra. Not sure who Kogan as a network, is it also Telstra? We use a prepaid system with auto recharge which is seamless.
Thanks for your help my friend.