I have a Tesltra prepaid 4G modem that i use when travelling, I normally recharge it for $150 which I think is 40gig of data for 6 months. They just sent me a notice that they are changing their plans - 1) access to 5G will be included with any plan if you have a compatible device and in an area where its available 2) $150 plans or above will now last for a maximum of 12mths not 6mths 3) download speeds will now be capped at a maximum of 150mbps on all plans unless you want to pay extra for an uncapped plan which will cost you more and only last for 28 days. Telstra are saying that most users shouldnt notice any difference unless they need to hot-spot multiple devices or download large files then they may need to opt for an uncapped plan.
I am not a technical person but from what they are saying the service I get should still be sufficient for what we are using it for and a plus is that recharges will last a maximum of 12 months instead of the current 6. The only concern I have is that we often use more than one device at the same time so will it still be ok for that ?
150mbps is fast enough to use multiple devices or stream tv etc, you really won't notice a difference with your type of usage. Somebody who was using several devices at once all to stream or do huge downloads might see a difference.
Thanks for the feedback I'm always a little concerned when energy providers, telcos etc change their plans it usually means that I am going to pay more or get less. Thanks Mike for suggesting Boost as an alternative but I know with Telstra I get pretty good coverage on both the phones and the 4GX modem. We just did a 10,000km lap around Qid out as far as Cloncurry up tp Karumba, over to Cairns down the coast to Gympie then back inland to Cunamulla, Bourke, Cobar and home to Lake Macquarie. We did lose phone connection at times when travelling in the middle of nowhere but only until we came into range of the next tower - wherever we camped we had internet access. My wife's prepaid phone was originally with Vodaphone but whenever we went away she would always be using my Telstra phone as she had no coverage..I dont know what network Boost uses but I have heard that Telstra doesnt alway always allow full access to other providers but as I said I'm no technical expert and I could be wrong on that..
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-- Edited by The Belmont Bear on Friday 27th of January 2023 12:38:34 PM
The Belmont Bear wrote:.I dont know what network Boost uses but I have heard that Telstra doesnt alway always allow full access to other providers but as I said I'm no technical expert and I could be wrong on that..
Boost uses the full Telstra network and just recently announced that includes 5G. No different from Tesltra.
Other resellers of Telstra such as Aldi and Belong use the Telstra wholesale network, which suffers from poor coverage in remote areas.
Another positive vote from me on using Boost. Buy one of their SIMs from eBay to save more.
I dont know what network Boost uses but I have heard that Telstra doesnt alway always allow full access to other providers
Boost use the full "Tesltra Retail" network, ie. *exactly* the same network as Telstra - there is no coverage difference. Boost is simply an on-seller.
Other providers (eg. Aldi, Belong, Woolworth) use the Telstra Wholesale network which does have less coverage than Telstra/Boost.
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Telstra has gave me 30 GB per month for the $25 I pay monthly a year or so ago - on my netgear modem which I own. This is up from the 20gb I used to get so well done telstra [?]. Phone - prepaid Telstra @ $70 with a miserable 1 GB of data per YEAR & limited calls etc, just for outback use, but also have Optus [dual SIM] prepaid $180 p/a, 60 gb, unlimited calls etc. Can run phone through modem which helps, but find I didn't use the Optus data much - until I worked out how to watch movies via that data. I think most smart phones now have a dual SIM. I am constantly amazed at how bad the telstra network is in WA unless in the cities. I use a booster aerial on my modem all the time!!!
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