Bigpond Broadband

[Bomber]

Hello all,

Last week my little town got connected to broadband, and my starter kit arrived unannounced in the mail yesterday (apparently months ago I said I was interested, but I wasn't aware I said yes!).

Flicking through the manual, everything looked pretty good, until I found the bit about 'paying for what you use'.

Currently I'm on a $30/month dial-up plan with Bigpond, which to me means that that is how much I'm charged each month, regardless of whether I leave the computer switched off or if I'm up until the wee hours downloading entire albums.

However, I have absolutely no idea of how much I could potentially be charged for switching over to broadband. I understand it is connected to how much I'm using the service, but don't have the foggiest of how the scheme is structured.

I usually spend an average of two hours on the internet each day, and am on pretty much every day of the week. I'm just scared of blowing the phone bill into astronomical proportions....five years ago I connected to my local ISP from 300km away and was charged at STD rates and had to pay a $600 phone bill.....obviously the scenario wouldn't repeat itself but there are still too many questions left unanswered for me to confidently make the switch.

Those of you who use broadband, specifically with Bigpond, can you give me a general idea of how much you use and how much you end up paying? Obviously broadband is much quicker, but is it really that much of an advantage to give up my pokey little $30 bill?

Cheers
Bomber

 

[I Bleed Green]

Firstly, what broadband are you talking about, ADSL or Cable?

I presume it's ADSL if they sent you a starter kit.

Did they give you a number of plans to choose from?

You don't need to worry about connection costs. With ADSL or Cable there's no charge every time you stay connected to the internet. Infact I just usually leave my computer on and I'm connected all the time. The only thing you'd be charged for is how much you download.

 

[cainen]

If you're worried about getting blowout bills, don't go with Bigpond whatever you do. Not to mention poor reliability, service and rip off prices. The excess charges you get with broadband occur once you go over your download limit. However there are plenty of companies that don't charge for excess downloads, they simply slow your speed down until the next month. Even the slowed speed is faster than dial up though.

You can stay connected to broadband 24/7. It is basically an 'always on' service. So there are no charges to connect each time as I Bleed Green said. There will be a once off connection fee though that you get charged to plug you into the telephone exchange and you will have to buy a new modem. Any ISP will provide you with one though at a cost when you sign up with them.

Westnet and Internode would probably be the two companies I would recommend most, particularly for newbies since they have the customer service level that will talk you through setting everything up properly if you need help. They also both have $30 plans with 500mb a month which should be fine for browsing the web and occasional downloading of things like songs. Not sure about entire albums though, maybe a couple but not anymore. Most albums would be between about 70-120mb in size to give you an idea. But it won't cost you if you go over your download quota anyway.

Checkout www.broadbandchoice.com.au though for a comparison of most broadband plans in Australia and look in their forums for plenty more reasons not to sign up with bigpond.

 

[Timmah]

If you're worried about getting blowout bills, don't go with Bigpond whatever you do. Not to mention poor reliability, service and rip off prices. The excess charges you get with broadband occur once you go over your download limit. However there are plenty of companies that don't charge for excess downloads, they simply slow your speed down until the next month. Even the slowed speed is faster than dial up though.

You can stay connected to broadband 24/7. It is basically an 'always on' service. So there are no charges to connect each time as I Bleed Green said. There will be a once off connection fee though that you get charged to plug you into the telephone exchange and you will have to buy a new modem. Any ISP will provide you with one though at a cost when you sign up with them.

Westnet and Internode would probably be the two companies I would recommend most, particularly for newbies since they have the customer service level that will talk you through setting everything up properly if you need help. They also both have $30 plans with 500mb a month which should be fine for browsing the web and occasional downloading of things like songs. Not sure about entire albums though, maybe a couple but not anymore. Most albums would be between about 70-120mb in size to give you an idea. But it won't cost you if you go over your download quota anyway.

Checkout www.broadbandchoice.com.au though for a comparison of most broadband plans in Australia and look in their forums for plenty more reasons not to sign up with bigpond.

:|

I'm on Bigpond Broadband ADSL, have been since January 2003.
I currently pay 69.95 a month for 10GB (Unlimited) ADSL - which means after the first 10GB of usage I simply have a reduced speed of 64kbps - no excess charges.

One might think cainen should research before having yet another Telstra whinge. Poor reliability, service and rip-off prices have never been an issue with me - the service has never dropped out - the customer service staff are great most of the time and 69.95 for unlimited downloading is excellent (provided you're already with Telstra, I think it's only $10 more if you aren't).

Why the animosity cainen? God forbid anyone actually make their own informed decision... :roll:

 

[El Diablo]

Telstra suck

you do realise you could do better, dodge?

what speed is that?

Also don't Telstra only give you one email addy?

 

[Eelectrica]

Telstra bigpond sucks. When I was with them, I couldn't wait to be rid of them.

When I cheerfully ditched them I went with Internode, who I'm still with. It looks like their are beter ISP's out there though.

 

[Timmah]

As I said El - 2.75 years so far and not one problem.

We are thinking of switching to wireless but for now I have no qualms with this current service.

 

[I Bleed Green]

dodge, I work there (I hope none of my bosses see this and find out who I am, lol), and you could do better for what you're paying. If you've had no problems, you're one of a lucky few. Howver the tech support staff are all top notch and try their best considering the circumstances. I also wouldn't go wireless, it's very unreliable, your connection can drop out a lot depending where your computer is situated in relation to the modem.

 

[Raider_69]

im on Broadband Cable Bigpond and IBG is right, its poo

 

[El Diablo]

As I said El - 2.75 years so far and not one problem.

We are thinking of switching to wireless but for now I have no qualms with this current service.

what speed?

 

[Timmah]

512 down 128 up

No issues at my end

 

[El Diablo]

you could do better. get a bigger download limit with another mob or increase speed for the same price

eg: internode will give you 30gig a month @ 512k or 15gig a month @ 1500k for the exact same price you're currently paying. There's other mobs with better deals too.

I pissed off from Telstra as soon as my contract was up.

 

[Timmah]

Yeah but El - my speed barely changes after the first 10gb - I get charged no excess and end up using about 25-30gb for the month. If I go over the 30gb, which will probably happen if I use Internode - I'll be charged excess won't I?

Either way I'm happy with Telstra and have been for three years.

 

[El Diablo]

Yeah but El - my speed barely changes after the first 10gb - I get charged no excess and end up using about 25-30gb for the month. If I go over the 30gb, which will probably happen if I use Internode - I'll be charged excess won't I?

Either way I'm happy with Telstra and have been for three years.

no and they don't count upload in your usage.

how do you not notice being throttled back from 512k?

 

[Timmah]

Not sure - maybe my speed isn't crash hot to start with.

 

[El Diablo]

if you were downloading something you'd have to notice it.

 

[I Bleed Green]

Not sure - maybe my speed isn't crash hot to start with.

:lol: Yep, that's Bigpond. When you're downloading files, how many KB per second can you download?

 

[Timmah]

:lol:

My words seem to have come undone. 60kbps tops?

 

[I Bleed Green]

And you're on a 512 plan?

Well actually that's normal then.

But when you get shaped you'd get down to about 5/6 kbps.

 

[Timmah]

Huh? Shouldn't I be able to download at heaps more than up to 60kbps? Everyone else seems to have much faster broadband...