New Plans!

[thomashouseman]

LOL, I'm sure if you review the 1000 odd posts I've made here, the great majority have been helpful/worthwhile.
Thanks for the great broadband and all the assistance over the years. (Not that I'm fully going, I'm keeping VOIP/mobile etc, I'm sure I'll still be around.)

[James]

Can I ask, are Exetel actively trying to come to an arrangement so existing customers can access the new plans?

Of course we are!

[thomashouseman]

Well then, I stand corrected. Taking a while isn't it? Any vague (or definite) ETA available? I'm sure there are 100's of people keen to know both here and on Whirlpool. If not, can you ask for one?

[Yabbie]

Can I ask, are Exetel actively trying to come to an arrangement so existing customers can access the new plans?

Of course we are!

Ok, thank you. Just please post here as soon as you have any news.

[mayday175]

Exactly! viewtopic.php?f=303&t=40509&start=30#p308061 states that Exetel gets bonuses/subsidies from Optus for new users. I assume they're passing some of those on to the new users to allow for the discounted plans.

I'd be curious to see the agreements with Telstra Wholesale... in my particular situation, my regional Exchange only has Telstra Wholesale and the new $40/100Gb plan is twice the price of the equivalent Optus plan. That said, this $40 plan is $10 less and double the download of my current plan.

If Optus is not willing to pass new plans/prices along to existing users, it seems a mighty strange and inconvenient coincidence that Telstra Wholesale is the same. Then again, I realise regional users like myself are probably a minority and therefore not high on the negotiation priority list for either Telstra or Exetel (let alone anyone else who might consider installing their DSLAM in a small country town like mine) NB. these are my personal opinions and should not be taken as fact.

Speculations aside, the only thing I know for sure is that there is no ETA for these new plans trickling down to existing users (as James has repeatedly stated). Therefore I'm continuing down the 3G path and trying to do this as cheap as possible... I've dug up an old Telstra Turbo modem and hacked the unlock code out of it. Once I get an Optus $2 broadband SIM, I can put the unlock code in and test the 2100MHz 3G reception at my place (so long as they don't use 900MHz only at the tower I can see down the road, I should be ok). If this is all good, I should be able to fiddle with OpenWRT and get it working on my router. Once this tests out ok, its then time to get Exetel 3G broadband and cancel my ADSL. Fingers crossed all the stars line up...

[CoreyPlover]

Therefore I'm continuing down the 3G path and trying to do this as cheap as possible... I've dug up an old Telstra Turbo modem and hacked the unlock code out of it. Once I get an Optus $2 broadband SIM, I can put the unlock code in and test the 2100MHz 3G reception at my place (so long as they don't use 900MHz only at the tower I can see down the road, I should be ok). If this is all good, I should be able to fiddle with OpenWRT and get it working on my router. Once this tests out ok, its then time to get Exetel 3G broadband and cancel my ADSL. Fingers crossed all the stars line up...

For most users, the migration pathway is even easier, as all you need to do is enable a wifi hotspot on your phone and share your phone's 3G data (which nowadays is often 1-2GB of data usage, or more). Even better is if your household has a few phones on data plans that you can use on alternating days.

[mayday175]

all you need to do is enable a wifi hotspot on your phone and share your phone's 3G data

I understand what you're saying, but I have a number of wired LAN clients throughout the house... server, clients, WAP, VOIP basestation, etc and a few wireless clients... laptop, tablet and smartphones. My wife's phone does not have a data plan and mine won't help her when I'm at work.

What I'm trying to achieve is minimum interruption to my LAN. This means turning off my ADSL modem and adding it's IP address (the default gateway) to my wifi router (which is currently acting as a basic WAP without any routing/firewalling functions). I only need to do a bit of pokey-gigery to this one device; everything else will continue work as normal (hence the incremental testing plan). Don't worry, I live and breath this stuff... I'm an IT administrator by day.

[Dazzled]

Mayday175, start here: http://web.acma.gov.au/pls/radcom/regis ... dispatcher and follow quite a few links and you'll find the local Optus frequencies and transmitter locations.

[mayday175]

Thanks Dazzled. Thats a great link... one I'll bookmark for future reference. The search by lat/long is particularly useful And, yes, both 900 and 2100 is transmitting at the tower I can see Lets see if I have time to test over the weekend...

[TheJMan]

It seems that new plans are available to me with the new 'dashboard'

Am I correct or is it a glitch I the matrix?


edit: never mind, it's a glitch with my interpretation of "orders"


Happy birthday Exetel. Everyone celebrates except existing customers

[mayday175]

Yeah! A small step in the right direction... the Telstra modem is working with an Optus SIM. The connection manager software accepted the unlock code beautifully and is now showing me 2-3 bars of Optus reception as I currently sit at the kitchen table

[basshead]

It's been 6 months since the new plans were introduced. I'm another one on the $67.50/month for 200GB, wanting to move to $50/month for 500GB, only for the cost savings. 6 x 17.50 is $105 extra spent waiting for these plans to come up for existing customers.

Can we get some sort of update? At this stage it's got to be a final answer of "Yes it's happening, we're just setting up the system" or "It's not happening, just cancel your plan and sign back up". I don't really care which any more, please just tell us. Also, is it possible to get the same static IP address back when signing back up? Thanks.

There is no update, and it's not possible to retain the same IP, that system is automatic for res customers.

I created a new thread before reading/realising this thread existed and was relevant to my query. I guess I wont be holding my breath on the "new plans" being available to existing customers any time soon then...

[basshead]

Looks like the current "new plans" from the main webpage are finally available to existing customers via "change plan" in member facilities...

[mayday175]

Looks like the current "new plans" from the main webpage are finally available to existing customers via "change plan" in member facilities...

Yeah! I just noticed that too. I never got around to finishing the broadband-plan-workaround trick... looks like I don't need to go down that route any further now, Yeah!

[gstark]

My only issue with changing to the new plans is that I'm required, after having been a customer since 2006 (perhaps since 2004, judging by when I joined this forum), to enter into a 12 month contract.

I'm sorry, but that was my issue a couple of years ago, and for me, being asked to commit in such a way is just a tad OTT. For me, such a contract is simply not an option.