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Forum Index : Off topic archive. : No ADSL, wireless, no NBN
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| domwild Guru  Joined: 16/12/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 873 |
Hi, Grab a hanky for your tears and read my hard luck story: My dial-up modem line kept dropping out, so after a complaint to Telstra and ISP Dodo and Ombudsman I received a $100 credit for my NextG mobile from Telstra as compo. I live in Orange Grove, which is not outside the metro area in Perth. A Phillipino call centre then talked me into a two-year contract with wireless with Dodo. Silly me! As I did not get the speed I managed to talk to a Melbourne tech and was released from the contract as the Optus maps incorrectly show I should get the speed. So far no wireless broadband and a bad modem line. Neighbour has ADSL2 with Bigpond. Optus offers a beaut $50 seniors bundle for tel. and 5GB internet ADSL2. Optus says distance to Maddington exchange is too great. Can't have broadband. Have you started to cry? Telstra says no ports are left and tells me it is the fault of the gov. Sen. Conroy says it is the ISPs responsibility. Why should Telstra spend the money to add ports if they can talk customers into accepting the dearer wireless option like my friends in Byford? Besides, an expert tells me my neighbour was probably lucky as the line would have a loss of more than 56 dB and they no longer instal them. So no ADSL either. NBN: Sen. Conroy can't tell me when Orange Grove will get the NBN but forum members say it might be up to eight years. By that time I should know how expensive the system and the monthly charge will be as at the moment any charges are probably "low-ingoing" charges, i.e., where you suck the customer in and then increase the charges later, like the gov. with the excise on LPG for cars. By now the tears should well up in your eyes and run down your cheeks. I expect a lot of sympathy from this forum?? Taxation as a means of achieving prosperity is like a man standing inside a bucket trying to lift himself up. Winston Churchill |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5116 |
Move closer to town, easy fix. I was fairly happy with the Bigpond NextG network when I was living about 30k from Mackay. I built a Yagi aerial and it made a lot of difference, speed was as good as NextG in the city. It was expensive, and I was stuck with a contract for 2 years, but it was pretty reliable and did work. In my experience the Telstra network is the best by far, but their customer relations and call centers are total rubbish, unbelievably bad, and its more expensive than anyone else. When my current contract is up I'm going to sign up with Internode, I've had it with the Telstra customer service. Internode is more business class, better prices and pretty reliable from what I hear. I will always stay away from the cheaper end of the market, I've heard some horror stories about Vodafone and 3. I need my internet for business, so pay more. I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for the NBN. If the coalition gets into power we will loose it, and end up with a patch job instead, which may or may not be a good thing. What about 2way satelite? I did use that once, again expensive, but speed was OK. Glenn. PS, oh yeah, you wanted tears  The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| RossW Guru Joined: 25/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 495 |
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| domwild Guru Joined: 16/12/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 873 |
Now my tears are running down my cheeks! My broomstick aerial for NextG for my bush property cost me $120, nearly the same amount as the Samsung SG411 blue-tick NextG mobile and with that I get one to two bars signal. Sure, NextG would work OK in Perth but $0.70 for 30 secs is a bit too rich for me. This is what is costing me for a prepaid NextG but for you, Glenn, with a contract it is surely more affordable. Let's all cry together into our beers! The NBN will be dropped in 2013 after the next federal election, which might be a good thing as only hospitals, schools, GPs, etc. will be able to afford and need the speed. Perhaps wireless repeaters on existing masts for mobiles will be the cheaper solution for the poorer rest of us. Taxation as a means of achieving prosperity is like a man standing inside a bucket trying to lift himself up. Winston Churchill |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5116 |
My NextG internet was $89 per month, capped at 5G data from memory. I only ever used 2 to 3 gig so that was heaps. I also bought the broom handle aerial, price was about the same as yours, and it did help a bit. The Yagi made all the difference for me, from 4 bars to 5 bars. And it cost about $50 in bits. I just pointed it at Mackay, about 30km away. When I moved back into civilisation I went for ADSL, about $20 cheaper. The ADSL is a bit faster and I get more data, but I was happy with the NextG. I've kept the Yagi, might need it again one day. Glenn Link to Yagi design http://www.perite.com/vk7jj/nextgyagi.html The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Dom You can buy a yagi in ebay for $30 for the next g at my place I tried it on a friends modem and went from 2 to 4 bars speed OK. I use satellite which is a bit slower but works good and the government has a subsidy if you cannot get ADSL they fit for nothing I am on a $40 plan 2.5 G peak and 5 off peak. so price is reasonable, the only thing I have problems with is VOIP as there is a time delay going to the sat and back. try www.bluemaxx.com.au or IP star not sure of the www address. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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Bryan1 Guru Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1448 |
Well as most of you guys know I'm on 2 way sat and have been for a few years since the ISDN was axed by tel$ux. I finally got sick of westnet and switched over to skymesh and I must say all though there are dropouts due to the weather at times I'm seeing 4 Mbit downloads and I'm only on a 2mBit contract. I pay 89.95 a month for 6 gig onpeak and 12 gig off peak. The big winner here is off peak is 11.30pm to 1.30pm qld time. Generally at the end of the month I'll get on and download a movie as we have so much bandwidth left. I do also know I'll never get ADSL or that ripoff NBN but then again we'll never have mains power of mains water either. But whats the bet with the nu farting tax although we're off the grid and nearly self sufficient we'll still pay through the nose. Cheers Bryan |
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| domwild Guru Joined: 16/12/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 873 |
I use NextG in the bush and a crappy landline and modem in the city. Thanks for the link to Yagi construction, Glenn, but for the odd tel. call to neighbours I am happy with one to two bars. I could mount the broom stick aerial on the 6m mast to get more bars of signal and I will one day. For the internet in the bush and shopping I drive to Walpole. Taxation as a means of achieving prosperity is like a man standing inside a bucket trying to lift himself up. Winston Churchill |
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| RossW Guru Joined: 25/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 495 |
Here's the quickest, dirtiest, nastiest trick you guys ever did see.... I went from -91dBm to -69dBm signal (22dB gain, or a little over 150 times more signal!) by simply putting my 3G "dongle" on a 5m extension cord and using a rubber band to put it at the focus of an old parabolic reflector. I think the signal-strengh meter may have lied, because I can't see 22dB gain at that frequency with an reflector thats this small - but even if it was half that, it's a very useful improvement. 
If you were doing it for a (semi)permanent installation, I'd put an end cap on a bit of conduit, remove the original driven element completely and just use a thick UV-stabilised conduit with the dongle in the middle. Weatherproofed appropriately, and mounted outside in the clear, you should get excellent signal. I advise against using the external antennas generally, because they often have poor gain, which coupled with a decent length of thin coax cable adds a lot of attenuation and the overall results are poor. Running the dongle on a USB extension lead means zero RF attenuation. |
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