Mac Forum / Country Specific / Australian Mac Group / October 2004

I've been really happy with iPrimus as a dialup provider, and now I'm
considering them for ADSL particularly the "Total 256/500" plan at
$35/month. If you bundle your telephony with them you get $7.50 (50)
free calls per month, and if you sign up for a 24 month contract,
there's no setup fee. With telephony bundled, the free calls (which
for diallup basically get eaten up by connections) become free for
actual calls making the difference in cost between their dialup
service and 256/500 DSL service only about $5 or $6 compared to the
list diference of about $12/month.

The DSL modem they provide is compatible with both Ethernet and USB
and costs $128 but you can waive that and buy your own (Netcomm do a
good one with built-in 4-way network switch so you can hook up more
than one computer for only $10 more)

The cheap DSL packages are usually only suitable for really light net
users (ie: probably wouldn't be any worse off going pre-paid dialup)
and the safest way to go is to use a service that is "shaped"
(throttled back to 56k after a certain download limit is reached, no
extra monthly charge) is safer than a flat monthly rate with excess
downloads charged for.

More info at www.iprimus.com.au I've been using iPrimus for over 2
years now and find them very reliable, helpful and their Mac support
is second to none in my experience.

Have a look on whirlpool.net.au, tells you everything you need to know.

I'd recommend going with Internode or Westnet, and purchase your own
ethernet ADSL modem/router.  The Billion ones are good from pcrange.biz.
Forget Telstra and the big companies unless you don't need to phone anyone.
Get something with a decent data cap with speed shaping if you exceed your
limit.  I pay $109.95 a month for 32 gigs at 1.5 megabit, shaped to 4kb/sec
after I hit 32 gig (rare).

On 14/10/04 8:35 PM, in article BD94937B.1646C%3662@optusnet.com.au, "3662"

Firstly, visit http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/ to test whether u can get adsl in
ur address (ie, Not everyone can get Adsl, it'll depend on technology,
location & telephone line).

From experience, keep right away from TPG because any and all Mac related
problem, especially connection to their Adsl services will be ignore.

So, best to visit individual ADSL provider to see type of software and
hardware they support.

Netspace @ www.netspace.net.au provide full support for both PC & Mac, and
currently netspace and Harris Technology are offering employee of ColesMyer
a discount.

"3662" <3662@optusnet.com.au>  said:

I act as an agent for ADSL connections. The best ADSL plan I know of in
Australia at the moment, which unfortunately is only available in NSW,
has:

unlimited uploads
unlimited downloads after midnight
only $3 per GB for any excess downloads
$106 connection fee for 256k plan
$66 connection fee for 512k or 1536k plans

$80 for a single user Netcomm NB3 modem
$110 for a 4 port Netcomm NB1300plus4 modem
$190 for a Netcomm NB5580W 4 port Ethernet + wireless modem

Monthly plans include:

$25 256/64k includes 4GB downloads

$32.50 512/128k includes 4GB downloads
$42.50 512/128k includes 12GB downloads
$52.50 512/128k includes 24GB downloads

$65 1536/256k includes 12GB downloads
$80 1536/256k includes 24GB downloads
$95 1536/256k includes 36GB downloads

You can see more detail at:
http://www.tandb.com.au/adsl/nsw/?news

I hope this helps,
Tom
T&B