Review: Telstra Post-paid Mobile Broadband

Most people when they hear the name Telstra, they run. Not only have Telstra got a bad reputation from past customers but their plans are notorious for being over-expensive and not even remotely competitive with other mobile carriers. Up until now I believed the same thing, that was until I tried Telstra's mobile broadband offering.

First, the plan i chose was the 7GB Liberty which I got for $39.95 a month (a $20 discount because of having other services with Telstra). Seeing as the normal price is $59.95, this plan is incredibly expensive compared to what you're getting. The $39.95 price makes it slightly more reasonable. Other carriers like 3/Vodafone and Optus give you between 8 and 12GB for $39.95 a month. The biggest problem with all these carriers is their data services are unreliable and not upto scratch. Using a mobile phone as a modem with 3, I got a maximum speed of around 1mbps but it was usually around 400kpbs. This barely qualifies as broadband and it is painfully slow. So despite the extra data you get, it really isn't worth the trouble. Another issue is the coverage. Both Vodafone and Optus are notorious for having poor signal in amny areas and lots of blackspots, most likely due to their overloaded networks. 3 has decent coverage in metropolitan areas but you get hit with roaming charges if you wander out of their coverage area which is anywhere outside major cities and towns.

With Telstra, they give you a free "Ultimate" wireless modem depending on the plan you get. This modem gives you a theoretical maximum speed of 21mbps. In the real world, this is practically impossible but in practice, my internet speed is at 13mbps and has gone as high as 15mbps. Although you have to be living fairly close to the CBD to get these speeds, outside these areas you will still get upto 8mpbs theoretically. The main difference is that these speeds are much faster than any other networks and you can have internet access almost anywhere in Australia with fairly decent signal and speed. So, is it worth the extra cost? Personally, I think it is since with the other carriers you will end up being frustrated trying to get decent signal and the high data allowance will be useless. The other advantage is that with Telstra there are no excess usage charges as with other carriers, once you reach your monthly allowance it is shaped to 64kpbs.