Is there a "best" wireless broadband provider or package for Australia?

Upvote:0

Australia's telecommunications infrastructure is sub-par. In my home in the Perth suburbs, 3G coverage is very weak. Any significant distance from the capitals, you may find getting any kind of signal difficult.

Check your itinerary against these coverage maps before you buy:

In general, Telstra provide the best coverage in regional areas - but this generally comes at the cost of less data at a higher price.

Upvote:1

The best option I can find is this one from Optus that gets you the dongle (yes, that's the right term) plus 5 GB over two months for $90. Each of the main telcos have very limited options in the prepaid USB dongle area - Telstra's best offer is $60 for 2 GB over a month; Vodafone don't appear to have any; Virgin may have some but their website appears broken to me.

Most of the resellers appear to be contract-only as well (12 or 24 months).

Upvote:5

There is an important distinction to make between the UMTS/3G USB stick, which is the hardware that allows your computer to connect to a base station, and the contract you have with a mobile network provider to allow you to use their infrastructure, embodied by a SIM card that plugs into the USB stick.

You need both, and they need to be compatible, which means the USB stick must be "unlocked" to work with any network, or you can only use it with the network that it was originally sold for (which MAY work internationally if it's the same company). Sticks that you buy separately (i.e. without a mobile contract) should always be unlocked. For the others, there is typically a way to unlock after a certain period (up to 2 years).

If one of the two USB sticks you own is unlocked, all you need is a contract and SIM card from an Australian network. If not, you have to buy a bundle of both USB stick and contract in Australia.

In 2009, I got such a bundle from Vodafone, which included 1GB of data for 1 month and cost 100 dollars. Nowadays there should be better offers. Most electronics shops in Australia should have several in stock and give you advice on which suits your needs best.

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