Last week I got a text from telstra telling me my modem was 'still switched to 4G mobile backuo' (something they did, not me and I have no idea how long I'd been on 4G) and that I had to switch my modem back over to the fixed network. If I didn't do so 'soon' my wireless back up would be slowed down. I was under the assumption that it switched to 4g for short periods when the fixed connection went down but would switch back automatically once the issue was resolved. After all, that was what they advertised.

I followed there instructions which took me to a login on a telstra page where they supposedly would explain how I switch back over ... thats where te real fun begins. They asked for a user name and password. I made up a user name and password when I first opened this telstra account 2.5yrs ago and have never used it since except once a week after I joined when i needed to use it to join onto my netflix which was part of the package. I had no idea what it was.

As I couldn't recall the user name or password I tried to go to their help page and clicked on the link to do a 'live chat' with one of their operators. As is usual with these 'live chats' you ask a question and usually someone comes on within a minute or two and then you start going through whatever you need to resolve. So I asked my question and waitied, and waited .... after about an an hour (this was during business hours) and they having  they failed to respond, I hung up pissed off that they'd wasted my time.

I meant to try again the next day but got caught up with work and forgot. Today I went out most of the day and when I got back I tried to use the internet it is sooooo slow. After battling with it for over an hour I tried again to log onto their page but it kept cutting out because it was taking to long to load up. I tried multiple pages and multiple times but it was always the same result. Eventually it would time out.

So at about 4.30pm my time, (5.30 DLS time) I phoned their call center ... this time iI got a recorded message that 'due to high demand there were delays of 15 to 30 minutes and if I didn't want to wait to try again another time'. I waited. After more than an hour of listening to their crap elevator music, again I hung up in disgust and this time I immediately tried to phone through again. The second time I got a message to say they were closed and to phone before 6pm on saturdays.

So my first call went through at 5.30pm (DLS time), they put me on hold, closed at 6pm, went home and kept me on hold without letting me know they were now closed? How buggered up is that? Terrible service from telstra

Now can anyone recommend a decent internet provider. I was paying $100 a month for unlimited data so anything up to that price will do me. I'd prefer a company that actually answers the phone when you have an issue.

thanks

People who are customers of Telstra are masochists.

John, look up Aussie Broadband.    Based in Australia with Australian call centre.   Unlimited data, fast speed , 100/50 for me  $90 per month.    Just be aware that if you rel on a bigpond email address, you will lose it after a year or have to pay big bickies to keep it

Ask your neighbours who they're using and what speeds they get.

John Smith wrote on Jan 16^th, 2021 at 9:05pm:



The other suggestion would be to log into your router and see if you can reset it.  Open a browser and type 10.0.0.138 or 192.168.0.1 and see if that gets you in.   Or 192.168.1.1 on the newer ones

I've been with Telstra exclusively since we got the NBN here 5 and a half years ago (prior to that I was with Telstra for the landline phone and iiNet for internet - now they're both with Telstra).

Haven't had a single problem with Telstra in all that time (we have FTTP so that may have something to do with it). We do have the occasional service interruption for upgrades and maintenance but they usually schedule that for after midnight and they send me a text to inform me about a week in advance.

Telstra actually sent me a new "Smart Modem" with 4G backup for free a couple of weeks back since they noticed my original modem was over 5 years old (even though it still works fine and I've now packed it away for a spare).

But, I've turned off the 4G backup in the modem settings (192.168.0.1 in a web browser for mine) because I doubt I would need to use it plus the 4G reception where I live is very poor despite being only about 4-5km from Perth City but apparently upgrades are being done to improve 4G reception here.

I've also disabled the 4G backup because I was reading somewhere recently (might have been the Whirlpool forums) where sometimes the 4G backup doesn't automatically switch back to "normal NBN" when service resumes after an interruption and the modem continues to use 4G until the user suddenly notices their internet slowing to a crawl when they're dropped to almost dialup speed after they use the 4G allowance for the month or whatever.

It also doesn't help that most of the status lights for the "Smart Modem" Generation 2 like I've got are on the back of the modem where you can't see them except for a single LED on the front - my old one had all the lights on the front where you can see what's going on at a glance (the modem is right next to my computer desk).

In the attached picture the new white "Smart Modem" is on the second shelf and the old one is on the top before I packed it away for use as a spare if needed.

Optus is better than Telstra—I have used both.

Your bigpond email addy keeps going but you need to use webmail to access it.

John Smith wrote on Jan 16^th, 2021 at 6:09pm:


If you were using netflix and(oviously) did not have to enter a unsername/password your unsername/password is stored in your browser and possibly on google if you allow your passwords to be saved there.