fatvegan

Having used Telstra Next G for a bit over a week I have to say that I'm pretty impressed. For the speed, consistency and range you get it's actually pretty cheap. Obviously I won't be downloading any movies or music when you pay $50/month for 3GB.

I like the 64kbps shaping when you go over your limit. In practice you seem to get more than that. I didn't actually notice for several days after I first got shaped. And for email and basic browsing it's not that bad.

You can go up and down plans easily and it takes effect the next day. I ran out of the first 400MB, so I switched to a 3GB plan for another $20. But I can switch back next month.

I love the low latency. In Hobart now I'm getting sub-60ms pings to my Australian VPS. That is pretty awesome. SSH is totally usable.

And in most places it really is fast. ZDNET is telling my that right now I'm getting 1500kbps with 100% reception. I think the modem's maximum is 3000kbps. Out in the country when my Optus phone gets no reception and Telstra reception is down to 10-20% (whatever that means), you still get about 400kbps and sub-200ms latency.

So it's pretty cool. Even though in the middle of Hobart I can use my iPhone with 3G too, Next G is just heaps better.

I am quite happy. But I wish there was moer lunch.

With Telstra Next G™ Wireless Broadband you plug in your modem and will be connected to the Internet through a simple registration process in just minutes. 2880 minutes to be exact. Registration requires you to call Telstra, wait in their 30 minute queue and authorise them to run a credit check which may take up to 48 hours.

I spent Thursday and Friday picking grapes in the blissful son. Thursday was green grape day and Friday was red grape day. We got paid $20 to wander down beautiful rows of grape vines and dropped luscious clusters of grapes into buckets. I did manage to make a sizeable into my thumb with the snippers but apart from that it was two days of unrelenting fun time.