Telechoice (Telstra NextG) vs Vaya (Optus 4G) - Please Help Me out!

MadMaxBargainRoad on 22/04/2014 - 17:53

Hi guys,

My Virgin Mobile contract is going to end fairly soon and I'm considering BYO plans from Vaya and Telechoice KM deals.

Here are some of my concerns:

  1. Telechoice (Kogan Mobile) uses Telstra 3G and NextG. Vaya is basically Optus 4G. I dunno who's better in real life in terms of speed and coverage. I mainly use data in Melbourne CBD and metro suburbs.
  2. Telechoice offers $500 credit and 1G data for $20 vs Vaya offers $18 for $650 credit and 1.5G of data. However, I like the fact that Telechoice includes International calls.
  3. Telechoice's deal is going to end soon and I might have to pay $50 early exit fee to Virgin. Vaya's offer is always available.
  4. I am using GS3 i9300 atm and gonna get Oneplus One when I can. I believe they both support NextG and OPO will support 4G as well

I lean slightly towards Telechoice but I'm not sure $50 extra is worth it. Also my friend mentioned that Telstra's nextG is more congested than it used to be because they are reselling it (not sure whether that's true though).

PS: If I sign with Telechoice now, can I activate my service later to avoid the early exit fee with Virgin?

Any advice is welcome. Thanks in advanced.

Max

Mobile

Comments

  • shadow131 on 22/04/2014 - 19:29

    1. 4G speeds will knock NextG out no questions asked. In terms of reception, in Sydney atleast, theres isnt much of a difference. Maybe the odd spot between 4 buildings in an alley way (I play ingress for those who wonder why I'm in weird places)

    2. The data issue is a very big concern. Vaya calculated by 1mb round ups while Telechoice does 10kb.
      I would go to your data log on virgin and down load or copy and paste it into excel and round each session up by 1000kb and get a new total.

    Used the function =ceiling(<cell with number to round>,1000) then do it with 10kb.

    I have about 35 sessions a day which sucks because even my 55kb session now counts as 1mb. To me 1.5GB by 1mb increments is less than 1GB by 10kb

    also,

    Vaya
    Standard Call Rate 90c per minute
    Flagfall 35c

    Kogan
    97c + 40c Connection Fee

    Small difference.

    1. how do you know it is going to end? (genuinely asking… that thing was meant to end over 8 months ago)

    2. 1+1 is ??? cool phone lol. Do same analysis on that phone…..
      overall. Kogran will be a better choice unless you really need lighting speeds. Ive always used my data for stuff like reddit so haha no big deal if i missed out looking at a few cats.

    and activation date is up to you. You get the sim and you can call them later.

    • MadMaxBargainRoad on 22/04/2014 - 20:47

      Very good point there on the 10kb incremental. No, I dont really need lighting speed but rather have the stability. Do you reckon Telstra NextG has the edge in this case?

      By saying it's going to end I actually meant this deal here https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/140686

      • shadow131 on 22/04/2014 - 21:11

        OH RIGHT forgot about that deal. haha

        In terms of stability, i feel 4g and 3g are the same. I was on 4g when i was with live connected. I see no difference now. esp in the CBD.

  • PissLUR on 22/04/2014 - 21:28

    international calls are included in TeleChoice's cap, but international smses aren't.

    TeleChoice Kogan plans have been available since last year. you can sign up now and activate when you are ready.

  • ranma241 on 26/04/2014 - 19:19

    I'm currently using Vaya much betta than Voda and its really good deal :)

  • [Deactivated] on 27/04/2014 - 10:47

    Telechoice isn't NextG though? The only reseller with NextG access is Boost. All the other Telstra resellers get wholesale 3G.

  • hippo2s on 28/04/2014 - 11:53
    +1

    If you are a heavy data user double check for how data is billed. per KB or per MB, Vaya use per MB and so you chew through your allowance really quickly. Their data usage doesn't get updated real time either, so be real careful.

    I am normally a 2GB user on Telstra/Vodafone - they bill per KB, this month is my first on Vaya and I am already at 3GB…it does make a difference.

  • MadMaxBargainRoad on 30/04/2014 - 15:47

    Finally went with Telechoice and I actually asked for 24 months contract instead of 12 months. I tripled checked it with the dealer in Melbourne CBD (the guy who posted the deal) and he said international SMS IS included in the cap (not in the unlimited SMS bounus though). Coverage seems to be better than Optus 4G but their usage report is really slow.

    • PissLUR on 30/04/2014 - 16:08

      pretty sure that international sms IS NOT included.

  • MadMaxBargainRoad on 02/05/2014 - 09:35

    Well, that's what he told me anyway. Have you been charged b4?

  • IVI on 02/05/2014 - 17:58

    Consider a Vaya 4G Data SIM…?

    $28 buys 4 GB (probably inflated, due to Vaya's reported 1 MB billing nonsense!)

    One could use, eg, MyNetFone's soft phone to dial phones in AU
    (Use the longtime WhilepoolSaver plan to skip monthly fees; &
    just pay for calls, eg, 0.10 for up to 2 hours to normal landlines
    OR was it 0.15 / min to mobiles…? Buy some DID phone numbers -
    based "anywhere" (in AU & NZ, I think) - at $5 or $10 per year.)

    …& maybe a Skype subscription for international calls
    (We pay US$ 149/year for UNLIMITED calls to over 40 countries,
    Some of which include UNLIMITED calls to mobiles)

    Of course, you'll pay for data for all calls & any keep-alive-locator
    beacon messages.

    • IVI on 02/05/2014 - 19:23

      Vaya's costly 1 MB billing-block policy could make the above uneconomic, in which case, I'd say they're shooting themselves in the sales foot & revenue feet.

  • Picsou on 14/05/2015 - 12:34

    Hi Max
    Did you get charged for international SMS?

  • geforce2003 on 14/05/2015 - 15:14

    International SMS IS NOT including in credit.

    $0.55 per msg, to TWN

    http://i.imgur.com/ytNPqsu.jpg

  • MadMaxBargainRoad on 14/05/2015 - 15:55

    Hey guys, it's free for me as I signed up before the exclusion triggered. However, both my wife and mum who joined later have to pay for theirs.

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