Optus unlimited cable entertainment bundle or other internet?

[Deactivated] on 27/05/2015 - 23:28

Hi guys, so I just bought a new house, and need to get internet sorted out. The house has access to both Telstra and Optus Cable, as well as the usual ADSL. There is no NBN yet.

Anyway, Im looking for internet, and the best option looks like the new Optus entertainment bundle which has unlimited downloads, calls, a fetch TV box, and netflix for 6 months, for $90, and no install costs. The one problem with this package is that nowhere on the Optus website does it tell you the speed of the cable service, which to me is important. I have a feeling it is capped at 30mbps, which isn't that much faster than ADSL, and with network congestion probably isn't any faster. So my biggest question is how fast is it? The online operatives at Optus couldn't give me a straight answer.

Telstra cable is the other option. Right now my parents have this, and they get 116mbps, and 500gb of downloads a month (it was 200gb, but got bumped for free). They pay $79 a month. I went on the Telstra website, and it appears now there is nothing close to this price, and they have slowed their internet to 30mbps for new customers, unless they pay more money.

So can anyone help me. What is the Optus cable speed on the new entertainment bundles? Does Telstra negotiate? Can I get on a legacy plan if I sweet talk the operator?

Any other suggestions would be great.

Cheers.

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Comments

  • mooney on 28/05/2015 - 00:57

    I'm on Optus cable. Just did a test whilst on WiFi in the room further from my router. I got 37.64 DL and 1.87 UL. This is unlimited and $90 a month.

    I've had this a year and a half. Don't know if plans have changed.

    • gawky on 28/05/2015 - 10:57

      I get slightly faster speeds dl. Same plan + speed upgrade as mooney.
      Stick with Telstra - double the speed with less congestion during peak if you have alot of devices that stream movies. If you are one - two average users Optus cable is good enough.

      I rarely get past 250gb's these days even with unlimited.
      Optus peak hr traffic d/l speed is 8mbps if I am lucky.
      Home phone unlimited calls to certain countries is useful.

  • pjetson on 28/05/2015 - 08:53

    The $90pm deal is for 30Mb speed. You can get a "speed pack" for another $10pm that raises it to 100Mb. Some people, myself included, got the speed pack added for free simply by asking about it.

    Why not ring Optus and ask them nicely if they can include the speed pack for you?

    Perhaps you could say that you're worried that the speed isn't going to be any faster than ADSL, and if they could please include the speed pack, you'll sign up.

    Additional notes on Optus cable - Optus had a five hour outage in my area yesterday, so no phone and no internet for me :-( I've only been with them for a few months, so I'm hoping this kind of thing doesn't happen too often.

    Also, Optus billing (at least for me) has been almost deal-breakingly terrible. My (three so far) bills are wildly different each month, and I've had to spend time on the phone with them each month to get it fixed. Two of the bills were for too much, while the other was for too little. It annoyed me so much that last call, I told them to "shove it" and disconnect me but they calmed me down with a promise to ring me when the next bill had been produced and discuss it with me before I get it. They said that they can't understand why it is happening, but they promised to fix it. I said I just want them to provide the promised service, and to send me a bill for the agreed $90 each month, and I'll be happy to pay it.

    So, my suggestion would be that if you join Optus, that you do not sign up for direct debit until you're sure they are going to bill you properly.

    Oh, and the Cisco modem that Optus provided seems to need to be reset every few days. A bit of research suggests that this might be a common problem, and that the other modem that they supply (can't remember the brand) is better.

  • NancyCat on 28/05/2015 - 09:05

    We are on Optus cable $90 since the beginning of the year. However, we didn't get the 6 months Netflix…DAMN! Having said that, speed wise, we think it is good. Very often, hubby & kids play online games, watch fetch TV, surfing on the internet at the same time and they are all good.

    • Ahir87 on 28/05/2015 - 12:45

      i also connected in Dec last year for $90 plan then upgraded to $115 plan that costs $90 with the discount in Feb.
      I got an email 3 weeks ago with the coupen code for netflix. 6 months free.

      • NancyCat on 28/05/2015 - 17:43

        Thanks for the heads up. Will give them a call tomorrow.

  • andymatter on 28/05/2015 - 09:07

    A summary of my experiences
    • Extremely difficult to sign up trying to negotiate a speed upgrade
    • Extremely difficult to organise installation of the phone line equipment that we did not want
    • It has been over 4 months and we still haven’t received the Fetch TV equipment
    • It took 4 months to get the speed upgrade
    • Countless hours on phone line, being transferred, disconnected, lost details, going in store, trying to find a customer service email address, using social media trying to sort out the above

    The whole experience has been extremely painful. It seems to be resolved and we have finally received an order code for our Fetch TV equipment and an email confirming we will receive credits to our account as compensation for not receiving the services we ordered for 4 months. Just a word of warning.

  • unco on 28/05/2015 - 10:15

    I was on Optus $115 unlimited + Fetch TV + home phone at the standard 30mbps.
    In my area I would get a constant 30mbps download and 1.6mbps upload and didn't suffer during peak hours. It was definitely good enough for people to be watching the Fetch TV, browsing on multiple devices and didn't hamper my online gaming.

    Then Optus lowered the deal to $90 for unlimited, Fetch TV, home phone AND international calls included to certain countries.
    I asked to switch to the lower price and got the 100mbps speed pack thrown in for free.
    Now I get 90-100mbps on speedtest at all times, even in peak. But as expected, 1.6 upload still.

    From my experience, I haven't had any major issues with Optus Cable. Just the odd day or two where while gaming at night, I've had lag spikes which last maybe 5 minutes and shoot my ping up to 1000ms.

  • [Deactivated] on 28/05/2015 - 10:51

    I live 25 minutes from the Sydney city. I get 80-100 Mbps and 1.5 Mbps on Optus Cable.
    Some drop outs every now and then, awful upload speed, but I love their service and my download speeds.

    • [Deactivated] on 28/05/2015 - 13:14

      Is that with or without the speed package? The Optus cable website is terrible it literally does not mention speed or the soeed package.

      • [Deactivated] on 28/05/2015 - 23:14

        With the speedpack. I told them I've been with optus for 15 years so gimme speedpack for free.

  • [Deactivated] on 28/05/2015 - 16:07

    Anyone managed to wrangle a free speed upgrade from them? I've tried it on the phone and online, no dice.

    • unco on 28/05/2015 - 16:35

      I got mine by telling them I'd be looking at other providers. They put me on to retention who at first said they couldn't do it but then I told them a lot of others had it applied for free already and they finally agreed.

      • [Deactivated] on 28/05/2015 - 18:30

        I guess as a new customer it is not possible

        • unco on 28/05/2015 - 19:44

          Quite a long comment section on this thread but a few OzBargainers got the speed pack for free here, even as new customers.
          https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/173745

        • pjetson on 28/05/2015 - 19:46

          I got it as a new subscriber.

        • [Deactivated] on 28/05/2015 - 23:19

          @pjetson:

          Recently? I've now tried twice on the web chat, once over the phone, they both say they used to offer that upgrade, but not anymore?

        • pjetson on 29/05/2015 - 08:43

          @thorton82: I got it as a new subscriber in February.

        • [Deactivated] on 29/05/2015 - 17:51

          @pjetson: Great, thanks for the tip. I just rung up and said my 'friend;' you got the speed bonus included, and the operator gave it to me for free also. Cheers.

  • willoz on 05/07/2015 - 16:13

    I've tried about 10 times now to get the speedpack for free and they won't budge. Anyone got it recently?

    • [Deactivated] on 05/07/2015 - 18:58
      +1

      Yeah I did, rang up before I got it installed, took me three goes, but eventually someone promised it to me. I told them I knew someone who had been given it when they signed up, and I had bigpond cable, and would only move to Optus if they offered it to me. First two people didn't budge.

      When they installed it, low and behold the speed pack wasn't implemented, 5 or 6 phone calls later, I got Optus to fulfil the promise I got from when I bought it.

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