Aussie Broadband Becoming Too Expensive? Alternatives?

Lkohno83 on 09/06/2023 - 08:51
Last edited 09/06/2023 - 10:20 by 1 other user

I have been with AussieBroadband (NBN 50/20) for a rather long time - and no doubt they attend to and resolve issues rather quick. Despite them being slightly more expensive than other ISP's, I have been willing to pay the slight premium over others.

At that stage, it was perhaps a $5 difference a month.

Reviewing all available plans now, ABB is charging $79 for the 50/20 plan whereas others are having promotional offers of around $55-60 a month - this is almost a 30% price difference - which, to me, is significant.

Trying to do the right thing, instead of just jumping ship immediately, I thought I would reach out to ABB to see whether they are able to offer anything to reduce this price gap - be it on a time based promotional offer or not. Hence I sent an email out.

And this is the reply I received (direct copy+paste from email):

Unfortunately, we do not have any active promotions regarding existing customers, so the best we can offer you at the moment is $10 off per month for 12 months.

You are correct in that some providers have cheaper plans than we do at present, and that is because you are not just paying for the internet service, but also our customer service. If this $10 offer is not enough for you, and you do not value customer service as highly as you do whatever is cheapest, we wish you the best.

I certainly do not appreciate the last sentence in their response.

  • If I did not value customer service, I would not have reached out to them in the first place

  • It seems to me that ABB might be over their head thinking "they are big" and able to charge a significant premium over others?

What say you fellow Ozbargainers?

Time to walk?

or still worth the premium?

Internet Broadband nbn

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Comments

    • kohno83 on 09/06/2023 - 09:12

      Who have you switched to now? And thoughts on them?

      • DangerNoodle on 11/06/2023 - 13:02
        +1

        I was on Aussie broadband, then I swapped when another provider offered a better deal.

        Usually I recommend calling your providers and negotiating your price with them. A lot of them know that people will switch after their discount period ends, some of them are willing to negotiate a fixed rate in exchange for a lock in.

        I negotiated with my current provider, I'm locked in for 69.95/month for 3 years for 250mbps/25mbps (my actual speed during peak is 285mbps since my area isn't saturated).

        • Charmoffensive on 11/06/2023 - 13:37
          +3

          Who is your current provider? Great price and speed there!

    • Cheaplikethebird on 09/06/2023 - 09:37
      +28

      These small providers are all hype compared to Telstra

      😂😂😂

      Telstra CS is absolute dog💩

      I pretty much max my connection at about 90Mbps from Netherlands servers at all times of the day with ABB. Cant say the same for any other ISP I've been with.

      • Prop Trader on 09/06/2023 - 18:05
        -6

        Worth the trade off considering most people just set it up and run with it. The same would apply to those looking at lower tier RSPs…

        I never get good speeds on ABB/Launtel.

        Both these RSPs state they are buying premium transit but that just means they are buying the most expensive stuff. It doesn't mean it is on par with Telstra. The speed tests and data don't lie…

        90 on a 1000mbps on ABB to Netherlands; on Launtel I only maxed out around 130mbps, but 350-780 on Telstra? How do you explain that?

        Even a person on the UK speed test thread got around 300mbps to the UK whilst the others are posting underperformance. Unless you want to come out and claim those are fake…

        If you are downloading from various international servers and just want a good all round experience, you can't go wrong with Telstra except when you are trying to cancel it. That is all I can say. Need to download some meeting from your dutch employer? No problems, 400mbps; ABB 4x slower…

        Oh and Launtel has a tough time often blaming other providers for cost prohibitive routing woes. This is basically in their Whirlpool thread and can be proven… It's crazy, but the small guys cannot really compete. You can pay and then maybe in another decade or two then it will be alright, but by then it will be sold like Internode/iiNet. That's the truth, I already know this will likely happen, so why pay to fatten up an RSP just to be sold like pigs and slaughtered anyway…

        The truth burns because people cannot refute what I stated… I don't like the way things are but I don't like to lie to people and tell them that they are helping to create something new because frankly they aren't. It's the same old bullshit again and people need to wake up.

        • nigel deborah on 11/06/2023 - 12:46
          +5

          Gawd Telstra must be desperate to be attempting this kind of shill

    • Axelstrife on 09/06/2023 - 12:24
      +4

      Launtel? Slowdowns?
      Been with them for 3 1/2 years and not a single slowdown even on the gigabit speeds at any time of day, maintenance is always notified in advance and any time it's gone down outside of maintenance ive gotten updates as repairs are progressing which has only taken a few hours.

      • Prop Trader on 09/06/2023 - 18:13
        -8

        They had routing issues a few months ago. A lot of people left at that time, including myself.

        It's all there in the public domain if you want to search through their whirlpool thread.

        Here is a sample I can find just recently:

        Hey all, we have found and fixed an issue that has been slowly affecting many of the NSW POI (and 2 VIC ones) – limiting the performance of services, particularly the Ultrafast services, at peak times. This also include Campbelltown that has been discussed above. Here is the list of POI affected:-
        2BLK – Blacktown, NSW
        2BLV – Berkeley Vale, NSW
        2CBT – Campbelltown, NSW
        2CFS – Coffs Harbour, NSW
        2DAL – Dalley, NSW
        2EDG – Edgecliff, NSW
        2GOS – Gosford, NSW
        2GRN – Grafton, NSW
        2HAM – Hamilton, NSW
        2LID – Lidcombe, NSW
        2LIV – Liverpool, NSW
        2MAI – Maitland, NSW
        2MYF – Mayfield, NSW
        2PEA – Peakhurst, NSW
        2PEN – Pendle Hill, NSW
        2PTH – Penrith, NSW
        2SYB – Eastern Creek, NSW
        2TAM – Tamworth, NSW
        2WAG – Wagga Wagga, NSW
        2WIN – Richmond, NSW
        2WLG – Wollongong, NSW
        3BEN – Bendigo, VIC
        3MEB – Port Melbourne, VIC
        3SHP – Shepperton, VIC
        9CVI – Civic, ACT
        9QBN – Queanbeyan, NSW

        Basically, you are a beta tester for their network. With Telstra it just works, no funny shit.

        Then there was another time they were blaming the cost to route to TPG… Remember that, oh right, it's not there everyday in your face; unless you remember it vividly as affecting your job…

        The sheep and fanbois easily forget the facts… Yeah because I already know Axel you are actually one of the Launtel employees from the time we were in the discord. I'm fairly confident with that comment. I don't know if you left for ABB in the meantime but one of you guys left I recall. Either that or you were one of the mods, that's even worse because we all know the controversy behind what happened during that time.

        • Axelstrife on 09/06/2023 - 18:36
          +6

          You left cause the internet was down for a few hours?
          btw i know about that i am on the Penrith PIO.

          Yeah because I already know Axel you are actually one of the Launtel employees from the time we were in the discord.

          I am? Shit i need to contact Launtel cause clearly i havent been getting paid. haha

        • zubzub on 10/06/2023 - 12:47
          +1

          Holy smokes! Chill man. There is some logic to what you are saying, but you have it all backwards. Telstra, Launtel or whoever can all have their issues DEPENDING where you live, your hardware, your setup, etc. This is just how it goes for ISPs. I’ve rented over 40 different houses and been with about a dozen ISPs, so I’m not just saying that. I am currently with Launtel and couldn’t be happier. I hit about 800ish from my gigabit HFC connection which is more than enough. I am downloading from Usenet in Europe daily at speeds of 700+, so no issues there either, but again, it won’t always be great for everyone.

          Edit: Taken now - https://ibb.co/YPqpYX6

      • seabombs on 10/06/2023 - 13:46

        Launtel are great and I was a happy customer too until I was lured away by the More/Commbank deal. Excellent customer service (cheers Damian!).

    • Dreamcast on 10/06/2023 - 14:43
      +6

      Telstra? Did you say Telstra? Did I read Telstra. Am I going insane, Telstra?

      Mate… Where do I even begin. This guy.

    • syousef on 12/06/2023 - 13:50
      +3

      I was with Bigpond/Telstra for Broadband from 1998 to 2022. They wouldn't even offer a 100/40 plan at any price anymore which is why I switched to ABB last year. If you think ABB were rude to you, compared to being hung up on and ignored by Telstra that was a perfectly reasonable comment. I am still with Telstra for mobile only because I don't have other options for the reception I want. Telstra is overpriced, and their customer service is abysmal.

    • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2023 - 14:54
      +3

      I've worked for Telstra in the past. I wouldn't switch to them even if I still had employee discounts. Everyone form CS to techs are incompetent and lazy. Doesn't matter if you're a consumer or a hospital with critical services. Sales staff are beyond shady and overcharged everyone from pensioners to people with disabilities for their commissions.

  • stringbean402 on 09/06/2023 - 09:12
    +80

    I would walk on principle just based on their response. That is terrible communication.

    • EightImmortals on 09/06/2023 - 14:47
      +71

      No it isn't.
      Remember when we had shopping choices? There were corner shops and fish'n'chip shops everywhere as well as small hardware shops etc etc. They all disappeared because people would rather save a couple of buck a week going to colesworth than pay a bit more and get good service from a shop owner that appreciated their customers. And then after all our choices were gone colesworth started replacing all the name brand products with generic 'home brand' crap that is just not the same. Of course after people tired avoid that they invented some brand names to trick us into thinking it wasn't home brand stuff…but you get the point.

      No OK I get it, some budgets are so tight that people can't afford the extra $10 a month, but if you can and you value choice and the product and service are good then IMO local companies should be supported.

      • rumblytangara on 09/06/2023 - 18:21
        +50

        Yeah, agreed. I kinda liked that response- it was a bit blunt, but it didn't really cross any lines for me.

        • GandalfTheCheap on 10/06/2023 - 19:49
          +9

          If you're arrogant or insecure, even someone being quite polite can upset you if you feel entitled to have people bow and scrape for you.

          A little bit too much "customer is always right" nonsense has skewed our perceptions on this, I reckon.

        • Shunto on 11/06/2023 - 00:50
          +5

          Me too, I don't really get what people are getting sensitive over. Their business model is literally focused around great local customer service which you therefore pay a premium on. If you value a cheaper plan more than you value great local customer service, then they wish you all the best with that.

          People are honestly just too soft

      • UnternamenBernhard on 10/06/2023 - 22:45
        +2

        I'm in agreement. Often the way is the infrastructure owner will choke the re-seller's to save the main seller (infrastructure) in a pinch. We need more in infrastructure probably only possible in inner cities. But Telstra will guard their digital optic like Smaug his golden hoard.

      • HamWallet on 11/06/2023 - 13:22
        +1

        Great post! Oddly motivating ahha.

      • fleetfeather on 11/06/2023 - 22:04
        +18

        People in this thread trying to tell me that customer service has gotten so bad that I now should be paying for the privilege of it???

        Y'all calling up your ISP every week to catch up or something? I've probably called up an ISP less than once a year on average during this past decade

        • blackfish on 12/06/2023 - 07:20
          +2

          Thinking the same thing. Like do we need to have a catch up meeting with them every week??

        • geoffs87 on 13/06/2023 - 07:01
          +3

          yeah this is what im sitting here thinking… I changed ISP about 12 months ago and i havent had to call them yet, and even when i do, if its a poor experience its very unlikely to justify an extra $200 a year.

          I get not flying jetstar if you dont want bad customer service (not sure who's better anymore)… but someone who's a reseller of a product that you never have to speak to anyway? Yeah nah - cheapest works for me.

    • freefall101 on 09/06/2023 - 15:41
      +39

      Personally I love the honesty, it's refreshing. This whole "the customer is always right" thing is just rubbish, if you need to be handheld through why you should pay them more then that's your problem, not theirs.

      I don't give care if their customer service is nice to me so long as I get a good, quality service at a decent price.

      • UnternamenBernhard on 10/06/2023 - 22:45
        +2

        Not quite onboard- decent but not super hyped up service is fine by me, but now awful service.

        • salamandersushi on 12/06/2023 - 09:03
          +1

          I second this. As an early adopter of ABB their customer service was top notch - 2 minutes from picking up the phone to talking to a local support tech, able to triage and resolve the issue singlehandedly. Nowadays, having recently left them - they're now just another ISP with a painful automated phone system to work through and constant redirects between departments to try and action something as simple as a house move date change.

          In contrast, I had some minor issues with my new provider (Superloop) and was able to get it resolved via their chat (certainty offshore) in a couple of minutes easily.

          I'm happy to pay a premium to get something for it - but in this instance, I'm not. The customer may not always be right, but they're king if you rely on their money to exist.

    • Tommyaka on 10/06/2023 - 09:11
      +10

      Yeah they definitely didn't word that in a professional way.

      I personally chose my internet service provider based on whether or not they hire local customer service staff.

      It's small in the grand scheme of things, but I'd rather give my money to a provider that supports Australian jobs instead of outsourcing to third world countries.

    • whatgift on 10/06/2023 - 15:36
      +11

      I wonder how the original email from the OP to ABB was worded, since the response may be based on that. Entitled-acting customers are deserving of such a response - it's time businesses pushed back on such customers. If it was a reasonably-worded email, that's another story…

      • kohno83 on 13/06/2023 - 08:33
        +8

        I am the OP and can certainly share this out in the open.. See below..

        Hi,

        I am currently on the 50/20 NBN Unlimited plan that is costing $79 per month.

        Most other ISPs are now offering much better deals at much lower costs - for
        an initial promotion period of 6 months and then moving to a higher rate that
        is still lower than $79 per month.

        I have been happy with my NBN with AussieBB and would really love to stay on
        if not for the price.

        Is there anything that you could offer?

    • p1 ama on 10/06/2023 - 19:28
      +28

      Disagree, I actually think it’s a typical Aussie “straight shooter” response.

      Stop expecting other people to kiss your ass, the price is the price. If you don’t like it or think it’s worth it for you, then you are welcome to go elsewhere.

      • Shunto on 11/06/2023 - 00:51
        -3

        Agree with you. The only thing wrong in their response was giving $10 off

      • cashless on 11/06/2023 - 09:55
        +13

        typical Aussie “straight shooter” response

        Nah, it's just arrogance, pure and simple

        • p1 ama on 11/06/2023 - 16:10
          +6

          Nah, it's just arrogance, pure and simple

          Sure, then don't pay for their services and take your business elsewhere.

          Looks like this is a classic case of wanting premium service, not being willing to pay for it, and being offended when this is pointed out to you. I don't get why this is so hard - everyone publishes prices on their website, go with the provider that makes most sense for you.

          This is why everyone should spend some time working in customer service. After being treated like shit day-in, day-out from wannabe hot-shots, you learn to not be offended so easily.

          • cashless on 11/06/2023 - 23:37
            -6

            @p1 ama: Sounds like you have a job waiting for you at ABB. Or maybe you’re there already?

            • p1 ama on 12/06/2023 - 01:18
              +1

              @cashless: Classic ad hominem - can't engage on the facts, so I must be biased eh? I'm not even taking sides mate.

              Just saying that if OP doesn't like ABB, just move on and find another provider. No need to get offended, have a whinge-fest and make a forum post about it.

      • SydBoy on 11/06/2023 - 19:43
        +7

        It shows poor customer service and attitude in those words and you can't justify rude behaviour by saying "oh that's how we say as we are straight shooter" … !

      • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2023 - 23:29
        +3

        Being professional & keeping your emotions in check =/= kissing ass. This isn't the same as some store clerk silently taking abuse from some Karen. Unless OP has left out details and was a dick to begin with, the rep could have just said no neutrally and that would have been the end of it, instead of brining negative attention to the business and guaranteeing a customer doesn't return. Their whole shtick is good customer service to begin with. I guarantee people wouldn't be making excuses if they were on the receiving end of that email, lol. Was with ABB for nearly a decade and they've been great for the most part but the free passes the get when they actually fk up are comical at this point.

        • kohno83 on 13/06/2023 - 08:39
          +4

          I am the OP and happy to share my 1 email to them just to reach out.

          Not whinging, not complaining but just doing the right thing by reaching out first before considering jumping ship. Pretty much looking for my options.

          As mentioned, I would have totally understood if they said all they could do was a $10 discount (or even nothing at all) and stopped at that. I would totally respect that it's their business decision anyway.

          I shall leave it here in the open and let others decide whether I was being rude in any way… and whether it was warranted for ABB's response.

          Hi,

          I am currently on the 50/20 NBN Unlimited plan that is costing $79 per month.

          Most other ISPs are now offering much better deals at much lower costs - for
          an initial promotion period of 6 months and then moving to a higher rate that
          is still lower than $79 per month.

          I have been happy with my NBN with AussieBB and would really love to stay on
          if not for the price.

          Is there anything that you could offer?

    • Franc-T on 12/06/2023 - 18:47
      +5

      Yep, Im with ABB and if they responded snarky like that I would go.

  • vchar on 09/06/2023 - 09:26
    -4

    many big Australian telcos virtually increase their packages just to inflate their offers, and generally users rarely need that much speed or data. For mobile phone service, I would go to smaller ones like Boost, and as for home internet, I'm with superloop.com their price is not very good but their connection is pretty solid for my work. many ISPs offer quite a good deal for new customers, if switching providers is not an issue for you, it is probably the best bet.

    very often, I've found that people buy into big package in the hope of getting a good connection but in fact the chance that they need that much speed is close to none. when it comes to the internet connection speed, it is not all about the package you buy into but your wireless router/access point could be the culprit.

    from my experience, in the past I tend to buy used routers or cheap ones and I ended up with slow connection, then I put all the blame on the ISP and bought into a higher package. until I bought a decent commercial grade router and wireless access point, I realized that my connection is a lot better. if you do a bit of research about how wireless access point/router works, you will learn that some of them allow only a small number of concurrent connections and you falsely believe that it could handle as many connections as you could connect. some cheap devices don't even allow you stream music or movie through VPN more than 15mins continuously and I experienced that.

    • seraphim2017 on 09/06/2023 - 12:07

      What is your current setup for modem and router?

    • rumblytangara on 09/06/2023 - 12:34
      +9

      in the past I tend to buy used routers or cheap ones and I ended up with slow connection, then I put all the blame on the ISP and bought into a higher package. until I bought a decent commercial grade router and wireless access point, I realized that my connection is a lot better.

      Something seems off, or too simplified here. Any half decent router will let you speed test fairly accurately with a wired connection (nobody should ever test speeds with wifi unless you are specifically testing your wireless LAN performance).

      I've tested with all manner of cheap and cheerful home routers are other peoples' places where the standard ISP speeds are 100, 300 or gig. And as long as it's wired, every single router would get close to max line speeds during a single client test.

      Come to think of it, I've seen small offices run off midrange TP Link routers, and they've been fine for 5-10 users. And this was using equipment from a decade ago.

      I'm running enthusiast/commercial gear at home, but that's just because it'a hobbyist thing. It's certainly not needed with the crappy NBN speeds that are typically available in Oz.

      In summary- you don't need top of the range consumer routers (which I regard as generally terrible value) or commercial gear for home use.

  • Hvrd on 09/06/2023 - 09:28
    +13

    Ive had the same experience with their customer service having too big ego's, I've been with spintel no issues and they are $65 and $55 for first 6 months

    • mrkorrupt on 09/06/2023 - 11:53
      +7

      Went to spintel on black friday sale, internet lasted 50 hours then dropped.
      I then contacted support and the was placed in a call back queue, they called me back 20 minutes later and was still in the queue for 30 more minutes, before i dropped, couldnt wait, called again and again and again, no call back or into the queue, got my second phone and called ABB at the same time was back with ABB before Spintel answered the phone.

      • Hvrd on 09/06/2023 - 14:29
        +4

        things can go wrong with any service, ive personally had no issue when i called them, and havent needed to call them in the last 2 years

        • mrkorrupt on 09/06/2023 - 14:44
          +4

          Aussie broadband before and after not a single minute of outage.
          Spintel outage within 50 hours, out for half a month….

      • UnternamenBernhard on 10/06/2023 - 22:51
        -3

        That's unfortunate but it is selling a product it buys from Telstra the infrastructure provider. Sometimes the infrastructure provider will choke out the on-sellers to maintain advantage. What we really need is a competitor fibre optic network- but it's probably too expensive outside CBD's.
        Bell research labs in 2014 got 10 GBps over copper. The question is why hasn't Telstra done a thing about that for nearly a decade. (source: Phys.org "Fiber-optic speeds achieved over copper lines")

        • pkol on 11/06/2023 - 02:53
          +3

          How is Telstra the infrastructure provider? Surely ABB gets their infra through NBN, not Telstra.

        • lancesta on 11/06/2023 - 11:30

          Suburban areas are still imo highly worthy of fibre.

          That said totally agree regarding the copper usage. If we can get at least 100Mbps on existing copper it'd be far more reliable than the crappy fixed wireless network some people have to put up with.

          Fibre is definitely imo the long term solution. With infrastructure upgrades the same fibre line can do a lot more than the installed capacity. I'm guessing that the lines will be good for a long, long while yet so they'll have a good payback period.

          I also wouldn't be surprised if putting fibre in rural areas just becomes necessary because of how things are moving. At least into the local town.

        • Chandler on 12/06/2023 - 09:47

          What we really need is a competitor fibre optic network- but it's probably too expensive outside CBD's.

          If only there was a National provider for a Network of Broadband services…

          • rumblytangara on 12/06/2023 - 13:07
            +1

            @Chandler: Yeah, if only there was one national provider that wasn't complete shite and an international case study for how to mess up a national broadband deployment.

            I watched the NBN rollout from overseas, and it was regularly reported in tech news sources as a rolling disaster of political interference and incumbent lobbying power.

            After decades away from Australia, I move back and the fastest I can get in metro Sydney is something like 80/20 for 2-3 times what I could previously get for 1000/1000. My current 50/20 is actually fine, because even when I was on a faster line overseas I collected stats on my monthly bandwidth peaks, and the only thing slower speed affects is torrents which I don't care about. But NBN is just a rolling joke, regardless of how good or bad ABB or any of the other resellers are.

      • virhlpool on 10/06/2023 - 23:56
        +3

        Been with Spintel. 7th month now. Not a single moment of drop and the cheapest price in the market for the first 6 months ($49 for 100/20 plan). Can't beat it.

        Things can go wrong with any provider.

  • coxjon on 09/06/2023 - 09:30
    +19

    I had to reread your post a number of times as I was certain you were paraphrasing their email! I gotta say I agree with you that it wasn't appropriate. They've put you in a tough position but it's hard to justify the premium price for "customer service" when internet connectivity isn't exactly a customer service industry! I've probably spoken to TPG/Netspace 5 or 6 times in 20 years.

    • kohno83 on 09/06/2023 - 09:35
      +6

      Apologies if my post was not clear.

      The email from them was a direct "Copy + Paste" of what I have received… no paraphrasing at all…

      Trying to be fair here so as to not unfairly pass my own judgment for others to see.

      I have now reformatted my post - hopefully to make it easier to follow.

      • coxjon on 09/06/2023 - 10:12
        +7

        I wasn't having a go at your post, I just couldn't believe the arrogance of the company to say that.

        • spal on 13/06/2023 - 09:29
          +1

          I read the same way. Denying any further discount is one thing, the reply I find takes it to the next level. It is condescending. Aussie straight shooting stops making the best offer. The bold text in the email was not essential.

    • Flying Ace on 10/06/2023 - 14:09
      +13

      This is what I have never understood - in all the years of having internet, I've had to call customer service a handful of times, if that. So charging a premium for "customer service" that you probably would never need anyway seems ridiculous. It's one of the reasons I left. I went to Superloop and are cheaper than ABB, and I've had to speak to them only once or twice and they were perfectly fine.

      • F1Maniac on 12/06/2023 - 10:43

        If you had FTTN it would have been very different, luckily our suburb being on the fringe of a suburb on fttp conversion trial got access to it as well. So no need for a weekly checkin but before that… to get through to nbn quick, one really needed abb or the likes of, not telstra w overseas call center and script to ask you to restart the modem…

        • Flying Ace on 12/06/2023 - 13:37

          We do have FTTN - where we are now and previously. I've rarely had to call for assistance.

          • F1Maniac on 13/06/2023 - 06:41

            @Flying Ace: You are in the lucky bunch then of fttn users. Ours and all neighbours always had issues from jumpering falling off to impacted by rain and what not. So much so the same tech came out and knew where the connections where in my house.. he said there were known issues with the jumpering on the node and that nbn had a case against the manufacturer. Anyway the point is that if you had to contact nbn fast you needed a provider with good customer service

  • follow on 09/06/2023 - 09:41
    +6

    That's hilarious.
    I cycle between superloop and exetel every 6 months. Though currently I'm with Optus as they had a better offer at the time.
    They also have great cashback deals.
    I haven't noticed a difference between them and Aussie Broadband.

    • TheFreaK on 10/06/2023 - 22:39

      How do you find Exetel? I'm making the switch to them later this month

      • follow on 11/06/2023 - 03:59

        Only issue I had was cgnat causing my VoIP to not work. Had to switch to their free static IP. Better than my current Optus service.

      • lancesta on 11/06/2023 - 11:35

        Used them for over a decade. Have found them great. They've got some cool feature where you can go up a tier one day a month or something like that and it banks up, so we turn it on in the school holidays. It's pretty cool to see what the line can do when it's bumped up.

        We did use the home phone without too many issues (think our issues were related to an old spinny dial style phone), but we left that when we moved and never bothered connecting it up again.

    • virhlpool on 10/06/2023 - 23:59

      What's the offer of Optus if you don't mind sharing? Optus is usually among the expensive ones.

  • Danstar on 09/06/2023 - 09:50
    +1

    I've used ABB, Spintel and currently with More since I upgraded to FTTP

    The only major difference I noticed from Spintel to ABB when I was on FTTN, is that with Spintel my kids would complain that they got packet loss every now and then. Where as with ABB, don't think they ever complained about that. In saying that, ABB was $50 more for the same speed (with a promo discount)

    • Twix on 09/06/2023 - 15:10
      +7

      All Spintel traffic goes to a single POP in NSW resulting in higher latency and they use Optus for backhaul. Aussie BB have POPs all over AU and a better network overall so you typically have lower latency. More Telecom use Vocus for backhaul which is in the middle.

      • Shunto on 11/06/2023 - 00:54
        +1

        What is a comparable ISP to ABB? I'm with ABB but through this thread considering how I can get the same performance for a cheaper price

        • Twix on 11/06/2023 - 15:19
          +1

          Superloop and Leaptel.

          • aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa on 11/06/2023 - 16:49

            @Twix: Would Superloop and Exetel have the same performance? Exetel's a bit cheaper than Superloop right now but I've heard they're owned by the same parent company

            • Skinnerr on 11/06/2023 - 19:36
              +4

              @aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa: Was with ABB 1 and a bit months before I left for Superloop. They charged me and sent me a router I didn't asked for, dragged their feet retuning me my money after I sent it back and then refused to credit or compensate me for the inconvenience and time wasted dealing with their own mistake.

              Been with superloop for years with no problems.

            • Twix on 11/06/2023 - 23:31

              @aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa: Performance should be similar. Superloop did purchase Exetel a few years ago.

  • wannagrababargain on 09/06/2023 - 09:57
    +33

    They got too expensive for me too about a year ago. My thinking is that there are kind of three tiers of ISPs:

    There's the "big boys" Telstra, Optus etc who charge through the nose but offer a shiny packaged 100% plug and play experience tailored to normies who don't know a router from a coffee machine. Typically have cringeworthy ads with families and dogs gathering around ipads and the like.

    Then there are the "budget" trash tier ISPs who compete on price alone, trying to capture as many customers as possible at the cheap end of the market to meet the basic need to have internet. They typically skimp on CVC, having a higher ratio of customers to CVC and thereby ending up with a slower 'night time typical' speed. Typically have shouty ads that mention the price at least 5 times.

    Somewhere in the middle, what I personally look for, are the "enthusiast" type ISPs who market to people who want fast speeds, low latency, a good network, and customer service. They are the ones who cater to niches like gaming, ultra speed tiers, symmetric connections, extra IP addresses etc. Typically don't run too many ad campaigns, but survive on word of mouth. Their customers are people who might otherwise have just gone with the budget tier but find some value in paying a bit more - the question is how much more would you be willing to pay and at what point is perceived value is no long there. ABs email signoff assumes (wrongly) that someone looking for good value just wants the cheapest. It's great that they gave you some level of discretionary discount but I can understand the sour taste that their misperception of you (their customer) would give.

    Myrepublic was a decent alternative to AB but have since left the market. Have you compared Superloop lately? They might be running a 6 month introductory price at the moment and I think there's a referral system too. It's quite easy and seamless to churn suppliers these days - that would be the Ozbargain hero way :)

    • kohno83 on 09/06/2023 - 10:28
      +4

      I share the same thought process too and also belong in the "somewhere in the middle" camp

      I do not go just for the cheapest and do not mind paying a bit more - where I see value and/or peace of mind. But of course, there is a limit to how much the "premium" is.

      Even at $10 discount (bringing the price down to $69/mth), I am still thinking that the price difference is too much (others are at $55-60/mth now). Now, added with the sour taste…

      Looks a lot of other ISPs do run a 6 month promo period anyway.

      Currently considering between:
      * Superloop
      * Exetel
      * Leaptel

      I am sure there are lots of debates on which to go for or not go for - still reading up.

      • kohno83 on 09/06/2023 - 15:22
        +3

        Alrighty…

        I think I'm going to give Leaptel a go… if that does not work out, then so be it… I'll churn to another one next then.

        Anyone currently on Leaptel wants to send me a referral? Might help someone out!

        • flagger on 09/06/2023 - 15:43
          +2

          Sent you a pm

          • pinkybrain on 12/06/2023 - 21:11

            @flagger: how many codes are you allowed
            and is it $50 for both person (you and me etc)?

            what plan are you on at leaptel?
            what speed do you get on speedtest?
            Do you have an issues with leaptel (performance, customer service or anything else)?

        • buckster on 10/06/2023 - 10:35
          +1

          Just churned to superloop which has been quite good. I imagine when the promotional rate ends I might churn back to ABB if their new customer offer is good

    • heal on 09/06/2023 - 15:15
      +1

      They typically skimp on CVC, having a higher ratio of customers to CVC

      This is my concern. I'm fixed wireless with ABB and don't want to churn to another provider for a worse service.

    • [Deactivated] on 10/06/2023 - 11:20

      Which offer extra IP addresses to personal customers at a decent price?

  • TNTomer on 09/06/2023 - 10:18
    +11

    Their remarks are totally uncalled for and would warrant a cancellation from me. The fact that other providers are cheaper still is a bonus. Personally I never understood the customer service as a benefit aspect. Most ISPs are fully dealt with online and once you have the modem and router set up from a previous connection the transfer is usually seamless. Just transferred from exetel to dodo, pressed submit and in less than 5 seconds my home wifi lost connection and around 10 minutes later reconnected onto the dodo connection after a router restart. $70 for 100/20 and so far so good until the next churn.

    • soan papdi on 09/06/2023 - 10:27
      +2

      For folks who're not IT savvy, customer service is required. We know what NAT, port forwarding, QoS, channels, etc are but many don't.

      • TNTomer on 09/06/2023 - 10:32
        +1

        I've never needed to use any of that knowledge when setting up my home internet. For those less tech savvy you would literally connect the nbn modem, connect the router and log in using the stickered wifi password.

        • lancesta on 11/06/2023 - 11:42
          +4

          It's not as simple as that to a number of people. There's a lot of people who just plug in the power and expect it to work lol. Then they don't know which port the internet/phone goes into, or they do but still stuff it up.

          I've worked with people who don't even understand how to change the source input on a tv yet somehow they can navigate their computer.

          For some, a wifi password is too hard to understand. I honestly don't get it, I'm torn between whether it's a refusal to learn (as they deem it too hard), inexperience or actual stupidity.

          • idonotknowwhy on 11/06/2023 - 20:35

            @lancesta:

            I've worked with people who don't even understand how to change the source input on a tv yet somehow they can navigate their computer.

            I've seen this too! They can use different operating systems, software, navigate websites. But they're screwed if they switch from HDMI to AV1 or something on the TV lol.

      • Shunto on 11/06/2023 - 00:56
        +3

        Frankly I've got a reasonable idea of those things (or otherwise could google it to figure it out), but when shit goes wrong and it's on "their" side, easy to access customer service is a gem

    • foursaken on 13/06/2023 - 11:15

      I agree with customer service being something I have NEVER required from an ISP, and that is exactly what their email deals with. Don't value it? Don't pay for it. When I left AussieBB (to go to StarLink because I live in the technology backwater of Canberra where the workforce is only working from home 2/5 days per week) they pretty aggressively tried to retain me and find out why I was leaving.

      Bad customer service? No, but I've had NICER. Efficiently pursuing policies that entirely make sense to their business model? Yes.

      And for anyone seriously saying "OMGWTFH4X my connection is better with XXXX" - wtf were you doing with Aussie? Drongos.

  • kekw on 09/06/2023 - 10:29
    +5

    Leaptel have a 1 year promo period.

    • jv on 09/06/2023 - 15:53
      +1

      So do More Telecom.

      After that, it is an ongoing 10% discount.

  • payless69 on 09/06/2023 - 10:38

    Carry your cash to Gerry so his dog can blow it?
    Seriously I tried ABB, worked fine for a while but like most eventually fall asleep while pages are loading.
    Let us know if you found something better.

  • djsweet on 09/06/2023 - 10:53
    +8

    ABB is actually the best in terms of backhaul and pay for the best international links. But no excuse for them to be big-headed about it. For most people the next tier down is fine (superloop), and its cheaper. Any lower than that and you are probably looking at Vocus backhaul providers which tend to be pretty average. For me, I've kind of settled on Superloop. The ABB premium is hard to justify. Maybe their customer service is supposed to be good, but going by their response to your email, I kind of rate that level of CS as pretty crap.

    • kohno83 on 09/06/2023 - 10:58

      Thanks for your thoughts.

      Which other ISPs would you consider the next "tier down" besides Superloop?

      • djsweet on 09/06/2023 - 10:59
        +2

        @twix appears to be the authority in this area. Launtel and leaptel perhaps, but I'm not as up-to-date as I used to be.

        • Twix on 09/06/2023 - 14:57
          +7

          Leaptel and Superloop generally have good performance and price. Launtel are recommended but charge about the same as Aussie BB does.

    • Prop Trader on 09/06/2023 - 18:07
      +1

      Is this just what you have gathered by reading people's comments or is this something you truly believe?

      They are still rolling out their own infrastructure so it is unlikely they have the best links… That's just something the crowd tells you and apparently you believe it…

      The problem is no one here sources their information, but a little bit of quick research would suggest suboptimal routes from the comments of their Whirlpool powerusers.

      If you are downloading from obscure servers and just want a good all round experience, you can't go wrong with Telstra except when you are trying to cancel it. That is all I can say.

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