Free Internet on Telstra Smart Home Modem Gen 2 (23.74/4.27mbps @Ookla)

frugalftw on 01/10/2023 - 11:38

I didn’t realise this still works until I’ve churned to a different NBN three months ago and forgot to change the settings. Two months in, one fateful day I noticed the modem has a blue light on, logged in, it says “Your Broadband service is working in backup mode. You are connected and online.” I updated the credentials per the new ISP, and the green light was back on. Now I had disconnected my NBN yesterday, thinking I would sign up to Felix after the boost sims run out, but the blue light is on again. Out of curiosity, I ran a speed test and it turned out it’s matching the base tier NBN performance, which is all I really need.

Good deal for a $20 modem off market place with bundled internet? What’s funny was I didn’t have a lot of expectations, so I actually bought two in case the first one dies, and it was two years ago.

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Comments

    • frugalftw on 01/10/2023 - 11:57

      😂 No, there were no other customers on the premises 😅 Also it might not be in vogue two years ago.

  • Switchblade88 on 01/10/2023 - 11:56
    +1

    This has been an open secret for a little while (SSHHH!!)

    Latest notes indicated that the SIM might get blocked after a certain limit unless re-linked to a Telstra billing account, but I've not tried with any of my modems to push the limits - mine all still seem to work fine after 4 years with no complications.

    • deme on 01/10/2023 - 11:56

      Latest notes

      What?

      • Switchblade88 on 01/10/2023 - 12:03
        +2

        It's part of the OzBargain premium membership; paid for with Eneloops

        Membership is currently closed, but joining will reopen in exactly 6 months

    • frugalftw on 01/10/2023 - 12:01

      Oops… 🙊

      Yeah I’d bet the ones I have are about 4 years old. Not doing anything extraneous, just streaming YouTube on Musi.

  • bjdchwr on 01/10/2023 - 11:57
    +2

    Telstra will generally block the SIM after a period of time of high traffic, it can be a week or it can be for a couple of days.
    You can always swap the SIM once the SIM is gone.

    I would rather not identify it as a loophole. It seems that Telstra can't be bothered to do any data match with active NBN service and modem serial/IMEI/ICCID stuff.
    If you keep the modem aside, the data SIM in-built would still work after years time - I still have my GEN 1 modem I got from an ADSL deal years back and it connects to backup internet still.

    • frugalftw on 01/10/2023 - 12:06

      So it depends on what they consider as high traffic. And gen 1 has the sim as well? One of the sellers was offering me a gen 1 for free, I didn’t take it because I thought having two is enough.

      Is gen 3 the same then? Maybe I should be on the look out for all of them now.

      Can you also put a Boost sim in and use it as a 4/5g modem? I’m not sure how degraded the plastic sim might be, don’t want to touch it in case it disintegrates.

      • deme on 01/10/2023 - 12:20
        -3

        I suspect bjdchwr is just talking out his ass.

        • frugalftw on 01/10/2023 - 12:29

          I suspect bjdchwr have contributed to this discussion more than you have.

      • bjdchwr on 01/10/2023 - 15:12

        Yes, you can put Boost sim in.

        Actually, I believe the smart router itself is a good deal, and it seems the hardware itself is not SIM-locked. If you manage to 'jailbreak' the firmware you may use other networks as well. I do recommend those smart routers to my friends if their routers are on its way out, especially if their connection doesn't require any VLANS or PPPoE config like TPG etc. For IPoE connection it's just plug and play.

        IMO all Telstra smart routers or business routers have a pretty decent build quality except for the buggy firmware.

        All 3 generations of routers have SIM card slots. The SIM card is made of PVC card and it is pretty solid so I wouldn't think the aging of the plastic is a concern.

        • frugalftw on 01/10/2023 - 15:19

          Legend👍 That just opened up a lot of possibilities, and I can toss my useless 4g modems.

  • Jake17 on 01/10/2023 - 11:58

    its the 4G backup sim

    • deme on 01/10/2023 - 12:02
      -3

      We got a genius here.

    • vince088 on 01/10/2023 - 22:12

      yep with 90gb data then speeds will go to 1Mbps

  • Wiadro on 01/10/2023 - 14:23

    wowowowow

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