Broadband in Cairns – a starter guide

Broadband is the most common way of connecting to the internet for emails, voice over internet, daily tasks like banking and paying bills. If you are currently accessing the internet using dial-up then you may be wasting time and money using a slow connection for around the same price per month as an always on Broadband connection. Light usage broadband plans are available from around $40/month so if you are logging in 4-5 times a day by dial-up to check email it costs about the same and broadband is around 17 times faster than dial-up, so no more World Wide Wait!

What is Broadband?

The simplest explanation of Broadband is a fast ‘always on’ method of connecting to the internet. In Cairns, broadband is available via Cable, ADSL, Naked ADSL and Wireless access – with ADSL which uses a standard telephone line as the most common. However, ADSL is not available at all telephone exchanges and Cable is only available if you have Cable TV such as Austar. ADSL allows you to make a phone call at the same time that you are using the internet connection. Naked ADSL means you do not have a standard voice phoneline just the ADSL component running through the wires. Wireless is the newest type of broadband access and provides freedom of use anywhere, no need to be tied to a normal telephone line. If a telephone exchange does not support ADSL, and Cable is not available, Wireless may be the only option. Wireless is the most expensive option, but you can take it with you when travelling so it has many advantages.

A quick comparison of currently available light usage internet plans as at 3rd March 2009. Light usage will be suitable for most people switching from dial-up, as an example a light user may use the internet daily, semd/receive 10-30 emails per week, download up to 10 songs per week, watch up to 15 videos per week, and play up to 8 hours of games per week.. Don’t worry if you don’t do all of those activities – it is just meant as an indication of usage.

Understanding Broadband Plans

When you start investigating Broadband plans, there will be some new terms & concepts to consider. Broadband plans are talked about in terms of Data, Speed, Contract Length, Bundling, Excess Data so lets look at these individually

Data or Data Allowance is how much information you are allowed to use within your plan each month – the light usage as discussed above would be around 1-5 Gigabytes of data – part way through the first month of your plan, check your usage to get an indication of how much you actually use and you may be able to switch to a different plan if you need less or more

Speed – Dial-up speed is generally 56kbps, and by comparison broadband comes in 512kbps to 24000kbps – don’t worry too much about exactly what that means – if you are using voice over internet then you will want a plan faster than 1500kbps to get a reliable service.

Contract Length – if you are happy to be in a 2 year contract for your broadband service, there will be perks like free months, discounts and free hardware to connect your computer to the internet. However, prices on broadband are always dropping, so by the end of your contract you may be paying a lot more than the market rates at that time. Prepaid service is also an option if you prefer to do that, like prepaid phones you can buy credit at the post office, over the phone by credit card or on the internet.

Bundling – you can bundle your home, mobile and broadband services with the same provider to save money

Excess Data – if you go over your monthly data allowance, your provider may charge you extra – sometimes A LOT extra, or slow your broadband service to a very low speed similar to dial-up speeds. Check this in your contract. Most providers will provide a way to monitor your usage online and/or be notified by email.

Hopefully that is enough information to give a general understanding of how to read broadband plans, below is a summary of plans available at the time of writing (3rd March 2009), with the links so you can then go to the provider for in depth terms & conditions and to sign-up. If you need further information, or have any requests, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly.

The table below shows some light usage plans with 12-36 month contracts. This is by no means an exhaustive list, an excellent resource for finding other plans is the Broadband Plan Finder at youcompare.com.au

As you can see, even that small selection of broadband plans is a lot of information to take in, if you are a light internet user as discussed above, sign up with a plan which allows you to change your usage, then monitor it closely for the first month – does it feel fast enough, how much of your data allowance have you used, and switch to a more suitable plan. I would suggest starting with a 1500kbps speed and as high a data allowance as your budget will allow, then switching to another plan level after you have monitored usage. If you do sign up for a plan with a relatively low data allowance which charges for excess data, monitor that very closely at first to make sure you do not get a surprisingly large bill.

Once you have decided what type of broadband plan to get, it is a relatively simple process of contacting your provider, telling them your phone number and they will arrange the setup. When signing up with a provider they will supply a piece of hardware called a modem or a modem/router if you need wireless within your home or have multiple computers. There will be a step by step guide on how to connect this hardware once your ADSL has been provided. For plan such as Telstra Bigpond Wireless, you can set the hardware up and be online the same day. ADSL lines generally take 7-10 business days to be organised but can take 3-20 days.

This article grew significantly as I was thinking through what information is helpful in getting started with broadband, so some parts were intentionally left out and oversimplified, if you would like additional information, please leave a comment or contact me directly. If it’s just the right amount of helpful information about broadband plans then I’d love to hear that too. If you require much more assistance I am happy to meet with you and take you to Broadband providers around Cairns to facilitate your broadband connection, I can also set up the hardware and test it once the ADSL line or wireless is activated.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!