Babes Best Look Before They Leap

The Age

Thursday March 15, 2007

David Flynn

Surf's up and the water is fine, but David Flynn cautions broadband noobs not to go the way of the Dodo.

WITH more than 3.9 million Australians enjoying high-speed internet access at home, compared with 2.75 million using dusty old dial-up, there's no doubt we're well into a broadband boom.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the number of broadband users has almost doubled in the past 18 months, while three out of five homes are now online.

It's not just about users moving from dial-up - with scores of internet service providers jostling for your attention, rock-bottom pricing has made broadband the choice for most first-time users.

That makes perfect sense in this age of streaming video services such as YouTube (youtube.com), personal blogging networks such as MySpace (myspace.com) and the illegal but far from uncommon practice of downloading the latest TV shows from the US rather than waiting for them to screen here.

Using VoIP services to make phone calls over the internet allows family members to share a net connection (especially when using notebooks with wireless networking).

Finally, there's the internet.

Whether it's slick email (especially to share your latest photos), researching and booking your next holiday or online banking and managing your finances, it's easier with broadband.

Many people stay on dial-up because they live in parts of the nation where phone lines can't be upgraded to carry asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) signals - the most common way to get broadband.

Fortunately, there are alternatives, which include wireless broadband from iBurst, Unwired and Telstra's Next G network. Compared to ADSL, they have a high surcharge for hardware and monthly costs and much slower speeds and lower download limits.

But for those who have access to high-speed ADSL, the prospect of going to broadband has never been brighter and the cost never cheaper.

"Entry-level broadband plans usually cost between $20 and $30 a month," says Phil Sweeney of independent Australian site Broadband Choice (broadbandchoice.com.au), part of the massive Whirlpool online community hub.

"Anything below that is generally not very good value, especially the very cheapest plans. These can be quite dangerous for first-timers who don't realise how much they'll end up using the internet and get charged excess fees."

A prime example of the catches and caveats that snare unwary shoppers is Dodo's $9.90 "fast broadband" scheme. This rate assumes you'll bundle your landline phone calls through Dodo, otherwise the price jumps to $19.90.

"Look out for cheap broadband, especially look out for $10 plans, as there are always hidden catches," Mr Sweeney says.

"It may sound like you're getting dial-up pricing for broadband, but the download limit will be very low.

"An ISP would not sell broadband for $10 per month if they weren't going to make a profit out of it, and I can assure you that they do not make a profit out of a $10 plan - they make their profit on the extras and excess fees when people go over their download limit."

The connection speed is 256 Kbps, nearly five times faster than dial-up but as slow as you'd want to go - and certainly as slow as the "broadband" moniker allows.

The trap is that users can download only a minuscule 150 MB a month, and only 100 MB of that in what Dodo terms the "peak" hours outside 1am to 9am. You will chew through this allocation just by keeping your software up to date, let alone sending or receiving emails with photo attachments or downloading files.

"A lot of people think that a download limit applies only when you download a file, but it includes every bit of information that's coming from the internet onto your PC," Mr Sweeney says. "Email, web pages, watching a video, automatic updates for software - everything is counted."

Once past that 100 MB peak allowance, Dodo hits customers with an excess usage fee of 18 cents a megabyte (counting sent email as well as downloads in the tally) up to the plan's limit of $99, which is about 550 MB - barely adequate for any broadband beginner.

After that, the line speed is cut back to 64 Kbps (a little faster than dial-up) until the next month kicks in and the meter resets.

Finally, the set-up fees are $50 to $150 and lock you into a contract with Dodo for up to three years.

COMPARE this with the "starter" plans of popular ISPs such as iiNet, Internode, Netspace and Westnet. These average $40 for 512 Kbps with at least 1 GB of downloads, and the speed is reduced to about 60 Kbps if you exceed that allocation, so there are no unexpected charges at the end of the month.

We'd rate Internode's $40-a-month Home Starter plan as one of the best deals for net novices, as it provides a generous 8 GB of downloads around the clock. And if you go shopping with the maximum $99 a month, which you'd almost certainly find yourself spending on the Dodo plan, you'll find other ISPs can set you up with a super-fast line that can handle up to 8 Mbps in ideal conditions (although real-world performance varies) and 40 GB of downloads a month.

The lesson: don't look at the initial price tag. Consider the deal, do your homework and shop around. Any deal that sounds too good to be true usually is.

It's understandably difficult for a broadband beginner to know how much of a download allowance is enough, says Adam Davies, managing director of ISP comparison site Broadband Guide (broadbandguide.com.au).

"If you come from dial-up you really won't have a concept of how much more you would use the internet when you have that fast and stable connection - 200 MB certainly doesn't go a long way for downloading but it could suit people who just want email, like my own parents (who) have just retired and pretty much use the internet just for email."

However, it's wise to have a little extra download capacity up your sleeve. Mr Sweeney and Mr Davies agree that 2 GB of downloads is a good starting point that gives a taste of streaming content such as YouTube. Mr Davies says that families should aim for at least 10 GB or 20 GB, "if the kids are into downloading and online media".

The super-sized download serves are partnered with the fastest accounts, such as an 8 Mbps ADSL line or turbocharged ADSL2+ services, which push the red line all the way to 24 Mbps (although real-world speeds hover about the 10 to 15 Mbps mark). ADSL2+ uses the same phone lines but needs the local phone exchange to be upgraded, which is why not all ADSL users can upgrade to ADSL2+.

One of the ironies of ADSL2+ is it can often be cheaper than ADSL because some larger ISPs have their own digital hubs and broadband backbones to bypass Telstra's network almost completely.

For instance, Internode's Agile network enables the ISP to assemble a 20 GB a month ADSL2+ plan for $60 - $20 a month less than the equivalent ADSL plan.

THE high speed of ADSL2+ makes it the best choice for families who share the internet.

Every user in the house can be online at the same time without the connection slowing to a crawl - just be sure to choose a plan with a sufficiently large monthly download limit to allow for your kids' downloading habits.

Broadband Choice's Phil Sweeney says that while a family-minded broadband plan will normally include a unique email address for each member, it's better not to use the email addresses provided by the ISP.

"Once you start using that and handing it out to all your friends, you're locked in to that address, which also means you're locked into that ISP - unlike a mobile phone number, you can't take the address with you if you change providers.

"There are plenty of free email accounts available, like Google's Gmail, Microsoft Hotmail and Yahoo.

"You can even get your own domain name if you're a power user. Either way, you won't have to worry about losing your old email address if you change ISPs in the future to get an even better deal."

Bundle for a bargain

SOME of the hottest broadband deals involve "bundling" your regular phone or a VoIP service (and, in some cases, both landline and VoIP) with the broadband connection. The ISP assumes responsibility for your phone connection and combines this with your other services for a lower package rate.

"The monthly price can be discounted quite substantially, sometimes 20 per cent, by bundling a broadband connection with your existing home phone," says Broadband Guide's Adam Davies.

It's not just lower monthly prices that bring in the customers. Some ISPs have additional incentives such as a higher download limit, although the extra capacity may be restricted to off-peak periods.

Phil Sweeney of Broadband Choice says bundling makes sense for some customers, but adds: "It's important to look at the total cost of everything all added together, then compare to your other options, and to other ISPS.

"An ISP may suggest you're making a significant saving on your bill, but for all you know the price is expensive to start with, so are you really gaining a discount?"

Some ISPs limit connection speeds to users who don't bundle - for example, iiNet pegs all ADSL2+ customers to 3Mbps unless they add a VoIP or landline service, which then unlocks the connection to its full 24Mbps ceiling.

You should also check call connection fees and line rentals, plus, for non-VoIP landlines, the per-minute tariffs for dialling mobile, long-distance and overseas numbers.

If the big picture doesn't look as if it's in your favour, cross bundling off your list and set your sights on the best deal you can get with a non-bundled broadband service. -- DAVID FLYNN

© 2007 The Age

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