Hi Marg
Thanks for your reply. I might look at the Ultimate as only I use a computer so not necessary to gateway.
Will let you know how I go.
Thanks
Barb

Marg, we are having to update our phone ( 2 yr contract expired) and I was wondering what sort of phone you use? We have been on the road 3 years and are on Telstra next g, but hear so much about iphones dont know if it would but suitable or just a basic that receives good coverage would be the go, Love reading your blogs, are you still going to be on when your trip around has finished,

It would be good if we had a home, but our home is our caravan and on the road so sounds as though you need a home to get this discount is this correst

dream4red wrote:Hi Marg,I am currently using an elite bigpond usb modem stick with a NetComm router to feed to my 2 desktops with absolutley no issues whatever, I believe that NetComm do make routers suitable for using totally wirelessly with the bigpond stick. Research is all that’s needed and you too can escape from extra contracts with telstra. We only pay for the stick on our home phone account as it just unplugs and goes to the laptop for travelling, no dramas.Telstra have told me that the latest Ultimate stick will only give improved speeds in capital cities, this one is fast enough for most areas without the extra cost!
I hope this is useful for you, Deborah

Thanks Deborah!

Our current modem is playing up (I discovered that we bought it in Feb 2009, so after 2 years we’re probably due a new one) so we’ll be looking carefully to see what the best buy will be.

The most annoying thing with Telstra is that if you go for a different option you can’t take your existing Telstra email address with you. Not that this really matters any more: we’ve been using Gmail for quite a while now, so we can forget BigPond usernames.

Cheers
Marg

lynley.des wrote:Marg, we are having to update our phone ( 2 yr contract expired) and I was wondering what sort of phone you use? We have been on the road 3 years and are on Telstra next g, but hear so much about iphones dont know if it would but suitable or just a basic that receives good coverage would be the go, Love reading your blogs, are you still going to be on when your trip around has finished,

Hi Lynley (or Des, or both!)

I’ve been using a Samsung Galaxy S since January this year and I love it. In fact, I’ve finally persuaded Rob to convert as well (he resisted the idea of a touch phone for ages, but I think he’s coming around…)

I could have opted for the iPhone 4 instead of the Samsung, but a lot of people I knew had decided on a Samsung instead of an iPhone, and others had even switched. I tend to text people more than phone them, so I recently (last week) switched to one of the new plans that offers unlimited text messages. (It’s the Telstra $59 plan, if you’re interested… you can get a Galaxy S with the plan.) And my favourite feature with the Galaxy is “Swype” texting… it’s super fast and efficient; you just swipe from one letter to another on the virtual keyboard rather than tap it out letter by letter. It still offers various options if more than one word fits. (The iPhone doesn’t have this type of texting as yet.)

Whatever phone we chose we decided it had to be NextG for travel, so we only looked at what was on offer from Telstra.

The choice of phone is a very individual thing; have a good look at what’s available before you make your choice!

Re. the blog: the C&M blog is timed to coincide with the release of the magazine and DVD, so it’s actually several months behind where we are now. I’ve sent in all posts up to and including those related to the last leg of our trip, so there’ll be a few more blog posts for you to read yet about our trips!

However, Rob and I also have a personal blog which we will keep updated both when we’re on the road and off it. (We’re home now, and will be for some time while we decide what to do with the house etc.) After all, regardless of whether they’re on the road or between trips, caravanners never seem to stop talking about and thinking about caravanning!

You can see our other blog here: http://www.margandrobcaravanning.com (I’ve been trying to add this to our signature but I don’t seem to be having any luck. Must be doing something wrong…???)

EDIT: Oh, just figured it out… you have to click the ‘attach a signature’ box below the post!!!

Cheers
Marg

lynley.des wrote:Marg, we are having to update our phone ( 2 yr contract expired).

Did you really mean to say ‘have to’ update? Just because a contract expires should not force you to get another contract. You own your phone.

I bought a Telstra nextG Samsung A412 on a 2 year contract. It was $20 a month with $15 worth of calls included. When the contract expired I rang and complained about why I was still paying $20 a month. They immediately offered me a monthly credit of $5 and increased the included calls/text to $20 so now it costs $15 a month and no contract.

I chose the Samsung A412 (blue ticked) for its inherent long range, plus a direct-connect socket for an external antenna. A few months ago I bought 2 new A412s on Ebay as spares.

Be careful about some newer iphone plans. You may lose your free hour and that is a valuable feature. We very rarely make any lengthy calls outside of it.

Rob & Marg,
My wife Christine and I enjoy your video’s that we get with the magazine. We have just recently purchased a 15′ caravan and I am renovating it for short trips and maybe expand further. We both have a laptop each and have Telstra Bigpond Elite Next G Wireless Broadband. Have you had any major problems on your trip around Australia with reception to access the internet. The reason I ask is I have a website that is “Proudly Promoting Australia” called austravelonline.com The website (building it now) will contain all attractions around Australia. I will be also posting my landscape photos for holiday makers to enjoy them and send to them for free if required. We will also be posting videos and tours that we have experienced. We can update the website on the road but wanted to check if any reception problems on your trip so far?
Chris and Christine Grant

chrisg wrote:Rob & Marg, My wife Christine and I enjoy your video’s that we get with the magazine. We have just recently purchased a 15′ caravan and I am renovating it for short trips and maybe expand further. We both have a laptop each and have Telstra Bigpond Elite Next G Wireless Broadband. Have you had any major problems on your trip around Australia with reception to access the internet. The reason I ask is I have a website that is “Proudly Promoting Australia” called austravelonline.com The website (building it now) will contain all attractions around Australia. I will be also posting my landscape photos for holiday makers to enjoy them and send to them for free if required. We will also be posting videos and tours that we have experienced. We can update the website on the road but wanted to check if any reception problems on your trip so far? Chris and Christine Grant

Hi Chris & Christine,

Your website looks great! You’ve already done a lot of work on it. We’ll be looking forward to seeing your landscape photos – we’ve bookmarked your site.

We found the NextG coverage very good all the way around; there are occasional black spots, and portions of road without coverage when you get into fairly isolated country areas, but overall we were pretty happy with it. I can remember getting to Turkey Creek (Warmun) and being absolutely stunned to find I had 5 bars signal strength – I was expecting none! (Not sure if it had anything to do with the Warmun Art Centre (small aboriginal community) being just up the road, but I was chuffed.)

Quite a lot of the time I neeeded to upload large files (audio or hi-res photos) for Caravan & Motorhome – some close to 100 mb – and rarely had a problem. I used YouSendIt for large files (the free version). I don’t think you should have any problems uploading your videos.

Have a great time! Bet you can’t wait to sest off.

Cheers
Marg & Rob

Old Techo wrote:

lynley.des wrote:Marg, we are having to update our phone ( 2 yr contract expired).

Did you really mean to say ‘have to’ update? Just because a contract expires should not force you to get another contract. You own your phone.

I bought a Telstra nextG Samsung A412 on a 2 year contract. It was $20 a month with $15 worth of calls included. When the contract expired I rang and complained about why I was still paying $20 a month. They immediately offered me a monthly credit of $5 and increased the included calls/text to $20 so now it costs $15 a month and no contract.

I chose the Samsung A412 (blue ticked) for its inherent long range, plus a direct-connect socket for an external antenna. A few months ago I bought 2 new A412s on Ebay as spares.

Be careful about some newer iphone plans. You may lose your free hour and that is a valuable feature. We very rarely make any lengthy calls outside of it.

I agree and an Iphone is really a city yuppy phone, like some salesmen Very flash without much substance and doesnt deliver whats promised.
Out of my two phones an Iphone 3 32gig and a Nokia 6120 the Nokia anytime gets signal where the Iphone doesnt and doesnt drop out as much in fringe areas.
Another plus they are $70 ATM against more than 10 times the price for an Iphone 4