Arriving in Australia and Mobile Phone Plans Advice

[aliogilvie]

Hello all

 

Well we did it - went and made the jump! Landed in Melbourne Weds night (here for a wedding before driving the GOR down to Adelaide).

 

Sorted out our bank accounts today (spoke with the manager of one of the Melbourne CBD branches of Westpac who was from Adelaide and had a real downer on it - would never go back apparently - does not alter our opinions though!) and off to enjoy the comedy festival tonight. The last few weeks have been utterly manic and I don't think any of this is going to sink in for a while. Glad we are spending a week driving down in our own time, just the two of us as we need the headspace.

 

Anyway - a question about mobile sim packages as from the websites the big ones (Virgin, Vodafone and Testra) seem to offer much of a muchness as regards sim only deals (I have an unlocked iPhone 4 I intend to use). I just wondered whether any of you have any opinions on which is the best to get for use in Adelaide - whether there are any data/coverage issues which I should be aware of etc?

 

Any advice much appreciated, as ever.

 

Ali x

[Diane]

Depends where you will be using it - we are with vodafone which is ok ans has some good deals, but if you are going to be rural at all you will probably have to go with the dreaded Telstra. They are bloomin' expensive though!!

[Toni]

Yep I use Vodaphone too and they seem ok - I never go over my limit. But they are not good in remote areas. I've been to parts of the Flinders Ranges and can't get coverage - not that I mind because I am holiday but my friend who is on Telstra gets good coverage in those areas. As Diane says though Telstra is expensive - I used them previously and their plans don't seem to stretch as far.

[xzibit]

I'm with telstra. Only network with decent lte coverage around here.

[Mr Technical]

I'm with telstra. Only network with decent lte coverage around here.

 

The iPhone 4 can't use LTE.

[xzibit]

I know.

[Mr Technical]

I have owned an iPhone 3G, 4 and currently own a 5 and have always been with Virgin and have had no problems. In fact they sent me 3 free bottles of wine for being a good customer, so I can't say anything bad about them now! I get free text messages and phone calls to other Virgin users (on contract). It uses the Optus network which isn't bad but as others have said is not as good as Telstra, but I am happy with the coverage I get.

[Mr Technical]

I know.

 

Just thought it was worth mentioning as Ali says she has an iPhone 4 and info might be helpful to others.

[Ging]

Try a Woolworths sim, on optus network, $29 for 45 days, $500 of calls texts and 5 gb of data

[aliogilvie]

Try a Woolworths sim, on optus network, $29 for 45 days, $500 of calls texts and 5 gb of data

 

Ooh, that sounds pretty good! Thanks