Our ADSL nightmare!!!

[Guest spannaelephant]

We would like to share our experiences with you in our vain attempts to get ADSL internet service in the slimmest of chances someone may have a solution other than dial-up or costly Satellite or even worse, 3G wireless!! I’ll attempt to keep it short……

We moved into our property in Blakiston on the 25 May and transferred our Telstra services over from our former residence in the city on the grounds that Telstra stated all services including ADSL Bigpond would be supported, despite the fact the property was on a “pair gain system”. Bigpond immediately cancelled our service on the grounds that we were 200m beyond their 4km guaranteed limit from the exchange and promised it had nothing to do with the “pair gain system”. They even attempted to charge us the $300 cancellation fee!!

Although very skeptical of Bigpond’s response, we charged ahead with Adam Internet for almost 8 weeks, to be let down 5 times by Telstra notifying us we had been connected for ADSL, but when push came to shove, Telstra were just lying to us. We even had an engineer come out and test the ADSL filter installed on our Alarm system at our cost of $120, as Telstra blamed that for us failing to receive service. Eventually Adam threw in the towel, with a final statement from Telstra being that the only ports available at the Mount Barker exchange were faulty and they were not prepared to fix them. Ironically, 24 hours before Adam gave up, Bigpond phoned us stating we could now have broadband.

With this, we did not give up hope and tried again with Internode, used by the neighbors on our street. After 2 failed attempts, Internode gave up with the same response coming back from Telstra that no working ports were available at the exchange.

Having gone on for over 2 months, we contacted the Ombudsman and lodged a complaint at the way Telstra had treated us. This lead to us having to place a phone call to Telstra’s complaints department, who were to call us back within 10 working days. As you can guess, Telstra never returned the call. In the interim, we again applied on line for ADSL and was refused a week later on the grounds that “NO” ports existed at the exchange and Telstra were not installing any in the near term. Calls to the Ombudsman were useless as they did nothing, so never waste your time. As for Telstra, they again rang us offering ADSL Bigpond, but when I brought this up with their customer complaints they stated that our line was flagged as being unavailable for any “Internet” service. On asking them to clarify this, a week later they have informed us that it is because we are on a “pair gain” line.

What have we learnt from this:

1. Telstra continue to lie to all! One of their staff who shared our frustration informed us that their management has a “Don’t care’, “Get Stuffed” attitude to its customers.

2. The Ombudsman is as useless as a “wet piece of lettuce” in doing anything and Telstra’s just laughing at them, as they ignore the complaints.

3. According to Telstra’s own statement earlier, the approximate 200 residences being built in the Mount Barker & Littlehampton region a year (41 applications lodged in July 09 alone) will not have any internet support from the exchange. I’m skeptical of this, but maybe people who have moved into the region have also found this.

The only glimpse of any hope is the government will now pay for the Satellite Hardware for Internet, but we have the burden of $129.99 for less capacity than Bigpond offers for $79.99.

Good luck to all!

[bill]

Everything you say about Telstra is what everyone has been saying about them for years, and it's true. They are arrogant and anti-competition. You are right to avoid wireless broadband in the hills - the coverage is terrible according to the trials that I was involded in. I don't know enough about Naked DSL, but my daughter in Sheidow Park has it after failing to get ADSL through Internode and Adam. Dunno if naked needs the same hardware in the Exchange as ADSL, but it might be worth asking.

Welcome to Frustralia, and in particular Adelaide, where they build the houses before the infrastructure.

I know you're going to hate this, but Adam do dialup for $55 for a block of 50 hours - possibly of use while awaiting your satellite installation. I have found that if you turn off Windows Automatic Updates and your antivirus automatic updates, it's tolerable. Just make sure that you manually update both once a week when you don't want to use the internet for anything else (because you won't be able to!). Of course, as always in Adelaide, there's a caveat - when I had pair gain, the dialup was slow too!

I'm surprised about the ombudsman thing. They sorted out AAPT for me 2 years ago - that's another bunch to avoid in my opinion.

Good luck with it all

[orrelljet]

If you're 4.2Km from the Exchange then there should be a number of providers out there that may be able to offer you "standard" ADSL; most will not offer after 4.5Km so it sounds like you may not have been given an accurate distance from the exchange.

 

Naked ADSL (all forms) is a new-ish product over here that eliminates the landline phone and gives you straight ADSL, with or without an accompanying VOIP (voice over ip) service. For those who are way beyond the 4.5km barrier there's only really one decent option...Internode's Naked Extreme service.

 

The Naked Extreme service is classed as ADSL2+ (annex L or Re-ADSL) but the likelihood of seeing anywhere near even 20% of the maximum 24Mbit speed is remote, if you're as far from the exchange as most of those with the service. We live in Hallett Cove and sit 6.6Km from the Exchange: Naked Extreme saved our bacon. We may have lost our landline but we now have 2.5Mbit and a skype phone.

 

The one thing that is required is for Internode to have their own hardware at your nearest exchange (see below):

 

https://secure.internode.on.net/webtools/dsl-coverage-table?carrier=AgileNaked

 

If you do sign up, please mention my username (orrell).

 

The only other alternatives would either be wireless (usb key) or, as you've already pointed out, Satellite. Try the wireless service on a strict sale or return, if possible, as it's not the most reliable of connections. Some friends in HC tried wireless (rubbish) and found satellite too costly. They are in the throes of trying for the same thing we have, and sit 6.8Km from the Reynella exchange, but I think they should be able to get it.

 

Justin.

[Guest redfoxy]

We had similar problems with netspace. Its the contracts that kill it too 2 and 3 years then you move and they cant supply the you are stuffed !!

Problem is lovely old adelaide is a little behind, we expect it to be like UK but its not !!

Plus it cost more ! although we first had a couple of problems with talktalk in the UK is is fantastic value for money, phone and broadband and international calls all for 20 pounds a month !

Still I would rather be here...

[orrelljet]

We had similar problems with netspace...

 

So did we, when we moved house in HC - I was assured by them that we could get ADSL at the new property. When it turned out we couldn't it ended up costing us money! Unbelievable!

 

Adelaide isn't too bad really. You need to remember how sparsely populated it is, compared to the UK - being 6 or 7Km from your exchange is almost unheard of in a residential area over there. We had the same feeling of stepping backwards in time when we came back to the UK, from Holland, in 2004; ADSL was a quarter of the speed and twice the price.

 

They will eventually get it right over her, although we may have to wait for "Fibre to the Home" before that happens.

 

J.

[Guest spannaelephant]

Justin,

 

Many thanks for your response. I have checked Internode Naked DSL and interestingly enough Mount Barker comes back as "Active - Limited or No Ports available". Unfortunately same old story and I do not see Telstra making any changes in the near term.

 

Looks like Satellite for the short term until something changes. At least the Govenment will pay for the equipment.

 

 

 

If you're 4.2Km from the Exchange then there should be a number of providers out there that may be able to offer you "standard" ADSL; most will not offer after 4.5Km so it sounds like you may not have been given an accurate distance from the exchange.

 

Naked ADSL (all forms) is a new-ish product over here that eliminates the landline phone and gives you straight ADSL, with or without an accompanying VOIP (voice over ip) service. For those who are way beyond the 4.5km barrier there's only really one decent option...Internode's Naked Extreme service.

 

The Naked Extreme service is classed as ADSL2+ (annex L or Re-ADSL) but the likelihood of seeing anywhere near even 20% of the maximum 24Mbit speed is remote, if you're as far from the exchange as most of those with the service. We live in Hallett Cove and sit 6.6Km from the Exchange: Naked Extreme saved our bacon. We may have lost our landline but we now have 2.5Mbit and a skype phone.

 

The one thing that is required is for Internode to have their own hardware at your nearest exchange (see below):

 

https://secure.internode.on.net/webtools/dsl-coverage-table?carrier=AgileNaked

 

If you do sign up, please mention my username (orrell).

 

The only other alternatives would either be wireless (usb key) or, as you've already pointed out, Satellite. Try the wireless service on a strict sale or return, if possible, as it's not the most reliable of connections. Some friends in HC tried wireless (rubbish) and found satellite too costly. They are in the throes of trying for the same thing we have, and sit 6.8Km from the Reynella exchange, but I think they should be able to get it.

 

Justin.

[Guest spannaelephant]

I agree. $50 for all Internet and Phone Calls in the UK was a god send. We appreciate the population is disperse here, but Telstra certainly has not embraced the Governments plan that 80% of the populus should have internet access. Bascially it's an "Up-yours" attitude, making BT look like an angel in comparison.

[Guest spannaelephant]

Fibre will never happen in our life time!! What amazes me is that speaking with work associates living in Metro Adelaide, they have pair-gain and the same issue, although the 3G network coverage is better.

[Guest spannaelephant]

Most definitely!! Looking forward to the summer. Won't be as hot as Saudi Arabia was, but certainly better then the UK....