Have envied Melbourne for some time due to their access to 100Mb Cable service where available and became very interested in December 2011 when reading a press release that the 100Mb plans were to be released in other cities including Sydney very soon.
Decided to check what the status was in the second week of January 2012 and realised it was already available!
Called up right away to organise switching from an existing Bigpond Cable Liberty Elite 50Gb per month plan @ $69.95 with an associated additional Telstra service (copper POTS land line @$22.95pm) [total $92.90 pm] to the new Bigpond Cable Ultimate 200 Gb per month for 24 months including line rental.
Ran the postcode check which returned the following;
Congratulations – this offer may be available in your area.
Please call 1800 330 192, the offer ends on 27 February 2012.
BigPond Cable Broadband Bundle Deal – Save $10 a month Offer
Save $10 per month on the Telstra Complete Home™ Saver 200GB Bundle in SELECTED AREAS
Limited time only: ENDS ON 27th February 2011
- 200GB FOR $78/MTH FOR 24 MONTHS INCLUDING LINE RENTAL
- No peak/off peak restrictions
- Ultra fast, reliable cable broadband
- Professionally installed Home Network Gateway modem if you don't already have one. Existing BigPond Cable customers may need to purchase a new Home Network Gateway for $149 to access Ultimate Cable speeds
- 24/7 BigPond Technical Support (133 933 or online)
- Bundled services all on a Single Bill
Offer available in BigPond® Cable areas to new customers and customers with a 13-digit account number who take up a new Bundle. Existing Bundle customers are not eligible.
| Bundle monthly price (for 24 months) | $88.00 |
| Home phone plan | HomeLine® Budget |
| Usage allowance | 200GB |
| Discounted monthly bundle price (for 24 months) | $78.00 |
| Minimum cost for 24 months – including new Home Network Gateway for existing BigPond Cable customers upgrading to Ultimate Cable | $2,021 (plus usage and $9.95 delivery) |
Things you need to know
The BigPond Cable Broadband Bundle Deal – Save $10 per month offer is available in BigPond Cable areas and includes $10 monthly discount on the Telstra Complete Home Saver 200GB Bundle. The discount will be removed if you cancel your bundle or your bundle ends.
Usage means monthly combined upload and download data transfer. 1 Gigabyte = 1,000 Megabytes. Unused usage allowance expires each month.
This plan requires paperless billing and electronic payment. This involves receiving an Email Bill or accessing your bill Online and paying your bill via Direct Debit, BPAY, telstra.com, over the phone, Centrepay or with a Bill Assistance Certificate. Paper billing and/or non-electronic payment options are available for a $2 (including GST) fee which will be applied a month in arrears if you receive a paper bill and/or make a bill payment in person or via mail. Some exemptions apply. To set up Email Bill, visit telstra.com.au/emailbill. To set up Direct Debit or for information on other bill payment options, visit telstra.com.au/billpay
Great lets get this 100MB!!!
This task took several phone calls and a bit of time but finally it was confirmed that everything was set up and the required modem router for an additional $149.00 was on the way. Waited another couple of days then started checking the post box = nothing arrived.
Had already been checking the account status online everyday but still no change.
Phoned Telstra after a week to check the order was locked in and under-way and was assured in no uncertain terms that it was and would be around a week to complete.
Nothing.
Posted this on the Telstra Crowd "Support" forums after a week had passed;
"Is there an average time frame for existing customers on Cable Elite to be switched over after applying? We made an application to switch from Elite to Ultimate 8 days ago and still no modem or any changes or updates in "My Bigpond".
Noticed elsewhere on these forums that others receive modems in 3 days.Is there an average time frame for existing customers on Cable Elite to be switched over after applying? We made an application to switch from Elite to Ultimate 8 days ago and still no modem or any changes or updates in "My Bigpond".
Have phoned to check if the switch is actually under-way and told it is in the system but there are "problems with the way the first person started to set up the switch". Was given an estimate of about a week but could not find out if that was from the time of last call or from initial switch application. Due to the multiple phone calls and internal call transfers required to get the switch from Elite to Ultimate under-way last week I just have a feeling that there may be nothing happening?"
Nothing...
Posted this on the Telstra Crowd "Support" forum the following week;
"As I feared.
- Applied to upgrade from $69.95 per month BP Elite Liberty 50GB Cable on the 11/01/2012 = several phone calls
- The new ultimate plan is to be $78.00 per month for 24 months including 200GB per month and HomeLine Budget
- A new home Gateway is meant to be supplied for $149.00
- Rang Telstra to enquire a week later on the 17th or 18th to check the switch order is still under-way and told a week approx.
- Now recieved a new bill generated last week on the 18th as follows:
- HomeLine Budget $22.95
- Bigpond Elite Liberty 50GB Cable 11 Jan to 13 Jan $7.737 (3 days)
- Bigpond Elite Liberty 50GB Cable 14 Jan to 13 Feb $79.95 (31 days)
- Bigpond Usage 0 MB $0.00
- Bigpond Full Service Fixed Phone Credit - 11 Jan to 13 Jan $10.968 (nice ratio for 3 days!)
- Total new charges $99.669
So basically been charged for the next month at the old plan/s rate, no new modem has been sent out and the plan details online are still the old plan.
Would there be any Telstra reps on these forums who might be able to sort this out. From this end all that seems to have been done is bundle the phone and cable on the one bill?"
Nothing...
Phoned Telstra the next morning and subsequently responded to self on the Telstra Crowd "Support" forum;
"Shall respond to myself then..
Made another call to Telstra today spanning 23 minutes 32 seconds.
This now totals 93 minutes and 17 seconds across 6 separate phone calls.
Telstra person confirmed the switch had not been set up.
Telstra person informed me the Bigpond Cable Ultimate Plan required a professional install due to the "new technology".
After the Telstra person was told that was not correct and that I had been required to organise the cabling myself after the last "professional install" they went away to check, placing me on hold.
Returned and confirmed professional install not required and proceeded to set up the switch that was started 13 days ago, and confirmed that it was actually under-way.
Another Telstra person had confirmed the switch was definitely under-way 7 days ago???
Now... Drum roll the online Bigpond account status states when a plan change is attempted:
"You're scheduled to change to another plan on 24 Jan 2012. Now that it's scheduled, you can't cancel or modify this change but if this plan isn't right, you can change to another plan during your next bill period which starts on 09 Feb 2012." "
93 minutes on the phone so far. Really hope this 100MB will catch up that lost time. Every other telco and isp I have dealt with Do Not want you to call them. I have dealt with at least 20 other ISP's and Telcos and never had to waste a second on the phone talking to them or on HOLD or answering stupid performance questions after the call. Who is the idiot that thought post phone call performance questions up? I even hung up before completing one of the post call performance surveys and I was called the next day to complete it! I worked over 17 hours yesterday and do not doubt earned way less than a Telstra call centre operator. I wasted 1.552833333 hours this month already on the phone simply trying to switch an existing Bigpond Cable Liberty Elite plan to the Ultimate Plan?
Comments
Default Netgear Password
The default login for most Netgear routers I have encountered is "admin" in the user field and "password" is the password.
At least change the password and bear in mind that the versions loaded with Bigpond firmware are currently failing to accept passwords with special characters.
Speed Tests
Typical Bigpond cable liberty speed test results.
Good stats!
Typical good ADSL2 connection by comparison that is around 1300 metres from exchange.
Still No Upgrade
Recieved a letter from Telstra today welcoming us to our new bundle. Here is the problem with this.
..
Time Wasted
Update the time wasted trying to organise services from Telstra to more than 3 hours this month now
Every time I have had a Telstra "bundled deal" it has been a nightmare of incorrect billing mistakes and have wasted hours each month on the phone.
Was finally lured back into a bundle deal simply for the 3.0 speed and the karma has been negative from the start and has degraded further with almost every interaction.
Being placed on hold for over 30 minutes by Telstra call centre person and then disconnected after they argued about what is advertised on official Telstra sites is simply rude and immature.
If it was going to be a month OK. 3 months and $200 OK. a year and $375 no problem. About a week evertime you call and then nothing and 3 hours on the phone over the 3 weeks with each time returning to "START" begins to get really annoying, which makes me very determined!.
Calling Date Calling
Date
From
To
(AUD)
Meanwhile
2012-02-01 18:52:12
What does this mean?
Last 58 minutes wasted
Finally started discussing these issues with Telstra reps on the Telstra Crowd Support forums later last night and today.
It seems that both the 58 minute phone call and the 22 minute phone call last night only made things even worse and we were moved to a 5 Gig plan!
Hopefully it is all fixed this time and we will have the new modem and plan in the next week or so.
Sorted By Crowd Support
spoke with Telstra crowd support on Thursday who looked into these issues cancelled all the correct orders that had been input previously and set up the order correctly. Australia Post attempted to deliver the modem the very next day on Friday. At a couple of days delay plus the weekend with the card coming from the post office receive the modem on Tuesday.
Nice speed although the Netgear wireless cable voice Gateway CG3100 modem router is a little disappointing in that the Telstra Bigpond installed firmware does not seem to include VoIP settings even though there are two VoIP ports and the Netgear product information specification indicates two VoIP ports. I have seen other Telstra big Pond cable modems suitable for liberty plans that include VoIP. The other thing is noticeable at this stage is a reboot of the modem seems to take a long time before service is restored. at this stage I think additional Routers with the functionality that is required will be parked behind the netgear for added security and functionality.