| Internet Choice- Frequently Asked Questions
Broadband FAQ's
What is Broadband?
What is ADSL?
What is Cable?
What is Wireless?
What is ADSL2+?
What are the benefits of broadband over Dialup?
What if I don't use my home phone for calls? Do I have to keep my telephone line?
How can I find out if ADSL is available to me?
What are downloads? How do I know how much I will use?
What is bundling?
VOIP FAQ's
What is VoIP?
What will I need to use VoIP?
What is the line quality like?
What are the advantages and disadvantages?
How do I set up VoIP?
What is Direct In Dial (DID)?
What is Broadband?
Broadband offers you the benefit of using internet AND voice services on the same line, at the same time, without any time-based internet charges OR internet related local call charges. Broadband in Australia is generally broken down into three types- ADSL, ADSL2+, Cable and Wireless.
What is ADSL?
ADSL in simple terms, is High Speed Internet. ADSL is the most common form of broadband found in the home and is most likely the type of interet you require.
What is Cable?
Cable broadband operates over the pay TV fibre optic networks installed throughout metropolitan areas. If you can access "cable" television in your area, most likely you can access cable internet. Cable internet is currently only offered by Bigpond and Optus.
What is Wireless?
Wireless internet is broadband internet access that doesn't use a telephone line or cable network. You connect to the internet using radio frequency bands.
A wireless service lets you access the internet when you're away from home or out of the office.
What is ADSL2+?
ADSL2+ is a broadband technology developed to supersede ADSL and can allow speeds of up to 24,000kbps. ADSL2+ allows users to download more things faster and allow use of using your internet connection for telephone use (VoIP).
Things to note when selecting ADSL2+ is the actual speed you will receive. ADSL2+ allows speeds of up to 24,000kbps but also as low as 1,500kbps and your actual speed will depend on different factors including distance from your local exchange, age of phone line and interference on the line.
What are the benefits of broadband over Dialup?
- Always available
- No dialup costs
- up to XXX times faster
- reduces call costs
- Ability to use VOIP for making telephone calls (see VOIP section)
What if I don't use my home phone for calls? Do I have to keep my telephone line?
For most Australian's ADSL broadband is their only option and if this is the case, you will still be required to have an active phone line. If you only require your ADSL broadband connection to be connected, we recommend looking into Telstra's HomeLine Budget plan for $19.95 per month.
How can I find out if ADSL is available to me?
To check to see if ADSL Broadband is available to use click here.
What are downloads? How do I know how much I will use?
Download quota will depend on how much time you think you will spend on the web. You can use the table below as an indicative guide for average usage.
Please note that this is designed as a guide only, this will vary according to the size of the website, files sizes, MP3 recording quality etc.
| Usage/ month |
Receive emails |
Surf the Internet |
Download images |
Download Music files |
Download small video clips |
| 300 MB |
10 per week |
10 hours per week |
30 pics per month |
5-10 per month |
1-2 per month |
| 10Gb - 20Gb |
50-100 per week |
15-25 hours per week |
200-500 per month |
50-200 per month |
5-10 per month |
| 30Gb - 60Gb |
100-200
per week |
25-35
per week |
50-1000
per month |
200-400
per month |
10-30
per month |
Dependent on plan speed- faster plans will allow you to download movies and music as well as play online games more quickly and easily than slower plans.
Light plans cater to those who use the Internet for basic tasks, like checking email or sports scores.
Medium plans let customers download much more content, including music and movies. Medium plan customers can also take advantage of online gaming.
Heavy plans are ideal for those who plan on downloading high volumes of music, programs, movies and anything else you desire.
What is bundling?
Some ISP's offer discounts to customers who connect both their broadband and telephone service with them. Other benefits of bundling include multiple services (eg. Telephone, Broadband, Mobile, etc) being billed one bill.
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What is VoIP?
VoIP is just another, cheaper way for you to speak to people all over the world. In the past, the "plain old telephone system" (POTS) was the only way to carry your voice across wires and cables to the person you were speaking to. However, now many people have broadband (fast) internet which is connected all the time. Since you can get webpages from around the world at no extra cost, it was inevitable that at some point people would start using the internet to talk to their friends instead of the POTS and in doing so, save a lot of money.
What will I need to use VoIP?
If you are wanting to start using VoIP to save money on your phone calls and you make a lot of national or international phone calls, what you require is very simple:
What is the line quality like?
There can be lots of reasons for poor VoIP call quality. Here's a few of them.
Poor call quality is not usually the fault of the VoIP service provider (VSP), although it can be. Lets not forget that for VoIP to VoIP calls that if you connect via a VSP that the rest of the call is not routed through their network. For calls to PSTN numbers (regular landline and mobile numbers) the quality of the PSTN leg, wherever that might be routed through and end up, is not within the control of the VSP, unless they have chosen to route/terminate their calls via an unreliable telco.
There are other issues which can affect the quality of a VoIP call:
1. The quality/latency of your connection to the web, which is down to your choice of ISP. (VoIP over a non-line of sight, non-WiFi hotspot, broadband wireless connection can have the same issues as VoIP over any other type of connection, as well as particular issues that are mentioned in point 9.)
2. The quality/latency of the other person's connection to the web if you are doing VoIP to VoIP, which is down to their choice of ISP.
Advantages and Disadvantages
The saving cwith VoIP are quite significant. For example, a intercity call in say Melbourne costs between 20-35 cents depending on your carrier, but could be as low as 10 cents with VoIP. But the real savings come with your national/ STD calls. Many telephone provides offer a capped STD call at 2 or 3 dollars. The majority of VoIP providers offer capped national/ STD calls from around 10- 20 cents per call! So just from one call, you can already see big savings on your phone bill!
The major problem with VoIP is that emergency numbers such as 000 are not always supported with VoIP services and a broadband service/router is in some way less reliable than the regular land line. Also if for instance your broadband connection is not working for any reason, you will not be able receive or make any phone calls with your VoIP service.
Setup
You will require hardware if you wish to use a normal phone, or software if you wish to use headphones with a microphone. If you have ADSL, you will still be required to pay the monthly phone line rental fees, however if you have cable internet, you do not have to unless you want to use the standard (E.g. Telstra) line still.
What is Direct In Dial (DID)?
A DID is a telephone number which maps directly onto your voip account. For example if you have a DID in Sydney, you would have a real Sydney number such as (02)-1234-5678. When someone calls this number from any phone, your VOIP phone would ring- just like your ordinary home phone.
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