Wifi/internet access while travelling

[greynt]

Hi all,

Hoping for the brains trust to help out in relation to internet access whilst travelling.
We are planning a trip up the centre and across to WA, and figure that we need inet access.
I am by no means tech savvy, so was hoping for some help or experience in what to do.
We are with telstra with our phone but only get 1 gig per month, so don't know if to pay more or get a prepaid dongle thingo?

Help please!!

Cheers
greynt

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Ho @greynt, of all of the telco's Telstra is the best as far a coverage goes.

You have a couple of options, you
can use your phone as a wifi hot spot, but you would undoubtedly need to increase your 1Gb limit.

The other thing you can do, and the way I would recommend would be to purchase a prepaid wifi hotspot.

You can get a 4G capable hotspot that can run up to 10 different devices, and being prepaid you can just top it up as needed.

We just top up the prepaid balance before we set off on a trip. We also have a prepaid satellite phone that we top up as well.

 

[jacbaz]

Watching this!

 

[acmackie]

I'm planning to get the $100 prepaid data sim from Telstra. It comes with 10gb data and lasts 3 months. My car has a sim card slot and creates a WiFi point. If it doesn't reach into the caravan then I'll take it out and put it into my phone and hotspot from that for the wifes phone and the Tab. I really hope the WiFi reaches from the car because I don't want to stuff around with moving sim card in and out of the car.

 

[dagree]

Agree with @Bellbirdweb in regard to the Telstra 4G hotspot (Prepaid wifi modem). We used to use the 3G one with no issues apart from a few drop outs when in an isolated area. Went the 4G option in January and so far no worries with the 4G yet.

$200 for 12 months and 12GB. Unused credit rolls over if topped up prior to running out of time.
Also good to keep connected at home if/WHEN Bigpond or power drops out

Only downside is if Mrs Dagree and I go separate ways for a day I have to use the phone as a hotspot....... She NEEDS her face-ache and gaming fix

 

[Bellbirdweb]

I'm planning to get the $100 prepaid data sim from Telstra. It comes with 10gb data and lasts 3 months. My car has a sim card slot and creates a WiFi point. If it doesn't reach into the caravan then I'll take it out and put it into my phone and hotspot from that for the wifes phone and the Tab. I really hope the WiFi reaches from the car because I don't want to stuff around with moving sim card in and out of the car.

Does the car also have an external antenna ?

If it does it may help with wifi range

Out of interest is that a standard feature or an aftermarket accessory that is giving you that capability ?

I know many cars have introduced the ability to use a phone to talk back to base, but haven't seen one that takes its own SIM yet (although heard David Thodey from Telstra at a function last week telling us that he saw cars at CES in LaVegas that had up to 3 SIM's on board)

 

[Drover]

Just make sure you get a WiFi hot spot that has an external aerial connection as you may want to get an external aerial for it to get better signal.
You do need to get an aerial that is for the frequencies your telco transmits on and the little aerials that are around are rubbish by the way, someone like Jaycar be more help than a phone shop. Ebay also has some great sounding antennae and it has been reported thats all they are.
Our main internet at home and on road is a WiFi hotspot so have built aerials to make it work better.

Also using WiFi on the road make sure you shut down all automatic updates on your computer or you will use up valuable data on garbage, it also helps to check your email on the server not to download it as people send some big files which are just like spam.

 

[davemc]

use my phone hotspot.. kills battery.. we both added a few gig when up in Gold Coast although kept them since so pay each month.. Yes facebook chews a lot.. prob me looking here a few times a day does as well

 

[acmackie]

@Bellbirdweb I'm not sure the full details yet. I think it was included in the "tech" pac option. I've not yet seen my car as I bought it a couple of weeks back and I only arrive in Australia in another 3 1/2 weeks. If the WiFi range is no good I might look at the 4g modem things to carry with us.

 

[mfexpanda]

We have now a Telstra prepaid 4g wifi modem and it's about the best you can get for coverage there's still a lot of places it won't work but it's better than the other carriers .
I use to have Virgin wifi modem and they use the Optus network and honestly I would have been better using 2 cans and a length of string useless .

 

[Bellbirdweb]

We have now a Telstra prepaid 4g wifi modem and it's about the best you can get for coverage there's still a lot of places it won't work but it's better than the other carriers .
I use to have Virgin wifi modem and they use the Optus network and honestly I would have been better using 2 cans and a length of string useless .

That's why we call them Opless

Telstra is the only one to give good coverage.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Just make sure you get a WiFi hot spot that has an external aerial connection as you may want to get an external aerial for it to get better signal.
You do need to get an aerial that is for the frequencies your telco transmits on and the little aerials that are around are rubbish by the way, someone like Jaycar be more help than a phone shop. Ebay also has some great sounding antennae and it has been reported thats all they are.
Our main internet at home and on road is a WiFi hotspot so have built aerials to make it work better.

Also using WiFi on the road make sure you shut down all automatic updates on your computer or you will use up valuable data on garbage, it also helps to check your email on the server not to download it as people send some big files which are just like spam.

If you are planning a long term trip like the big lap, you can invest in a self tracking antenna known as a Balconi Tracker.

They are very expensive, but still cheaper than trying to get internet via satellite, and significantly increase the range of 3G/4G.

You can also get cheaper high gain antennas fitted to significantly improve the signal.

If you are using Microsoft outlook for email, set it to download headers only, so all of those big attachments and spam won't dowoad unless you decide to download.

Also don't forget to use free wifi at cafe's etc, it can be quite handy, but hard to rely on.

 

[greynt]

Ho @greynt, of all of the telco's Telstra is the best as far a coverage goes.

You have a couple of options, you
can use your phone as a wifi hot spot, but you would undoubtedly need to increase your 1Gb limit.

The other thing you can do, and the way I would recommend would be to purchase a prepaid wifi hotspot.

You can get a 4G capable hotspot that can run up to 10 different devices, and being prepaid you can just top it up as needed.

We just top up the prepaid balance before we set off on a trip. We also have a prepaid satellite phone that we top up as well.

G'day @Bellbirdweb, thanks for your quick response. I think that we will look at getting a prepaid WiFi hotspot.
Another question if you wouldn't mind, who do you use for your sat phone? We have one as well and starting to suss out who to use. Happy if you would prefer to PM as well.

Cheers again
greynt

 

[Drover]

My yagi anntenae which I built costs about $10 and improves my signal by a large amount, it is about 700mm long. On the house I converted an old sat dish and it gives me 4G from a tower thats about 12kms away, blistering speeds sometimes, the local tower only gives me 3G.
I have been using Optus and have found on the east coast and inland as far as St George etc to be just as good as Telstra but if I was doing the big lap I would probably go Telstra for the trip, but with both Telco's you do need the extra aerial. I use Google Earth with an ACMA sites log and a compass to find the nearest tower and using the compass point the yagi at it and bingo, comms ,sometimes the WiFi gets internet but the phones don't have a signal. I wouldn't worry about other telco's as they can be locked out of parts of the main networks.

 

[Bushman]

I had the Telstra prepaid 3G usb dongle thingy, while it worked OK if you bumped the table/or whatever the PC was sitting on it would drop out, also only good for one device.

Back in January I got the sh!!!!ts with it and upgrade to the 4G wifi hotspot modem, works a treat, just plugged it into the van to charged it set it up and away it went, daughter could use Ipad, me on the laptop, all was good, even been using it at home while my landline was down.

 

[greynt]

My yagi anntenae which I built costs about $10 and improves my signal by a large amount, it is about 700mm long. On the house I converted an old sat dish and it gives me 4G from a tower thats about 12kms away, blistering speeds sometimes, the local tower only gives me 3G.
I have been using Optus and have found on the east coast and inland as far as St George etc to be just as good as Telstra but if I was doing the big lap I would probably go Telstra for the trip, but with both Telco's you do need the extra aerial. I use Google Earth with an ACMA sites log and a compass to find the nearest tower and using the compass point the yagi at it and bingo, comms ,sometimes the WiFi gets internet but the phones don't have a signal. I wouldn't worry about other telco's as they can be locked out of parts of the main networks.

Thanks @Drover, we will be sticking with Telstra as they offer the best coverage.
Cheers
greynt

 

[Stone Stomper]

We use a Telstra prepaid and also an external antenna mounted to the winguard wind up antenna for better range.

Christian

On the left the extended antenna is

 

[Bellbirdweb]

G'day @Bellbirdweb, thanks for your quick response. I think that we will look at getting a prepaid WiFi hotspot.
Another question if you wouldn't mind, who do you use for your sat phone? We have one as well and starting to suss out who to use. Happy if you would prefer to PM as well.

Cheers again
greynt

@greynt I have an isatphone pro, which uses the Inmarsat network.

The reason I like it, is that it's very small, and has the capability to purchase prepaid credits. (http://www.inmarsat.com/service/isatphone-pro/)

Prior to this I had a Telit Sat500 Globalstar phone, which I had on a plan. It was good because it switched between GSM and satellite and had the same standard mobile number, but Globalstar had quite a few issues with their satellite service a few years back making almost unusable to I went away from it.

There is a new model Isaphone 2 now on the market which has a few added safety features such as being able to send GPS location to an emergency contact via a single button etc. (http://www.inmarsat.com/isatphone/)

The only other one I would consider would be the Iridium 9550, which is also a very good phone, but I don't think they have the same prepaid options that Inmarsat provide. (https://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/coverage-networks/satellite)

I hope this has been of some use, but happy to provide more detail on any of the options (I manage communications for Fire & Rescue NSW specialising in radio and satellite systems)

 

[coled1970]

We have the Iridium 9575 Extreme with Telstra, Have it on a $30 dollar a month plan with $10 with of included calls