More Options with Optus Tower

2009 saw the erection of a new transmitter atop our Middle Brother Mountain, when Optus joined Telstra in providing wireless 3G service on a new HSDPA band, meaning that the brands using Optus (Optus, Virgin Broadband, etc) had speeds roughly on-par with Telstra

New Offers, Better Value

This compares with only 3 years ago, when a single gigabyte monthly started at $29.95, and 5GB with Telstra's  "Liberty" plan was $45. 

If you like watching online movies, downloading music and videos, and spend a fair amount of time online, the 10GB or 12GB plans are perfect for home offices and households with heavier demands (such as high school aged kids!).

Internet in Your Car

If you just have one computer, the USB version would work fine, and has the added benefit of being easy to pop into your laptop when you're on the road (or you can plug in the router to an adaptor in your car if you prefer).

Several Johns River residents  have reported excellent coverage driving between here and Taree, and very good (about 95% availability) driving north to Laurieton and Port Macquarie.

Wireless Internet
+ Network in One!

The home router unit allows multiple computers to log on wirelessly and form a normal network for file sharing and printer sharing too.  This added benefit is free of additional charge, and makes the wireless router an attractive option.

The router in your house picks up the signal of the internet from Middle Brother Mountain, and then distributes it in the house to the computers, as well as linking those computers together on a wireless  PC network.

A Warm Reception

Surprisingly, reception is very good in most of Johns River (with 5 out of 5 bars of signal strength showing on the wireless router, and very good 2.0 to 2.5Mbsp throughput for even the cheapie E160X type USB sticks with SIMs from Dick Smith and other retailers  This would be the envy of many people in the city suburbs, who struggle to get 1 or 2 bars of signal.  Some locations (particularly in valley pockets on the south side of Middle Brother) can benefit from a $199 antenna which Telstra will install free for you if their test says you need it.
One Wharf Road resident reports that she and her husband get great reception at home, and also use the service to get some work done in the car between Johns River and Sydney, with very few drop-outs.