Internet Connections

Coming from the United States I expected to find some fiber-optic cable connections in Australia but it was not so, at least in Perth.  What they have here is ADSL2.  I don't think it is as fast as our 6Meg/sec fiber optic back home but they claim it is 10Meg/sec over their phone lines.

We weren't sure what to get, so we started searching around.

We looked into Telstra, Iinet, Dodo, and TPG.  There are a few more companies available, but these are the four that were suggested the most, either by word of mouth or by media advertising saturation on billboards and buses and TV.

Telstra is the largest company and is effectively AT&T.  They own everything and they aren't afraid to prove it.  Their services are very expensive.  They may be the most reliable, but again, they are very expensive.  Their services are also the closest to our fiber at home, but again, they are very expensive.  Telstra has a home broadband and a "super-fast" broadband, each with  its own subset of combos.  You can sign a 2 year contract and get 50Gig of downloading per month for $50.00AU a month or you can get the same on the "super-fast" for $60.00AU per month.  50 isn't that much.  Our service at home, the cable fiber always on connection, actually had a limit of around 150Gig.  Most do. The one saving grace we had from Telstra the first month we were here was their mobile broadband.  You can get a mobile dongle that will connect to the Telstra network (can you hear me now?) anywhere at any time.  The cost?  Over $50.00AU for 3Gig.  3! This is why I had to stop posting.

My wife suggested TPG, and I looked into it, and found very bad reviews.  They claim an unlimited ADSL2 with landline phone carrying unlimited local and australia calls and 100 minutes of international calls AND a wifi modem for 70.00AU.  Sounds like a steal, right?  According to the reviews I read, TPG was the worst company around, despite having one or two gleaming positive reviews.  If you're interested in TPG, please read the reviews first.

Dodo was pretty much the same. They had a much lower price for a "naked" service (internet connection only).  They offered ADSL2 with no limits, quotas, peak times, or combos required.  The problem with this service was the two year contract you had to sign.  One would think if one wanted to change services badly enough one could just pay the early termination fee, but according to the reviews of Dodo I read, it is very difficult to get dodo to actually cancel your service.  And with the rumors out here that free broadband is on its way to everyone, it didn't make sense to sign a two year contract.  It seems that Dodo might actually be worse than TPG according to the reviews, but this may or may not be tied to the fact that there are simply more reviews available for Dodo.

We've signed up with Iinet.  We got a combo through them that gives us 200Gig in downloads with no peak times, a "landline" VOIP phone and a FetchTV pack of TV channels (like basic cable) for $99.00AU per month.  This isn't a bad deal.  The phone has free calls to any australian landline and charges only five cents per minute for international calls.  1300 and 13 numbers are 30 cents flat.

Iinet gave us this wireless router that does it all, phone and internet in one, called the BoB2.  We haven't had much issue with the BoB2 other than we can't get the wireless to operate.  No computers can join the network even with the proper security keys, and going into the router to change settings is useless, as nothing is saved upon exit.  We can connect direct over Cat5 though, and that has been ok, but Iinet still needs to be called and this needs working out.

The FetchTV is a little confusing.  The over the air channels come in fine (which they wouldn't on our American TV had we not gotten the FetchTV and its "cable box") but something is up with the package.  I thought we had the starter (which only offers box functions like on demand movies and TV) but the box itself says we have the entertainment pack (which offers additional channels you'd find on basic or extended basic cable). These extra channels, however, won't come in.  This, too, needs working out.

To make a long story short, when it comes to investing in an internet connection in Perth, be sure to fully, and i mean FULLY, research your options before you decide.  Don't be afraid to ask around of the people you meet.  If they have an opinion, they'll tell you.  Most of them will be nice about it, too.

Exchange Rate Change

I checked the exchange rate this morning and it seems to have changed.  $1 USD is now equivalent to $0.93 AUD. That may be good for us as we transfer some cash over, but it's starting to swing in a way as to make it less desireable to transfer money back.  I hope that it could stabilize closer to 1:1.  I hope the AUD doesn't fall much farther.

It is important to note that this information does not indicate any strengthening of the United States economy.  It is more than likely a result of the financial instability of the Euro.

Exchange Rate Update

The exchange rate has changed.  The dollar has either rallied a little, the Australian dollar has weakened, or both.  The current rate is:

1 AUD = 1.03 USD
1 USD = .97 AUD

That makes it a little easier on us and a little worse on the Aussies, for now.  We still will only transfer what we need, as there is a large fee for transferring.

Moving Costs and Exchange Rates

We've had a few estimates on how much it'd take to move our stuff from here in the US to Perth and the results are astounding.  We aren't even taking cars.  Here's a brief list of what we're taking:

Living Room:   Tv stand, LED tv (which we know might not work other than to play our video games, blu rays, and serve as a monitor), loveseat, two beanbags, a shelf with board games, and two small side tables, one with a marble top.  PS3, PS2, Wii, a combo VCR/DVD, the games (about 140), and about 250 DVDs. Three laptops and two 10.1 inch android tablets.

Dining Room:  Standard rectangular dining table and ten chairs (have extras on hand).  Dining buffet and hutch.

Kitchen:  Pots and Pans and dishes.  We aren't keeping many of our countertop appliances at all, and the large appliances stay.

Son's bedroom:  His bunk bed, dresser, cubbie shelves, toys, and clothes.

Spare bedroom:  Queen sized bed, dresser.

Bedroom:  King sized bed, matching dresser, all our clothes.

Bathrooms:  not much.

Den:  Maybe our PC, our two drawer file cabinet, a small coffee table, six standard bookshelves, around 3 of which are filled with books.

Storage:  Three bicycles, plastic bins (about 24qt each and roughly about 50 of them) and the contents.  Kid's wagon.  Two hiking backpacks.

Utility:  Toolbox and hand tools (hammer, screwdriver, etc.)  All powered items will not be taken.

Shed:  Nothing.  All yard tools will stay.  Customs issues.

For these items the best estimate we could get was from Allied Van Lines, and they said we needed a 40' crate and it would cost us ~$17,000 US to move it all.  Can you imagine?

The current exchange rate is $1.00 US = $1.10 AUS.  That means we'll be leaving most of our money in the US until (if) the exchange rate gets better.  A 10% loss during transfer is not pretty.