Bloody Telstra

[Roverlord off road spares]

The NBN arrived in my Elderly mum's area, and apparently she had to get the NBN conneted to use her phone line. They came and installed the line and later gave her a modem and some sort of wifi phone to use with it. It worked for a day or so, and then stopped working. She rings Telstra, wits ofr ages then gets hung up on, when she does get thru its the phillipines calll centre she cant understand the operator. They send a tech around , but that takes days. then the come and cant find a fault in the equipment, but get t working and leave, Then the same thing happens time and time again, the issue is new satisfactorily resolved. I cant phone her, she cant ring out. she tried a mobile and cant ring any one.
I tried to ring Telstra, but they have a message saying they are flat out blaming the Corona Virus and delays are expected to answer, even though not much I could do as i am not the account holder, she cant do it as she cant phone them.
bloody ridiculous that she is paying for a service she cant use, oh and when she first complained they sent her a warning letter to make sure she pays her bills as she is obligated to and not withhold payment in the event of a dispute as they will recover money owed. She has always paid her bill on time.
I was going ot complain to the comm ombudsman ,but I cant do it as I am not the account holder.

[101RRS]

Email the Telstra CEO andrew.penn@telstra.com.au with your issues and you should get some sort of response within a day or so.

Garry

[travelrover]

Perhaps if your mum gives you power of attorney you can sort it with the ombudsman for her!

My experience with Telstra’s and telecom before them Is they just do not care about residential customers as there is no profit there. I have been battling them for more than 25 years about crap landline and almost zero mobile coverage. No doubt we will be forced to NBN soon, something I am not looking forward to!

I would imagine the Telstra contact Centres are absolutely flooded at the moment with most office based workers trying to work from home, including 20,000 Telstra employees. And they are finding the networks just can’t adequately support the volume.

Good luck!

[Roverlord off road spares]

Email the Telstra CEO andrew.penn@telstra.com.au with your issues and you should get some sort of response within a day or so.

Garry
Thanks I just sent him an email

[Roverlord off road spares]

Thanks I just sent him an email

I got a reply already ,thanks Garry

[Saitch]

Perhaps if your mum gives you power of attorney you can sort it with the ombudsman for her!

My experience with Telstra’s and telecom before them Is they just do not care about residential customers as there is no profit there. I have been battling them for more than 25 years about crap landline and almost zero mobile coverage. No doubt we will be forced to NBN soon, something I am not looking forward to!

I would imagine the Telstra contact Centres are absolutely flooded at the moment with most office based workers trying to work from home, including 20,000 Telstra employees. And they are finding the networks just can’t adequately support the volume.

Good luck!

It ain't necessarily so. We were going to be stuck with Skymuster and on visiting a Telstra shop to ask advice, I was advised that we could remain with our existing Telstra plan. This may depend on your locality, perhaps.
Also, Telstra have a gadget called 'Blackhawk' which has a pretty fast speed, apparently.

[1950landy]

If you ring 1800834273 or 1800734273 that will get you through to India they are a bit more helpfull & are a little to understand . In saying that I have been 3 months trying to get my NBN fixed but from what I understand you have to exhaust all avernues wiith Telstra before the NBN will get involved . We had a tec from Telstra here yesterday who was going yto write a report stating that it is a NBN problem , so we will see.
I have sent two messages to the CEO of Telstra in the last month & I am still waiting for a reply.
I was just reading on the news with every one being told to worh from home & schools teaching on line , it is going to test the NBN which they don't thinl it is going to handle the extra load.

[Tote]

I went through the same thing with my mum except when she logged the call the call centre also sold her a tablet she didnt want. I tried to cancel it to no avail as I wasnt listed on the account and power of attourney counted for nothing. Eventually I had to travel 160KM and be on the phone as the same time as Mum so that she could authorise me acting on her behalf. Meanwhile a notification shows up that she has a parcel and she thinks that she's legally bound to accept it rather than just letting it get returned for a credit. The whole saga lasted about 3 months with the involvement of the telecommunications ombudsman and the overseas call centre trying every trick in the book to leave the service for the tablet connected.


One of her friends just accepted the tablet and gave it to a friend at church and is presumably still paying for it.


Regards,
Tote

[travelrover]

Sorry to high jack, but Telstra is a pet hate subject of mine....

As I said in my earlier post I have been having this battle for 25+ years with Telstra. I have over this period had some pretty useful contact numbers and was even assigned a senior account manager at one point but nothing changed. There would be issues like no dial tone for days or phantom calls (phone rings but only dial tone when answered) usually in the middle of the night, humming/noise on the line etc....

We are around the maximum copper distance from the local exchange and that generates all sorts of attenuation issues. The cabling to the boundary was not the best job when it was done and Telstra have admitted this a number of years ago but they would not invest to make good for half a dozen subscribers. I have had all the cabling my side of the demarcation point redone at my expense with the then current spec copper. But no improvement.
When we built the house there was no copper in the area (rural) and for the first year or so we had a fixed mobile as our land line replacement with a T200 handset. This only worked occasionally, it was in the days of AMP’s. The mobile coverage here was far superior with AMP’s, now we intermittently get 4G and 3G but not inside the house unless it’s overcast even with the WIFI Call feature enabled.

At present we have ADSL 2 and on a very good day (when the little red light is not flashing) will get 11mb download! I have tried Optus satellite service back in the late 90’s/2000’s and more recently had NBN satellite but they were both woeful at best and expensive even though the Optus service was installed for free. My roof looked a bit like a satellite farm.

A good friend is a field services manager for a company that NBN subs a lot of the field tech work to and they have laid off over 30 techs since Christmas. Am sure there will be many more going now... so don’t be expecting someone to turn up at your door to help in a hurry.

Around 15 years ago I was working for Telstra on the Qantas account. We had over 500 people involved in the transition to a fully managed Telstra account. Even then it was difficult to get the right resource to address issues we had without escalating to directors so if one of the four largest corporate accounts can’t get their attention residential have no hope. They were just beginning to ramp up multimedia capabilities at this time. I think they had just bought FOXTEL.

And Telstra now are a multimedia company and not a telco, in fact they can’t get out of the tradition telco market fast enough.

None of this offers any improvement in the basic service you expect (and pay for) unfortunately.

Again sorry for the ramble, rant over. ;-)

[DazzaTD5]

Unfortunately if you are in an area where your only option is Telstra, then this sort of stuff around seems to be the norm.

When I was forced to go NBN, my current ISP iinet sent the modem pre-configured and a basic note stating once plugged in and powered on to count to 30 seconds and then see if I have internet access. That was it, I've had internet access trouble free for over 6 months I guess as I cant remember exactly when it changed over.

Telstra is a bit like using a Dealership, you go there if you have no other option

[jonesfam]

I have to admit, in general, I/we have had reasonably good experience with Telstra.
With our location we don't have a choice but generally it's OK.
On the few occasions the Roadhouse landlines have gone out they have diverted all calls to my mobile & waived all charges on my mobile for the period.
When we first got the NBN in Ravenshoe it was quick & it worked well, we did unplug the phone from the NBN due to sales/scam calls but the internet bit was great.
We recently got our NBN transferred from Ravenshoe to Cloncurry & there was some sort of Tec issue that held this up for months so Telstra made SWMBO phone unlimited data so we could use it as a Hot Spot until the issue was fixed (NBN I believe).
We now have NBN at Cloncurry with a modem that throws the Wi-Fi right through the house so now I have 3 extenders in a draw.
There have, over the years, been a few issues, Doomadgee's mobile tower is to far from town, mobiles don't work well in metal buildings with heaps of insulation & data cables in every wall & for some reason our daughter can't phone SWMBO's phone but SWMBO can phone her?

But I have found Telstra OK & have only got really cranky at them once or twice.
Jonesfam

[W&KO]

I have to admit, in general, I/we have had reasonably good experience with Telstra.
With our location we don't have a choice but generally it's OK.
On the few occasions the Roadhouse landlines have gone out they have diverted all calls to my mobile & waived all charges on my mobile for the period.
When we first got the NBN in Ravenshoe it was quick & it worked well, we did unplug the phone from the NBN due to sales/scam calls but the internet bit was great.
We recently got our NBN transferred from Ravenshoe to Cloncurry & there was some sort of Tec issue that held this up for months so Telstra made SWMBO phone unlimited data so we could use it as a Hot Spot until the issue was fixed (NBN I believe).
We now have NBN at Cloncurry with a modem that throws the Wi-Fi right through the house so now I have 3 extenders in a draw.
There have, over the years, been a few issues, Doomadgee's mobile tower is to far from town, mobiles don't work well in metal buildings with heaps of insulation & data cables in every wall & for some reason our daughter can't phone SWMBO's phone but SWMBO can phone her?

But I have found Telstra OK & have only got really cranky at them once or twice.
Jonesfam

Same experience.....I’ve been with Telstra forever, one slight hiccup when we changed to NBN last month with our email account being suspended for a few days.

All the new hardware arrived the day before the tech....tech arrived and switched it all over.l, kids reckon the internet speed has improved.

Only thing I’m struggling with is remembering how to connect the solar inverter over to the new modem/wi-fi (note not a Telstra issue)

[scarry]

The NBN arrived in my Elderly mum's area, and apparently she had to get the NBN conneted to use her phone line. They came and installed the line and later gave her a modem and some sort of wifi phone to use with it. It worked for a day or so, and then stopped working. She rings Telstra, wits ofr ages then gets hung up on, when she does get thru its the phillipines calll centre she cant understand the operator. They send a tech around , but that takes days. then the come and cant find a fault in the equipment, but get t working and leave, Then the same thing happens time and time again, the issue is new satisfactorily resolved. I cant phone her, she cant ring out. she tried a mobile and cant ring any one.
I tried to ring Telstra, but they have a message saying they are flat out blaming the Corona Virus and delays are expected to answer, even though not much I could do as i am not the account holder, she cant do it as she cant phone them.
bloody ridiculous that she is paying for a service she cant use, oh and when she first complained they sent her a warning letter to make sure she pays her bills as she is obligated to and not withhold payment in the event of a dispute as they will recover money owed. She has always paid her bill on time.
I was going ot complain to the comm ombudsman ,but I cant do it as I am not the account holder.

That is almost exactly what happened with my mother.
They also disconnected her second phone she had next to her bed.

One of my brothers was handling the issue,he spent over 25 hrs on the phone trying to sort it.
Our mother gave up after the first Phillipines call.She is 85.

After 6 weeks of trying to sort it,the ombudsman was contacted,they(Telstra) had it all sorted in two days.
This was months ago,and its been all good since,both phones,and the internet working fine.

When we changed our office over to NBN,around a year ago,we had issue after issue,after around 5 weeks it was eventually sorted.

Roverlord,if you are with your mother,i think you can call the ombudsman.They may ask you to get her to identify herself,then you can probably help with the complaint.I don't know how my brother did it.

I do know my brother used to tell them our mother is elderly and has a lot of difficulty on the telephone as she is almost deaf,so he could do the talking.

[Roverlord off road spares]

That is almost exactly what happened with my mother.
They also disconnected her second phone she had next to her bed.

One of my brothers was handling the issue,he spent over 25 hrs on the phone trying to sort it.
Our mother gave up after the first Phillipines call.She is 85.

After 6 weeks of trying to sort it,the ombudsman was contacted,they(Telstra) had it all sorted in two days.
This was months ago,and its been all good since,both phones,and the internet working fine.

When we changed our office over to NBN,around a year ago,we had issue after issue,after around 5 weeks it was eventually sorted.

Roverlord,if you are with your mother,i think you can call the ombudsman.They may ask you to get her to identify herself,then you can probably help with the complaint.I don't know how my brother did it.

I do know my brother used to tell them our mother is elderly and has a lot of difficulty on the telephone as she is almost deaf,so he could do the talking.

Scarry I am too unwell to go to see and be with her .I am under direction from Doctors to self quarantine and not go out due to this outbreak,

[Tins]

I was going ot complain to the comm ombudsman ,but I cant do it as I am not the account holder.

yes you can...., well I did for my sister. I said I had registered a fault with T, which I had, as i could not contact her, I said T had not been helpful and the TIO contacted T, I got through to the higher level of support, the issue got sorted ( definitely NOT overnight though ) and my sister got nearly $3000 credit through T's Customer Service Guarantee. That last was because she was having probs for nearly 3 months.

The point is, the TIO can act for someone who is not the subscriber. Well, they could then.

[DiscoMick]

From our experience, the phone companies don't fix anything. The only way to get a fault fixed is to get the phone company to refer the fault to NBN. Then wait for NBN to respond.
A complaint to your local federal MP may also stir the pot - maybe, if they are any good.

[mick88]

The NBN arrived in my Elderly mum's area, and apparently she had to get the NBN conneted to use her phone line. They came and installed the line and later gave her a modem and some sort of wifi phone to use with it. It worked for a day or so, and then stopped working. She rings Telstra, wits ofr ages then gets hung up on, when she does get thru its the phillipines calll centre she cant understand the operator. They send a tech around , but that takes days. then the come and cant find a fault in the equipment, but get t working and leave, Then the same thing happens time and time again, the issue is new satisfactorily resolved. I cant phone her, she cant ring out. she tried a mobile and cant ring any one.
I tried to ring Telstra, but they have a message saying they are flat out blaming the Corona Virus and delays are expected to answer, even though not much I could do as i am not the account holder, she cant do it as she cant phone them.
bloody ridiculous that she is paying for a service she cant use, oh and when she first complained they sent her a warning letter to make sure she pays her bills as she is obligated to and not withhold payment in the event of a dispute as they will recover money owed. She has always paid her bill on time.
I was going ot complain to the comm ombudsman ,but I cant do it as I am not the account holder.


I went through the same issue with them connecting my 90 year old mum's landline to the NBN network.
Days without an operational telephone didn't make her happy to say the least. She is normally a very placid well mannered lady, but she was ready to pull someones head off. I had been telling her for ages to get rid of the expensive landline and go for a mobile phone, so finally she did. I was listed with Telstra as a second person on her account so that i could call them to discuss any billing issues etc, so i called them to cancel her account.....they asked why and i told them...they suggested that a Tech go around to have another attempt at fixing the problem. I said if anyone from Telstra knocks on her door she will probably pull their head off.....consequently the phone was immediately disconnected.
Mum now has a mobile, purchased outright, and on an unlimited plan, calls and texts to anywhere in Australia for $10 per month, with "Belong".
It's brilliant.

Cheers, Mick.

[travelrover]

There will be no trouble understanding the Telstra Manila call Centres for a while as they are all closed. The whole of Luzon is under lockdown.

Not sure where they will be routing calls to now... India likely to shut down large areas very soon to..

[DiscoMick]

I don't mind the American accents of the Filipinos in Manilla, but the Indian accents can be more difficult.

[Roverlord off road spares]

2 telstra techs arrived today, 2 hours later all seems fixed, it was a faulty modem and then a faulty phone also. It is so much better talking to an Australain represetartive and they were very helpful and kept me in the loop.

[101RRS]

2 telstra techs arrived today, 2 hours later all seems fixed, it was a faulty modem and then a faulty phone also. It is so much better talking to an Australain represetartive and they were very helpful and kept me in the loop.

As you can see - talking to the asian call centers where "no service" is the name of the game gets you no where - but going straight to the top gets action pretty quick. Now of course while the CEOs email is used, it does not actually go to him but his office action it as the CEO is still responsible if you remain unhappy - it gets stuff done.

Garry

[Bigbjorn]

As you can see - talking to the asian call centers where "no service" is the name of the game gets you no where - but going straight to the top gets action pretty quick. Now of course while the CEOs email is used, it does not actually go to him but his office action it as the CEO is still responsible if you remain unhappy - it gets stuff done.

Garry

I found that when I was a club delegate to the Combined Council of Motoring Clubs and had a query for Dept. of Transport & Main Roads that was not being handled courteously and/or efficiently that an e-mail to the Minister, cc to local member and opposition Transport spokesman got good results. I learned to avoid telling the minister that I had three different answers from three TMR officials. Simply asked for a definitive answer to this question. No official would stick their neck out and say the Minister's decision was wrong.

[1950landy]

As you can see - talking to the asian call centers where "no service" is the name of the game gets you no where - but going straight to the top gets action pretty quick. Now of course while the CEOs email is used, it does not actually go to him but his office action it as the CEO is still responsible if you remain unhappy - it gets stuff done.

Garry
I am still waiting 1 month later & have now sent him another 1 week ago & still nothing, but I guess they think 2 or 3 months is prompt. The last time it took over 6 months for exactly the same problems we are having since connecting to the NBN as when we tried to connect to cable internet . All was fixed when they flicked the switch to put us back on to ADSL but unfortunately that cant happen this time. It was also quite difficult trying to send it with our connection dropping out all the time , had a bout ten goes at sending it.

[101RRS]

I am still waiting 1 month later & have now sent him another 1 week ago & still nothing, but I guess they think 2 or 3 months is prompt. The last time it took over 6 months for exactly the same problems we are having since connecting to the NBN as when we tried to connect to cable internet . All was fixed when they flicked the switch to put us back on to ADSL but unfortunately that cant happen this time. It was also quite difficult trying to send it with our connection dropping out all the time , had a bout ten goes at sending it.

He obviously doesn't like you [bighmmm] but he likes Mario and myself.

Every time I have contacted the email - I have received a response within a day or so.

[4bee]

2 telstra techs arrived today, 2 hours later all seems fixed, it was a faulty modem and then a faulty phone also. It is so much better talking to an Australain represetartive and they were very helpful and kept me in the loop.


Make the most of it, your next Telstra Tech could be an Eskimo/Inuit. [bigrolf]

Yes, it is great when you can have a conversation with the bloke when they can understand the problem. And then fix it.

Some of the old lag techs were very good &, "Stuff the rule book we'll find a way".

[NavyDiver]

My bit is Telstra, IINET/TGP, Vodafone and every single NBN provider blames NBN before starting to help. NBN takes days to respond to any of them and we cannot kick them directly. My tip is to consider 5g home plans if they become available. NBN is honestly a shocker with out par. I fully appreciate 5G is large city only and to a large extent requires the rotten NBN to work.

Optus is rolling out some affordable home 5G plans already.

[Roverlord off road spares]

My bit is Telstra, IINET/TGP, Vodafone and every single NBN provider blames NBN before starting to help. NBN takes days to respond to any of them and we cannot kick them directly. My tip is to consider 5g home plans if they become available. NBN is honestly a shocker with out par. I fully appreciate 5G is large city only and to a large extent requires the rotten NBN to work.

Optus is rolling out some affordable home 5G plans already.

I mentioned this to a mate and he reckons 5G has a greater threat of Brain Cancer. I responded to him and said if that worries me now..

[4bee]

I mentioned this to a mate and he reckons 5G has a greater threat of Brain Cancer. I responded to him and said if that worries me now..

In odd times that we have had an NBN prob we contact our ISP who handle it & follow through with NBN. The last time was when the bushfires were on & the Base Station apparently ran out of battery power & NBN had to wait until the CFS gave them the all clear to approach the station. 1 hour we were off.

Because we are with DO-DO for our mobiles, @ $5 P/M unlimited in Oz we use those but no Data. We also have the VOIP phone, but is only used to make a 1 off call P/M. to keep it registered with the ISP.

The Fixed Wireless BB is ok, although these days seems slower & probably due to the "Work at Homos" & school kids at home. but really have not noticed much difference to our previous Telstra Line connection which has always been crap anyway.

Probably the poor latency is due to me still using WIN XP Pro. I know,I know, don't say it.[bighmmm] [bigrolf]

[1950landy]

The last week we have had limited internet which has been going on for 4 months since we connected to the NBN , Saturday we could watch Netflix but nothing else would work , Sunday we had nothing . I rang Telstra this morning to be told most of there call centres have been closed due to the virus & to do it on line , I ask you how do you do it on line with out internet service, any way after 3 hours of trying managed to get the internet working but slow. I tried to do it on line with same response & that I should ring on the phone , AROUND & ROUND IN CIRCLES, THE TELSTRA DANCE. while I still have internet i have sent my 3rd complaint to the CEO of Telstra but won't hold my breath waiting for a reply. I know these are tough times but I would phone & internet services are an essential service.

[1950landy]

Well surprise, surprise I got a call from the CEO's office today only taken 3 emails & 3 months . My 1st email showed up as off shore so they ignored it , the 2nd he could not explain but was showing as resolved. He tells me Telstra have closed all there off shore call centres & are running on minimal staff in Australia . He also said he would assign a case manager , they will be the 5th case manager I have had since this started & not a call from any of them , but it could be 1 week may be 2 weeks or even longer, but they will look at giving me credits for the period starting from when the NBN was installed to when it is resolved. I won't do the :banana: yet we will see what happens.
Also he said the NBN had not been notified because even though the Premium Tech had written it was a job for the NBN they had forgotten to tick the box for it to be referred to the NBN. [bigsad]

[travelrover]

In frustration I too wrote to Andy Penn and I received a response in 63 mins committing his team to contact me to resolve my telco issues.

Let’s see how we go from here!

[1950landy]

In frustration I too wrote to Andy Penn and I received a response in 63 mins committing his team to contact me to resolve my telco issues.

Let’s see how we go from here!

We will see who gets fixed up 1st.[biggrin]

[travelrover]

We will see who gets fixed up 1st.[biggrin]

well today my ADSL2+ is running at a lightening 2.73Mbps and there is no mobile coverage for the second day in a row so pretty much anything would be an improvement! It does make finding a job or getting onto CentreLink even more of a challenge!

I also copied my local MP as someone here suggested and they responded overnight offering to assistance. So let's see how Telstra respond.

Cheers - Simon

[1950landy]

I had a call back from Telstra CEO office today & this how it went down . He has been in contact with the NBN they are so undated with calls they hhve handed it back to Telstra to fix it. The guy did a few checks from there end then asked me to switch off all my WiFi that is connected to the modem , than I had do a speed check in each room were we have devices that connect to the WiFi . the result was we had good speed next to the modem but else were in the house the WiFi is rat sxxt. I now have to get my electrician in to run a cable through the ceiling from the modem to each room were we have devices that connect to the WiFi, at my expense. After I do this if it dose not fix it I am to ring him back & they will investigate more.
I think I will 1st buy a cable from the computer shop to run from the modem to the desk top & see if that improves things before getting the electrician in at great expense.

At the end of the day the 1st Tech who came did nothing the 2nd who was a premium tech who i asked to check the WiFi only checked it next to the modem & not on any other room as he should have. The call centres who no nothing & only want to fob you off .

The guy i spoke to today told me his NBN was also rat sxxt but it is what the Gov forced on us.

So it is off to the computer shop to buy a long cable. All this could have been averted if Telstra had done what I asked in the 1st place when arranged to have the NBN connected , I told them I would pay extra to have it fully installed & the guy was not to leave until every thing was working as it should . Instead I had to connect the gear the guy did what he had to get it to work & said it will all work in a hour or two after after you program on all your devices .

[4bee]

Now just hang on a bit before you fly off into the wild blue yonder 1950L..

I had a similar if not the same problem after NBN did the install. I could not get a signal of any type in this room but was wonderful next to the Modem where I didn't need it. (WOW) I looked at Boosters & other bits & pieces but still no dice.


What to do? what to do?

Rang my ISP & a nice bloke in Seth Effrica talked me through it to find some settings in my computer that needed to be altered.


For the life of me I cannot recall it now but as soon as I finally ticked a box at the end of our discussion it was great, well maybe not great but quite acceptable seeing how we have a problem with reception generally.
Moving the Modem inside makes it now work better in other rooms than it ever has.


Just a thought. Ask your ISP for their advice.

[101RRS]

Yep - doesn't sound right - my house is multi story and have no wifi issues - sounds like you modem has poor transmission power.

[JDNSW]

Depending on your situation, poor wifi can also reflect how strong your neighbour's wifi is - and if this is the case, changing the default channel your wifi uses can make a substantial difference. How easy this is to do, or even whether it is possible, depends on the modem/router/access point. I am not an expert on this - I have no neighbours in wifi range, so have never had to deal with this!

[DiscoMick]

Yes, can confirm that when our NBN was installed in Brisbane the tech looked at what channel/frequency the neighbours were on and changed ours from the default to another not used by the neighbours. I don't recall how he did it.

[1950landy]

Yep - doesn't sound right - my house is multi story and have no wifi issues - sounds like you modem has poor transmission power.

We are on our 3rd modem since December . In 2014 when we tried to go to cable internet we had up to 10 modems over 6 months. They cranked our speed up to premium a month ago free of charge it did improve things were we could watch Netflix without it doing a catch up every 20 minutes but we were still having issues with the desk top & other devices in other parts of the house. I will give the temporary cable a try & see how it goes. As I told the guy from Telstra we have security cameras that send the images by WiFi from out side the house & from the garage that is remote from the house with out any problems so the WiFi for the internet must be very crap that it can't send it internally .

[Tombie]

Ubiquiti Mesh networks for the win. [emoji41] I’m too old to run cables and most of our gear isn’t Ethernet capable anyway.

I have full signal from Front fence line to the Laneway behind. All using the same SSID and seamless transition as I move around the property.

[Tombie]

Wifi can be stopped easily be something as simple as a power cable in a wall, a metal frame etc. also depends which channels and frequencies you’re trying to transmit on with each device and the router.

Our home is 1943 heavy stone and wifi always struggled in certain areas.

The mesh network give me full signal, including to our Wireless security outside the structure.

[loanrangie]

Login to your modem go to WiFi settings and change the channel from auto to 11-13 and set the output to high.

[travelrover]

Three months to the day after writing to Andy Penn’s team I get another call from my second contact at the Telstra specialized customer contact team ( the first contact stopped replying to emails and phone calls) to advise me that the much threatened NBN can not deliver service via wireless broadband to my home. This I knew, and I had already advised Telstra that this was not a workable solution. To reaffirm this I had another NBN provider come and do a physical coverage survey (the tech was NBN but ISP was MyRepublic, a total useless organization from whom I am still waiting a refund and authorization to return the modem they shipped me, but that is another story). The outcome was there is no line of sight to the nearest NBN tower and the only option was via satellite. The tech was going to update the records to reflect this.
Telstra however insisted the desktop survey they did (via the published coverage maps) showed there was good coverage at my house. Again I know the maps show this but it is crap! They further insisted that if there is a coverage issues NBN have to provide a solution.
The second issue I have is mobile coverage, same story no line of sight. On a really good day we will get two bars out on the veranda but bugger all inside!. Which is great in winter when it’s below zero out side. On a bad day we get no signal at all.
Telstra are now pinning their (and by default my) hopes on installing a 4G antenna and amplifier to provide improved coverage for both my mobile and broadband. I have to cover half the cost of this!
As the crow flies I am only around 65kms from Sydney CBD. I have friends who live halfway between lightening ridge and collarenebri which is reasonably remote and they have much better and more reliable internet (and electricity supply) than I have ever had here in 25 years!
So the waiting continues, the order is in the system apparently for the 4G ‘solution’ so let’s see.

Sigh...

[4bee]

You have my sympathy TR. I went through this a while ago (posted on here) They do seem to operate under the guise of one size fits all.

Satellite was the initial favoured method but when the NBN geezer climbed onto the ridge of the roof with his Instrument & waved it around, things changed & he was able to pick up a signal from miles away at Lenswood. Many hills in between so ????? He then sends the readings back to somewhere unknown, they say ok or forget it. It must have been ok 'cos he went ahead & installed the Antenna on a tripod on the ridge, Looks bloody awful but hey.


Signal strength wanders up & down depending on how many users there are on the Tower & for the first week or two when people stayed in, it was abysmal. Today it's sort of ok but nothing as "fantastic" as they advertise. I can't be bothered contacting anyone to check & "tune" the system & waiting for hours in a phone answering queue.

Last time I did i was talking to some geezer in Seth Effrica & he was to follow up but didn't & as I didn't receive a "Send us your Feedback Form as normally happens I can only assume I was speaking to the Office Cleaner who was probably the nominated "Team Leader" for the day & he was closest to the phone when it rang.

I do keep reading good stuff about Aussie Broadband. Support is supposedly by All Australian staff (No Overseas Call Centre) so they could be a contact for you if you want to change ISP. I will certainly consider them if/when I need to.

I guess the antenna doesn't look really all that bad on the roof after you get used to it, as it is up there with a SKY Dish, an existing F to A Yagi antenna & 6.5 KW of Solar panels. SPACEX 2?[bigrolf]

[jonesfam]

The Telstra mobile signal arond Doomadgee is very hit or miss. Silly, Doomadgee is not that big of a place.
Where we are it's OK other parts of town it's pretty bad. Ofcourse, all the roadhouse buldings are made of metal & the walls are full of Cat5 cable so your mobile dosen't work at all inside.
Telstra solution is something called Small Cell. What that is I don't know but they are supposedly putting up 3-4 ariels on the roof of taller buildings around town.
We will see how that goes.
Jonesfam

[V8Ian]

Does Doomagee have enough skyscrapers for that many aerials? [bigwhistle]

[jonesfam]

Does Doomagee have enough skyscrapers for that many aerials? [bigwhistle]
.
I said taller!
That means a peaked roof instead of a flat one.
And, smarty, we do have 2 2 story buildings, so there!
[smilebigeye]

[Bigbjorn]

.

And, smarty, we do have 2 2 story buildings, so there!
[smilebigeye]

How did you miss them, Ian. They are downtown in the red light district.[bigwhistle]

[Hogarthde]

An old engineer would install Jonesfam ‘Ariel ‘ on the flat roof,

and V8Ian’s aerial on the peak roof

[4bee]

Small Cell sounds a bit familiar, not under that name but summat else, a few years ago. The Plan was to use available Power poles scattered around for the equipment & beam the signals out in smaller areas. I'm surprised it never got off the ground. Ah, maybe that is why it may not have worked, [bigrolf][bigrolf][bigrolf] Google i, I'm sure I found something on it. It world have been ideal here but wait, From memory it was a TELSTRA idea so NBN may not have picked it up.

Here yer go. Sounds like the answer to a maiden's prayer. Besides me of course.[bigrolf]Looks like for Mobiles but can't see why it wouldn't be ok for fixed lines.



Small Cell - Google Search (https://www.google.com.au/search'source=hp&ei=qSr8XtG3LJTc9QOl2JyYAQ&q=Small+Cell&oq=Small+Cell&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgI IADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAA6BQgAELEDOgUIABCDAToLCC4Qs QMQxwEQowI6CwguEMcBEKMCEIMBOggILhDHARCvAToOCC4QxwE QrwEQgwEQkwI6BQguELEDOgcIABCxAxAKULYKWJIpYOgtaABwA HgAgAHYAogB2BWSAQUyLTYuNJgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXo&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwiRsPGPtKvqAhUUbn0KHSUsBxMQ4dUDCAg&uact=5)

[V8Ian]

How did you miss them, Ian. They are downtown in the red light district.[bigwhistle]
The lights had my full attention. [bigsad]

[V8Ian]

An old engineer would install Jonesfam ‘Ariel ‘ on the flat roof,

and V8Ian’s aerial on the peak roof
²4?

[4bee]

The lights had my full attention. [bigsad]


Mental Picture. Cop this.....

Ian with the 1000 yard stare looking into the distance through the dust at the red lights while reaching out like a man possessed as though looking for a drink of water having gone without for a couple of hundred miles, "Gimmmeee, Gimee, Gimmee".


Maybe I do him an injustice? I think not.[bigrolf]

[jonesfam]

An old engineer would install Jonesfam ‘Ariel ‘ on the flat roof,

and V8Ian’s aerial on the peak roof

I might not be able to spell it but mines bigger than his!:tease:

[travelrover]

You have my sympathy TR. I went through this a while ago (posted on here)

I guess the antenna doesn't look really all that bad on the roof after you get used to it, as it is up there with a SKY Dish, an existing F to A Yagi antenna & 6.5 KW of Solar panels. SPACEX 2?[bigrolf]

My roof also looks like an antenna farm with a couple of 1.5 meter dish’s from previous failed satellite ISP’s i have tried over the years. Foxtel as we can’t get that via cable, a yagi, an omnidirectional UHF and two TV antennas which are a mixture of yagi and omnidirectional. Fortunately the dishes are on the far side of the roof which you don’t really see. And now waiting for this new Telstra ‘solution’ with another directional antenna which will no doubt be mounted on a mast bin the roof crest.

WRT other NBN ISP’s that are supposed to service my area there are more than 30 when you do a search in the NBN app. A mate of mine works for NBN and says there is really only one that is any good in this area and that is Telstra! So I am buggered, I really have no choice and I have been fighting Telstra for over two decades to get even basic reliable telephony services, fixed wire! (This is a high fire risk area so we really need the copper.) They don’t care, no money in residential. But if I keep poking them and annoying them hopefully I will get a better service than I have!

[Hogarthde]

Plus and also jonesfam, the likely lads could play on your Ariel whereas Ian’s aerial is only good for one thing , irrespective of size

[V8Ian]

Paul's looks a lot more fun.

162581

[grey_ghost]

I livve 71km by road, 53km by the crow from the Melbourne CBD.

We are on ADSL (download speeds of 4 and upload speeds of .7)

We get one bar 3G signal

NBN sent me a letter in April saying “NBN is due by June 30” - so I eagerly signed up.

In theory it will be FTTN.

Anyway - a week after signing up, I get another letter “Thanks for signing up, oh and your NBN is now due on December 31st”

Working from home due to Covid - myself and SWMBO is a major struggle due to bandwidth.

My boss doesn’t understand when I say “sorry I can’t do Zoom or any VC”

Anyway - the NBN is a National disgrace...

Rant over. [emoji3]

[travelrover]

I livve 71km by road, 53km by the crow from the Melbourne CBD.

We are on ADSL (download speeds of 4 and upload speeds of .7)

We get one bar 3G signal

NBN sent me a letter in April saying “NBN is due by June 30” - so I eagerly signed up.

In theory it will be FTTN.

Anyway - a week after signing up, I get another letter “Thanks for signing up, oh and your NBN is now due on December 31st”

Working from home due to Covid - myself and SWMBO is a major struggle due to bandwidth.

My boss doesn’t understand when I say “sorry I can’t do Zoom or any VC”

Anyway - the NBN is a National disgrace...

Rant over. [emoji3]

Hi Grey_ghost

Yup, that’s my nightmare and the ADLS speeds are about the same. Complicated in my case by being out of work due to COVID. I had to rescheduled an interview last week as the ADSL was dead... not a good look at all..

Cheers - Simon

[4bee]

I am reminded that TELSTRA had a Dept. going called "Countrywide" Some years ago they sorted out some plaguing problems especially because we are Rural.

Don't know it it exists anymore but if it saved them a lot of Agro they probably ditched it. [bighmmm] [bigrolf]



Telstra Country Wide (https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Telstra-Country-Wide)

[grey_ghost]

Hi Grey_ghost

Yup, that’s my nightmare and the ADLS speeds are about the same. Complicated in my case by being out of work due to COVID. I had to rescheduled an interview last week as the ADSL was dead... not a good look at all..

Cheers - Simon

Sorry to hear your pain mate.

This COVID thing has truly caused all kinds of problems.

And the NBN.. Well enough said.

And Telstr’a service - yeah, enough said.

I was recently on a property - 150kms from Melbourne, no services (no electricity, no water, no telephone, no gas, no internet) - but it had 4 bars of 4G signal. [emoji15]

[DiscoMick]

I livve 71km by road, 53km by the crow from the Melbourne CBD.

We are on ADSL (download speeds of 4 and upload speeds of .7)

We get one bar 3G signal

NBN sent me a letter in April saying “NBN is due by June 30” - so I eagerly signed up.

In theory it will be FTTN.

Anyway - a week after signing up, I get another letter “Thanks for signing up, oh and your NBN is now due on December 31st”

Working from home due to Covid - myself and SWMBO is a major struggle due to bandwidth.

My boss doesn’t understand when I say “sorry I can’t do Zoom or any VC”

Anyway - the NBN is a National disgrace...

Rant over. [emoji3]I know how you feel. I live at Maleny, overlooking the Sunshine Coast with 300,000 people, with a crappy mobile signal, quite a good ADSL and the best the NBN can offer is satellite. Seriously?

[Hogarthde]

Paul's looks a lot more fun.

162581
That’s the spirit !

imagine if all the flat roofs in Doomagee possessed one each .....what an attraction , would beat any red light district.

could pretend ride all day , perhaps better than your avatar Ian.😻

[1950landy]

I had more trouble with Telstra the other day, failed to send me my account & I didn 't realize untill 3 days after due date . I found out how much & payed straight away . When they sent my receipt they informed me there would be a $15 late payment fee. So I contacted them to explain & get the fee removed , they came back & said I was not intitled as I had already had a late payment fee cancled once this year which was the same reason , them not emailing me my account. I have now marked my calendar to pay phone account on the 15th of every month.

[DiscoMick]

You could get a solicitor to write a letter saying that you contest the validity of the late payment fee and won't be paying it and see what happens. Of course, the solicitor would cost more than $15, but the princple of holding them to account is important. Know any tame solicitors?

[1950landy]

I was just reading on the news Telstra is going to stop sending out accounts & only take payment by direct debit & if you don't like it you can close your account. I tried this once with Telstra , never again , they started taking a full months payment out of our account every week until I received my bank statement & got it stopped. Then they would not refund a lump sum opting to charging me half the months account until the refund was 0.

[Homestar]

I was just reading on the news Telstra is going to stop sending out accounts & only take payment by direct debit & if you don't like it you can close your account. I tried this once with Telstra , never again , they started taking a full months payment out of our account every week until I received my bank statement & got it stopped. Then they would not refund a lump sum opting to charging me half the months account until the refund was 0.

I’ll stop using them if that’s the case then, I don’t have any direct debits - too many stuff ups over the years with too many companies.

[4bee]

I’ll stop using them if that’s the case then, I don’t have any direct debits - too many stuff ups over the years with too many companies.


That is a good reason to dump them imho.

We don't have any physical Connection with them now. BB is through NBN via our ISP Internode, Mobiles are through Do Do (SingTel) @ $5 per month unlimited Calls & SMS in OZ.

I understand they use OPTUS Towers & Bases. Direct Debits are monthly & have had no dramas with that up to now & these are as regular as clockwork..

"Land line" (VOIP) uses ISP via Wireless BB & we need to make 1 call per month to keep that registered.

Most calls are via Mobiles.


Don't need Data. Coverage can be a tad variable some days, & that can vary with what I-phone we use but nothing has been that urgent that it can't wait until we get down the road a bit & we can still make SOS calls if necessary.

Ages ago we tried Telsra's Mobile plan (on their recommendation [bighmmm]) to save us money, but as we didn't use a lot of mobile calls because they were quite expensive we didn't save any dosh, & they certainly know how to charge like Wounded Bulls alright..


Just sayin'.

[RANDLOVER]

You could get a solicitor to write a letter saying that you contest the validity of the late payment fee and won't be paying it and see what happens. Of course, the solicitor would cost more than $15, but the princple of holding them to account is important. Know any tame solicitors?


I had more trouble with Telstra the other day, failed to send me my account & I didn 't realize untill 3 days after due date . I found out how much & payed straight away . When they sent my receipt they informed me there would be a $15 late payment fee. So I contacted them to explain & get the fee removed , they came back & said I was not intitled as I had already had a late payment fee cancled once this year which was the same reason , them not emailing me my account. I have now marked my calendar to pay phone account on the 15th of every month.

Don't spend money on a lawyer take them to the TIO The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (google.com) (https://www.google.com/url'sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiPs6Hyp-DuAhWGeX0KHaNDDgAQFjAAegQIARAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tio.com.au%2F&usg=AOvVaw3Ij0IBT7q8Rhpvr2sMNkgf)

[Homestar]

That is a good reason to dump them imho.

We don't have any physical Connection with them now. BB is through NBN via our ISP Internode, Mobiles are through Do Do (SingTel) @ $5 per month unlimited Calls & SMS in OZ.

I understand they use OPTUS Towers & Bases. Direct Debits are monthly & have had no dramas with that up to now & these are as regular as clockwork..

"Land line" (VOIP) uses ISP via Wireless BB & we need to make 1 call per month to keep that registered.

Most calls are via Mobiles.


Don't need Data. Coverage can be a tad variable some days, & that can vary with what I-phone we use but nothing has been that urgent that it can't wait until we get down the road a bit & we can still make SOS calls if necessary.

Ages ago we tried Telsra's Mobile plan (on their recommendation [bighmmm]) to save us money, but as we didn't use a lot of mobile calls because they were quite expensive we didn't save any dosh, & they certainly know how to charge like Wounded Bulls alright..


Just sayin'.

No mobiles - I have a work phone and that's it, so I only have my internet through them and I need data - lots of it, and given I have a great connection with them, I'd be a bit loathe to change it unless I had to. I have been reading up on it and it's the post paid mobiles they are changing at the moment and looking to have all new contracts on DD - that might mean I'll still be able to pay my bill as I choose to for the time being at least. If I get a letter or email from them saying otherwise then I'll go looking elsewhere.

[Tombie]

I’ll just get a prepaid Credit Card and put enough in each period.

Can you really blame them for shifting to this model - the outstanding debts are incredible.

[Homestar]

Cancel the contract of those that don't pay - simple. Have a look at the customers payment history - I'd be at around 20 plus years at Telstra without a late payment (as long as I've been with them) - they can see this, so why penalise me for other people incompetence? There's no other business I would spend my money with that wants me to pay up front for something I haven't got yet - this is no different IMO. If you pre pay and they stuff something up it's a lot harder to get your money back. Does anyone here trust their phone supplier to always do the right thing? I sure don't.

[Eevo]

all telstra is doing is moving from a post-pay model to a pre-paid model.

it removes peoples ability to get into debt with telstra. no more bill shock and telstra doesnt have to waste money chasing people.

[Homestar]

all telstra is doing is moving from a post-pay model to a pre-paid model.

it removes peoples ability to get into debt with telstra. no more bill shock and telstra doesnt have to waste money chasing people.

It also will hurt the poorer people more when they can’t manage their payments. Banks charge quite a bit for a declined DD so things like this just hurt the people that can afford it the least, but they’re poor right so no one cares.

Although that doesn’t apply to me, it seems that Telstra don’t give a rats about that sort of thing but I think as a caring and compassionate society that we should and not let big business take (further) advantage of things to suit themselves at the cost of others.

And again - why should I pay for something I haven’t used yet? When I go to the Doctor, Dentist, Restaurant, etc I receive the service then pay for it.

It’s just motivated by greed is all.

[Eevo]

It’s just motivated by greed is all.

how is it greed? telstra will get the same amount of money. and less people will get into debt. could say its doing poor people a favor by not allowing them to get into debt and downgrade their credit score.

[RANDLOVER]

Telstra will get the money 30 days in advance and earn interest on it, not much on one account but rather millions which is pro'ly what they have.

[Homestar]

how is it greed? telstra will get the same amount of money. and less people will get into debt. could say its doing poor people a favor by not allowing them to get into debt and downgrade their credit score.

What Randlover said - keeping millions of dollars of others money up front is a friggin gold mine for them - Greed.

Telstra have 18.8 million customers according to Google - correct this if I’m wrong, but if they all had even the smallest plans - let’s say $30 per month each, that’s a metric **** load of money - imagine having that to invest on the short term stock market - they make squillions more at the expense of their customers - Greed.

As for it being good for the poorer people - you’re just grasping at straws now, no one has any sympathy for them or is thinking of them. They won’t win in any way, shape or form.

[Eevo]

no one has any sympathy for them or is thinking of them
true, but it is one of the benefits regardless.

i dont think its unfair for a company to take actions to reduce debters or non payment.

[Tins]

Don't spend money on a lawyer take them to the TIO The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (google.com) (https://www.google.com/url'sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiPs6Hyp-DuAhWGeX0KHaNDDgAQFjAAegQIARAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tio.com.au%2F&usg=AOvVaw3Ij0IBT7q8Rhpvr2sMNkgf)

Yep. TIO ups the ante considerably, and you wind up talking to a higher echelon person who can actually get things done.

[Tins]

Never, ever, will I have an account of any sort with Telstra ever again. It's just not worth it, IMO.

[RHS58]

- imagine having that to invest on the short term stock market - they make squillions more at the expense of their customers -
.

Imagine if they invested on the short term stock market and did poorly and lost squillions....easy enough done as evidenced by what happened to our super funds when COVID arrived.

[Homestar]

Imagine if they invested on the short term stock market and did poorly and lost squillions....easy enough done as evidenced by what happened to our super funds when COVID arrived.

Short term trading via computers makes money, not loses it. You see any banks or brokers at Centrelink...

[jonesfam]

Homestar
I hate to burst your bubble of delusion but we haven't been a sharing, caring, semi equitable society since the 1970's
And companies like Telstra, banks & most big business are probably at the worst end of the scale.

Australia & the world are becoming less equitable by the day & I see bad things eventually coming from it.

Most people are only interested in their self & maybe immediate family, as long as they are OK who cares about the rest?

I admit to being a Left leaning semi socialist capitalists'. So I do have some odd ideas but the more the rich take (including corporations) & the less the rest see themselves getting is just, one day, asking for trouble.

Now back to Telstra, how's that going?[biggrin]

Jonesfam

[V8Ian]

Homestar
I hate to burst your bubble of delusion but we haven't been a sharing, caring, semi equitable society since the 1970's
And companies like Telstra, banks & most big business are probably at the worst end of the scale.

Australia & the world are becoming less equitable by the day & I see bad things eventually coming from it.

Most people are only interested in their self & maybe immediate family, as long as they are OK who cares about the rest?

I admit to being a Left leaning semi socialist capitalists'. So I do have some odd ideas but the more the rich take (including corporations) & the less the rest see themselves getting is just, one day, asking for trouble.

Now back to Telstra, how's that going?[biggrin]

Jonesfam
Viva la revolution!

[Saitch]

Most people are only interested in their self & maybe immediate family, as long as they are OK who cares about the rest?


168612

[4bee]

Homestar
I hate to burst your bubble of delusion but we haven't been a sharing, caring, semi equitable society since the 1970's
And companies like Telstra, banks & most big business are probably at the worst end of the scale.

Australia & the world are becoming less equitable by the day & I see bad things eventually coming from it.

Most people are only interested in their self & maybe immediate family, as long as they are OK who cares about the rest?

I admit to being a Left leaning semi socialist capitalists'. So I do have some odd ideas but the more the rich take (including corporations) & the less the rest see themselves getting is just, one day, asking for trouble.

Now back to Telstra, how's that going?[biggrin]

Jonesfam



Left leaning semi socialist capitalists Crikey, that is a bit of a split personality, Paul. [bigrolf]

[jonesfam]

Crikey, that is a bit of a split personality, Paul. [bigrolf]

Yep!
I was bought up by rich people with social conscience & do what you can attitude.
I was told you can't do good if you don't have anything.
So I turned out a bit strange.

[Tombie]

168612

They always were. Just had more tact (and falseness)

[Homestar]

Homestar
I hate to burst your bubble of delusion but we haven't been a sharing, caring, semi equitable society since the 1970's
And companies like Telstra, banks & most big business are probably at the worst end of the scale.

Australia & the world are becoming less equitable by the day & I see bad things eventually coming from it.

Most people are only interested in their self & maybe immediate family, as long as they are OK who cares about the rest?

I admit to being a Left leaning semi socialist capitalists'. So I do have some odd ideas but the more the rich take (including corporations) & the less the rest see themselves getting is just, one day, asking for trouble.

Now back to Telstra, how's that going?[biggrin]

Jonesfam

No bubble burst at all - but I like to try at least - maybe old fashioned I know but whatever. I don’t mind if people think Il strange because of their **** poor attitudes to the rest of society - like so many on here seem to have.

[3toes]

Direct debit and similar schemes are designed to force off the system those who l lead a more shall we say chaotic life style who are not always able to pay on time.

It is subtle as all appears to be set up to assist the customer however you are selecting customers who are able to operate a bank account to the satisfaction of the bank. Bank fees are significant as a percentage of your income if you are counting the pennies. You then fall further behind as there are fees on fees that have taken most of your next income cheque.

Late payment goes way down very quickly as these people self disengage from the supplier. Which for them is a rational economic decision. No bad press for the supplier

[jonesfam]

For a large number of Australians who don't live in major towns or cities there is no choice of telco provider.
There is only one who operates in these areas.
So we do not have the options many do.
In saying that, the majority of people out here use Pre-Paid.
Jonesfam

[Vern]

For a large number of Australians who don't live in major towns or cities there is no choice of telco provider.
There is only one who operates in these areas.
So we do not have the options many do.
In saying that, the majority of people out here use Pre-Paid.
JonesfamBingo.
I am happy to pay for the service provided. You can't match it with any other telco company out there.

[travelrover]

For a large number of Australians who don't live in major towns or cities there is no choice of telco provider.
There is only one who operates in these areas.
So we do not have the options many do.
In saying that, the majority of people out here use Pre-Paid.
Jonesfam

I am only 95km from Sydney CBD and I have no choice, even the much touted ubiquitous NBN can’t provide any service here. I have Telstra or satellite and wether I am eligible for the later seems to change every few years. Had it a couple of times in the past (Optus 20 years ago and some other mob I forget more recently) for data only and speed was no better than ADSL, which is appalling by current international standards. Now I have Telstra smart mobile off an antenna some 10kms away, and this has issues in poor weather conditions. This is post paid apart from equipment costs.., Still maintain a copper land line as this is a high fire danger area..

[Homestar]

I am only 95km from Sydney CBD and I have no choice, even the much touted ubiquitous NBN can’t provide any service here. I have Telstra or satellite and wether I am eligible for the later seems to change every few years. Had it a couple of times in the past (Optus 20 years ago and some other mob I forget more recently) for data only and speed was no better than ADSL, which is appalling by current international standards. Now I have Telstra smart mobile off an antenna some 10kms away, and this has issues in poor weather conditions. This is post paid apart from equipment costs.., Still maintain a copper land line as this is a high fire danger area..

Get on board Starlink - Starlink (https://www.starlink.com/)

They’ve started taking orders in Australia for a rollout later in the year.

The satellites are only 300 to 600KM up so around 10 times closer than Skymuster geostationary satellites and there’s **** loads of them and 1000’s more to come, so it will form a grid circling the earth. Latency is around 20 to 40ms so ****s all over Skymuster in every way. Not sure on cost, probably won’t be cheap but will be a decent alternative to those who missed out on the NBN - of which there are plenty.

[travelrover]

I should also point out when you are attempting to get support from one of the now fated offshore contact Centres, they have no idea what the ‘Telstra mobile smart antenna’ product is or where it sits.. is it mobile is it data? Can’t be both.., arrrr

I have wasted far too much of my life dealing with Telstra. Still trying to get my billing sorted, if there was a viable alternative I would be gone in a flash.

[JDNSW]

Get on board Starlink - Starlink (https://www.starlink.com/)

They’ve started taking orders in Australia for a rollout later in the year.

The satellites are only 300 to 600KM up so around 10 times closer than Skymuster geostationary satellites and there’s **** loads of them and 1000’s more to come, so it will form a grid circling the earth. Latency is around 20 to 40ms so ****s all over Skymuster in every way. Not sure on cost, probably won’t be cheap but will be a decent alternative to those who missed out on the NBN - of which there are plenty.

Quoted figures today are $800 plus shipping for equipment, and $138/m for unlimited data at 50-150Mbps. Right now they are accepting a limited number for beta testing, there is less than 24hrs per day coverage, reliability is unknown, support is out of California. So it is probably a little early to jump in for most people.

[Homestar]

Quoted figures today are $800 plus shipping for equipment, and $138/m for unlimited data at 50-150Mbps. Right now they are accepting a limited number for beta testing, there is less than 24hrs per day coverage, reliability is unknown, support is out of California. So it is probably a little early to jump in for most people.

Great info thanks. Yes there will be early adopters issues for sure I should think but if it goes along how it’s supposed to then they’ll be 1000’s more satellites in the years to come to give full coverage - will be interesting to see how it pans out.

[JDNSW]

Great info thanks. Yes there will be early adopters issues for sure I should think but if it goes along how it’s supposed to then they’ll be 1000’s more satellites in the years to come to give full coverage - will be interesting to see how it pans out.

Exactly! Should be supplying full service to anyone who wants to sign up by the end of the year. Note that their Australian radio frequency allocations only cover areas classified by ACMA as "rural and remote" - which seems to be anywhere in the country apart from the major cities and a relatively small area around them.

Also, there is no guarantee that they will not have to restrict data quantities as the number of users increases - their bandwidth is not unlimited. However, it should be pointed out that because the satellites are so much lower, the ground coverage of a single beam is quite small - and all the ground stations are not pointing at the same satellite - there is no reason for two close together ground stations to necessarily point at the same satellite at a particular time, and this will change dynamically. This all means the links are going to be a bit like point to point radio links rather than phone towers with several sharing the same frequency without interference.

I don't know just how they are managing it, and i rather doubt they will say except in very general terms, but my point is to emhasise how different it is from geostationary satellite systems. Or any other current system for that matter!

[Tins]

I don't know just how they are managing it, and i rather doubt they will say except in very general terms, but my point is to emhasise how different it is from geostationary satellite systems. Or any other current system for that matter!

A year ago I was extremely sceptical. Now I can hardly wait. Musk is a visionary.
I don't see mobile internet service happening straight away, but the potential for overlanders is immense. Imagine having internet coverage on the CSR. Or the Simpson. The speed and size of the roll out is mind boggling. He's leaving OneWeb and Boeing in the dust.
In fact, I owe DiscoMick an apology. I pooh poohed his ideas about StarLink, but it's been exponential. Space-X already has over 1000 Starlink satellites in orbit, which is just nuts.
Oh yeah, one thing JD didn't mention is the much lower latency due to the lower orbit of the Starlink sats. Not really an issue for me, but for gamers it's huge. And, JD, they are managing it because the satellites are tiny, and they deploy heaps of the things per launch.


https://youtu.be/lkd1AcFhoa0

[3toes]

The reality is that no telco or energy provider would supply outside Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne if they could get away with it

[JDNSW]

A recent SpaceX launch deployed, from memory, 142 Starlink satellites in one load. And this is not the limit - they plan to increase the number per launch. Another fascinating feature of the satellites is that they use Hall effect thrusters for maneuvering , with krypton for the reaction mass. Presumably this is used because of its high molecular weight together with being inert.

[travelrover]

The reality is that no telco or energy provider would supply outside Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne if they could get away with it

There used to be CSO’s (community service obligations) applied to Telstra and Optus where they had to provide a minimum level of service to communities. I think the name changed some 25 years ago, not sure they apply to any telco now.

[Eevo]

There used to be CSO’s (community service obligations) applied to Telstra and Optus where they had to provide a minimum level of service to communities. I think the name changed some 25 years ago, not sure they apply to any telco now.


wasnt it USO's? im pretty sure it disappeared when NBN came in.

[travelrover]

wasnt it USO's? im pretty sure it disappeared when NBN came in.

Yeah, that’s what it changed to. Universal service obligations. I think it change way before NBN days... maybe around 2000 or so

[Tins]

Yeah, that’s what it changed to. Universal service obligations. I think it change way before NBN days... maybe around 2000 or so

Dunno about that. I contacted the TIO re my sister's awful connection, one of the first NBN connections on the mainland ( Wilunga, SA ). She was without service for months. Telstra's resolutions mob eventually gave her $3,800 "credit" under their CSG, or Customer Service Guarantee. Must have been around ten years ago. She still has trouble with it.

[travelrover]

Dunno about that. I contacted the TIO re my sister's awful connection, one of the first NBN connections on the mainland ( Wilunga, SA ). She was without service for months. Telstra's resolutions mob eventually gave her $3,800 "credit" under their CSG, or Customer Service Guarantee. Must have been around ten years ago. She still has trouble with it.

Interestingly I went into the local Telstra “shop” this morning to challenge a $45 charge that appeared on my bill. The agent sent he can’t find any reason for it and his advise was to contact the TCO! I have had nothing but trouble with Telstra for decades!

[Tins]

I have had nothing but trouble with Telstra for decades!

To quote Bruce from Die Hard, 'Welcome to the party, pal' !

[JDNSW]

The USO is still alive and well - well, alive anyway, if a little sickly. The main problem is that it only applies to a fixed line voice service, whereas most people need to have broadband as well. The NBN has to a large extent ensured that some sort of a service is available to most places, but the voice connection is not up to the required standard where this is supplied by satellite, so satellite users need to keep a separate voice line.

[Old Farang]

The promise of StarlinkStarlink's secrets revealed as first Australian customers sign up ahead of launch later in 2021 - ABC News (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-12/starlink-australia-price-availability-revealed/13144262)

Starlink's secrets revealed as first Australian customers sign up ahead of launch later in 2021
168685

[Tins]

Imagine having internet coverage on the CSR. Or the Simpson.

Been thinking about that. I don't really want to take the modern world and all its dependencies with me, but then again in this day and age I wouldn't go without a sat phone or at least an EPIRB, as I will be travelling alone. StarLink or similar will possibly obviate the need for that.

[Homestar]

Missed this one from LTT the other day.


https://youtu.be/Fh1a2K9ZgNA

[Eevo]

Missed this one from LTT the other day.


https://youtu.be/Fh1a2K9ZgNA

do you also watch JaysTwoCents? poor news announced today.

[austastar]

Hi,
So, when Mustafa from the technical section of Telstra calls, I don't have to pay him any more?
Cheers

[4bee]

Hi,
So, when Mustafa from the technical section of Telstra calls, I don't have to pay him any more?
Cheers


Why not, just tell him amscray.[bigrolf]

[JDNSW]

Yesterday I had a phone call from someone claiming to be Telstra. Didn't sound quite like the usual scam, and he gave me a name and a employee number. I told him that I would call him back through their published number. He told me that could not be done, so I hung up on him. I then called Telstra to report the impersonation. Big mistake - I did not realise it was so hard to talk to them. Spent fifteen minutes on hold, and was passed on to someone who was able to tell me that the name and number were real, but they can't transfer me to him.

[Tote]

Yesterday I had a phone call from someone claiming to be Telstra. Didn't sound quite like the usual scam, and he gave me a name and a employee number. I told him that I would call him back through their published number. He told me that could not be done, so I hung up on him. I then called Telstra to report the impersonation. Big mistake - I did not realise it was so hard to talk to them. Spent fifteen minutes on hold, and was passed on to someone who was able to tell me that the name and number were real, but they can't transfer me to him.

Hopefully whoever tried to contact you will be frustrated enough to do something about being contactable.....

Regards,
Tote

[Saitch]

Hopefully whoever tried to contact you will be frustrated enough to do something about being contactable.....

Regards,
Tote

170220

Sorry, Tote![biggrin]

[4bee]

Yesterday I had a phone call from someone claiming to be Telstra. Didn't sound quite like the usual scam, and he gave me a name and a employee number. I told him that I would call him back through their published number. He told me that could not be done, so I hung up on him. I then called Telstra to report the impersonation. Big mistake - I did not realise it was so hard to talk to them. Spent fifteen minutes on hold, and was passed on to someone who was able to tell me that the name and number were real, but they can't transfer me to him.


You wouldn't think that TELSTRA could set themselves up as National Communications Kings?


The reason they probably couldn't transfer you, was it was PERSONAL & they couldn't give out that info without a Royal Commission.



Your Post beggars belief John.:rulez::dbcry::wallbash::BigCry::Rolling:

[austastar]

Hi,
I ask for my account number and the amount of my last bill.
Most are scammers and hang up, but one was genuine and provided the info so we discussed the plan I was on and agreed to change it. Now the kids are gone I should revisit the option of changing back!
Cheers

[JDNSW]

Hi,
I ask for my account number and the amount of my last bill.
Most are scammers and hang up, but one was genuine and provided the info so we discussed the plan I was on and agreed to change it. Now the kids are gone I should revisit the option of changing back!
Cheers

I think that is the sort of thing this one wanted, but he had the amount of my last bill wrong. I suspect he was using the amount current on the bill rather than the last one.

[JDNSW]

No dial tone on the landline this morning. Check Telstra outages - no outages in your area.

Phone Telstra on very marginal mobile. After twenty minutes managed to talk to someone with a strong accent, who eventually established that there is an area outage, that they have my service address wrong, and that the correct address is invalid. However, they did manage to tell me that it should be fixed by the end of business on the 22nd, a week from now. Also asked a whole raft of irrelevant questions.

The incorrect address they have is one that has never been correct and that I have been trying to get them to change for over twenty years.

So having been given a direct line to complaints last time I called them, I called it. Said it was a five minute wait. It was just under an hour, and then they talked to me for five minutes said they needed to transfer the call, and disconnected me.

Grrrr!

[Homestar]

Forgot to post my moment from Yesterday.

Say down at my computer at 7.30 and found no internet. Reset router and waiting until it all went green again - still nothing.

Tried calling but wait time was going to exceed an hour so tried online chat (on work phone). Got someone or a bot pretty quick and was soon told my account was suspended due to non payment.

Checked account using the app - everything current. Tried explaining this to person/bot and then a wait - think the bot was transferring me to a real person, then got the same think - account suspended due to non payment. 10 minutes backwards and forwards to find out it wasn’t my account, but my Sons OLD account which he had closed when his contract was up but was somehow still billing somewhere and they put the addresses together and suspended my account...

Proved he had closed this and then they wanted confirmation it was me so they told me to enter the PIN they texted me - Um, I don’t have a mobile number connected to this account - yes you do, no I don’t. Of course they couldn’t tell me the number as my identity hadn’t been confirmed...

Asked them to email me the PIN - need permission from a supervisor to go outside the normal process...

10 minutes later I got an email. Entered PIN and they were happy it was me at last.

No apology but just ‘We’ll send a request through to have your internet reconnected’ - how long does that take I asked? Should be done within 4 hours....

I now fully blow my gasket about this and go on quite a rant. Internet back on 5 minutes later.

Of course there was a survey popped up after the chat disconnected - gave them both barrels on that too.

Time to find an alternative...

[1950landy]

Forgot to post my moment from Yesterday.

Say down at my computer at 7.30 and found no internet. Reset router and waiting until it all went green again - still nothing.

Tried calling but wait time was going to exceed an hour so tried online chat (on work phone). Got someone or a bot pretty quick and was soon told my account was suspended due to non payment.

Checked account using the app - everything current. Tried explaining this to person/bot and then a wait - think the bot was transferring me to a real person, then got the same think - account suspended due to non payment. 10 minutes backwards and forwards to find out it wasn’t my account, but my Sons OLD account which he had closed when his contract was up but was somehow still billing somewhere and they put the addresses together and suspended my account...

Proved he had closed this and then they wanted confirmation it was me so they told me to enter the PIN they texted me - Um, I don’t have a mobile number connected to this account - yes you do, no I don’t. Of course they couldn’t tell me the number as my identity hadn’t been confirmed...

Asked them to email me the PIN - need permission from a supervisor to go outside the normal process...

10 minutes later I got an email. Entered PIN and they were happy it was me at last.

No apology but just ‘We’ll send a request through to have your internet reconnected’ - how long does that take I asked? Should be done within 4 hours....

I now fully blow my gasket about this and go on quite a rant. Internet back on 5 minutes later.



Of course there was a survey popped up after the chat disconnected - gave them both barrels on that too.

Time to find an alternative...

They didn't offer you a gold watch for the inconvenience.[bigrolf] They can afford to pay there top people top money but the moment your account is overdue they disconnect you then expect you to spend hours sorting it out then days for a reconnection .
I went to pay my account yesterday the usual way on line using credit card . as soon as i clicked I was using a credit card a message popped up telling me I can no longer pay this way. I ignored the message & continued with the payment which went through & they have sent me a email to verify. [bighmmm] I don't allow them to do direct debit as last time I gave them permission they started taking a months payment out of my account every week until I received my card statement & I stopped it. Wouldn't give me a lump sum refund just took 50% off our monthly a/c until it was payed back.

[4bee]

They didn't offer you a gold watch for the inconvenience.[bigrolf] They can afford to pay there top people top money but the moment your account is overdue they disconnect you then expect you to spend hours sorting it out then days for a reconnection .
I went to pay my account yesterday the usual way on line using credit card . as soon as i clicked I was using a credit card a message popped up telling me I can no longer pay this way. I ignored the message & continued with the payment which went through & they have sent me a email to verify. [bighmmm] I don't allow them to do direct debit as last time I gave them permission they started taking a months payment out of my account every week until I received my card statement & I stopped it. Wouldn't give me a lump sum refund just took 50% off our monthly a/c until it was payed back.


TELSTRA / NBN. To me, they are all the same shower. This a.m. red lights on the Modem, they were there & then they weren't & so on, then the Greens were there & now have been all day (I know I know that has buggered my luck now) ISP are using Seth Effrica a a call overflow or what fancy name they have for it but I get the feeling it is more a permanent thing although no one will confirm that. On a recent Post Call Survey I suggested this was a bad idea for the customer due to language difficulties. No, not Swahili or M bongo, it is some of the accents & voice pitch which ****es me off & having to continually ask for repeats of what they have just said. Recently it took me 4 consecutive questions before she eventually admitted she wasn't in Australia. Just got dead silence each time.


So they ignored that comment as I knew they would, them being a big company now amalgamated with some other crowd., so possibly next time will be an opportune time to mention Aussie Broad Band. They seem to get good reviews & claim their call centre is 100% Australian although that all sounds fine when they can transfer a call without one's knowledge. We have been with Internode since year 2000 & they made this SA decision without any consultation with clients, certainly not with us.

I bet not too many CEOs start their working day by ringing in from an outside phone or they would hear what the customer has to tolerate Bloody crap Musak, long wait times etc.

[travelrover]

I have been challenging an overcharged amount on my bill since Feb. Tried the 132200 number and got no sense from anyone, tried the online chat thingie and got nowhere. Went to my local TelstraShop and was told by the manager, sorry we can’t assist with that you’re best taking it to the telecommunications ombudsman!

I haven’t done this yet but will do so. I have spent far to much of my life trying to get service and sense out of Telstra

[Old Farang]

They didn't offer you a gold watch for the inconvenience.[bigrolf]

I see that the Blonde Bimbo is still causing hate and discontent, despite getting a golden handshake. :bat:

[101RRS]

I see that the Blonde Bimbo is still causing hate and discontent, despite getting a golden handshake. :bat:

I think you are getting confused with Australia Post.

[Old Farang]

I think you are getting confused with Australia Post.

Arh, yes! Bit of a toss up which is the worst! :twobeers:

[Homestar]

They didn't offer you a gold watch for the inconvenience.[bigrolf] They can afford to pay there top people top money but the moment your account is overdue they disconnect you then expect you to spend hours sorting it out then days for a reconnection .
I went to pay my account yesterday the usual way on line using credit card . as soon as i clicked I was using a credit card a message popped up telling me I can no longer pay this way. I ignored the message & continued with the payment which went through & they have sent me a email to verify. [bighmmm] I don't allow them to do direct debit as last time I gave them permission they started taking a months payment out of my account every week until I received my card statement & I stopped it. Wouldn't give me a lump sum refund just took 50% off our monthly a/c until it was payed back.

Yeah, no way I'm doing DD with anyone - had similar with others over the years too. Bpay or CC is the only way I'll pay bills now.

[4bee]

I have been challenging an overcharged amount on my bill since Feb. Tried the 132200 number and got no sense from anyone, tried the online chat thingie and got nowhere. Went to my local TelstraShop and was told by the manager, sorry we can’t assist with that you’re best taking it to the telecommunications ombudsman!

I haven’t done this yet but will do so. I have spent far to much of my life trying to get service and sense out of Telstra



And Guess what TR, they won't give a **** when they put you 6' under. Next day post Funeral though, they'll probably reply & give you a credit but not 1c of interest. The credit will probably be in dribs & drabs as well.


No apology though.
[bigsad]

[RANDLOVER]

This thread seems to have revealed some appalling service by Telstra, I think they should contact the companies registrar, ABN lot, and Aus stock exchange and officially change their name to "Bloody Telstra" if not something worse!

[JDNSW]

Another session this morning.

Started off by checking it still doesn't work. Then went to their web page to check outages. Nope, still no outages in my area. So tried to use their online help. This, however, needs a Telstra ID. So I apply for that. This needs all sorts of information, including your first-born's blood group, but this is irrelevant, as the process crashed.

But the result of this crash was to pop up a chat window. While this is clearly intended to be on a mobile phone, and I was using a desktop, it worked well, at least as far as enabling text to pass freely between me and a series of consultants, and no problem understanding them, although the sentence structure in some cases needed a fair bit of thought to figure out what they meant.

So I spent the next hour and twenty minutes to eventually (after repeatedly supplying information they already have), I finally got the same message I got yesterday - " Upon checking the fault you reported is still active. Due to the outage in that location services for multiple customers has been affected. Our outage team is already working on this. As per the latest update this will be fixed by 22/4/21 19:00."

Why could this not be on their outages page, and why is it going to take a week to fix?

And why do we have to spend an hour going over the same ground every time we contact them?

[1950landy]

Yes & every one you talk to you have to supply the same information after waiting in a line for half hour before be connected to next person . BUT as a paying customer you are important to them just hold the line & first available team member will attend to you. Haha. Either they have lots of complaints or not enough staff.[bighmmm]

[Homestar]

If you have to go through this again ask for a reference number for the conversation/chat - it will allow you to give them this number the following time and the whole conversation can be retrieved easily by them to catch up on.

[goingbush]

Nothing wrong with my NBN until theres a storm or someone cuts a cable, but Ive just signed up for Starlink, I'll mount Dishy McFlatface on the caravan and see how it goes.

it only works 10km each side of your designated address at the moment, if you want to move you can change address online and it will work at your destination. Prob is you need to know where your going before you get there. thats until full deployment , then should work anywhere hopefully.

They say only northern Vic, Southern NSW at the moment but Ive typed in random addresses all over the outback and they all come up as valid.

[4bee]

Yes & every one you talk to you have to supply the same information after waiting in a line for half hour before be connected to next person . BUT as a paying customer you are important to them just hold the line & first available team member will attend to you. Haha. Either they have lots of complaints or not enough staff.[bighmmm]


It is like they have never heard of a Database & what it can achieve. Many business are like this & prefer to waste both your times instead of tapping a couple of keys et Voila, it magically appears. Communications experts my arse!


Well maybe not "prefer, they just don't know how to get out of the mass mess they have got themselves into over the years.

[4bee]

Yes & every one you talk to you have to supply the same information after waiting in a line for half hour before be connected to next person . BUT as a paying customer you are important to them just hold the line & first available team member will attend to you. Haha. Either they have lots of complaints or not enough staff.[bighmmm]

Or lotsa Staff that do not know how to fix lotsa complaints.[bigrolf]

[JDNSW]

Yes & every one you talk to you have to supply the same information after waiting in a line for half hour before be connected to next person . BUT as a paying customer you are important to them just hold the line & first available team member will attend to you. Haha. Either they have lots of complaints or not enough staff.[bighmmm]

Judging by my complaint numbers, and assuming that they were in order and used every number, they had 46,963 complaints between the one I lodged about 1000 yesterday and the one I lodged about the same time today!

[JDNSW]

We have some progress on the phone line - now getting a very faint high pitched hum instead of dead silence. Which does suggest that they are actually doing something!

[4bee]

Judging by my complaint numbers, and assuming that they were in order and used every number, they had 46,963 complaints between the one I lodged about 1000 yesterday and the one I lodged about the same time today!



Hell, so a quiet day then?


How would you like to be a CEO of a private business that had that many negative calls in a day? [bigrolf]

[4bee]

We have some progress on the phone line - now getting a very faint high pitched hum instead of dead silence. Which does suggest that they are actually doing something!

It is when you get their SMSs that you worry. "It'll be on again at 1800". You know full well that is crap from past experiences.

1800 comes & goes, so you go to bed & when you awaken again it might be or not. You wonder what the hell is going on & no-one lets you know or SMSs you.


3 days later it might or might not be.


When it eventually comes back you look heavenwards while on your knees & muttering a prayer of some sort.
That depends on your religion of course.

But they never seem to want to tell you what or where the fault was for future reference., Of course, that is why they have a Database.[bigrolf]

[4bee]

This thread seems to have revealed some appalling service by Telstra, I think they should contact the companies registrar, ABN lot, and Aus stock exchange and officially change their name to "Bloody Telstra" if not something worse!


Not sure that would be a good idea Rand. People would get the impression that they are a bunch of incompetent misfits who don't give a flying **** for the people that pay their salaries.


That would hardly be fair on Telstra now would it?. :Rolling::Rolling::Rolling::Rolling::Rolling:

[ramblingboy42]

seems like all those who have a bitch with Telstra are on this forum.

I have never had a problem with Telstra or it's predecessors and I don't know anyone personally who has.

[4bee]

seems like all those who have a bitch with Telstra are on this forum.

I have never had a problem with Telstra or it's predecessors and I don't know anyone personally who has.


QUICK SOMEONE, grab him & put RB into a glass case for the National Museum. Marked ".Endangered Species".

[wink11]

[JDNSW]

Latest from them via SMS is that they are sending someone out on Monday. Since they told me two days ago that multiple customers are affected, and I know for certain that there is nobody else on the 9km cable from here to the exchange, I can only conclude that as an organisation, they either have no idea what they are doing or the people who are talking to me have no idea what they are doing.

Mind you these are changing regularly, and each time I have to provide the same information again! Which they then cheerfully ignore!

[JDNSW]

After nearly three days and following six hours to and fro messaging with a consultant on line, I have finally got a fault reference number, and a clear statement that multiple services are affected:-

"Well, I see here that there`s a network outage affecting multiple customers on, Dubbo. The outage team is currently working on this issue. They have provided an estimated date and time of this outage restoration as anytime from now, till on or before, 22/4/21 by 19:00 pm."

And their outages page still says :-
"There are no confirmed interruptions in your area"

[4bee]

After nearly three days and following six hours to and fro messaging with a consultant on line, I have finally got a fault reference number, and a clear statement that multiple services are affected:-

"Well, I see here that there`s a network outage affecting multiple customers on, Dubbo. The outage team is currently working on this issue. They have provided an estimated date and time of this outage restoration as anytime from now, till on or before, 22/4/21 by 19:00 pm."

And their outages page still says :-
"There are no confirmed interruptions in your area"





There are no confirmed interruptions in your area"

& yet they gave you a reference# :soapbox:

[JDNSW]

Yes. But it took nearly three days! (And as an update, still no dial tone this morning)

I suspect that part of the issue is that the phone services round here are real copper lines going back to an exchange built in the 1970s - and they have laid off/retired nearly everyone who knows anything about these. The fact that it is an area outage almost certainly suggests an exchange fault, and they may be scouring museums for spares.

Certainly thier help desk people seem to have no idea what they are doing - keep asking me what errors are showing on the modem - my modem has no involvement with my phone service. The phone service is connected to copper wires that go 9km to the exchange, the modem is connected to the satellite NTD.

[1950landy]

Yes. But it took nearly three days! (And as an update, still no dial tone this morning)

I suspect that part of the issue is that the phone services round here are real copper lines going back to an exchange built in the 1970s - and they have laid off/retired nearly everyone who knows anything about these. The fact that it is an area outage almost certainly suggests an exchange fault, and they may be scouring museums for spares.

Certainly thier help desk people seem to have no idea what they are doing - keep asking me what errors are showing on the modem - my modem has no involvement with my phone service. The phone service is connected to copper wires that go 9km to the exchange, the modem is connected to the satellite NTD.


Once it gets to 6months you will be eligible for compensation from Telstra but they will only take a little off your account each month until it is fully paid.

[4bee]

Yes. But it took nearly three days! (And as an update, still no dial tone this morning)

I suspect that part of the issue is that the phone services round here are real copper lines going back to an exchange built in the 1970s - and they have laid off/retired nearly everyone who knows anything about these. The fact that it is an area outage almost certainly suggests an exchange fault, and they may be scouring museums for spares.

Certainly thier help desk people seem to have no idea what they are doing - keep asking me what errors are showing on the modem - my modem has no involvement with my phone service. The phone service is connected to copper wires that go 9km to the exchange, the modem is connected to the satellite NTD.


Seems there is something to be said for Wireless BB which includes the ISP phone service but if the Xchange is SNAFU you are still in the same boat.


We had a Sub continent bloke here after a 3 week wait & many mobile calls to find out progress. He couldn't even string a new copper cable from a ladder & had to "order" a Cherrypicker from Engineering before he could tackle it. A wait for that was also about 3 weeks. How in the hell he thought he would even get a Cherrypicker in there was beyond me.
Eventually a Can Do tech arrived with a roll of cable climbed a ladder up through the branches & disappeared, cut & shut a new cable & gone in about 1/2 to 1 hour. Job done.

Another time prior, a senior "Can Do" tech shinned up the pole from the ground to get a cable over the hooks successfully.

Yes, I am afraid to say John, they don't have the skills or blokes who are prepared to have a go anymore.

OK 'elf & safety stuff has crept in & service suffers, whereas yours may yet be a simple "swap a part over" but they do not seem capable of even doing that without a lot of kerfuffle. As I mentioned above if they even told you where a& what the problem was so you'd have a clue next time it goes it'd be of some help like we had to do when Power crews were unaware of Main fuses in a paddock & were not inspecting those when the juice went off so another crew had to come back & do it, but we had to tell them about those extra fuses, which we had already done but typical cloth eared Service Desk didn't note it down.

[4bee]

Yes. But it took nearly three days! (And as an update, still no dial tone this morning)

I suspect that part of the issue is that the phone services round here are real copper lines going back to an exchange built in the 1970s - and they have laid off/retired nearly everyone who knows anything about these. The fact that it is an area outage almost certainly suggests an exchange fault, and they may be scouring museums for spares.

Certainly thier help desk people seem to have no idea what they are doing - keep asking me what errors are showing on the modem - my modem has no involvement with my phone service. The phone service is connected to copper wires that go 9km to the exchange, the modem is connected to the satellite NTD.


Seems there is something to be said for Wireless BB which includes the ISP VoiP phone service but if the Xchange is SNAFU you are still in the same boat.


We had a Sub continent bloke here after a 3 week wait & many mobile calls to find out progress. He couldn't even string a new copper cable from a ladder & had to "order" a Cherrypicker from Engineering before he could tackle it. A wait for that was also about 3 weeks. How in the hell he thought he would even get a Cherrypicker in there was beyond me.
Eventually a Can Do tech arrived with a roll of cable climbed a ladder up through the branches & disappeared, cut & shut a new cable & gone in about 1/2 to 1 hour. Job done.

Another time prior, a senior "Can Do" tech shinned up the pole from the ground to get a cable over the hooks successfully.

Yes, I am afraid to say John, they don't have the skills or blokes who are prepared to have a go anymore.

OK 'elf & safety stuff has crept in & service suffers, whereas yours may yet be a simple "swap a part over" but they do not seem capable of even doing that without a lot of kerfuffle.
As I mentioned above if they even told you where & what the problem was so you'd have a clue next time it goes it'd be of some help like we had to do when Power crews were unaware of Main fuses in a paddock & were not inspecting those when the juice went off so another crew had to come back & do it, but we had to tell them about those extra fuses, which we had already done but typical cloth eared Service Desk didn't note it down.

[Tombie]

Hell, so a quiet day then?


How would you like to be a CEO of a private business that had that many negative calls in a day? [bigrolf]

If I had the number of clients they do I probably wouldn’t mind [emoji41]

[Tombie]

Seems there is something to be said for Wireless BB which includes the ISP phone service but if the Xchange is SNAFU you are still in the same boat.


We had a Sub continent bloke here after a 3 week wait & many mobile calls to find out progress. He couldn't even string a new copper cable from a ladder & had to "order" a Cherrypicker from Engineering before he could tackle it. A wait for that was also about 3 weeks. How in the hell he thought he would even get a Cherrypicker in there was beyond me.
Eventually a Can Do tech arrived with a roll of cable climbed a ladder up through the branches & disappeared, cut & shut a new cable & gone in about 1/2 to 1 hour. Job done.

Another time prior, a senior "Can Do" tech shinned up the pole from the ground to get a cable over the hooks successfully.

Yes, I am afraid to say John, they don't have the skills or blokes who are prepared to have a go anymore.

OK 'elf & safety stuff has crept in & service suffers, whereas yours may yet be a simple "swap a part over" but they do not seem capable of even doing that without a lot of kerfuffle. As I mentioned above if they even told you where a& what the problem was so you'd have a clue next time it goes it'd be of some help like we had to do when Power crews were unaware of Main fuses in a paddock & were not inspecting those when the juice went off so another crew had to come back & do it, but we had to tell them about those extra fuses, which we had already done but typical cloth eared Service Desk didn't note it down.

Problem is - if those “Can do” techs fall from said ladders they’re screwed.

[4bee]

Seems there is something to be said for Wireless BB which includes the ISP phone service but if the Xchange is SNAFU you are still in the same boat.


We had a Sub continent bloke here after a 3 week wait & many mobile calls to find out progress. He couldn't even string a new copper cable from a ladder & had to "order" a Cherrypicker from Engineering before he could tackle it. A wait for that was also about 3 weeks. How in the hell he thought he would even get a Cherrypicker in there was beyond me.
Eventually a Can Do tech arrived with a roll of cable climbed a ladder up through the branches & disappeared, cut & shut a new cable & gone in about 1/2 to 1 hour. Job done.

Another time prior, a senior "Can Do" tech shinned up the pole from the ground to get a cable over the hooks successfully.

Yes, I am afraid to say John, they don't have the skills or blokes who are prepared to have a go anymore.

OK 'elf & safety stuff has crept in & service suffers, whereas yours may yet be a simple "swap a part over" but they do not seem capable of even doing that without a lot of kerfuffle.
As I mentioned above if they even told you where & what the problem was so you'd have a clue next time it goes it'd be of some help like we had to do when Power crews were unaware of Main fuses in a paddock & were not inspecting those when the juice went off so another crew had to come back & do it, but we had to tell them about those extra fuses, which we had already done but typical cloth eared Service Desk didn't note it down.

But screwed ladders are better than those held together with 3" nails & twine. Oh I see what you mean. [bigrolf]

See what you have to put up with JD?

[Eevo]

Problem is - if those “Can do” techs fall from said ladders they’re screwed.

agree. the customers service is not worth losing his job over, or injury to himself.

[4bee]

agree. the customers service is not worth losing his job over, or injury to himself.

Not intending to start WW3 over this but the point I was trying to make is that due to huge retrenchments over latter years by TELSTRA the work of the 'good old boys' is being done by replacement staff, whether it be out on the road or in an office or down a hole in the ground, who most likely don't measure up to today's required thinking, in getting the jobs done & "Customer First," hence is why JD has been waiting for 12 months in an what seems to be a remote area.
When I say 12 months it probably feels like that to him & nobody is endeavouring within a reasonable time frame to get the service repaired, still they have more or less promised some preliminary investigation Monday so we'll see. Worse they don't even appear to let the left hand know what the right hand is doing or neither do the hands even know.

[goingbush]

Not intending to start WW3 over this but the point I was trying to make is that due to huge retrenchments over latter years by TELSTRA the work of the 'good old boys' is being done by replacement staff, whether it be out on the road or in an office or down a hole in the ground, who most likely don't measure up to today's required thinking, in getting the jobs done & "Customer First," hence is why JD has been waiting for 12 months in an what seems to be a remote area.
When I say 12 months it probably feels like that to him & nobody is endeavouring within a reasonable time frame to get the service repaired, still they have more or less promised some preliminary investigation tomorrow so we'll see. Worse they don't even appear to let the left hand know what the right hand is doing or neither hands even know.

Hit the Nail on the head .

I was a Telstra field tech for 30 years , First 10 years installing switchboards & commander systems , second ten on payphones Install & faults , last ten on Lines & broadband install & faults . I was in the second last intake that went through a 4 year apprenticeship , after that they started taking on contractors with a two week training course., During my 30 years the ethos went from quality where 5 jobs a day was over achieving to them wanting you to push out 15-20- jobs a day and quantity is all that mattered . The few proper techs that were left were following contractors around fixing their **** ups . Pressure was on to cut under wet cable joints and bag them to get a service working instead of remaking joints. I got out because my work ethic was being compromised. Telstra really do not give a **** about the network or the customer. And its only going to get worse.

[JDNSW]

Phone still out this morning.

[goingbush]

Phone still out this morning.

I think you should sign up for Starlink , you can connect a voip phone service to it.

[4bee]

Hit the Nail on the head .

I was a Telstra field tech for 30 years , First 10 years installing switchboards & commander systems , second ten on payphones Install & faults , last ten on Lines & broadband install & faults . I was in the second last intake that went through a 4 year apprenticeship , after that they started taking on contractors with a two week training course., During my 30 years the ethos went from quality where 5 jobs a day was over achieving to them wanting you to push out 15-20- jobs a day and quantity is all that mattered . The few proper techs that were left were following contractors around fixing their **** ups . Pressure was on to cut under wet cable joints and bag them to get a service working instead of remaking joints. I got out because my work ethic was being compromised. Telstra really do not give a **** about the network or the customer. And its only going to get worse.



Thanks gb, I knew I was on the right track as I recall the Dedicated Tech & Liney Training Schools (Tech School was on East Tce & a Liney Outdoor Field was at Rostrevor) you speak of through blokes in my Signals Sqdn who on that side of things were TELSTRA employees by day & Reserve bods on Parade Nights & they were without doubt some of the clueiest blokes around. Many of them supplied Communications services in 'nam for Wireless & Line & sometimes under the most shocking conditions & they also seemed to have a wonderful Sense of Humour especially Exchange Techs. But while Thommo was a great Tech he has now gone to the big Sig Centre in the sky, or wossit down there [bighmmm], so sorry JD I can't contact him to look at your Fault. Nor can he contact you, come to that.
[biggrin]

These blokes taught many other Trades within TELSTRA or was it TELECOM back then? FiIK now. Or PMG?[bigrolf]


Anyhow, that knowledge & work ethic seems to have gone which you confirm, with blokes doing a 2 week course. WTF!

Retrenchments & huge $ payouts were supposed to save money but I wonder how true that has that been with the inefficiencies that have crept in?

In this vast country of Australia Staff of all descriptions in many trades & professions have to be taught to be multi skilled & to use a bit of Aussie nouse think "a bit of Fencing Wire or Baling Twine" & maybe bend the rules when necessary because there isn't always going to be some guy in a Suit & Collar & Tie to guide you & get you out of the **** out there, Mobile Phones notwithstanding, 'cos they don't always work.





And that is another thing............................................. .[bigrolf]


Now what was the question?:Rolling:

[JDNSW]

I have to say that I am following it closely, and the thought has definitely occurred, not really for a phone though. Problem is that it is a bit pricey for my limited finances, and it is still in beta test.

[4bee]

Hit the Nail on the head .

I was a Telstra field tech for 30 years , First 10 years installing switchboards & commander systems , second ten on payphones Install & faults , last ten on Lines & broadband install & faults . I was in the second last intake that went through a 4 year apprenticeship , after that they started taking on contractors with a two week training course., During my 30 years the ethos went from quality where 5 jobs a day was over achieving to them wanting you to push out 15-20- jobs a day and quantity is all that mattered . The few proper techs that were left were following contractors around fixing their **** ups . Pressure was on to cut under wet cable joints and bag them to get a service working instead of remaking joints. I got out because my work ethic was being compromised. Telstra really do not give a **** about the network or the customer. And its only going to get worse.


Sounds like bloody excellent grounding to me, gb.

[goingbush]

I have to say that I am following it closely, and the thought has definitely occurred, not really for a phone though. Problem is that it is a bit pricey for my limited finances, and it is still in beta test.

Ive signed up,. waiting on my dish , its portable so can mount on the van, truck or house. its beta testing at the moment but coming on line fast,
check this out to see the live starlink satellites, enter your address with the cog button Live Starlink Satellite Map (https://satellitemap.space/)

the dotted lines are recent deployments. when I'm happy with it I'll cancel my NBN and sat phone & wont need my cell-fi-go so will sell that and probably break even.

[goingbush]

Sounds like bloody excellent grounding to me, gb.

Unfortunately the skills aren't much use now, I got out just before the NBN took over , now nothing I learned over 30 years is really relevant , except for the few services left still running over copper. Though if I wanted a job wiring up security systems it would be a no brainer but I'm over crawling under houses and in roofs, But I guess its all wireless now.

[4bee]

Unfortunately the skills aren't much use now, I got out just before the NBN took over , now nothing I learned over 30 years is really relevant , except for the few services left still running over copper. Though if I wanted a job wiring up security systems it would be a no brainer but I'm over crawling under houses and in roofs, But I guess its all wireless now.


Maybe I should have said "Excellent Grounding for those times?[bighmmm] I suppose it will be the same for blokes of today knowing bugger all about future systems.

[ozscott]

After a few years of fighting with and being incredibly frustrated by telstra for my business line and internet I can't tell you how much I can't stand the company. The quicker they onshore the call centres again the better but it really has gone to the pack. I have been using them for decades but Vodafone could teach them a lot about customer service (even down to answering your calls in under 30 mins).

Cheers

[Eevo]

\The quicker they onshore the call centres again the better

i read somewhere, its meant to be happening


Telstra to have Australian agents answer all inbound calls from 2022 - Telco/ISP - iTnews (https://www.itnews.com.au/news/telstra-to-have-australian-agents-answer-all-inbound-calls-from-2022-550267)

[4bee]

i read somewhere, its meant to be happening


Telstra to have Australian agents answer all inbound calls from 2022 - Telco/ISP - iTnews (https://www.itnews.com.au/news/telstra-to-have-australian-agents-answer-all-inbound-calls-from-2022-550267)


JEEEZUZ NOT AT LAST! I have been advocating this since the Covid crap started here. Just as so long as they don't import the same idjits.


It is my opinion that what they think they save using overseas centres will be more than made up for by the loss of business that occurs now.

I think I may get the champers out now.[bigrolf]

[JDNSW]

After a few years of fighting with and being incredibly frustrated by telstra for my business line and internet I can't tell you how much I can't stand the company. The quicker they onshore the call centres again the better but it really has gone to the pack. I have been using them for decades but Vodafone could teach them a lot about customer service (even down to answering your calls in under 30 mins).

Cheers

Unfortunately, no real choice here. Mobile - Telstra only, landline - copper maintained and operated by Telstra, so using any other retailer just puts another layer in to fix any problems, internet - satellite, with only specialist providers; I am using Skymesh, who used to be pretty good but seem to be taking customer service lessons from Telstra.

[goingbush]

Unfortunately, no real choice here. Mobile - Telstra only, landline - copper maintained and operated by Telstra, so using any other retailer just puts another layer in to fix any problems, internet - satellite, with only specialist providers; I am using Skymesh, who used to be pretty good but seem to be taking customer service lessons from Telstra.

Your the perfect candidate for Starlink. Im tipping Prices will come down rapidly to match , or a little above what your paying now.
Terrestrial Telocs should be shaking in their boots . If you have Telstra shares I'd be dumping them about now.

[Eevo]

If you have Telstra shares I'd be dumping them about now.

you're about 20 years too late.

[goingbush]

you're about 20 years too late.

Well that was for if anyone still had them, they along with NBN-Co and other terrestrial carriers are going to plummet , I missed the peak but dumped mine about 15 years ago.

[4bee]

Well that was for if anyone still had them, they along with NBN-Co and other terrestrial carriers are going to plummet , I missed the peak but dumped mine about 15 years ago.


Who'd have thought it, eh?


I have pondered the scenario whether TELSTRA is being set up for a "foreign" takeover bid? Is it possible?[bighmmm]

[JDNSW]

Got a phone call a few minutes ago - on my landline! It is now working. It was from the technician at the exchange. Faulty cables.

[JDNSW]

Your the perfect candidate for Starlink. Im tipping Prices will come down rapidly to match , or a little above what your paying now.
Terrestrial Telocs should be shaking in their boots . If you have Telstra shares I'd be dumping them about now.

I decided when the first tranche was offered that it was not a good investment. Not because everything was going wireless/satellite, but because they were valued on the basis of their being a monopoly, and that was clearly not going to continue.

However, while Starlink looks like it it would be perfect for me, it would still leave me with only a single option - which is the root cause of most of the problems with Telstra.

And I do not see the end of landlines for one simple reason.

There is a limited amount of electromagnetic spectrum, so that in any area there is a limit to how much data can be transferred using wireless mthods. Combine this with expeonential growth in demand for data, and there are limits to either data or customers. These are already apparent to most people trying to use wireless services (including satellite) at peak times. Fibre has effectively unlimited data capacity - there is no practical limit to the number of fibres that can be in one cable, and each of these can carry more data than the entire EM usable spectrum.

[4bee]

Got a phone call a few minutes ago - on my landline! It is now working. It was from the technician at the exchange. Faulty cables.


Blimey John, that has to worth breaking out the bubbly for.[bigrolf]

[BradC]

Unfortunately the skills aren't much use now, I got out just before the NBN took over , now nothing I learned over 30 years is really relevant , except for the few services left still running over copper.

Which is some ~70% of the NBN... The problem is most of the muppets they have working on it don't understand copper, water, joints or terminations. If the little magic doohickey they plug in doesn't give them the right numbers it's a referral to a copper-jockey. It seems they are getting rarer and more irate, so it's no-win really. I have a "number" of joints in the ~1km between me and the "node". After months of getting no action from the NBN I ended up putting on a hi-vis and re-making the joins on 4 of them myself. The home-brew TDR told me exactly which ones needed looking at.

[4bee]

Which is some ~70% of the NBN... The problem is most of the muppets they have working on it don't understand copper, water, joints or terminations. If the little magic doohickey they plug in doesn't give them the right numbers it's a referral to a copper-jockey. It seems they are getting rarer and more irate, so it's no-win really. I have a "number" of joints in the ~1km between me and the "node". After months of getting no action from the NBN I ended up putting on a hi-vis and re-making the joins on 4 of them myself. The home-brew TDR told me exactly which ones needed looking at.

Thats what THEY need Brad, some competition. They've had it far too good over the years & are taking the ****.[bigrolf]

[Old Farang]

Well that was for if anyone still had them, they along with NBN-Co and other terrestrial carriers are going to plummet , I missed the peak but dumped mine about 15 years ago.

If those "cross-bar" exchange relays were the best that the industry could come up with, then they deserve to be replaced!

[goingbush]

Got a phone call a few minutes ago - on my landline! It is now working. It was from the technician at the exchange. Faulty cables.

I can absolutely guarantee you 100% that your service will fall over again, faulty cables are not replaced, they are temporarily patched, or another customer switched onto your faulty pair ... unless there is an MP using the same cable they dont spend any money. .

[goingbush]

If those "cross-bar" exchange relays were the best that the industry could come up with, then they deserve to be replaced!

But they were an improvement on the old step by step uniselectors, at least you could get about the exchange without earmuffs . [bigwhistle]

[4bee]

I can absolutely guarantee you 100% that your service will fall over again, faulty cables are not replaced, they are temporarily patched, or another customer switched onto your faulty pair ... unless there is an MP using the same cable they dont spend any money. .


I can relate to that. When we moved here there was a "conduit" through a Garden & a Paddock containing, I think it was 5 pairs. Anyway, as each one failed they would swap us on to another pair & say they would put a report in. Of course, bugger all would happen.. Telstra Countrywide was introduced about then & the Engineer, (not tech 'cos this bloke had a collar & tie [biggrin]) guaranteed us the service would be replaced. Of course bugger all happened again although I don't doubt they all meant well but it was "those up there" that put the mockers on that plan.


NBN came along eventually, so in for a penny in for a pound & down the track, they installed Wireless BB & ISP/VoiP phone. We were confused as one party would say, "Go Satt" & another party would say don't touch it as latency was bloody awful & will get worse. We are now hanging off a tower over the hills somewhere at Lenswood probably 8km LoS away which can still be a bit dodgy with other hills & usually wet vegetation in the path, but generally is ok & the Work Notices we get from time to time from NBN, I suspect they are improving the service, & about time. VOiP costs 1 phone call per month to keep it current. Well it doesn't really COST at all in the scheme of things you just need to remember to make that one call p/m.

As it turned out our Moby Calls Plans (calls & SMS . No Data) with Do-Do commenced & we can get fair to good but mainly Excellent coverage here ( & like all things Mobilese it depends where you're sat,) & Australia wide for $5 per month. I understand it is a Sing-Tel operation. Cheaper than Line Rental (which we had & if really really necessary could get it back again) & TELSTRA's"Super Duper" Mobile Plan cost us a Motza. Specially selected for our situation my arse, but no thanks Telstra, shove it where the sun doesn't shine.
The back roof looks like an Earth Station with different Antennas although while we ditched Foxtel, their dish is still here with the obligation being on us to get shot of it even if we have to have a Specialist remove it & pay for that. How does that work ffs?

For mine, it can stay & sod 'em. One day in the future when we are long gone some other sucker might wish to sign up with FOXTEL as all the cables are still in place.

[JDNSW]

Went to town today, and talked to a niece of mine whose property adjoins the exchange. It seems that a neighbour was a bit careless with a backhoe on Tuesday afternoon, and dug up multiple cables not far from the exchange, disconnecting everyone on the exchange including the mobile tower. Not sure whether he got the backhaul fibre or not. Everyone else got reconnected by Thursday night, but when reconnecting my cable which, only serves here (when the phone was installed in 1993 they had to put in a new cable all the way to the exchange (9km) since there were no spare pairs. I am certain there is nobody else on the cable since, so it has multiple unused pairs, and it seems likely they connected the wrong pair for my phone - this would have been when it started giving a faint hum rather than dead silence on Thursday.

[austastar]

Hi,
Had an NBN chap wandering up and down the street today. Looking for the pit, he told me.
He was 50m out, so I showed him where it was.
No GPS coordinates?, I asked.
He laughed at the question, scoffing the suggestion that it would be appropriate data to record for such maintenance.
Way too modern for this lot, he reckoned.
Cheers

[4bee]

Hi,
Had an NBN chap wandering up and down the street today. Looking for the pit, he told me.
He was 50m out, so I showed him where it was.
No GPS coordinates?, I asked.
He laughed at the question, scoffing the suggestion that it would be appropriate data to record for such maintenance.
Way too modern for this lot, he reckoned.
Cheers



Here is a novel idea. If they only had a a Data Base to put it on it could be handy. (Thought bubble POP!). They could put all sorts of other data on there, Names Addresses etc, even Inspection Pit locations? Hows that for a thought AS? [bighmmm] That'd be helpful for a start & think of the time they'd save, at worst they might be able to locate at least 4 pits per day possibly more. But can you imagine all these bods wandering around losing expensive GPS Receivers in coffee shops & Pubs & Mistresses premises ?[bigrolf]

Before letting them loose they'd need to do a 3 weeks course & then they'd up & leave.

[JDNSW]

Several years ago I was rebuilding a fence. I knew the phone line intersected the fence and then ran alongside it, but I did not know which side, and seeing I really did not want to put a post through the phone line, I contacted "dial before you dig". Eventually I got a map showing where the phone line went. According to the map, the phone ;line was about half a kilometre from where the junction post and monument said it was - not to mention that it terminated in the middle of next door's back paddock. Eventually they sent someone out to trace it, and fortunately, after crossing the fence and road, it follows the side of the road away from the fence.

[goingbush]

Several years ago I was rebuilding a fence. I knew the phone line intersected the fence and then ran alongside it, but I did not know which side, and seeing I really did not want to put a post through the phone line, I contacted "dial before you dig". Eventually I got a map showing where the phone line went. According to the map, the phone ;line was about half a kilometre from where the junction post and monument said it was - not to mention that it terminated in the middle of next door's back paddock. Eventually they sent someone out to trace it, and fortunately, after crossing the fence and road, it follows the side of the road away from the fence.

When I got out of Telstra I started my own pipe & cable locating business which went well for a few years, your right , the plans are mostly incorrect. ... all good and well until NBN started laying optic fibre, for whatever reason in Australia they do not lay a trace wire with it, like they do in every other country, so it makes it impossible to locate , if you want to locate it you have to hire a hydro excavator / aka sucker truck. Almost costs as much to locate it as it does to repair out if you do accidentally cut it. I was told they don't lay a tracer with it as it makes it vulnerable to lightning, which is BS as Natural gas lines have tracer wires, so are easy to locate with traditional equipment.

[cjc_td5]

Several years ago I was rebuilding a fence. I knew the phone line intersected the fence and then ran alongside it, but I did not know which side, and seeing I really did not want to put a post through the phone line, I contacted "dial before you dig". Eventually I got a map showing where the phone line went. According to the map, the phone ;line was about half a kilometre from where the junction post and monument said it was - not to mention that it terminated in the middle of next door's back paddock. Eventually they sent someone out to trace it, and fortunately, after crossing the fence and road, it follows the side of the road away from the fence.Many years ago a family member was fencing and augering a post hole away from where thought the phone cable was. Woops, up came 20m of cable wrapped around the auger. Went back to the house and rang the neighbours and the phone line still worked. So just chucked the cable back down the hole and buried it. To this day we've still no idea why the cable was there....

[1950landy]

When we were getting work in our front yard I contacted Diel Before You Dig to find out were the services were , all three ( electricity, water & phone ) sent me drawings showing were they were. While digging the driveway we struck the concrete covering the electrical cable & almost cut the phone line which was just laying in the ground not in conduit. None of the services were anywhere near were they said they where. I suspected the drawings were wrong as the electrical box on foot path was on the left of the property not the right as per drawing & the meter box is on the left of the house , they showed the phone coming in from the pit on the R/H corner but it came in just to the left of centre & the water showed coming from the left corner but actually comes straight from the pit to the house.

[1950landy]

Deleted double post.

[V8Ian]

Dial Before You Dig is useless. Services are rarely where DBYD say they are and accept no responsibility for inaccuracies. You are still liable for the costs of rectification, should damage same.

I had a house built on a new estate. The phone installation tech was so tired, that he used to drive around the estate and throw bare phone wire into the sparkly's trench, before it was backfilled. We had nothing but trouble and interference on tat line, an issue shared throughout the estate.

[4bee]

Dial Before You Dig is useless. Services are rarely where DBYD say they are and accept no responsibility for inaccuracies. You are still liable for the costs of rectification, should damage same.

I had a house built on a new estate. The phone installation tech was so tired, that he used to drive around the estate and throw bare phone wire into the sparkly's trench, before it was backfilled. We had nothing but trouble and interference on tat line, an issue shared throughout the estate.



]Dial Before You Dig is useless. Services are rarely where DBYD say they are and accept no responsibility for inaccuracies. You are still liable for the costs of rectification, should damage same.

That is so ridiculous. They may as well sit in their AC office & think of a number. They didn't did they?[bigsad]

[Homestar]

Dial Before You Dig is useless. Services are rarely where DBYD say they are and accept no responsibility for inaccuracies. You are still liable for the costs of rectification, should damage same.

I had a house built on a new estate. The phone installation tech was so tired, that he used to drive around the estate and throw bare phone wire into the sparkly's trench, before it was backfilled. We had nothing but trouble and interference on tat line, an issue shared throughout the estate.

But your insurance company will pay if you have contacted DBYD. I found this out when working at a place and dug up a 100 pair cable or something like that - it was as big as my arm - not once, but twice after getting plans from DBYD. Cable had a 90 degree turn in it so my trench hit it twice.

Boss wasn’t happy to start with but the insurance company paid out and said if we hadn’t of contacted DBYD they would have told us to bugger off.

Boss was supposed to be driving the backhoe as well but his back was sore so asked me to do it that day so not really my fault - I was just following the line he’d painted on the ground.

[Eevo]

Boss was supposed to be driving the backhoe as well but his back was sore so asked me to do it that day so not really my fault - I was just following the line he’d painted on the ground.
ah, the good old Nuremberg Defence.

[JDNSW]

According to Telstra's website, they aim to deal with complaints in ten working days. It is now eleven working days since I lodged a complaint, with no response beyond an automated complaint number. Should I be surprised?

[4bee]

According to Telstra's website, they aim to deal with complaints in ten working days. It is now eleven working days since I lodged a complaint, with no response beyond an automated complaint number. Should I be surprised?



they aim to deal with complaints in ten working days.


That is very vague & maybe was composed during the "Good Old Boy" days & has never been altered..

[Eevo]

According to Telstra's website, they aim to deal with complaints in ten working days. It is now eleven working days since I lodged a complaint, with no response beyond an automated complaint number. Should I be surprised?


as noone actually does any work, ten working days have not passed.

[rick130]

We still can't get the NBN in our new office.

NBN Co/Telstra have broken appointments (ie, not turned up without a notification or explanation) 4 times now, and after chasing them after a fail to show on Tuesday we were advised that "due to the recent floods there aren't any available techs to do our connection and therefore they can't advise/commit to any appointments for the foreseeable future" or words to that affect.
Why the **** did they keep making and confirming appointment dates and times if this was the case?
This is costing us a heap of lost time as I have to ring/email head office for things I should be doing through the.back end of our computer system and can't atm as we're just operating through a dongle. The available Wi-Fi just won't support the data we need.

I've had an apprentice sitting around waiting for six hours each time as our branch office isn't staffed.fulltime.

[Old Farang]

Telstra outages leave rural residents isolated as federal MP takes on fightTelstra outages leave rural residents isolated as federal MP takes on fight - ABC News (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-29/telstra-outages-cut-off-rural-queensland-residents/100099818)

For months, a two-way radio was the only reliable form of communication on Kim and Judith Felton-Taylor's rural southern Queensland property.

"We were at the stage where we were ringing and getting an overseas helpline and every time it was so time-consuming — we would have to start right from the beginning of the story," Ms Felton-Taylor said.

[ozscott]

I have had to buy a 4g Dongle and data SIM because my ADSL 2+ in the CBD of Brisbane is so unreliable. They appear not to be fault monitoring ADSL in the CBD where the NBN is. The ADSL issue had again been bounced from a Level 1 'tech' to the Level 2 team in Townsville...close to 2 days and nothing from them...but wow if I pay another fee per month I can avoid spending 2 hours on the phone to India each time the ADSL goes down before I get to the Level 2 team in Australia...I can get the L2 team quicker. Unbelievable. If that isn't an admission that their customer care is tragic even for small business (that Telstra was built on) i don't know what is. Have lodged a complaint with Telsra. Dont really have the time to follow it up but should really take it to the ACCC.

Cheers

[4bee]

I have had to buy a 4g Dongle and data SIM because my ADSL 2+ in the CBD of Brisbane is so unreliable. They appear not to be fault monitoring ADSL in the CBD where the NBN is. The ADSL issue had again been bounced from a Level 1 'tech' to the Level 2 team in Townsville...close to 2 days and nothing from them...but wow if I pay another fee per month I can avoid spending 2 hours on the phone to India each time the ADSL goes down before I get to the Level 2 team in Australia...I can get the L2 team quicker. Unbelievable. If that isn't an admission that their customer care is tragic even for small business (that Telstra was built on) i don't know what is. Have lodged a complaint with Telsra. Dont really have the time to follow it up but should really take it to the ACCC.

Cheers


Either ACCC or the Telecommunications Ombudsman. Usually a bit of a faff & a wait in between actions (by law apparently) but here the Electrical Ombudsman sorted AGL out for us & boy did they need that sorting out. AGL even gave us a refund for the Inconvenience.

A hollow victory no doubt, but you can bet your balls their Magic all singing, all dancing, Digital Meters will have some way of clawing it back into their coffers. A little bit here & a little bit there, "those silly old bastards won't know".

But at least you will have put something concrete into the system to start the ball rolling.


ED. Ours was all done over the phone so maybe you don't have to be grilled in a soundproof office. :bat:[bighmmm]

[travelrover]

Hi all

I thought after years of fighting Telstra I had actually a solution that worked sort of 'ok' and in fact it did for about a year. I now have a mobile broadband solution via a fixed directional antenna pointed at a cellular antenna some 10 kms away which provides mobile coverage in the house so I dont need to stand on the veranda in the middle of winter to get a signal (first time since the AMPs network shutdown in the late 90's) and also a 4GX WiFi Pro which is a sort of wifi booster that takes the signal from the Mobile Smart Antenna base station and I can connect all our IP devices to this. I could even stream shows for the first time. So much better than my ADSL.

Well this 4GXWiFi pro (a quality Huawei product - not) started having power related problems almost straight away, (and after Googling them, discovered they were crap) and I again spent hours on the phone to Telstra, their customer service people didn't seem to know anything about them so I visited a Telstra shop which are supposed to provide them. Turns out they went obsolete pretty much as soon as I got mine.

Out of frustration I contacted the Telecommunications Ombudsman (which was also the advise from the manager of the Telstra shop) I sent them my 54 emails and copies of all the various 'chat' sessions I had with Telstra customer service and they acted very promptly late last year and within a week or so I was contacted by a member of Telstra's Escalation Complaints & Resolution team. She was very helpful, and after plenty of discussion and some weeks delay was able to provide me at no charge a replacement for the 4GX WiFi Pro, a 4GX Hotspot. This arrive mid December and following her instructions I set it up, which was essentially taking the SIM out of the old unit and putting it in the new one. However as soon as my devices were visible to the new 4GX she was happy it was working and that was the end of our communications. Turns out it was not working, well not properly, while I can see all my devices connected to it there is virtually no data going through it. So again find myself paying for a Telstra 'service' I can not use. I attempted to contact the woman I was dealing with, I had all her contact details but nothing. After three emails and a couple of voice mails I was no longer going to give Telstra the benefit of the doubt and decided since I had such prompt response from the Ombudsman I would go down this avenue again. My original case was pending closure so I had it reactivated and submitted all the required supporting information. This was last week and I received a reply yesterday which I thought was promising. Well that was until I read the email, the key point being...

Unfortunately, because of the current volume of complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, we anticipate it will take up to seven weeks before your case can be allocated to a case manager.

So what do I do, fight Telstra every day and hope I actually get somewhere or wait 7 weeks. There are no alternate providers here not even NBN or i would have gone down that route a long time ago. That's a rhetorical question...

Sorry, venting over...

[4bee]

Hi all

I thought after years of fighting Telstra I had actually a solution that worked sort of 'ok' and in fact it did for about a year. I now have a mobile broadband solution via a fixed directional antenna pointed at a cellular antenna some 10 kms away which provides mobile coverage in the house so I dont need to stand on the veranda in the middle of winter to get a signal (first time since the AMPs network shutdown in the late 90's) and also a 4GX WiFi Pro which is a sort of wifi booster that takes the signal from the Mobile Smart Antenna base station and I can connect all our IP devices to this. I could even stream shows for the first time. So much better than my ADSL.

Well this 4GXWiFi pro (a quality Huawei product - not) started having power related problems almost straight away, (and after Googling them, discovered they were crap) and I again spent hours on the phone to Telstra, their customer service people didn't seem to know anything about them so I visited a Telstra shop which are supposed to provide them. Turns out they went obsolete pretty much as soon as I got mine.

Out of frustration I contacted the Telecommunications Ombudsman (which was also the advise from the manager of the Telstra shop) I sent them my 54 emails and copies of all the various 'chat' sessions I had with Telstra customer service and they acted very promptly late last year and within a week or so I was contacted by a member of Telstra's Escalation Complaints & Resolution team. She was very helpful, and after plenty of discussion and some weeks delay was able to provide me at no charge a replacement for the 4GX WiFi Pro, a 4GX Hotspot. This arrive mid December and following her instructions I set it up, which was essentially taking the SIM out of the old unit and putting it in the new one. However as soon as my devices were visible to the new 4GX she was happy it was working and that was the end of our communications. Turns out it was not working, well not properly, while I can see all my devices connected to it there is virtually no data going through it. So again find myself paying for a Telstra 'service' I can not use. I attempted to contact the woman I was dealing with, I had all her contact details but nothing. After three emails and a couple of voice mails I was no longer going to give Telstra the benefit of the doubt and decided since I had such prompt response from the Ombudsman I would go down this avenue again. My original case was pending closure so I had it reactivated and submitted all the required supporting information. This was last week and I received a reply yesterday which I thought was promising. Well that was until I read the email, the key point being...

Unfortunately, because of the current volume of complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, we anticipate it will take up to seven weeks before your case can be allocated to a case manager.

So what do I do, fight Telstra every day and hope I actually get somewhere or wait 7 weeks. There are no alternate providers here not even NBN or i would have gone down that route a long time ago. That's a rhetorical question...

Sorry, venting over...
Sounds like the Ombudsman needs a Deputy Ombudsman.
Similar setup to you but now with with NBN & have dropped the Telstra landline connection,(still physically there if we need it back) roof mounted ant works ok here over some kms & our indoor Modem is a Technicolor TG789 V. 3, ISP is Internode.. They supplied the Modem & set it up.


The Modem reaches throughout the house (stone construction with Fireplaces. I mention fireplaces because every man & their dog reckons it it is nigh impossible to get a signal through them?????????) & an exterior room. That is a lot of cock, no not crock , cock.
Hoping this may be a help to you being a bit similar.


FWIW...
Consumer watchdogs CHOICE recently published the results of their Best NBN Providers report, and found iiNet at the top of the heap. Combining real-world speed tests and customer satisfaction scores, iiNet sits in first place above TPG, Telstra and Optus – in that order.18 Oct 2018

[simonmelb]

Starlink initial release now available in parts of NSW and VIC (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/computers-and-it/285223-starlink-initial-release-now-available-parts-nsw-vic.html)

[travelrover]

Sounds like the Ombudsman needs a Deputy Ombudsman.
Similar setup to you but now with with NBN & have dropped the Telstra landline connection,(still physically there if we need it back) roof mounted ant works ok here over some kms & our indoor Modem is a Technicolor TG789 V. 3, ISP is Internode.. They supplied the Modem & set it up.


The Modem reaches throughout the house (stone construction with Fireplaces. I mention fireplaces because every man & their dog reckons it it is nigh impossible to get a signal through them?????????) & an exterior room. That is a lot of cock, no not crock , cock.
Hoping this may be a help to you being a bit similar.


FWIW...

Hi 4bee

Yes seems they need a few deputies I guess!

I’m pretty confident the issue with my 4GX Hotspot is configuration but there are no changeable parameters visible to me. Someone with the correct access should be able to do so but that would be Telstra! Sigh…

We still have our land line and ADSL being in a high risk bush fire area we can’t rely on the mobile network. It failed miserably during the Gospers mountain fire a couple of years ago.

Cheers

[4bee]

Hi 4bee

Yes seems they need a few deputies I guess!

I’m pretty confident the issue with my 4GX Hotspot is configuration but there are no changeable parameters visible to me. Someone with the correct access should be able to do so but that would be Telstra! Sigh…

We still have our land line and ADSL being in a high risk bush fire area we can’t rely on the mobile network. It failed miserably during the Gospers mountain fire a couple of years ago.

Cheers


I can access our Modem if I need to. Node freely supply the login Dets as it also helps them over the phone when they need to trouble shoot.


Hardly ever need to alter anything though.
EDIT.
Just found this.
You log into your router's firmware through a browser. Any browser will do. At the address field, type the IP address of your router. Most routers use an address of 192.168.1.1.5 Apr 2021

Unless you are fab with settings "there be Dragons".[bigrolf]

[travelrover]

I can access our Modem if I need to. Node freely supply the login Dets as it also helps them over the phone when they need to trouble shoot.


Hardly ever need to alter anything though.
EDIT.
Just found this.

Unless you are fab with settings "there be Dragons".[bigrolf]

Have a URL and userID but no password for the 4GX Hotspot. Seems they don’t want folk fiddling

[austastar]

Hi,
Try Admin

Cheers

[1950landy]

I see an add tonight for Telstra , if I listened correct they are moving all there call centres back to AU . I wasn't listening that well was playing solitaire on my phone during adds so was concentrating on that , so may not have heard correct though :spudnikheadphones:

[ramblingboy42]

got a courtesy message from telstra informing of upgrades to both phone and internet services and possible outages , immediately followed by a black screen.
well , I was warned....

[4bee]

got a courtesy message from telstra informing of upgrades to both phone and internet services and possible outages , immediately followed by a black screen.
well , I was warned....




Not much bloody Courtesy there then if they advise you then immediately pull the plug.[bighmmm][bigsad]

[travelrover]

Hi, Try AdminCheersdidnt work :-(

[4bee]

didnt work :-(


A Telstra Tech. called here today checking on their wooden poles( they drill holes in the base etc)
anyway, before he left I asked him about your problem hoping he would have a list of common use passwords that they use to access gear. But alas, he buggered off without getting back to me & I was here, mainly because it was raining.[bigsad]


Sorry, I did try for you.

[travelrover]

Thanks 4bee, appreciate that.

I have tried escalating via every Telstra avenue I can find. I have twice been promised that the specialist support team will call me back within 24-48 hours… still waiting and still waiting for the 2nd level support to call within 2-5 days which expired on 3 Feb. these are all from Indian based contact centers.

They just don’t care…

[101RRS]

Email the CEO asking for his office to intervene and provide the required service.

Your visit to ceoemail.com (https://ceoemail.com/s.php?id=ceo-10297&c=Telstra%20Corporation%20Limited-Chief%20Executive%20Officer)

[4bee]

Thanks 4bee, appreciate that.

I have tried escalating via every Telstra avenue I can find. I have twice been promised that the specialist support team will call me back within 24-48 hours… still waiting and still waiting for the 2nd level support to call within 2-5 days which expired on 3 Feb. these are all from Indian based contact centers.

They just don’t care…



Odd that Telstra's TV ad says they are shifting OS Call centres to Oz, which would have been a wise decision years ago.


Hope they don't bring the CC Staff with them.:wallbash::soapbox::rulez:


No mention of when, just that they are. Bull****? Who can say?

[travelrover]

Andy Penn (Telstra CEO) announced sometime ago that they would be on-shoring their contact centers but there was no time line.

In the same vein a few years ago Westpac offshored their Adelaide mortgage processing facility. Those losing their jobs had to train their Indian replacement before being retrenched. Not as bad as One.Tel laying everyone off via text in 2001!

[4bee]

Andy Penn (Telstra CEO) announced sometime ago that they would be on-shoring their contact centers but there was no time line.

In the same vein a few years ago Westpac offshored their Adelaide mortgage processing facility. Those losing their jobs had to train their Indian replacement before being retrenched. Not as bad as One.Tel laying everyone off via text in 2001!


Talk about them getting the rough end of the Pineapple.[bigsad]

[1950landy]

Of late Telstra have started sending me reminders by text every couple of days tat the account is due , the 1st reminder is sent the day after I receive the account by Email , I receive the account around the 22nd of the month & it it is due the 14th of following month . I always pay by the the 12th even when they fail to send me an account . We have been with Telstra for 50 years & have never been late or not payed an account . Are Telstra doing this to all there costumers ? I find it an insult , makes me feel that I am not paying my account on time or not at all. I wonder if they are charging me for reading these text messages. I would not mind if the sent one message couple of days before the due date but to send every couple of days is a bit much.

[Metoikos13]

didnt work :-(

From memory when I had one of these things you go to http://m.home in your browser (making sure the browser is actually connected via the modem). This will bring up the management home page. Username is "admin" and password is "admin", which is really secure[wink11], so first thing you do change the password. This should give you access to all the modem management. Good luck.

[4bee]

Of late Telstra have started sending me reminders by text every couple of days tat the account is due , the 1st reminder is sent the day after I receive the account by Email , I receive the account around the 22nd of the month & it it is due the 14th of following month . I always pay by the the 12th even when they fail to send me an account . We have been with Telstra for 50 years & have never been late or not payed an account . Are Telstra doing this to all there costumers ? I find it an insult , makes me feel that I am not paying my account on time or not at all. I wonder if they are charging me for reading these text messages. I would not mind if the sent one message couple of days before the due date but to send every couple of days is a bit much.


This sort of crap annoys the **** out of me, not just Telstra, AGL & a few others. It is like they do not have a Data Base to check Client status. So you start at the beginning all over again.



BAAHHH HUMBUG!

[V8Ian]

All the telcos are trying to get their customers on pre-paid. All new contracts with Optus have a clause, allowing them to withdraw next month's fee, directly from the customer's account.

[travelrover]

From memory when I had one of these things you go to http://m.home in your browser (making sure the browser is actually connected via the modem). This will bring up the management home page. Username is "admin" and password is "admin", which is really secure[wink11], so first thing you do change the password. This should give you access to all the modem management. Good luck.

Thanks Metoikos13, this is just what I used! Maybe they have improved the security ;-)

[4bee]

Thanks Metoikos13, this is just what I used! Maybe they have improved the security ;-)


Then they must have improved it out of sight as nothing you can do will succeed.


There is one way I know how to get into the thing, Have you got an axe?[bigrolf]

[1950landy]

All the telcos are trying to get their customers on pre-paid. All new contracts with Optus have a clause, allowing them to withdraw next month's fee, directly from the customer's account.


Yes, they are always onto me about letting them do direct debit , I tried that about 10years ago , trouble was they started taking a months payment out every couple of weeks by the time I realized they owed me quite money which they would not refund in a lump sum, they just took $20 off each months account until I had my full refund but didn't give me any interest. Stopped them doing direct debit as soon as I realized.

[JDNSW]

I have been a Telstra customer for over fifty years, and my experience of their billing department has made me absolutely determined that they will never get direct access to any of my accounts. They are untrustworthy (or incompetent or both), and it is almost impossible to get them to correct their errors. They seem to work on the basis of "if we make it hard enough, the customer will give up".

[1950landy]

I have been a Telstra customer for over fifty years, and my experience of their billing department has made me absolutely determined that they will never get direct access to any of my accounts. They are untrustworthy (or incompetent or both), and it is almost impossible to get them to correct their errors. They seem to work on the basis of "if we make it hard enough, the customer will give up".

Same as most Gov departments , make it as difficult as possible until you give up & go away. Comes from being once owned by the Government .

[JDNSW]

I doubt it is that - their customer relations are a pretty exact copy of the major US telecoms such as AT&T and Verizon, which have never been government departments.

[101RRS]

Email the CEO asking for his office to intervene and provide the required service.

Your visit to ceoemail.com (https://ceoemail.com/s.php?id=ceo-10297&c=Telstra%20Corporation%20Limited-Chief%20Executive%20Officer)

No follow up comment from the originator of this current discussion - I have used this email address of the CEO on a few occasions and it works well. One of the CEOs staff contacted me in response and the issue handed over to the Aussie service department - no asian call centre to deal with - issue was dealt quite quickly.

[1950landy]

No follow up comment from the originator of this current discussion - I have used this email address of the CEO on a few occasions and it works well. One of the CEOs staff contacted me in response and the issue handed over to the Aussie service department - no asian call centre to deal with - issue was dealt quite quickly.

Last time I contacted the CEO 's office had a message back saying some one would contact me within 24hrs , about 6 weeks I got a call from an OS call centre from someone I could not understand , after 2hrs he said he would escalate my complaint & I would be contacted within 14days , still waiting 6 months later . I will admit the two times before I contacted the CEO there response was very quick & a solution found. At the moment I just put up with the daily drop outs starting at the same time every day 5.50am & continue to 10.30pm . I am about to get cable run from the modem to different parts of the house as Telstra tell me it is a WIFI problem after supplying 10 modem's . I have run a temporary cable from the modem to desk top which seams to fix the problem but is trip hazed in the hall way but dose not fix the total dropouts as soon as it rains which lasts for a few days after the rain has gone. I have reported this but they tell me they can not find anything wrong .

[travelrover]

No follow up comment from the originator of this current discussion - I have used this email address of the CEO on a few occasions and it works well. One of the CEOs staff contacted me in response and the issue handed over to the Aussie service department - no asian call centre to deal with - issue was dealt quite quickly.

This is the email I used to actually get some traction after years of being ignored. And it worked for a while I had a solution that sort of worked and then when I had problems with this solution there was no response to emails or phone calls. This happened with two different agents! They don’t care, do the minimum to tick the box to be compliant with whatever process they are supposed to follow.

[4bee]

The NBN arrived in my Elderly mum's area, and apparently she had to get the NBN conneted to use her phone line. They came and installed the line and later gave her a modem and some sort of wifi phone to use with it. It worked for a day or so, and then stopped working. She rings Telstra, wits ofr ages then gets hung up on, when she does get thru its the phillipines calll centre she cant understand the operator. They send a tech around , but that takes days. then the come and cant find a fault in the equipment, but get t working and leave, Then the same thing happens time and time again, the issue is new satisfactorily resolved. I cant phone her, she cant ring out. she tried a mobile and cant ring any one.
I tried to ring Telstra, but they have a message saying they are flat out blaming the Corona Virus and delays are expected to answer, even though not much I could do as i am not the account holder, she cant do it as she cant phone them.
bloody ridiculous that she is paying for a service she cant use, oh and when she first complained they sent her a warning letter to make sure she pays her bills as she is obligated to and not withhold payment in the event of a dispute as they will recover money owed. She has always paid her bill on time.
I was going ot complain to the comm ombudsman ,but I cant do it as I am not the account holder.



If one was cynical one would suspect that it is a ruse placed there to keep the lazy workshy bastard's workload down.

But only if one was cynical of course.[bigrolf]


Can you send them (Ombudsman) an email explaining the above & on her behalf? A/c No etc.

[4bee]

Last time I contacted the CEO 's office had a message back saying some one would contact me within 24hrs , about 6 weeks I got a call from an OS call centre from someone I could not understand , after 2hrs he said he would escalate my complaint & I would be contacted within 14days , still waiting 6 months later . I will admit the two times before I contacted the CEO there response was very quick & a solution found. At the moment I just put up with the daily drop outs starting at the same time every day 5.50am & continue to 10.30pm . I am about to get cable run from the modem to different parts of the house as Telstra tell me it is a WIFI problem after supplying 10 modem's . I have run a temporary cable from the modem to desk top which seams to fix the problem but is trip hazed in the hall way but dose not fix the total dropouts as soon as it rains which lasts for a few days after the rain has gone. I have reported this but they tell me they can not find anything wrong .


I reckon the button they press to transfer you is actually a DELETE button & so it goes into the big tip in the sky.

[Tins]

The only thing that gets their attention is the TIO.

[travelrover]

The only thing that gets their attention is the TIO.

Been there done that, got 2 SMS’s today from TIO… this was after been advised last week or the week before that there was a seven week wait until TIO could appoint someone to look at my case.

TIO Update: Your TIO complaint 2021/10/xxxxx is progressing through the queue. If it is resolved please reply YES. If you still need our help, reply NO.

TIO Update: Thank you. We just wanted to find out if your provider had sorted the issue for your complaint 2021/10/xxxxx. Call us if the complaint becomes urgent. Don't reply to this SMS.

Let’s see what happens next…

[4bee]

The only thing that gets their attention is the TIO.

No doubt as good as the SA Electrical Ombudsman when we had issues with AGL.

They sorted them out with a great result for us, but probably not AGL.

They seem to have powers that we could only dream of. [biggrin]

[Johnno1969]

I have been a Telstra customer for over fifty years, and my experience of their billing department has made me absolutely determined that they will never get direct access to any of my accounts. They are untrustworthy (or incompetent or both), and it is almost impossible to get them to correct their errors. They seem to work on the basis of "if we make it hard enough, the customer will give up".

Yes, absolutely. I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw one of their phones. Unbelievable lack of accountability.

[Johnno1969]

Same as most Gov departments , make it as difficult as possible until you give up & go away. Comes from being once owned by the Government .

I actually don't think it's an artifact of government ownership at all: in fact, it's quite the opposite. Now it's gone fully corporate, the almighty bottom line, call centres on the other side of the world and very little chance of ever talking to the same person twice (or, heaven forbid, having somebody take personal responsibility for fixing a problem) are the norm. I'm sure that government departments in all places have their good and bad points, but they generally have far greater accountability. I know from working in one the pride which comes from taking care of people. More people in public service genuinely take the "service" bit seriously than is ever acknowledged: you don't get that from a disjointed gaggle of disinterested people strung around the globe in a system whose aim is profit first and foremost, who are just wanting to get to the end of a shift.

[JDNSW]

We had a nice thunderstorm in the middle of the night. No dial tone on the landline this morning. Spent about 3/4 of an hour on a very dodgy mobile connection to Telstra this morning. I think they said they are sending someone out on Monday, but they also said they would forward calls on the landline to the mobile; but calls to the landline say the number is not connected.

I am reluctant to call them again - it is too hard!

[JDNSW]

Got my d-i-l to call Telstra. This prompted them to call me; they have tried to divert my landline to the mobile but it doesn't work.

Sounds to me like it is the exchange that got struck by lightning! Just called another number on the exchange - it gets me "the number you called is not connected". To me that confirms that it is the exchange that got struck by lightning!

[1950landy]

We had a thunder storm last year , there was no lightning but an almighty clap of thunder out the back of our house , took out our Modem , NBN box ,couple of Security cameras, big flat screen TV & one of our Solar Inverters, so may be your NBN box if you have one in the house next to the modem.

[ramblingboy42]

there must have been lightning....thunder is lightning noise

[JDNSW]

We had a thunder storm last year , there was no lightning but an almighty clap of thunder out the back of our house , took out our Modem , NBN box ,couple of Security cameras, big flat screen TV & one of our Solar Inverters, so may be your NBN box if you have one in the house next to the modem.

The only nbn here is Skymuster satellite - not available from Telstra! So the nbn box has nothing to do with the phone. It seems to have started working again - now I just have to try and get the diversion to my mobile removed!

[4bee]

The only nbn here is Skymuster satellite - not available from Telstra! So the nbn box has nothing to do with the phone. It seems to have started working again - now I just have to try and get the diversion to my mobile removed!



now I just have to try and get the diversion to my mobile removed




And Good Luck with that.[bighmmm]

[JDNSW]

And Good Luck with that.[bighmmm]

Thar was easy, only 27minutes on hold!

[1950landy]

there must have been lightning....thunder is lightning noise

There would have been but I didn't see it , the thunder was at the back of the house & very close , I was looking out the window at the back at the time & didn't see any lightning. The thunder was loud enough to make the house shake & some of the photo's in the wall unit fell over.

[4bee]

There would have been but I didn't see it , the thunder was at the back of the house & very close , I was looking out the window at the back at the time & didn't see any lightning. The thunder was loud enough to make the house shake & some of the photo's in the wall unit fell over.


Some years ago when the world was a much better place, TELSTRA sent a bloke out to fit a heavy Earth wire to their system. It ran from the box down to an Earth Stake & it is still there today.


Can't recall the exact problem we had then but it must have been summat electrical & probably a high voltage to the house so the **** wouldn't get the buggery blown out of it.


I think a di-ode of some value was installed in the terminal box on the house. It would be rude not to. All a bit long ago now & back when TELSTRA had " Countrywide" & cared about their customers.

[travelrover]

Some years ago when the world was a much better place, TELSTRA sent a bloke out to fit a heavy Earth wire to their system. It ran from the box down to an Earth Stake & it is still there today.


Can't recall the exact problem we had then but it must have been summat electrical & probably a high voltage to the house so the **** wouldn't get the buggery blown out of it.


I think a di-ode of some value was installed in the terminal box on the house. It would be rude not to. All a bit long ago now & back when TELSTRA had " Countrywide" & cared about their customers.

That would have been not long after they were rebranded from Telecom with industry deregulation on 1 July 1995.

[4bee]

That would have been not long after they were rebranded from Telecom with industry deregulation on 1 July 1995.



We have been here since 1987 so I would guess your estimate is correct. The field people, but mainly the "Area Manager", was the most polite & helpful bloke you could wish to meet. None of those left in that place today I wouldn't think.

He gave me his business Card & told me to phone him If I had any further problems.WOW!

We never did & so I never had the pleasure of his company again.


Ho Hum.
EDIT.
The ex-Telecom 240v Generator I picked up from a Garage Sale is painted orange so I have assumed it was around the same sort of date. Only ID is MGA (?) & a # but it still is a very workmanlike bit of Kit. It can knock out 15amps when required. It gets a test run now & then just in case which reminds me...... . Just checked it. Phweeew.


It is a bit noisy & I have replaced the Muffler Box for a quieter one but when it is needed, who cares, but back in it's day it would have been run outdoors near some manhole or other works going on & not at night. 300m from the nearest neighbour.

Pull Start & only ever requires a couple of priming pulls & #3 starts it without fail.

[NavyDiver]

We have been here since 1987 so I would guess your estimate is correct. The field people, but mainly the "Area Manager", was the most polite & helpful bloke you could wish to meet. None of those left in that place today I wouldn't think.

He gave me his business Card & told me to phone him If I had any further problems.WOW!

We never did & so I never had the pleasure of his company again.


Ho Hum.
EDIT.
The ex-Telecom 240v Generator I picked up from a Garage Sale is painted orange so I have assumed it was around the same sort of date. Only ID is MGA (?) & a # but it still is a very workmanlike bit of Kit. It can knock out 15amps when required. It gets a test run now & then just in case which reminds me...... . Just checked it. Phweeew.


It is a bit noisy & I have replaced the Muffler Box for a quieter one but when it is needed, who cares, but back in it's day it would have been run outdoors near some manhole or other works going on & not at night. 300m from the nearest neighbour.

Pull Start & only ever requires a couple of priming pulls & #3 starts it without fail.


Really nice gent who loves his Disco was one of very few Bushfire survivors a bit south of King Lake. His amazing genset and electric water pumps almost certainly saved Mr and Mrs very lucky lives at the time. Suspect my Disco bias came from helping them[biggrin] One comment he made was Biggest issues with Fire pumps, Petrol, Diesel or Gensets is maintenance breaks which meant they did not start when really really needed. Cost more than a few lives here 10 years ago sadly.

re your "replaced the Muffler Box" i just blame the dog for it around here Des [bigrolf]