how do i go about....

changing phone companies?

obviously i dont want to be 'disconnected' for any amount of time, our 2 yr contract for the internet is up early July.

ideally we'd like to go pre paid internet. but we still want a home phone, so i guess it cant hurt to see if we can get a good deal on phone/net together..

should i just ring around and see whats on offer.. can they just connect you on the spot? can we keep the same phone number?

as you can tell.. we've never had to change before... i really dont want to stay with our current company, and our plan we're on now is just ludacris for what we use...

It's easy, you just pick a provider and they do all the work for you. It doesn't go through straight away, they tell you a date it will be changed over on. Sometimes internet may take longer or you may not hve net for a day or so but when I changed net providers I wasn't without net at all.

If you find a really good deal, contact your current provider and ask if they'll match it or do a better deal. A lot of them will because they want to keep your business ;)

I just sat on the net and googled the companies to compare them then when I had chosen the one I wanted looked into it a bit more then rang them with a thousand questions. They were really good at answering my questions and I told them I would think about the offer and ring them back.
We have had no problems with them and have downgraded our internet plan a couple of times in that time with no penalties.
You can google a site called whirlpool.com.au (I think that's right)which gives you many sites within your area.

Yes - the company "churns" your line for you so there is no break in service. It all still goes through the PSTN so basically Hellstra just change who they are billing on X date for your line.

If the co you are going to uses a different company for STD/IDD (eg: Telstra Local/Optus Long Distance) then make sure you check your first bill for Local calls. If they arent on there make sure you keep some cash aside for them as they will be on the second bill. It shouldn't happen as LOLO has made the churning system simpler, but I always warn people just in case, else their first to second bill fluctuation can come as a rude shock.