Please help me sort out my iPhone and Internet plan!

After a good hard look at my budget, things need to change! Mainly my internet and mobile plans. Here's what I pay atm:

Bigpond Internet : $84.95/m 6GB
iPhone : Cap Plan $129 + $39 Data Pack 5 GB

The usage on my iPhone is only ever 3-4% of the 5GB allowance. My usage on home internet is apparently 0%. Im not quite sure how this could be, however i definitely use the internet on my mobile more than laptop. So, im paying $124 a month for an 11GB data allowance that i only ever use 3-4% of!

I found out the payout fee to cancel my Bigpond plan which $156.61. I'll cancel it this week. Tomorrow i'll find out the payout fee on my phone contract, however this doesn't expire until September so i think it might be quite high.

Basically what i want to know is, what are your internet plans?
Am i better to go on a prepaid plan once im out of my phone contract or get a new iPhone 4 with a lower plan?
Would it be cheaper to have a phone line for internet or not?

After doing some research on plans etc on the internet, im getting so confused! Also, we're moving in a couple of months time so i might not need to stay with Telstra for coverage purposes, like i do at the moment.

Please help! :doh:

Hey Mad. :D

I don't know about home internet, but i have an iphone and i use a pre-paid sim. I topped up $40 when i arrived in Aus recently, 3 and half weeks later, i have used it ALL the time especially the internet, and i haven't ran out yet..... I don't actually ring people much though, mainly because i hate talking on the phone. :p So lots of short calls.
I bought my phone outright and had a look at the plans V's prepaid and there was no real bonus to having a plan except you can't have voice mail with pre-paid.

I have gone from Telstra to vodaphone to 3 and back to Telstra over the years. I think they are crap but the best of a bad bunch..... Don't get sucked into 3. They don't let you change your plans, are very inflexible and customer service is worse than Telstra.

Hello JM :)

I think i might get prepaid for my phone. I really dont want a new one. I looooooooooove my phone! No voicemail? Really? :( I'd miss voicemail. I dont have a landline so if it was a number i didn't recognise, i'd have to call them back all the time. Maybe thats not such a big deal though.

I think internet is the most confusing.

They have that weird talk to text thing where i get a strange sms saying roughly what the caller said. But more often than not, it's amusing rather than informative.

yeah sorry, i'm not much help on the internet stuff.... i just hack into my parents.

i have prepaid with Telstra. as JM said, sometimes the talk to text is funny, but it's usually enough to give me the message!

i have the talk and text bonus offer - i recharge either 30 or 40 a month (depending on how much i've been doing) - for 30 i get 100 mins talk, 200 text, for 40, it's double that. if you talk more than text (or vice verse) there are compatible offers for those. i then buy a data pack with the credit (usually 20 a month) which is plenty for me (i use lap top and home connection at home, but net when i'm out and about all the time). i have been on prepaid a year and never run out of credit (it all rolls over, so if i have a busy month, i just use what i haven't used in the past months)

i'm not a fan of telstra (ex-staff - do you blame me?). the customer service for pre-paid is all based off shore and useless BUT, for the way we use the phone, it is working for us!

with your net, have you thought of grabbing a prepaid usb and recharging a lump sum that lasts 6-12 months? if you recharge before it expires, it should roll over)

I a with telstra. I"m on a bundle for home phone and internet. I get unlimited calls to all phones in aust and mobiles AND 200gig internet for around $130 a mth.

I have my iphone on a $49 cap with Telstra which gives me $400 in calls and 1 gig internet. I have never gone over either. Because I have all my services iwth Telstra I get my mobile cap for $39 and free calls between my home phone and mobiles which saves us about 150 a mth.

Thanks for all your help guys. I think prepaid will be the way to go. Just a matter of waiting now until the payout figure becomes a bit lower :)