Which Telephone Company (Landline) are You With?

[Bathsheba]

I'm having dramas with phone companies (isn't everyone!?)

For 6 years we were with Telstra. Then when my 14yo DD started clocking up lots of calls to mobile phones, using our landline. I requested a service to block this. I don't recall the details but I recall Telstra quoting a figure that would defeat the purpose ie not save us much even with the block in place. I also was sick of paying a fortune for interstate calls so I decided to go to AAPT (who I had heard good things about).

AAPT said I could go on a no-contract plan which meant my calls to interstate numbers would be capped at $1.50 (no time limit) yippeee! They could also sell me an "add on" Call Control feature which meant I could block and unblock calls to mobile phones for $3.30 a month... another yippee!!!

BUT ever since I have been with AAPT the Call Control feature has had issues.... can't turn it on... can't turn it off. The technicians are helpful and have said it was due to problems their end... ie not my fault. But get this!!! Every time I call AAPT's helpdesk (a 1300 number) I have to pay 30c. I've had to call them quite a few times to get these issues sorted... and they still aren't sorted, and the cost is starting to clock up! We were also charged for the time that the Call Connect wasn't working.

I'm pretty fed up. Do I change providers once again???

Who actually IS happy with their phone company?

[feeb]

We have VOIP with Mynetfone and its has been great and so cheap. We have basic service with Telstra for ADSL line which the net is with another company again but need the Telstra connection for line.

I think calls on mynetfone are like 5cents or something similar. Mobiles are more expesnive to call of course but not sure if you can block with them.

[Olive]

we are also with mynetphone!! tis awesome! bath we call inlaws interstate for free as they also have voip, well worth getting

[Bathsheba]

Hmmm... I can't see my parents getting voip... my sister might. I'll look into it. Is the call quality clear? Is there a delay? Thanks girls

[Inanna]

I am also with mynetfone! Popular hey!?
I too love it! Sometimes it's a little crackly - but I paid $100 up front and this includes $100 worth of included local and long distance calls per month.

I have an incredibly short fuse when it comes to Telstra... Don't get me started! I refused to pay for a phone line so I have gone wireless for my internet and the voip phone just plugs into the wall... Fabbo!

It's worth a look Bath -

[fionas]

We're with iinet for landline and internet. Not sure if they do anything like blocking mobiles - I sympathise Bath, DSD ran up about $60 one month. Our low-tech solution has been to give her a warning and then when it happened again to dock it from her pocket money. That seems to have it sorted but yep, a tech solution would be better for peace of mind.

Let us know who you go with.

[Bathsheba]

My DD clocked up $200 of mobile phones calls one month.... one call lasted nearly 3 hours and was $60 by itself!!!

Can you call mobile phones from mynetfone?

[onthefly]

Run away! AAPT offer nice sounding plans but their service is ABYSMAL!
We've switched to westnet, which is now owned by iinet, and they are much better. The service is great, they answer quickly when you call them (AAPT generally kept me waiting at least 20 minutes to get through to someone) and the rates are reasonable.

[fionas]

We're with iinet for landline and internet. Not sure if they do anything like blocking mobiles - I sympathise Bath, DSD ran up about $60 one month. Our low-tech solution has been to give her a warning and then when it happened again to dock it from her pocket money. That seems to have it sorted but yep, a tech solution would be better for peace of mind.

Let us know who you go with.

[Bathsheba]

Yep AAPT had a great Sales person who had great communication skills etc but ever since I joined up I have had to deal with people who have very strong accents that I struggle to understand especially with my 3yo making a noise and jumping around me. So frustrating!!! I wish NIB (health insurance company) had a phone company... they are fantastic when you ring... friendly, helpful, CLEAR and consistent....and you don't have to pay to call them to sort an issue!

[Olive]

bath we have never had any issues call wise, only issue is when internet is down or theres a power failure!

[Bathsheba]

So we might have to change internet providers to do voip? Hmm, we are with Pacific (internet) and they are fantastic... DH would be very reluctant to change... he gets unlimited downloads on the weekend during which time he adds to his comprehensive music collection.

[Inanna]

I agree with AJP.. I have had the odd crackly call but really its not a problem... (remember I am in a rural area which has an effect).

The other party doesn't have to have VOIP Bath for you to benefit. After you use the 100 calls a month the calls are 16 cents for 2 hours!... So, it's pretty funky I reckon!

[kawazuki]

we are with dodo and love it
so cheap we ahev all our phones, mobile home and internet with them costs us 90 a month for all 4

the service is good havent ahd any issues with them.
we can track our usage online and can stop mobile phones being called and you do most of it over the net and when you do call they are helpfull sometimes hard to understand but even with optus i couldnt understand the help person lol

[~clover~]

I just swithced to iinet.
I pay around $50 a month for the same net usage as I had with telstra for $90.
I pay around the same for line rental & have a voip pack included for $20 extra. My voip includes all national calls for free. Mobiles are 30c a minute. Not sure about call blocking or anything though...don't have teens yet, lol.
Only problem is that I need to pick a thing up for my voip that I keep forgetting, so not sure how it works yet.
I can call land lines from it & have a seperate number for people to call me on it (not sure if its cheaper for them or not though).

[Bathsheba]

So can or can't you escape paying line rental? Both Telstra and AAPT charge $29 a month

[Inanna]

Yes Bath that's what I said above that I do! I have no telstra line any more. I have a bigpond wireless internet service - obviously doesn't require a line as it's wireless.

I have the voip service and for $100 for the year I get 100 national and local calls per month.

Mynetfone allowed me to choose a new number or for a fee of about $2 per month you can use your previous telstra number I think. I opted for a new number.

So now I pay no phone bill (until next year!) and only my wireless internet... It is wonderful!

[Bathsheba]

Yep, sorry FC I got a bit confused... But Bigpond is expensive isn't it? Pacific charge us only $49 a month (with unlimited downloads on the weekend... and it's fast!). So much to weigh up. Basically I just want to stop DD using our landline to call mobiles. She can't be reasoned with unfortunately