Belly,

Who did you sign with? Think we would have to get another gadget for wireless, as my computer is presently hooked up to my landline.
If you or Yuyutsu have better plans, would be interested to know about them.

Individual, completely agree with you. Telstra have had it their own way for far too long. And service? Forget it. Can't even understand the only people one can contact, as their Indian accents are so thick, and half the time they can't understand our accent either.

Outsourcing? Give the jobs back to Aussies! So the wages are higher, but Telstra have sacrificed service for profits.

To me that is a short term view, when it forces people like myself to look elsewhere for better and cheaper deals. Yes, I know they still call the shots, because other Telcos have to use their facilities.

Maybe privatisation would serve us better. Out in the real world, both large and small businesses are aware that service to customers is part of the reason for success.

worldwatcher,

If you contact Telstra on 132200 and when prompted say “complaints”, you should get directed to an Australian site that can help you.

World watcher not sure we should talk of this.
The site,and it has every right to, sells advertising to keep afloat.
First a tip, I live in an area they said had poor wireless coverage.
Wrong.
Most tried my supplier Optus, and left to the one you mention in the thread.
But while no expert in PC I claim far better in all things radio.
So I put my dongle out of the back of PC on a ten meter usb lead cut 45 mm plastic pipe, [drainage]put it all in there and round cap you buy same place as pipe, overall 30 mm long and as high as you can get.
Get friends around, have a bar b q, check each phone brand for best coverage.
BUT bet on far better after you install this simple way.
I get no drop outs and full signal strength in a known poor area!
I tried a different path first, for extremely bad areas a beam areal should be of great help, but could not find a commercial one in this country.
Beam is just like a torch , points in one direction and adds to the strength of sent signals same very nearly, for received.

We only use our land line for a fax, as we don't answer it mainly due to Indians.

My primary phone is my mobile, for which in have an unlimited plan, with 3 gig, or what ever of data, all for just $129 per month with coverage almost everywhere, including the bush.

I have no probs with telstra.

Spindoc,

Nope, didn't work. I got an Indian again. But thanks for trying to help me out. I appreciate it.

Belly, You're a typical Aussie. Now I know why we're called not only the lucky country, but the smart one too. Where else in the world do they come up with such ingenious ways of problem solving? A bit of wire here, a bit of plastic there, and hey presto! Problem solved.

Now do you have any ideas on how we can get charged local rather than national rates for local calls? If so, I'm all ears, because I really would like to shave my bill a bit each month. It's little things like this that really irks me, as well as making my wallet lighter than I'd like it to be.

worldwatcher,

If you have broadband internet through your landline phone-line, have you thought about VOIP?
You need internet speed of at least 512k (which is nothing these days), a service plan with a communications provider (like Engin), and an ATA (communications converter) to connect to a spare LAN port on your broadband Router.
It's a reasonable alternative to Skype.

(Example: Engin (engin.com.au) offers a $14.95/month plan which includes free local and national calls, anytime, untimed, no flag-fall, no nothing, just this low monthly fee: - and on a 12-24 month plan they will throw in the required ATA (comms converter) (normal price $89-119)(like Voicebox Series 2 from Engin). But you will still need a Telstra line or mobile for 000 calls; and calls to 13 and 1300 numbers are about 60 cents - so again Telstra phone - and also Telstra for 1800 numbers, probably.)
(Engin VOIP also has cheap rates for international calls - NZ for about 3.5 cents/minute.)
Of course there are other providers of Voip, so you can compare via Google search.

For those unfamiliar: You need a splitter-filter plugged into the incoming (broadband) phone line (which you would already have if you have both internet and phone service on your landline); and a spare LAN port on your Router.
Phone is connected to the filtered side of the splitter-filter, and the un-filtered side connects to the broadband modem. An ATA is then connected by Ethernet cable to a LAN port on the broadband Router, and a separate phone handset connected to the phone outlet on the ATA – which is then your dedicated VOIP phone.
However, the best ATA’s also have a port to connect to your (filtered) incoming landline, so the VOIP phone can still be used as a normal Telstra phone if the internet or Voip service is temporarily offline.
(This latter setup requires a phoneline double-adapter connected to the filtered side of the splitter-filter, with one outward line then going to the ATA and the other going to a normal – dedicated Telstra - phone.)
Voip has a lot to recommend it.