Staying in contact with family back in RSA

[Beatle]

Can someone out there please help me????? My family and fiancé will be staying on in SA while I am in Australia for the first few months. I want to be able to communicate with them in the best and cheapest way available, but I am seriously confused about all the options out there – skype, MXit, MSN Messenger, dial-up, wireless, ASDL…. Etc etc …Can someone please shed some light on these various options!! The main thing to remember is that I will be working in the outback and reception is poor, I have been told by the company I am going to work for that only the Telstra network has signal for mobile phones in the area.

I will have a laptop available, but what else do I need to stay in communication? What upgrades will I need to make to my laptop? I have looked into getting a prepaid mobile phone plan through Telstra (this will be easier than getting a fixed contract at first) but I’m not sure if you can dial international numbers from a prepaid phone contract – Telstra has not been very helpful in this regard, I can never get through to them!

Once again, if anyone out there can give this techno dummy some advice I would really appreciate it.

[choog]

I suppose you first need to find out what type of connection is available to you. You said the connection is poor, i assume you mean cell phone connection. But if telstra is available, then you can get dial-up, or maybe adsl.

If you are to use cell rates for internet, it will be more expensive, so see what Telstra offer first.

You can also ask your question on this Aussie telecommunications site

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/

[Bob]

Telstra is Australia's own telecommunications company, and as such, is the one doing most of the work connecting Australians out in the bush with the rest of the world.

Telstra has pioneered "Next G"

This network is in addition to their regular "3G" network, so just get the right network.

"3G" is mainly for the suburbs and city areas and doesn't have a brilliant reception outside these main metropolitan areas throughout Australia, so insist only on "Next G" . . . . the costs and call rates are the same.

Next G covers a much wider area and you get to be able to do more on that network, especially out in the bush.

You can get emails and even TV on your mobile with Next G! . . . you can't get that sort of performance out of "3G".

You can indeed dial South Africa or any other overseas destination from your mobile phones in Australia.

On my Nokia, I press the + button, which connects me to overseas, then "27" for South Africa or "44" for the U.K., then the area code (leaving out the first "0" which is only for internal domestic use within the respective country), then the phone number of the people or company.

For keeping in touch with relatives, getting hold of a call card can sometimes be a cheap way to call as you only dial a local call number within Australia to connect cheaply to overseas.

Alternatively, you can use "Skype" or "MSN Messaging" or one of the other messaging programs on your lap-top or PC to be able to talk computer-to-computer with anyone else.

Getting broadband is the best way of using Skype or MSN Messaging, especially if you want to see each other.

Telstra offer wireless broadband to people living and working in the bush . . . but it's not cheap.

I use Telstra's "Next G" wireless broadband myself.

The plans offer a free modem to hook your lap-top or PC up to the internet, if you connect for 12 months or so on a plan.

Rates are:

$49 a month, 'Fast" 256 kb / sec speed, Usage = 1 Gb volume (download & upload)

$49 a month, "super Fast" 3 Mbs / sec speed, 400 Mb volume

$79 a month, 3 Mbs / sec speed, 1 Gb volume

$109 a month, 3 Mbs / sec speed, 3 Gb volume.

. . . . . anything over these volume limits are charged at 15c / Mb . . . (ouch!)

Hooking your computer to talk and see each other over the internet does tend to use a bit of "bandwidth". You can easily chew thro your monthly allowance of "usage", before paying thro the nose at 15 cents / Mb over this volume limit, so be careful on how much you use.

Seeing others online involves Skype or MSN Messaging to send around 25 snapshots each sec over the internet.

Now this takes a lot of little dots (pixels) and consequently, a lot of Mb's (Megabytes) to do so.

You can select the picture size you want to send and receive, so keep it small (but still big enough to see the others clearly and easily) and use a lot less Mbs than by using a full screen on your computer.

If you really find the need to talk and send images a lot, then you may need to subscribe to the $109 a month plan and get Super Fast (3 Mbs / sec)internet connection with a full 3 Gbs of usage volume.

http://my.bigpond.com/internetplans/broadb...iew/default.jsp

Alternatively, if you're living in one of the larger towns out in the bush, you may have ADSL internet which connects you thro your phone lines. This is much cheaper than wireless broadband, so ask the local Australians when you get over here what sort of internet connection they are using.

If the place is too small to have broadband yet, then there may be a chance that Telstra may be able to hook you up with the Next G wireless broadband system to get you online with the internet.

Basically, ask the locals what they have (with internet) and also see Telstra on what they can offer you, if all else fails.

Good luck!

Edited April 14, 2008 by Bob