[plug] consolidated supply

[Tim]

Like others, I would highly recommend naked ADSL if you are trying to
bring your bills down. That way, you can do away with the telstra
phone line rental, and also with the landline bill. Unfortunately,
you'll probably still have to have mobile phones separate. As for
iinet bob, if you already have adsl hardware that supports voip, you
don't need bob, but if you are considering purchasing new hardware
that includes voip, then consider bob.

My internet bill, with iinet and voip included (no bob) is roughly $50
a month, which gives us 2Gb + 2Gb, unlimited landline calls (australia
wide) and there are a few extra calls on top of that to mobiles or
companies with 13something numbers. (btw, I have a dialup modem device
that needs a landline to "call home" weekly, it has no idea it's not
on a real landline and works fine).
On top of that $50 bill, my wife and I both have Virgin mobiles on
prepaid, with my topups working out to about $15 a month and my wifes
working out to about $30 a month. We get unlimited free calls and text
between us and anyone on virgin (which includes a large portion of my
family in perth, and a large portion of her family in qld). My wifes
bill is higher as she is on a prepaid cap, and we use that for the
majority of our calls to mobile numbers, as it usually works out
cheaper and more convenient that the voip line.

Quick question. Any major reason to not do direct debit? I believe
iinet is credit card or direct debit, but do have alternative options
if you are paying early. Don't quote me on that, as I've never used
the early options. As for the email you got from them, I'd aggree with
other members on the list, you managed to get someone not having a
nice day, in general, most iinet staff are very good, to the point
that they would give me as much information about my local exchange as
they could (before I was even a customer) when I was trying to find
available connection options. i.e. They gave me information that would
have assisted me in connecting with other providers, when I wasn't
even a customer. That was part of the reason I eventually signed up to
them, no BS and great customer services, wanting the best for me as a
customer and not the best thing for them, plus it was one of the
cheapest options I could get in my area.

Tim


-- 
Timothy White - Somewhere in Australia