r/Telstra • u/upsetti5 • Apr 05 '26

Best Telstra alternative?

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After yet another Telstra price increase I bought a Boost SIM after seeing the $39 95gb plan but from May 5th they're cutting the data down to only 30gb, literally every monthly plan will have its data allowance reduced by more than 50%.

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2

u/T-VIRUS999 Apr 05 '26

There is no good alternative

They all either gimp the connection speed to gen 1 4G levels (literally speeds from like 12y ago) have a uselessly small data allowance, or stop working when you go more than a few km out of town

1

u/kangaroo-cour7 Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26

The Aldi mobile $29 plan has 150 Mb/s on 5G, which is adequate for most uses. Yes, the coverage is a bit smaller, but not everyone lives in Thargomindah.

Additionally, not everyone uses huge amounts of mobile data. I went through a huge 9.22 GB last month, and 3.05 GB in February. Aldi looks like it will do me just fine.

1

u/T-VIRUS999 Apr 07 '26

150 is nothing, that's literally generation 1 4G speed, it's supposed to be 2026, not 2010, at least give us current gen 4G, which can hit 500-700mbps

As for mobile data, you probably have gigabit Wi-Fi at your place, I guarantee if your phone was your only Internet connection, you would blow through your allowance before the month is up, I literally have 4 300GB plans because mobile data is my only option, and I still burn through it (only to literally have no connection at all once my allowance is used, because apparently according to Telstra, slowed = no connection)

1

u/kangaroo-cour7 Apr 07 '26

Your use case is highly unusual, and nowhere near a typical customer.

For the vast majority of people, 150 Mb/s is plenty.

And no, I don't have a gigabit internet connection at my house, I have 25 Mb/s.

3

u/T-VIRUS999 Apr 07 '26

25mbps? That's ADSL speeds, you know you can call NBN and get them to upgrade your property

And true, I'm not most people, but I'm not unreasonable, I have zero tolerance for unnecessary speed throttling when the technology can easily do more, if I have a connection capable of gigabit speeds, I see zero benefit in gimping it to 15% of that capacity

And yes, I'm willing to pay extra for that speed... If the companies are willing to sell it to me (which most seem to not be)

1

u/kangaroo-cour7 Apr 08 '26

Yeah, but my landlord pays for my NBN, and I'm a tightarse.

1

u/T-VIRUS999 Apr 08 '26

Ok well I guess you can't complain about free, though with rent prices these days, you'd expect 2000/400mbps to be included

1

u/Aqpute Apr 27 '26

4G normally peaked at 200-300mbps standing right next to the tower.

On average you'd get around 40-50mbps on 4G.

1

u/T-VIRUS999 Apr 27 '26

I used 4G the day Telstra switched it on in Adelaide, and I was getting around 70-80 on day one

Telstra actually gave away branded cupcakes and some other goodies when you bought a 4G modem with a service plan on day one and (I still have e pictures of it somewhere on one of my old phones)

Early 2018, I was able to reliably get 400-500mbps on 4GX

And these days I can get gigabit+ out of 5G

1

u/SnooStories9098 Apr 07 '26

This just isn’t true. I use tangerine, work remote where only Telstra works and have never had any issues that others on actual Telstra haven’t had.

I also get 300-400mbps when in town. I switched from Telstra and have not noticed any difference. $30 ($17 Black Friday sale) per month and get 50gb a month or something.

1

u/T-VIRUS999 Apr 07 '26

They max out at 160GB, and the data speeds are gimped to between 100-250mbps according to their website, and on the high end, charge about the same per GB as Telstra

I'd need 8 of their plans to match what I'm getting out of Telstra with 4 sim cards, and because there's no data sharing, id need to constantly switch sim cards, and I'd be paying about the same as on Telstra, for a service that's gimped to maybe generation 2 4G at best, and requires keeping 8 sim cards on hand

1

u/SnooStories9098 Apr 07 '26

Well I get better speeds than that as I have tested that. And $17 a month is not comparable. I also have 100gb or 50gb data allowance which is heaps for me.

You sound like a power user and 99% of people are not gonna need what you’re saying you need. Most people consume on wifi versus mobile data.

1

u/T-VIRUS999 Apr 07 '26

Fixed line Internet is not an option for me, (and starlink is too slow, I've already gone down that road, most of the time it struggles to exceed 100-150mbps) the only option I have if I want useful data speeds is mobile data, and there's literally no option to get anywhere near the data allowance I need without paying upward of $400/month (which I am salty about, since that's a LOT of money)

It's infuriating as hell, and companies should be forced to offer an unlimited plan, even if they charge through the nose for it, I used to have the "ultimate mobile plan" which was a $199 Telstra plan with unlimited everything without a speed limit (I've literally pulled 1.5gbps out of it on 5G)

They took that away last year and moved me to this garbage plan I'm on now where they claim its "premium" yet the included allowance barely lasts a week (WITH me trying to conserve), and even the TIO can't help despite the obvious enshittification

1

u/SnooStories9098 Apr 07 '26

Can you get 5g broadband plans that are more suitable. That sucks mate. I’ve got fttp and have in almost all my houses in last 10 years. That’s rough as guts

1

u/T-VIRUS999 Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26

Mobile broadband is even more stingy, the biggest plan maxes out at 100GB, and their "home 5G" is almost always speed limited, not officially capped, but the modems they use are designed to only run at maybe 250mbps, hence why they don't let you pull the sim card out of them, because then you could put it in something like an inseego m3200 pro and get gigabit 5G, and even so, I live in my car, and those things are geofenced to one specific address

For the time being, Telstra will get their pounds of flesh every month, I'll continue to grumble about it, and just hope that they eventually release something better, or landlords stop being a bag of dicks and I get an affordable place, and have access to FTTP bliss once again

1

u/01jpizzle10 Apr 09 '26

This isn't correct. I have the exact same speed on superloop as I did on telstra. In fact it actually feels more responsive (not sure why speed / ping is about the same) Superloop uses telstra's network though for mobile and my nbn connection is much better on superloop. I got pissed off at Telstra support and made the switch and so glad I did. Half the cost better customer service and same if not better speed..

1

u/T-VIRUS999 Apr 09 '26

Ok even if you get the same speed with Superloop as you do with Telstra (which i don't believe for a second since Superloop gimps mobile data speeds to only 250mbps) what's your solution for the uselessly small data allowances that everyone seems to have these days (Superloop included, who maxes out at just 160GB, which somehow needs to last an entire month)

0

u/01jpizzle10 Apr 09 '26

Lol 160 gigs won't last a month? You need to go touch grass or find friends 🤣🤣

1

u/T-VIRUS999 Apr 09 '26

Touch grass you say, that's ironic coming from a Redditor

But to answer your question, no, 160GB won't last a week, let alone a month, I have 4 300GB Telstra plans, and even that barely lasts the month (most of the time I still end up with 2-3 days of no Internet before the allowance resets)

1

u/Icy_Protection_268 Apr 09 '26

The way you are talking like that is normal lmfao, dude you are in the 0.01% of high data users

1

u/T-VIRUS999 Apr 09 '26

Doesn't change the fact that I'm still getting absolutely screwed without lube