ISP Search

Yes, I've been a bit quieter than usual lately. You guessed it from the title didn't you? Yep, it's time to find another broadband ISP.

And just incidentally, while I have your attention, what's with the "yup" stuff from my north American friends? Huh? What's that all about actually? Yes can readily be sped up and toned down to a simple yep, but what on Earth is this yup business? There ain't no u in yes folks, so don't stick one in yep, ok.

Fine; glad to have gotten that off my chest. Now, where was I .... Oh yes, ISPs.

I have been happily running my connection to the www via an ADSL link at 256/64. That's just 256KB/sec download speed and a meager 64 upload. Now that is really pretty slow for something touted as b r o a d b a n d. However, I moved to that from a humble permanent dial-up connection via modem where the best I achieved was a pathetic 33kbps.

Now that broadband has hit the next level and more exchanges are being upgraded to what is called ADSL2, the faster of the ADSL speeds are becoming more commonplace and the bottom speeds of 256/64 again look slow.

So the hunt is on. At this time the telecommunications industry is undergoing quiet but significant change and the smart way to make this move will probably entail switching completely to a new telco - for everything. That will include:

• broadband internet access
• telephone line rental
• local phone calls
• long distance phone calls
• calls to mobiles
• international phone calls

Bundling all of these together results in the best deals and also means simplified billing, which is good for both provider and consumer.

This is the first stage I have ever encountered where I can actually leave the clutches of Telstra. Yippeeee!! You're right, there's no love lost between Telstra and moi.

The best contender is currently iiNet. Since my local exchange is still running ADSL equipment and not ADSL2, I will have to settle for 1500/256 speeds. I think I could manage that (I say, as a sense of excitement swells within). Once the exchange is upgraded, which will probably be quite some time since it was only switched to ADSL just over a year ago, I will be able to access quite awesome speeds, but I won't even mention them here.

Anyway, this all has taken a bit much of my precious time to sort through. Decision time within 48 hours or I'll have to put it off until my next monthly anniversary of my current plan. When I switch, guess which ISP I'll be leaving. Oh, you'll never guess, so I'll just tell you. It is called Dodo. Yep, that's the one, like the extinct bird. Who would choose a name like that?