Recommendations for a new mobile phone please!

[Russ59]

Times are getting pretty tough with us at the moment and I've dropped my decision to upgrade my astro gear and I'll have to settle on having my 12" Dob for a long time now. (I'm sure there are others in the same situation and it will only get worse), and one of the many cutbacks on the home front is our mobile phone plans and usage.

My mobile phone plan is coming up for renewal this month and I've always have an iPhone since they were released. I've enjoyed the smartphone convenience of apps such as checking the weather, Sky Safari, etc but its time to revert back to a non-smartphone and a month-by-month plan with no contracts.

Can anyone recommend a good, easy to use non-smartphone (leaning towards a Nokia brand).

Also is anyone of a Telstra month-by-month plan as I cannot seem to locate one on their website.

On a side note we received our gas bill for the last 2 months and it was $1200:eyepop: compared with $220 for the same time last year. We are fighting that end with a vengeance I hope to win but these utility companies and telcos are extrelemly hard to deal with.

Thanks in advance.

Russ

[Liz]

Hi Russ, I just have a basic Smartphone, you can pick up one around $100, or just buy a very basic non Smartphone. Quite a few cheapies on Ebay too??


I am on prepaid with Telstra, at $30 a month, which includes free calls from 6pm - 6am, and some free talk and data.

http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/prepaid-mobiles/prepaid-offers/

Good luck. :)

[Steffen]

If you already have the phone just go on a pre-paid plan. That's what I got my kids on. I recharge them to the tune of $30 or $40 per month, which gives them plenty of voice, SMS and data.

Cheers
Steffen.

[pluto]

Why not just keep using your iPhone but don't get a plan/prepaid with data? (and/or turn off mobile data in the settings so you don't accidently use any)
Then you can still use it for net/email/whatever when you're on wifi...?

EDIT: what Steffen said! beat me to it!

[Nico13]

And you get to keep Sky Safari if you can keep the iPhone.

[Russ59]

Thanks Liz, Steffen, Hugh and Ken for you helpful replies.

I seriously thought of a prepaid sim as it would be a very convenient way of keeping track of monthly expenditure but I want to keep my number and I was told you cannot transfer an existing mobile number to a prepaid service. So that rules that out.

Now there's a thought! Keep the iPhone but i notice there are two setting in the iphone under: Settings > General > Cellular. these are Cellular Data and Enable 3G.

Would I only turn off [i]Cellular Data[i]?

Sorry for such silly questions, I should know how all this works by now but although I have always had an inquisitive mind (like many of you) some of these things just pass me by.

I want to stay with Telstra if a can. I see them as the best of the bad bunch.

Cheers
Russell

[Tandum]

We're on TPG (http://www.tpg.com.au/mobile/plans.php)for $18/month and have never gone over the allowances.
There is a $10/mth plan if you have TPG internet as well.
They resell optus though.

[deanm]

I'd have to vouch for Kogan's Access plans (via Telstra): 3G coverage, less than $1 per day, unlimited calls, unlimited SMS & 6 GB (yes, Gigs, not Mbs) of data per month.

Dean

[Pi]

iiNet also has $10/mth and $20/mth BYO phone plans, however there is an initial $25 sim card purchase. Uses the Optus network so if you are rural and rely on Telstra stay away.

http://www.iinet.net.au/phone/mobile-phones/

[pluto]

Yes, that will, in theory, stop the iPhone from using any data through the mobile network. The enable 3G setting is there so you can turn it off and just use the 2G network to help conserve battery life.
A couple of years ago when Vodafone was at it's worst, I used to use just 2G on my old iPhone and it was much more reliable, and usually quicker, than the 3G service. Needless to say I'm not with them anymore!

[acropolite]

Yes, simply turn off 3G data, leave Wi-Fi enabled. You can get a prepaid plan including data as well if that suits from Telstra.

[Steffen]

My son did just that (going from Vodafone contract to Telstra pre-paid, no less), so I wouldn't rule it out. If you go to a T-Life store they should be able to assign your old number to the pre-paid SIM.

Cheers
Steffen.

[Liz]

Mmmm, that looks good. :)

Alas, it says Telstra, but the coverage doesnt look good on the click on map they give??

[deanm]

Liz - I don't know of any other provider that offers greater coverage than Telstra.

There are places where Optus has presence where Telstra doesn't, but that involves some pretty remote parts.

Dean

[Liz]

I might have misunderstood Dean, will recheck, but it looked like they only had access to only a part of Telstras network, and not all. Would be great if they did. I live in Townsville but head out west at times, Telstra has good coverage, but the network map on the Kogan mobile phone site, shows poor coverge. Might contact them, as it looks a great plan. :)

[norm]

I vouch with Dean on Kogan mobile. Have 3 per-paid sims with them ATM (wife x 2 kids). Being on Telstra also helped.



Norm:)

[Russ59]

Once again, thanks for all your replies. I decided to buy a Kogan sim and keep my iPhone.

To Dean and Norm, did you keep your old number with the new Kogan sim? If so how did you go about moving your old number to the new sim? Does this happen when you activate the new sim?

[norm]

Hi Russ,

Yep. When you goto Kogan/activate sim, it will ask if you want a new mobile no. or transfer your existing one over. In my wife's instance she went from Optus to Kogan/ Telstra. It takes a couple of hours to port thru' but you'll get an SMS when it's done. Very simple process.

I'm planning to upgrade my wife's plan from $29 monthly to the $299 one. It's a pretty good deal.

Norm :thumbsup:

[Russ59]

Thanks Norm, I've been with Telstra for years and I understand now they are not the best priced service provider. Really looking forward to the change. :thumbsup:

Now to look at our Internet provider and TPG is looking pretty promising at this point.

Russ.

[Moon]

I recommend the $35/month unlimited Aldi mobile (https://www.aldimobile.com.au/) pack. Unlimited calls and text and 5Gb data for 30 days.

It's on the Telstra network and so far no issues at all.

James

[pluto]

I'm not sure about pre-paid but I changed over to Telstra from Vodafone about a year ago and the plan I'm on was exactly the same price with the same data allowance and roughly the same call/txt cost and allowance, BUT with the benefit of Telstra's vastly superior network speeds and coverage :D

[Russ59]

Sorry I should have clarified that I am happy with their service coverage but their customer service, call centres, Teltra shops, etc are atrocious.