Warning: Telstra pre-paid mobile wi-fi stopped working after a month

I don't know why Telcos don't wish to make what they are offering clear. Surely the short term financial gain over loss of credibility with customers isn't worth it. I seem to find this with every telco I use, so I'm not singling out Telstra. It is just in this case I'm using them as an example.

I purchased a Telstra pre-paid mobile wi-fi hotspot device in early November. It cost $149 and I thought based on my enquiries it came with 5GB of data which expired in 90 days. I thought once the data had expired I'd then use their 10GB pre-paid plan which lasts for 365 days for $150.

I set up the device using the number provided which was a 125 number. My first surprise was I was charged a timed called costing a couple of dollars via Skype. I used Skype because it was convenient. I see no reason for Telstra to provide a number which could end up being a timed call just to set up their service.

I use the Telstra mobile wi-fi every now and then. A couple of weeks ago it stopped working. My gut feeling was it would relate to something to do with the 90 day offer.

I called support and the first person partly confirmed the offer was in addition to also paying for one of Telstra's pre-paid amounts. So you can't use the included data for 90 days unless you also pay one of the pre-paid amounts. This isn't clearly stated anywhere.

I just don't get why Telstra has to be almost deceiving in their approach. I'm buying their product for $149 and I'm lead to believe from their site I'd get 5GB of data to use for 90 days. I'm then happy to pay the $150 to use their service. Now I'm in two minds. I simply don't trust Telstra when they continuously do things like this.

The previous examples are they would let you know when your data bundle was expiring by sending an SMS message. Without any notification they dropped the facility which meant after your bundle expired you'd eat up your normal credit. Another example is they promoted the ability if you purchased one of their mobile phones to get access to email included for free. After spending over an hour on the telephone I ended up writing off the telephone as a bad experience. Telstra had installed so much crap in the mobile phone it was annoying to use.

I also want to share that to actually get the mobile wi-fi to work I spoke to four people in Telstra support taking about an hour to largely confirm what I expected. I'd already isolated that the wi-fi hotspot was physcially working and connecting to their service. All I need was confirmation that the problem was about how they charged and that in fact the 90 day offer wasn't the first 90 days of usage. If you buy the Telstra pre-paid mobile wi-fi ignore the 5GB data offer as though it doesn't exist. Then buy the data you need. Then consider the 5GB data a bonus if you end up using it. The people in the Telstra shop didn't know what they were doing. I believe I asked the questions and had it confirmed that the data would be available for 3 months and then I could recharge. I can't quite recall but I believe I called Telstra support to confirm so I felt I'd asked the questions I needed to ask. Something like this should be pretty basic and should just work as promoted.

So be careful of the potential for a charged call when you set up your pre-paid mobile wi-fi and also stick with the basics. Asking Telstra staff questions has little point and telephone support takes forever.

In comparison I purchased a 3 USB data stick for $149 with 12 months of data (12GB) and that is exactly what I received. It simply worked. As well they gave a 30 day 1GB bonus to get you started so you didn't have to use your data for the first 30 days. The only issue is obviously 3's coverage is not as good as Telstra's. But if you are in a good coverage area, consider your options. Telstra's wi-fi will end up being $149 plus $150 for 10GB of data, plus a bonus 5GB which lasts for 90 days. Roughly twice the price.

Hopefully this post will help others make a better informed decision when considering the Telstra pre-paid mobile wi-fi. At least you'll know what you are getting.

Kelvin Eldridge
http://www.onlineconnections.com.au/