Category: The good and bad in products and services

  • New better Internet – 200Mbps symetrical bandwidth

    New better Internet – 200Mbps symetrical bandwidth

    The earlier days of the Internet here in Adelaide, we had quite good internet. Starting with SENET we progressed quickly from 14,4kbps to 28.8kbps, then 56kbps. We where paying $1/hour which was common among many. It was also true local with Camtech, Internode, Edge, Boldweb, Kern and a few more.

    When we moved into our house in Banksia Park, we moved to Internode’s ADSL but that was not to good as we where a long way from the exchange meaning at best we had 1.5mbps but normally closer to 900kbps which was still faster than 56kbps.

    It was about 2 years and we connected to Telstra’s cable internet which gave us 10Mbps. One thing to note, it was symetrical, ie 10 down and 10 up. After about a year we dropped the Internode ADSL connection as Telstra was quite reliable at the time.

    Anyway not long before NBN, Telstra increased the speed of the cable where we would regulary get 120Mbps down and 55Mbps up. Once NBN took over our cable went down to 100/40 with Telstra. Then Telstra really mucked up, they quitly changed the upload in thier T’s and C’s to what we see today and they introduced the 700/40 as the fastest available. 100 down is more than enough for what we do.

    When they changed that in a sly way, we dropped them after being customer for 20+ years and went to Internode with thier 100/36 (advertised as 40). Internode where an Adelaide based company which is what drove me to use them. But now they have closed up in Adelaide so no more loyalty from me. Time to find something new.

    So started looking at NBN Enterprise Ethernet 100/100 offering which is $400/month for 36 months with no setup. In my hunt I stumbled on Telair who are selling Telstra Business Fibre. They had a special offer if you sign up, you get 200Mbps/200Mbps for the price of 100Mbps/100Mbps. which is $382/month. Not much to think about! Sold! So looking forward to the speed boost, especially the upload. It’s also dedicated fibre to me, it’s not shared with anyone else. AND we’re no longer using NBN. This is a great leap forward.

  • Lovebuy on ebay – recomend

    Every now and then something doesn’t work as planned when buying on ebay. We see ratings and you can read all sorts of stories, but the real proof in a good ebay seller is how things are handled when something doesn’t go right. That’s what happened with Lovebuy and they really came through.

    I won’t go into the detail except to say this is a shop that is there is a problem they really do help to fix it. You don’t fall on deaf ears. They help.

    There shop is at http://stores.ebay.com.au/lovebuy

  • robertwarner1965@gmail.com – Gumtree / Paypal buyer scam

    We’re selling our Ford Focus on Gumtree and got an SMS which we replied to as requested.

    NOTE: Didn’t check the phone number the SMS came from. It was +16786617688. Obviously not an Australian phone number which for anyone reading this, is the first hint that they are about to get a scammer trying them.

    SMS Message from +16786617688:

    Is the car still available for sale and whats your final price email me robertwarner1965@gmail.com my battery is flat so we can talk better  – Sent from iPhone4

    So sent the reply via email

    On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 1:27 PM, name_removed <mailto:address_removed> wrote:

    Hi Robert, just organising some pics for you

    Recieved

    From: Robert Warner [mailto:robertwarner1965@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, 15 March 2012 3:58 PM To: Name_Removed Subject: Re: ford focus

    May i know your asking price please?

    Sent

    On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 1:33 PM, name_removed <mailto:address_removed> wrote:

    As advertised at $7000  , if you wish to negotiate would like it to be done in person

    and recieved

    From: Robert Warner [mailto:robertwarner1965@gmail.com]
    Sent: Thursday, 15 March 2012 4:14 PM
    To: name_removed
    Subject:Re: ford focus
    Thank you for the message, i will take it for that amount since i am interested in the purchase for my daughter who just moved to Malaysia where this is needed and due to my inability to walk i will be making use of a shipping company to have this picked up from you and have it delivered to her. Further arrangements will be made with you in regards to the pick up once i have paid you.
    I would appreciate if you email me with more pictures (if available) too since i won’t be be able to see this in person, what’s the Paypal email to send funds to in order for me to pay you.

    Anyway:

    If your wondering, no we stopped responding to Robert at this point as it became very obvious very quickly that it’s a scam. But did want to post it on-line so when someone google’s Roberts email or any part, hopefully they will see Robert does this a lot. Well I say Robert, we all know he’s not using his real name.
    Detail summary of the scammer:

    The phone number comes up at http://cidlookup.com/lookup/6786617688/ with the following:

    • CIDLookup for 678-661-7688
    • Current Telephone Company: Bandwidth.com Wireless – Syniverse
    • Original Telephone Company: Charter Fiberlink “Georgia Llc“ Ga
    • Original Telephone Company Type: Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC)
    • Estimated City: Bogart
    • Estimated Region: Georgia
    • Estimated Postal Code: 30622
    • Equipment Location Code: ATHNGAIJCM1

    Another scammer email – mi.richie540@gmail.com from the same number.

    We recieved a few messages from the same phone number just with different email addresses, but same text.

    For those interested in learning what sort of thing happens next (ie you send him the paypal email) one of a few things happen, but the most common can be read about at http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1845478 or http://www.christianbiggins.com/2010/04/very-poor-scam-attempt.html.

  • Adelaide On-Site Towbar Fitting

    I had a towbar fitted to my car a while ago. After ringing around, I settled on Adelaide On-Site Towbar Fitting, a mobile come to you company. Mistake. There is nothing worse when you pay a professional to do a job and then you find out they have wired your car wrong. Go to pick up a new trailer about 40km away and as soon as you plug it in and push the brakes, the fuse blows.

    Luckily a little electrical knowledge found the problem where Adelaide On-Site Towbar Fitting had wired the brake (red wire) and the earth (white wire) the wrong way around.

    So how would you go if it was you? Do you have the knowledge to figure it out on the road side?

    The company I’m talking about is Adelaide On-Site Towbar Fitting with the slogan We Come To You  Towbars. They are located at 91 Philip Hwy, Elizabeth South, SA , 5112, Australia. Their phone numbers are Ph: (08) 8235 2977, Other: 0418 817 025, Mobile: 0418 817 025 and they have an AH Contact of (08) 8287 3992.

    Handy as they come to you to fit the towbar. Price is the same as taking your car somewhere. Quality, well..

    I just don’t understand why they don’t test there work.