Promo of the Month: Exetel 3G Broadband plan

Have you ever wondered how awesome it would be to have a 3G broadband plan that doesn't try break your wallet, no hideous fees lurking somewhere, and have full control of your spending on mobile internet? I have recently hooked up on one such deal...


While I am trying not to take sides on certain companies, I do feel that if I know about some great deals, its best to share with the rest of the world :)

Thanks to Craig (aka warbo) at Austech.info, he is an Exetel agent promoting a special deal for their new 3G broadband access. The deal is as follows,


Exetel 3G plan 


- NO contract and NO monthly fees (pay as you go)

- This plan is aimed at the casual user. Even if you are a moderate user and use up to 1GB per month it's still very good value.

- Data usage costs are 1.5 cents per mb (eg 1GB costs $15.00).

-The SIM can also be used for mobile calls (not the best rates around but not the worst considering there is no monthly plan cost).

-There is a $25 security deposit required, refunded on cancellation of service.

-Exetel requires the user to access the 3G network at least once every two months (you can check your mail  and use a bit of bandwidth) to keep your account alive.

-If Exetel cancels your service (due to account inactivity), the $25 deposit that you have paid will be refunded back to you.

Exetel is providing this service via,

The Optus 3G network runs on dual band HSPA 2100/900 (aka Yes-G) with max speeds up till 7.2 Mbps. The 900 band is for rural areas but if you are unsure about which band you fall in, give a call to Optus. The SIM I have received in the mail is a typical Optus 3G SIM too and has no Exetel branding.

Craig is also providing a $10 rebate direct debited to your bank account after a SIM activation. So to summarise the setup fee for a 3G broadband plan, it is $25-$10,

$15!

To see what options are available, please have a look at his Austech sales thread. Signing up on Austech.info is free and you can post a question on the forums or PM him anytime.

Mobile rates/charges and sign up form can be seen here.


More info on equipment

I am currently using a Huawei e220 HSDPA modem bought outright off Vodafone. These modems are fully unlocked wherever you buy them and supports HSDPA 2100 band (max speed 3.6 Mbps). It looks something like this,

They are entirely plug and play with your PC, laptop or netbook. The only catch is that you need to use an alternate software as the Vodafone software that came with the modem is not suitable.

Softwares I have used,
Huawei e220 driver update (pick the latest version)
MWconn (Windows ONLY)

First plug in the modem USB cable to your PC/Laptop and install the e220 dashboard update. DO NOT put any SIM card in the modem. DO NOT pull out the USB plug until it says completed (duh).
After that, launch MWConn and during configuration, select Optus 3G. For Network settings, the APN needs to be exetel1. These are really simple steps and once everything is configured, you only need to plug in the modem and launch MWconn to start surfing away!

Recommended modems:

Craig is doing a special bundle at $85 for the e160E modem which does dual band 2100/900 HSDPA with max speeds up till 3.6 Mbps. If you need more kick from your mobile internet experience, try to source out a e169 modem, which has HSPA 2100/900 with max speeds of 7.2 Mbps.

*Update 1* It seems e170 or e172 does HSUPA connection too (2 Mbps upload) and Optus 3G has HSUPA coverage, but only the metro 2100 frequency supports this feature.

More questions/comments please forward them to my email or post them here.