BigPond Next G Wireless Broadband USB Mobile Card User reviews

From IT support point of view, this type of device will not work for users in companies with strong security in mind. Our corporate IT policy will not grant users "administrator" rights. That makes this device useless to us though we are very interested in it for our mobile users across the country. Wonder why a company like Telstra will bypass this great sector of business opportunity.

Pros: Great mobility.

Cons: May not suitable for corporate computers without administrator rights set for users.

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Pricing is a joke, but great flexiblity and coverage, would back optus first purely on price.

Pros: network

Cons: Very costly for what you get

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I have confirmed by experience with two laptops and by calls to the Telstra help line that this service can only be used by users with an administrator account on Windows XP. This is akin to a car company selling cars to a fleet, and after the sale confirming that they have configured the cars so that they can only be driven by the fleet maintenance manager!!
Of course Telstra fails to mention this on their website or publications.
If you are a road warrier working for a company who (like most) don't give mere mortals admistrator access to company machines then don't waste your time with the Next G service

Pros: USB device is a great design. Australian company as well. Most other providers only have PCMCIA devices, a dying standard.

Cons: Must have adminstrator account on Win XP to be able to use.

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Yes, the plans are expensive but I live in a regional area where there are not many other options (ISDN Home and satellite) so I'm happy enough with the cost. I did get a half-price-6-months deal for bundling with a home phone line I already had.

I had a lot of trouble setting this up, finding I needed an external low-gain aerial to connect at all, and even then signal strength is variable and I get a lot of dropouts. My NextG phone is the same, despite being in a well-serviced zone according to coverage maps. A recurring problem is showing itself to be connected, but not actually offering any data throughput. Even Ping sometimes doesn't work when the device appears connected with 3 bars of signal. Evening calls to BigPond support typically featured 30 minutes or more of waiting on hold, but staff were courteous and generally helpful.

According to support staff, the device may or may not be compatible with IE7, and may or may not be compatible with firewall and antivirus products. It may also have power-saving features targeted at laptops, hence possibly going to sleep at times, without showing a power-off light or anything. Unplug/replug seems to be the solution, a nuisance when it's plugged into the back of a desktop machine. The manual calls this "cycling the equipment" I think.

I've had speeds of up to 1Mbps but never more despite a Super G Fast plan. I frequently run well below the 550kbps plan mimimum. I'm willing to try a medium or high gain aerial, but expect things to improve as the network is tweaked (CDMA got better over time). I will start putting in more blackspot reports when the NextG phone drops out at this location, which it does often.

Pros: the only reasonable broadband service I could get
I might be able to take it on holidays with a laptop
fast (at times) and may get faster

Cons: not sure if I'll be able to share this connection on a home network - perhaps not, which will be very disappointing
drop-outs are common, perhaps network related, perhaps power-saving mode
long waiting times for phone support

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Outrageous pricing. Australians pay far too much and it is because of Telstra.
Here is another example of creating a service that very few can afford.

Pros: Great coverage

Cons: Telstra pricing is obscene. How can they justify pricing. Australia will remain in broadband stone age for many years to come because of this.

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i replaced my mini max with this modem and it far better in every way

Pros: great product and should be yacht friendly.

Cons: none so far

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looks like a great thing, i could definitly use one but the costing is unrealistic. its 2007 how many years do we have to suffer unrealistic bandwidth costs in the country

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The new USB device is far better than the card. I use it for both laptop and desktop and get excellent signal strength.

Pros: Signal strength
Design
Fast 2mbps speed which exceeds anything else on the market

Cons: Only bigponds plan costs.

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Greatest thing since sliced bread

Pros: Easy to use and setup PLUS faster speed

Cons: Bigpond need to revise the cost of their plans

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The best modem I have used. Better signal strength in a low signal area than the card.

Pros: Can be used on both laptop and desktop plus Maxon have a great range of antennas for this unit

Cons: The Bigpond plans are expensive.

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