The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Taking A Good Look At Your Westnet ADSL Plan James Cox

Many members who use Westnet would have seen an increase in the cost of their plan in recent months. Westnet has increased the cost of most, but not all plans (our editor reminded me that his Westnet plan hasn't increased, in fact it is $40 dollars less per month than when he changed to Westnet 2-1/2 years ago). At the same time Westnet has introduced a phone service bundle option that can reduce the cost of ADSL. For many this is a good reason to look again at what you are paying for.

Over the past couple of years, the amount of data pre-paid with plans has increased. It is worthwhile looking at how much data you have actually downloaded. You might find that you are not using all your allowance and can change to a cheaper plan with less data, or perhaps a faster plan for the same price. Your download history can be found on the Westnet Web site http://www.westnet.com.au. Click on the "My Place" link and login under "My Account" with your Westnet username and password.

Some of the cheaper plans do not have the option of a static IP address, it's dynamic IP address only. Often we get questions about what difference that will make. It makes no difference at all to your receiving or sending email. The two areas where it does have an impact are (1) browsing the Message of the Day (MOTD) Web page and (2) accessing the Melb PC news server. Without a static IP address, you can access the MOTD only at the address <https://vvss.melbpc.org.au/ motel/>, there are links to it on the Melb PC home page http://www.melbpc.org.au and you must always login with your Melb PC username and password. With the static IP address you can access the page http://www.melbpc.org.au/isp without logging in, if you have registered. Without a static IP address, you must login to access our Melb PC news server, but it is a once only configuration change. Whether you want a static IP is up to you, but it isn't necessary.

The other way to reduce the cost of your ADSL plan is to bundle it with your phone system. This cuts the cost of ADSL by $5 or $10 depending on the plan. However, before doing that you should compare the cost of the Westnet phone plan with your current phone plan, to compare your overall ADSL and phone costs.

An Example

Here is an example of this type of review, we will take a look at my personal situation. I started with Westnet in 2004 on the $39.95 256/64k Premium plan. At the time it had 500 MB of included data — now it has 5 GB but the cost has gone up to $44.95. Reviewing my usage I can see that it is usually between 450 and 850 MB per month and I exceeded 1 GB on three occasions. The next cheapest plan includes 500 MB of data but is not enough for me; I would have exceeded that limit many times. My download rate would have been slowed down ("shaped") too often. However, there will be some members who wouldn't use that volume and could take a 500 MB plan.

In my case I can see that there is a 512/128k plan with 1 GB at the same cost of my current plan, so I can get a faster connection for the same price, which gives me the amount of prepaid data that I need.


Looking at the phone options, there is a phone option that's similar to what I have currently, so I've decided I will now bundle my phone service with Westnet and save $10 on the cost of the ADSL. The end result — I will have a connection that is twice as fast and it will cost me $5 dollars less per month. The above is just an example. Not everyone will be able to find something better or cheaper than they currently use. However, it does demonstrate the value of a review of your situation from time to time. In fact you probably should do it at least once a year, or perhaps whenever plans are changed. Had I followed my own advice I probably could have changed to a faster plan for no extra cost, long ago.

Why Has The Cost Increased?

This needs a bit of background first. For the past 2-3 years ADSL plans have become better value as the prepaid data has been increased and new, cheaper plans have appeared. This was driven by decreases in the wholesale cost of ADSL connections from Telstra who supplies most ISPs, as well as intense competition between ISPs. They all set out to capture new customers who were making the change from dial up to ADSL broadband.

Margins became quite thin for some plans, with the very cheapest appearing to have either no margin or a negative margin and some ISPs seemed to be making money on relatively high excess data charges. To me it looked like a classic text book case of sacrificing margins to buy customers for potential future income. The big question wasn't so much if it would all stop, but when.

Then in late 2005 Telstra stopped all volume based discounts on the wholesale cost of ADSL for ISPs. This increased the costs for many providers and a number have since increased the cost of their plans, with Westnet doing so recently.

Comparing some of its plans against other ISPs, Westnet still seems to be in a comparable marketing position to where it was last year. Westnet
rates are neither the cheapest nor the most expensive, but they slot in the mid-range.

For the Group

You will remember that back in June 2004 when Dave Botherway announced our new ADSL arrangement with Westnet, he told us how the agreement included several benefits for the group, including a small commission for each new account that originated from Melb PC. That arrangement continues and members who get their ADSL feed through Westnet are still helping to secure that small source of income for the group.

If you were one of those early starters, that is one very good reason to stay with Westnet. If today you are still using dial up and you're consid-
ering ADSL, view the Westnet offering with that benefit in mind.

Whatever your current arrangement, if you do start with Westnet to get your ADSL feed, be sure to use the online sign-up on our Web site or if you telephone Westnet, quote the Melb PC code B376 that's shown on the rate sheet; the group will then benefit.

If You Need Help

To change your Westnet plan or get more details you will need to contact Westnet or visit its Web site. However if you have any questions about accessing Melb PC services or don't understand something, feel free to ask for some assistance from the Internet Help team. You can log a request at our Web site http://ihelp.melbpc.org.au/helpdesk/iuser/index.asp or email us at help@melbpc.org.au.

Reprinted from the October 2006 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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