Mobile internet access for the financially challenged.

Location: Perth, WA

Kms so far: 12671 (1200ish kms since the last oil change)

We are now in Perth. I’m also now a Telstra Wireless broadband user…
So you need to get yourself some wireless broadband access pronto, but don’t want to fork out $129 for a piece o’ crap usb modem that must have a real value of around 2.3 cents, and also don’t fancy getting stuck with a 36 month contract at some stupidly extortionate rate… what do you do? You do what I did…
Go buy yourself a $2 Telstra Next G prepaid phone sim starter pack from an Aussie Post outlet. Call ‘em up to activate and specify that you want it to be a Prepaid Wireless Broadband SIM. Whack the SIM in a 850mhz UTMS over WCDMA compatible phone (erm, pretty much all current generation phones… in my case, my girlfriends W910i, recently unlocked from the 3 network), do some quick config, connect the USB cable to your PC and Bob is your uncle.
You can go even further… snap up a Telstra prepaid phone pack and then use that as your dedicated modem. Most handsets will work- you can get em from 40 odd bucks. I’ve just scooped up a 100 buck jobbie (a ZTE T6) that has an external antenna connection, so I’d say that I’ll source 7db gain antenna before heading bush again. That’ll mean I can update this blog from random campsites in the middle of no-where…
More on Perth later.