Optus 3G charges while using wifi at home.
I gave an old handset to my daughter to use for emergencies i.e. text or calls to my wife or I. It was using a pre-paid optus card that allows us to keep credit for up to like 6 or 12 months (I actually forget but quite a while) We recently recharged the thing, thinking that the last lot of credit went quite quick. But from the 10th to the 23rd of April she went through nearly $30 of credit over that period with a handful of text messages $0.29 each (not complaining about that) but most of the charges were short bursts of Internet access. Now admittedly she does use internet at home we have wifi and it connects to our wireless modem router. But anyway she told me today the credit is nearly out, so we logged on to have a look and noticed she is getting Internetbrowsing and socialnwk charges of $1.32 a pop. Today alone she had 4 of them so I could be certain it was wifi. Now what really blows me away is that I realised these charges today were happening while she was at home using wifi. So I spoke with an optus representative online via text, here is some of the text that I copied from the conversation, please note it isn't the full conversation as personal details were required. Anil: Thanks. Anil: I see there were a lot of Internet browsing done on the account. you: All charges are for the same amount $1.32 duration 00:00:00 Anil: Yes that is $1.32 per 1MB of data used. you: But this is only done while at our home address, which when here it is connected to wifi Anil: I am sorry to inform you the wifi is only used when you have the Internet turned off on the account. Anil: Now I can turn the Internet on my system so she can only use wifi. you: But the phone is not showing up 3G, it is saying it is connected to wifi you: She doesn't want to use internet through the optus network, just emergency calls and sms Anil: I am sorry as the Internet is active in our system even though she is using wifi she gets charged to optus. Anil: Do you want me to turn her Internet off through optus? you: Yes that would be good! Anil: Just one moment. Anil: Thanks for waiting. you: So you are saying that if the phone is connected to wifi, we are still getting charged on optus Anil: I have turned your daughters Internet off on my system, so she wont get charged next time. Anil: And the answer to your question is Yes. you: if we browse the internet? But I can tell a big difference in speed if I turn off wifi and let my phone use 3G while at home. Anil: I know but it is also charged on optus. Anil: But now you dont have to worry about that as I turned the Internet off. you: That just seems unbelievable to me. My account i wouldn't notice it as I have a capped account. you: O.k. Thanks. Anil: Have I covered everything for you today? you: You have but I just can't believe that if the phone is connected to wifi that optus charge for internet that is coming through a network other than optus Anil: I know but that is why customers need to be aware of this. Anil: I am sorry for you inconvenience. Anil: Is there anything else I can help you with today? you: I don't remember getting any information in regards to this when I joined up. you: I need to further investigate this as I feel it isn't honest. Anil: I agree, but cant do anything, I am sorry once again. Anil: Do you assistance with anything else? you: No that is all. Thanks Anil: ^_^ Anil: Your most welcome. Anil: It was a pleasure chatting with you. Anil: Have a Good Evening. Anil: Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Anil: Thanks for using Optus Live Chat. We value your feedback, so if you have a moment, please click the End Chat button at top right to answer a few questions about your experience with us today. Now can you believe what she is saying, I can be using my home wifi and still accruing data charges from optus for data that they are not supplying. Is anyone able to give me any valid reasons for this. I know that if I'm using 3G at home it is quite slow. But when I connect to my wifi router I get much faster speeds so I just can't understand it. She stated that she feels it isn't right being charged for something that I'm not using. Has anyone seemed to have had this problem? I got her to turn off internet usage from the account. But it would be nice to be able to use the internet if needed when we are out.
On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 10:46 PM, Jason Lade <jason@docpc.com.au> wrote:
I gave an old handset to my daughter to use for emergencies i.e. text or calls to my wife or I. It was using a pre-paid optus card that allows us to keep credit for up to like 6 or 12 months (I actually forget but quite a while) We recently recharged the thing, thinking that the last lot of credit went quite quick. But from the 10th to the 23rd of April she went through nearly $30 of credit over that period with a handful of text messages $0.29 each (not complaining about that) but most of the charges were short bursts of Internet access. Now admittedly she does use internet at home we have wifi and it connects to our wireless modem router.
But anyway she told me today the credit is nearly out, so we logged on to have a look and noticed she is getting Internetbrowsing and socialnwk charges of $1.32 a pop. Today alone she had 4 of them so I could be certain it was wifi.
Now what really blows me away is that I realised these charges today were happening while she was at home using wifi. So I spoke with an optus representative online via text, here is some of the text that I copied from the conversation, please note it isn't the full conversation as personal details were required.
<snip>
Now can you believe what she is saying, I can be using my home wifi and still accruing data charges from optus for data that they are not supplying. Is anyone able to give me any valid reasons for this. I know that if I'm using 3G at home it is quite slow. But when I connect to my wifi router I get much faster speeds so I just can't understand it. She stated that she feels it isn't right being charged for something that I'm not using. Has anyone seemed to have had this problem? I got her to turn off internet usage from the account. But it would be nice to be able to use the internet if needed when we are out.
I would be contacting the telecommunications ombudsman www.tio.com.au and
speak to them to follow up on it... -- Mark "Hiddensoul" Clohesy Mob Phone: (+61) 406 417 877 Email: hiddensoul@twistedsouls.com G-Talk: mark.clohesy@gmail.com - www.shed.twistedsouls.com - GNU/Linux.. Linux Counter #457297 "I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code" "Linux is user friendly...its just selective about who its friends are" "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a V8 station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway" "The difference between e-mail and regular mail is that computers handle e-mail, and computers never decide to come to work one day and shoot all the other computers"
Jason Lade Doc PC OnCall | 21 Williams St, Morwell, VIC, 3840 T 03 5134 6882 | M 0423 596 788 | E Jason@docpc.com.au W www.docpc.com.au On 23/04/2012, at 10:59 PM, Hiddensoul (Mark Clohesy) wrote:
On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 10:46 PM, Jason Lade <jason@docpc.com.au> wrote: I gave an old handset to my daughter to use for emergencies i.e. text or calls to my wife or I. It was using a pre-paid optus card that allows us to keep credit for up to like 6 or 12 months (I actually forget but quite a while) We recently recharged the thing, thinking that the last lot of credit went quite quick. But from the 10th to the 23rd of April she went through nearly $30 of credit over that period with a handful of text messages $0.29 each (not complaining about that) but most of the charges were short bursts of Internet access. Now admittedly she does use internet at home we have wifi and it connects to our wireless modem router.
But anyway she told me today the credit is nearly out, so we logged on to have a look and noticed she is getting Internetbrowsing and socialnwk charges of $1.32 a pop. Today alone she had 4 of them so I could be certain it was wifi.
Now what really blows me away is that I realised these charges today were happening while she was at home using wifi. So I spoke with an optus representative online via text, here is some of the text that I copied from the conversation, please note it isn't the full conversation as personal details were required.
<snip>
Now can you believe what she is saying, I can be using my home wifi and still accruing data charges from optus for data that they are not supplying. Is anyone able to give me any valid reasons for this. I know that if I'm using 3G at home it is quite slow. But when I connect to my wifi router I get much faster speeds so I just can't understand it. She stated that she feels it isn't right being charged for something that I'm not using. Has anyone seemed to have had this problem? I got her to turn off internet usage from the account. But it would be nice to be able to use the internet if needed when we are out.
I would be contacting the telecommunications ombudsman www.tio.com.au and speak to them to follow up on it…
Yes I think that might be the go contact the ombudsman, although Andrew mentioned some app might just automatically use 3G. Anyway I've got internet data turned off on the account for now. Thanks
--
Mark "Hiddensoul" Clohesy Mob Phone: (+61) 406 417 877 Email: hiddensoul@twistedsouls.com G-Talk: mark.clohesy@gmail.com - www.shed.twistedsouls.com - GNU/Linux.. Linux Counter #457297
"I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code"
"Linux is user friendly...its just selective about who its friends are"
"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a V8 station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway"
"The difference between e-mail and regular mail is that computers handle e-mail, and computers never decide to come to work one day and shoot all the other computers"
Hi, Optus should not be charging for 3G data when the data is going via WiFi. It is more likely that some app on the phone is using 3G regardless of WiFi being available. When Optus do charge for data, they charge is blocks -- in your case, 1MB blocks and at a very high cost of $1.32 per MB. My own mobile has data at 2c/MB ... that's it, but you need a corporate type account for this -- although that is not a big deal, either $5 access per month for just one service or $2.50 each for more than one service (there is no phone call capability though on these plans). They also give you a static IP address. Oh and data is counted per KB, not per MB. So, the currently available options from my provider don't suit for emergency calls or SMS. However, a "real" emergency call can be made without even having a SIM in a phone (000 calls). Although, you can use a service like Viber to message and make calls via 3G data. SMS b/w Viber users has no cost, just a tiny bit of data. Viber calls might not work well due to 3G latency issues though. Order page [with my agent code..... use it if you like, I would appreciate it] : https://www.exetel.com.au/hspa_order/business_wireless_form.php?agent_code=V... *** Data (both up and down) is charged per kilobyte and the monthly bill is rounded to the nearest megabyte. Premium Mobile Broadband Plan Inclusions With each Exetel Post Paid Mobile Broadband plan you also get the following additional facilities: No contract term 10 email addresses in the form of - yourname@exemail.com.au 200 megabytes of user web space **** A permanent IP address **** (with the ability to change it if you wish to do so at any time) Usage meter that is regularly updated *** More details of the particular plans are available here: http://www.exetel.com.au/business-mbb-pricing.php -- Kind Regards AndrewM Andrew McGlashan Broadband Solutions now including VoIP Current Land Line No: 03 9012 2102 Mobile: 04 2574 1827 Fax: 03 9012 2178 National No: 1300 85 3804 Affinity Vision Australia Pty Ltd http://www.affinityvision.com.au http://adsl2choice.net.au In Case of Emergency -- http://www.affinityvision.com.au/ice.html
On 23/04/2012, at 11:06 PM, Andrew McGlashan wrote:
Hi,
Optus should not be charging for 3G data when the data is going via WiFi. It is more likely that some app on the phone is using 3G regardless of WiFi being available.
When Optus do charge for data, they charge is blocks -- in your case, 1MB blocks and at a very high cost of $1.32 per MB.
My own mobile has data at 2c/MB ... that's it, but you need a corporate type account for this -- although that is not a big deal, either $5 access per month for just one service or $2.50 each for more than one service (there is no phone call capability though on these plans). They also give you a static IP address. Oh and data is counted per KB, not per MB.
So, the currently available options from my provider don't suit for emergency calls or SMS. However, a "real" emergency call can be made without even having a SIM in a phone (000 calls).
Although, you can use a service like Viber to message and make calls via 3G data. SMS b/w Viber users has no cost, just a tiny bit of data. Viber calls might not work well due to 3G latency issues though.
Order page [with my agent code..... use it if you like, I would appreciate it] :
https://www.exetel.com.au/hspa_order/business_wireless_form.php?agent_code=V...
***
Looks like pretty competitive pricing, might keep it in mind.
-- Kind Regards AndrewM
Andrew McGlashan Broadband Solutions now including VoIP
Current Land Line No: 03 9012 2102 Mobile: 04 2574 1827 Fax: 03 9012 2178
National No: 1300 85 3804
Affinity Vision Australia Pty Ltd http://www.affinityvision.com.au http://adsl2choice.net.au
In Case of Emergency -- http://www.affinityvision.com.au/ice.html _______________________________________________ luv-talk mailing list luv-talk@lists.luv.asn.au http://lists.luv.asn.au/listinfo/luv-talk
Thanks Andrew :-)
Andrew McGlashan wrote:
Optus should not be charging for 3G data when the data is going via WiFi. It is more likely that some app on the phone is using 3G regardless of WiFi being available.
How is that possible? I assumed phones had a conventional route table like 1.2.3/24 dev wlan0 src 1.2.3.4 0/0 via 1.2.3.1 or on 3G, 4.3.2.2 dev ppp0 src 4.3.2.1 0/0 via 4.3.2.2 Whereupon it would be impossible for a single app to "choose" the wrong interface -- unless each app has its own route table? Even if both interfaces are up (which would seem wasteful and unnecessary) and configured with wlan0 to have a preferential metric, how could a single app unilaterally circumvent that?
So, the currently available options from my provider don't suit for emergency calls or SMS. However, a "real" emergency call can be made without even having a SIM in a phone (000 calls).
I thought it was a different number for cellphones -- 122 or something.
On Tue, 24 Apr 2012, Andrew McGlashan <andrew.mcglashan@affinityvision.com.au> wrote:
On 24/04/2012 12:36 PM, Trent W. Buck wrote:
I thought it was a different number for cellphones -- 122 or something.
112 is the International number, but in AU we are encouraged and expected to only use 000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/112_(emergency_telephone_number) Wikipedia has a lot of background information, it claims that 112 works in Australia, but not for me two nights ago. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
Andrew McGlashan wrote:
On 24/04/2012 12:36 PM, Trent W. Buck wrote:
I thought it was a different number for cellphones -- 122 or something.
112 is the International number, but in AU we are encouraged and expected to only use 000.
Why? Are we not a member of the international community? If you want to support 000 as well, fine, whatever, but when space invaders are shooting up flinders st. station, I wouldn't expect a tourist who snatches up a fallen cellphone to remember to dial 112 instead of 000. \end{rant}
On Mon, 23 Apr 2012, Jason Lade <jason@docpc.com.au> wrote:
Now what really blows me away is that I realised these charges today were happening while she was at home using wifi. So I spoke with an optus representative online via text, here is some of the text that I copied from the conversation, please note it isn't the full conversation as personal details were required.
Maybe the phone had some transient Wifi issue and fell back to 3G. You can configure any smart-phone not to have 3G data access, for data access to work you need to have an APN etc configured, if you set it to a bogus value it SHOULD disable 3G. Also for Android phones there are a number of programs which can disable 3G after a certain amount of data use, set one of those to prevent you using more than 0% of your bandwidth and it should be OK. On Mon, 23 Apr 2012, Andrew McGlashan <andrew.mcglashan@affinityvision.com.au> wrote:
So, the currently available options from my provider don't suit for emergency calls or SMS. However, a "real" emergency call can be made without even having a SIM in a phone (000 calls).
http://etbe.coker.com.au/2012/04/23/neighborhood-watch/ You should test that theory. Last night I discovered that CyanogenMod 7 doesn't accept 000 as an emergency number and Optus (the carrier for Virgin Mobile) doesn't accept 112. As I had a phone with a working SIM all I had to do was to unlock it and make a regular call to 000 (which is easier said than done in such a situation). With no SIM it would be impossible. I suggest testing every phone for 000 calls. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
On Tue, 24 Apr 2012, Robin Stephens <robinstephens@gmail.com> wrote:
On 23 April 2012 23:26, Russell Coker <russell@coker.com.au> wrote:
I suggest testing every phone for 000 calls.
How do you do this without actually dialling 000?
You have to call 000.
That should be reserved for real emergencies.
The number of calls that they get from people testing phones would be totally outnumbered by the number of people who make IDD calls (starting with 0011) and incorrectly think that their PABX requires them to dial 0 for an outside line. In terms of wasting time I believe that the biggest problem they face is people calling 000 for things which MIGHT require a police response but don't require an urgent response. That means you don't call 000 if someone is having a noisy party, to report something that happened yesterday, or because you think that someone's clothing doesn't look decent. The emergency services operators want people to be able to call them quickly. they don't want an "oops, someone died because CyanogenMod didn't accept 000 as an emergency call and I never tested it" incident. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
On 24 April 2012 13:48, Russell Coker <russell@coker.com.au> wrote:
In terms of wasting time I believe that the biggest problem they face is people calling 000 for things which MIGHT require a police response but don't require an urgent response. That means you don't call 000 if someone is having a noisy party, to report something that happened yesterday, or because you think that someone's clothing doesn't look decent.
Having a noisy party is a bad example here. I seem to remember articles saying you most definitely should call 000 for noise complaints. It might seem like a minor thing to you, but the noise could be as a result of the party starting to get out of control, requiring urgent police assistance. The police dispatcher can mark it as low priority - however this is a decision that the dispatcher needs to make. Not you. It could be that your information combined with other information they already have increases the response from code 3 (no lights/siren) to code 1 (lights and siren). The other examples are good. Reporting something that has already happened never requires emergency assistance, and the police can't really do anything about someone's clothing (unless there are other factors like the person is drunk and looks like they might be a danger to themselves or other people). Also never lie or deliberately mislead the operator. Nothing more annoying then having to repeatedly send out emergency vehicles only to find it is because the fast food restaurant has sold out on a particular product - have seen a number of examples of this sort of thing recently in the MX. These people are very likely to (or already have) face prosecution for wasting police time. -- Brian May <brian@microcomaustralia.com.au>
Hi, On 24/04/2012 1:38 PM, Robin Stephens wrote:
On 23 April 2012 23:26, Russell Coker <russell@coker.com.au> wrote:
I suggest testing every phone for 000 calls.
How do you do this without actually dialling 000?
That should be reserved for real emergencies.
You are perfectly entitled to do the test, this is legitimate use of 000, call the number and then immediately respond to them that it is a simple test. I just tested with my Samsung Galaxy S which is running Darky ROM and Gingerbread 2.3.6 without any problem. Suggest that those involved with Cyangen Mod have a serious look at their ROM and work out how to fix things so that 000 will work as required. 112 tested okay as well for my phone. -- Kind Regards AndrewM
On 23 April 2012 23:26, Russell Coker <russell@coker.com.au> wrote:
I suggest testing every phone for 000 calls.
How do you do this without actually dialling 000?
That should be reserved for real emergencies.
You are perfectly entitled to do the test, this is legitimate use of 000, call the number and then immediately respond to them that it is a simple test.
I just tested with my Samsung Galaxy S which is running Darky ROM and Gingerbread 2.3.6 without any problem. Suggest that those involved with Cyangen Mod have a serious look at their ROM and work out how to fix things so that 000 will work as required.
Andrew and Russell are correct here. In my former life as a telecoms tech we were encouraged by employers and emergency services alike to ensure that 000 calls would work without fail, no matter what the customer's setup. This obviously cannot be done without actually dialling the number *and* connecting to an operator. As Andrew suggests, the correct procedure is to wait until the call has connected and advise the operator that you are performing a test. This allows for the call to be properly logged as a test and not a fault or possible emergency. When placing test calls, please do not simply hang up on operators. Tim
On 23 April 2012 22:46, Jason Lade <jason@docpc.com.au> wrote:
I gave an old handset to my daughter to use for emergencies i.e. text or calls to my wife or I.
What sort of phone? What OS? I have seen a phone, maybe the Nokia N97, running Symbian, where every app has a setting which network to use. So you can have some apps use wifi, and others use 3g and not know about it. It isn't a global setting like you might expect. Dumb. On the other hand, it does sound like this sales assistance doesn't know what they are talking about. -- Brian May <brian@microcomaustralia.com.au>
Also see: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1229339 -- Brian May <brian@microcomaustralia.com.au>
On 24/04/2012, at 11:03 AM, Brian May wrote:
On 23 April 2012 22:46, Jason Lade <jason@docpc.com.au> wrote:
I gave an old handset to my daughter to use for emergencies i.e. text or calls to my wife or I.
What sort of phone? What OS?
Hi Brian Sorry for late reply. It's an iPhone running iOS 5.1.
I have seen a phone, maybe the Nokia N97, running Symbian, where every app has a setting which network to use. So you can have some apps use wifi, and others use 3g and not know about it. It isn't a global setting like you might expect. Dumb.
On the other hand, it does sound like this sales assistance doesn't know what they are talking about. -- Brian May <brian@microcomaustralia.com.au>
At 04:40 PM 4/28/2012, Jason Lade wrote:
Hi Brian Sorry for late reply. It's an iPhone running iOS 5.1.
That's weird, because the iPhone in my experience does prefer to use wifi when it can. However, there are instances where it may disconnect from the wifi, and silently switch to 3G, and you have to reselect the AP again. And if 3G data is turned off (as it is on my iPhone that's on 3), the iPhone will complain when it can't access the Internet, but it won't use 3G under any circumstances, and 3 certainly hasn't changed me for any 3G use while I'm on wifi - at 75c/MB, I'd notice pretty quickly! :) 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com
participants (9)
-
Andrew McGlashan -
Brian May -
Hiddensoul (Mark Clohesy) -
Jason Lade -
Robin Stephens -
Russell Coker -
Tim Hamilton -
Tony Langdon -
Trent W. Buck