Tag: Telstra

Article

Telstra now have a mmWave-capable 5G hotspot | PC World

From the horse’s mouth

Telstra

Telstra 5G Wi-Fi Pro router

Press Release

Product Page – has latest pricing and mobile-broadband service contracts

5G mmWave Mobile Broadband Technology

White Paper

My Comments

Telstra has fronted up with their latest premium portable mobile broadband router for the 5G mobile-broadband infrastructure. But this “Mi-Fi” known as the Telstra 5G Wi-Fi Pro ticks all the boxes as far as being future-proof is concerned.

Here, on the WAN (Internet) side, this device supports 5G with mmWave technology while on the LAN (local network) side, it works on the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard for 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands thus bringing your mobile network up to date with the latest standards.Of course it can work with existing 4G LTE networks and exploits what Telstra has to offer in this context.  This has a 4500mAh battery that can be removed and can run for nine hours providing full data transfer. It can be charged via a USB-C connection according to the QC 3.0 protocol and the open-frame Power Delivery 2.0 protocol, meaning you can charge it with your brand-new Ultrabook’s charger or run it for a long time using a USB-C PD powerbank.

The Telstra 5G Wi-Fi Pro costs AUD$599 straight up. Or you could buy this device on a post-paid Telstra service plan for AUD$24.95 / month on 24-month plan plus mobile data plan the cost of the mobile-broadband data service.

What is this mmWave 5G mobile broadband all about?

The mmWave 5G mobile broadband technology is an extremely-high-frequency variant of 5G mobile broadband technology which works between 24GHz to 100GHz. Telstra’s initial trial run of this technology at Gold Coast worked on 26GHz. The same technology has been sued with various fixed point-to-point wireless links and satellite-Internet services but is use as a mobile broadband technology is what is being identified here.

Due to the very short wavelength, mmWave 5G technology will have a short operating range of a few hundred metres from the base station. This means that to cover a significant area, the service provider will need to install many “femtocell” base stations across the area and they will typically operate at a signal strength similar to a Wi-Fi access point or router. It means that the electromagnetic energy levels are 1000 times below the maximum energy level expected for safe operation.

Therefore mmWave 5G technology is pitched for operating environments where there is a high concentration of users so as to avoid “loading” very few base stations with many users, thus denying the users adequate bandwidth. This is a situation most of us will have experienced when attempting to benefit from an Internet resource on our mobile devices while on a packed commuter train.

Here, you will see this technology be used at busy public-transport interchanges including airports; event venues like convention centres or sports stadiums; or shopping centres. You may even find it being used in high-rise residential, commercial and hotel developments where there is expected to be many people within the development.

At the moment, Telstra has to license the necessary spectrum in order to set up a mmWave 5G service and will need to see other devices come on board prepared for this technology.

mmWave 5G mobile broadband will simply be pressed in to service as a complementary technology to the existing 5G mobile broadband technologies. In this case it is about highly-concentrated operating environments with many devices.

Telstra Smart Modem Generation 2 – the first carrier-supplied modem router to be certified as compatible with Wi-Fi EasyMesh

Article – From the horse’s mouth

Telstra

Telstra offers world-first Wi-Fi EasyMesh™ standard in new Smart Wi-Fi Booster™ 2.0 (Press Release)

Previous HomeNetworking01.info coverage on Wi-Fi EasyMesh

Wi-Fi defines a new standard for distributed wireless netowrks

My Comments

Typically Australian telcos and ISPs who supply a modem-router to their customers as part of providing Internet service are associated with supplying substandard hardware that doesn’t honour current home-network expectations.

This time, Telstra has broken the mould with their Smart Modem Generation 2 modem router and the Smart Booster Generation 2 range extender. Here, these devices support Wi-Fi EasyMesh so they can work with other routers or range extenders that are compliant to this standard.

At the moment, the Smart Modem can handle 4 of the range extenders and Telstra’s marketing collateral specifies that these devices can only work with each other. This is most likely due to the inexistence of routers or range extenders from other suppliers that work to this standard when the Smart Modem Generation 2 and Smart Booster Generation 2 were released.

The media release was talking of 450,000 Generation 2 Smart Modems in service around Australia, most likely due to NBN providing an excuse to upgrade one’s modem-router. As I said in my post about this standard, it is independent of the hardware base that the Wi-Fi infrastructure devices have thus allowing an extant device to benefit from this technology through a firmware upgrade.

Here, Telstra has taken the step of providing the functionality to the existing Generation 2 Smart Modem fleet by offering it as part of a firmware upgrade as what should happen with carrier-supplied network equipment. This will be done in an automatic manner on an overnight basis or when you first connect your modem to the Internet service.

This is showing that a telco or ISP doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel when offering a distributed-Wi-Fi setup. Here, they can have their carrier-supplied Wi-Fi EasyMesh-compliant modem router work with third-party EasyMesh-compliant repeaters that are suited for the job.,

Article

Telstra takes on the bush with a rural-friendly phone | GadgetGuy

From the horse’s mouth

Telstra

Tough Max Android smartphone

Product Page

ZTE (OEM supplier)

Product Page

My Comments

Telstra have shown some interest to the rural community by offering long-distance phone tariffs that are cheaper than their competitors for calls from rural and regional communities to the nearest state capitals which represents the kind of long-distance call someone would frequently make when they live in these areas. Similarly, I have always recommended Telstra or any “mobile virtual network” operator that uses the Telstra mobile-telephony infrastructure as a preferred mobile-telephony service for those of you who are in rural areas or make regular forays to these rural areas such as to visit that “bush bolthole” or maintain that farm that you have a few head of cattle on.

Now they have shown their chops again for this community of telecommunications users by offering an Android-based answer to that classic Motorola “brick” mobile phone that was so beloved of tradesmen and other outdoor types because of its simple ruggedness.

Unlike most Android phones, this phone has the ability to be connected to an external antenna which would improve on reception in rural areas as well as a cellular-network front-end optimised for long-distance reception. It is housed in a rugged casing which absorbs drops and is rated to IP67 which means the Telstra Tough Max is dust-resistant and can survive being dunked in a pool of water up to 1 metre deep.

This phone works on Android 5.0 Lollipop which means it can gain access to the apps on the Google Play app store. It has a 4.7” HD screen which may not match most of today’s desirable Android smartphones, uses removable microSD storage and can link with Bluetooth peripherals or your Wi-Fi home network. But surprisingly, it will support wireless charging when you pair it with a Qi charger. It doesn’t necessarily have all the frills of today’s smartphones but, like the Motorola “brick”, it is pitched towards users who place importance on durability.

The Telstra Tough Max is available for around AUD$500 outright or best paired on a subsidised-equipment contract with any of Telstra’s mobile phone plans to take advantage of what this network has to offer with the cheapest of these starting from AUD$62 per month.

If Telstra keeps going with phones that please the “bush brigade” like this one, they could work towards a phablet-style unit with NFC as a higher-end model to court this market along with similarly-rugged accessories. Similarly, they could work towards a Mi-Fi or wireless NAS that also espouses this same level of ruggedness, courting this same community.

Article

Telstra TV media player (provisional design)

Telstra TV will offer Netflix, Presto and Stan | PC World

From the horse’s mouth

Telstra

Press Release

My Comments

Telstra are putting forward another online TV platform that will be sold alongside the T-Box PVR platform and the Foxtel pay-TV platform which they have a share in.

This will be based around a Roku-designed box which will represent the first time a Roku product has been offered in Australia. Telstra’s use of an existing platform for their Telstra TV service will allow for the quick rollout of new services to customers.

The headline feature for Australian customers is that this box supports all three main subscription video-on-demand service i.e. Stan. Presto and Netflix. They will be offered alongside Telstra’s BigPond Movies and various catch-up TV offerings.

As for network connectivity, The Telstra TV box connects to your home network via 802.11g/n Wi-Fi or Ethernet, which I would prefer people to use when they use these services if they want real reliability. Here, you can use Ethernet wired directly from your router or use it with a HomePlug AV powerline-network segment if you don’t want to deal with new wires.

The device uses an SD card and a USB port for removeable-media storage but also allows for Miracast and second-screen operation with Netflix and YouTube. Of course it comes with an infra-red remote control so you don’t always have to use your smartphone to control this device.

A question I am raising is whether it can support DLNA or VidiPath functionality for use with media held on your home network or if Foxtel bites the VidiPath bullet for whole-house pay-TV. Since this is a work in progress, one is not really sure.

It does show that Telstra want to have their fingers in many different online-video pies and they could make this box play with their existing T-Box or Foxtel video services if they want to really make it sing.

Articles

One of the public phone booths that is becoming a wireless hotspot

150 free Telstra Wi-Fi hotspots go live today | PC World

Pay Phones in New York City Will Become Free Wi-Fi Hot Spots | New York Times

My Comments

Increasingly public payphones are becoming more irrelevant in today’s mobile-phone society, simply serving as access to telephony for those who can’t get a mobile phone service or as a failover solution if your mobile phone’s battery dies or you run out of uesable credit on a prepaid mobile-telephony service. Other than that, they become a shelter from a sudden downpour or to talk quietly with one another or “fix oneself up quickly”. They are even mentioned in that Men At Work song “Touching The Untouchables” (Spotify link) as a quiet space for the homeless – “Spend My Nights In The Telephone Booth / I Make Sure I Leave The Phone Off The Hook”.

These are being seen as a waste of money for incumbent telcos or cities who are charged with maintaining these payphones. But incumbent telcos like Telstra are charged with having to provide these phones as part of providing the universal telephony service.

What is happening now is that Telstra and the City Of New York are integrating Wi-FI hotspot finctionality in to the phone booths. Telstra, as Australia’s incumbent telecommunications provider responsible for the universal telephone service, is adding this functionality to its phone booths which have the fully-functional public payphones while the City of New York is replacing existing phone booths with the hotspots. These will offer an IP-based speakerphone function to allow calls across the USA as well as a charging station for smartphones that run out of juice. Their cost will be covered by outdoor advertising that is attached to these booths.

One group that these services will benefit are those of us who are on mean mobile data plans and have to use the public-access Wi-Fi with our smartphones or other mobile devices to apply for a job through an online form or find out material online. With some of us, we have to use Skype or Viber VoIP services to make free calls between correspondents who have the same service on our phones to save money.

This could be seen as a way to help establish a universal Internet service especially if the service provider is involved with using the public payphones as part of their commitment to the universal telephone service.

Article – From the horse’s mouth

Telstra

Product Page

My Comments

Those of you who regularly follow HomeNetworking01.info have seen me draw attention to various “triple-play” plans being offered by Orange, Free. SFR & co in France as part of my coverage on the competitive telecommunications and Internet-service market there.

Most of these plans offer a landline telephony component with unlimited national calling and international calling to various countries, mostly Western Europe, France’s “Outre-Mer” regions and the main business hubs of the world like USA,  Depending on the plan and the carrier, these may be for landlines only or both landline and mobile numbers for some destinations.

Telstra have now provided a “bolt-on” option for home landline customers where they can have unlimited calling to various overseas destinations. Here, you could call all regular landlines and mobiles in France and the USA while you could call regular landlines only in Germany, Italy, UK and New Zealand on this plan for AUD$15 per month.

At the moment, this is targeted mainly at home users with a regular Telstra landline but could be expanded to small businesses who make regular overseas calls such as dealing with overseas suppliers. It is a service that I would see pleasing a lot of the expats out there who want to call home regularly.

Articles

Telstra Launches Shared Data Plans | Gizmodo Australia

Telstra expands shared data plans | ITNews

Telstra Mobile Data Sharing: Everything You Need To Know | Lifehacker Australia

From the horse’s mouth

Telstra

Product Sheet

My Comments

I have done some previous coverage about shared data plans popping up in other countries like the USA and France. These provide a common data-allowance pool amongst a group of devices you or, in some cases with “family plans”, your family owns.

Now Telstra has jumped on the bandwagon with a shared data option which costs AUD$20 per month for each device. At the moment they are offering 1Gb extra of data to plans operated by early adopters as an incentive to take up this service across the multiple devices.

This is available to people who are contracted with the “Every Day Connect” mobile-service plans whether these are on a “bring-your-own-device” basis or part of a subsidised-handset contract. Here, I would see these of value with the Every Day Connect 80 plan or plans above that plan and with more than 2 devices beyond the regular handset.

I find that the tariff chart for this service will need some work to make it more acceptable by most customers. For example, Telstra could offer more of the high-capacity plans with perhaps high-capacity voice and text service in conjunction with the data sharing as well as post a simple tariff per device per month. They could offer their “Mi-Fi” devices and USB modems or the tablets that they sell for a subsidised cost to customers who integrate them in to a data-share plan/

But as I have seen with Telstra, these kind of services are charged in a way to prop up their role as a universal telephony service provider. They could easily provide services like these at better prices if Australia adopted a universal-service-fund which all carriers had to put money to and this was used to fund the basic telephone service, the public payphones, the Triple-Zero emergency call service and similar essential services.