ADSL Providers Print E-mail
With the recent growth in ADSL in Australia, we often get asked to recommend an ADSL provider.  These days there are literally hundreds to choose from!  It's pretty difficult giving a hard  recommendation in a changing marketplace, the best we can do is offer some advice on how to check things out, and what to look for.

Where do I find ADSL Providers?

There are many options option to you, and there is no one-stop shop to find what is available in your area. If you are set on a local provider, then the yellow pages or local paper is the best bet.  Alternatively, the nearest we have to a complete directory in Australia is hosted on the Whirlpool Forums.  The best place to start is actually their Broadband Choice section.

Some Considerations for Chooosing a Broadband Provider

If you have a priority on reliability and service, then you need to consider the major operators.  Check out providers such as Internode, but expect to pay a premium for their service.  These are always worth a quick check - sometimes the premium you pay is not that high considering the better levels of service that you should experience.

If cost is a major factor, then you can hunt around and find lots (Dozens!) of minor ADSL providers.  Most are resellers for the major wholesale providers, and run small, efficient businesses to keep costs down.  Don't expect instant service, and there may be occasional outages as they rely on other suppliers for their service.  On the whole we have found this type of provider good for home use.  Some providers that we have set up recently have been TeeGee, Curl and AuNix.

You will find the discussion forums a handy source of information as to how good (or bad) other people have found a particular provider.  Keep in mind though that happy customers rarely lodge compliments, and a few vocal customers don't mean that your selected provider is good, or bad. 
 
Providers that we have experienced difficulties with in the past are Dodo, Optusnet and Bigpond.