iinet has released new Naked DSL plans today, with increased data allowances across the board. As well as boosting the data quota, iinet has also changed the peak and off peak times, so before jumping across to the new plans, just make sure they are going to work out better for you. And just like before both uploads and downloads are counted. Read on for more details of the new plans….

New Naked DSL Plans from iinet

Naked Home 1 at $49.95 per month has been boosted from 2GB (peak) + 2GB (off peak) to 5GB + 5GB of data. This is a significant increase and now better aligns iinet with some of the other premium Naked DSL providers. This plan is still only available on “No Contract” with a $195 set up fee.

Naked Home 2 received a comparatively modest increase moving up from 8GB + 8GB to 10GB + 10GB. But for a standard internet user this amount of data is ample at a very good price point of $59.95. Especially considering unlimited free local and national VoIP calls and there is the option of a 24 month contract with discounted set up fee on this plan.

Naked Home 3 at $69.95 received a significant data allowance increase from 15GB + 20GB to 30GB + 30GB. This plan will definitely become more popular. Naked Home 4 at $79.95 is also a much improved plan, now delivering 50GB + 50GB in data and increase of 66% over the previous allowance.

Naked Home 5 at $89.95 per month has had an extra 20GB added to its peak usage allowance and is now 60GB + 60GB. Naked Home 6 is the highest plan at $119.95 per month and now includes 75GB + 75GB of data per month.

New Off Peak Periods

All of the above plans  - Naked Home 1, 2, 3 & 4 – have a new “off peak” usage period of between 2am and 8am daily. The old allowance use to run 4 hours longer until 12 midday. So for most people this won’t make a lot of difference except perhaps on weekends. So whilst it’s a slight drawback, the benefit of the increased data allowances will outweigh the changes to the off peak period.

The off peak period on Naked Home 5 & 6 is between 1am and 9am. For the nocturnal creatures amongst us, brining it forward to 1am will be a good advantage. Overall 2 hours of off peak time have been lost, but for the vast majority the extra data is well worth it.  These two top end plans are also now shaped to 128/128k – twice the previous download speed if the data quota is exceeded.

All the other major iinet Naked DSL benefits remain the same – for example:

• Free iiTalk VoIP with unlimited local and national calls to landlines.
• The iinet Fair Contract Guarantee
• Fantastic customer service
• iinet BoB Modem for super easy set up
• Access to the iinet Freezone

Click Here to Sign Up For iinet Naked DSL >>

What is iinet BoB? It’s all over the front of the iinet website currently in case you missed it.

At first glance, BoB looks like a 4 port wireless modem with a phone handset to use with Naked DSL VoIP. But when you look a little deeper it’s far more than that. BoB is a fantastic All in One device which is super easy to set up and includes a stack of great features. Here are five fantastic BoB features:

#1 - BoB is incredibly easy to set up. You just plug it in and it automatically configures itself with your iinet broadband account and settings. All you need to do is plug the power cord into the wall and the phone cable into the wall socket. BoB works just fine on Apple Mac too.

#2 - BoB has 4 ethernet ports and has excellent wireless range, in fact up to twice the range of standard 802.11g wireless modems and also faster wireless data transmissions at 300Mbps.

#3 - BoB has two high speed USB ports. One of the ports is labelled “storage/3G” and has several impressive features. Firstly you can plug in a USB hard drive or flash drive into BoB and all files will be shared throughout your wireless network. Secondly you can plug in a 3G USB modem (dongle) so you can share your wireless broadband connection between multiple devices if you need to. There will be a future firmware upgrade to enable this technology.

#4 - The second USB port is labelled “charge” and you can charge your mobile phones, portable music players or anything that charges through a USB cable.

#5 - BoB looks great! This might not be the most important feature, but it’s a good one nonetheless. Most wireless modems which are used for Naked DSL VoIP have an antenna sticking out the top of them. The phone handsets don’t match the modem colour and overall it can be a pretty ugly mess.  BoB on the other hand has a great, slick design with no external antenna and the handset matches just beautifully.

Visit the iinet Website >>

iinet Plans for BoB

BoB is made especially for Naked DSL – which is fast ADSL2+ broadband without having to pay line rental every month! iinet Naked DSL includes a free VoIP account with unlimited calls to landlines in Australia. With iinet you can also transfer your Telstra landline phone number to VoIP.

BoB is a VoIP modem and integrates perfectly with iinet VoIP so you can make phone calls with a BoB handset or your own handset. The iinet Naked DSL plans start at $49.95 per month.

See the iinet Naked DSL Plans >>

You don’t have to get a BoB modem to get iinet’s Naked DSL service. Other ADSL2+ VoIP modem brands like Billion, Open Networks, Netgear and Netcomm will work fine with iinet. But they will require some configuration at the time of set up. On the other hand BoB comes pre-configured and is extremely easy to set up.

If for some reason you don’t want to go Naked, you can use BoB with ADSL2+ if you like and retain your landline phone service.

See the iinet ADSL2+ Plans >>

Other Features

If you already have your own phone handsets then they will likely be compatible with BoB. If you buy a handset with BoB, then it comes with the charging unit inbuilt.

You also don’t have to use BoB with VoIP. You can use your standard PSTN phone line if you would like. But if you use iinet ADSL2+ with VoIP, then BoB will make calls by default using VoIP and will revert to PSTN if your internet connection drops out.

If you get iinet Naked DSL, which comes with a free VoIP account and unlimited local and national calls, BoB will work just fine as your all in one modem, wireless router and VoIP handset base.

The iinet BoB modem is also NOT locked to iinet, so you can easily change the settings and use it with another ISP if you want to.

Click Here For More Details on the iinet Website>>

BoB Pricing

So how much does BoB cost? BoB is made by Belkin, the high quality modem and router supplier, so it’s not budget equipment. BoB is a highly featured device that will offer you far more than a standard 4 port wireless router. If you want a handset, then it’s $269 on a 24 month plan. Without a handset it’s $209. Additional handsets are $69 each.

If you are after the cheapest modem possible, then BoB isn’t for you. Simply sign up with iinet and select the BYO modem option and get a modem from elsewhere. But if you are after a well-featured, smart looking modem that is extremely easy to set up, then BoB is a great choice.

Click here for all BoB pricing options>>

iinet Fair Contract Guarantee

We like the iinet Fair Contract Guarantee, which makes the 24 month plan a really fair deal. If you need to leave your contract before 24 months, you aren’t unfairly penalised. There are no early termination fees – you simply pay back the bonuses you received at sign up.

Visit the iinet Website >>

TPG has now officially launched their Naked DSL plan with VoIP. It is an important move for TPG to keep pace with other leading Naked DSL providers in Australia.

There is just one TPG Naked DSL plan that has a free VoIP plan included with it. You can also still get the existing four TPG Naked DSL plans which don’t have an included VoIP service.

Here are the main details:

• You will get a Direct In Dial (DID) phone number with your VoIP service. This gives you a local phone number that people can call you on!
• It is available on a brand new TPG Naked DSL plan for only $59.99 per month. This includes 80GB of data, 40GB in peak and 40GG in off peak times. Both uploads and downloads are counted on this plan.
• You can use your existing home phone handsets, which will plug into a VoIP enabled modem
• You can BYO modem (as long as it’s VoIP enabled for codec g729, g711a or g711u) or buy a 4 port, VoIP, Wireless modem from TPG. This modem is discounted by $20 to $149.95 for customers getting this VoIP Naked DSL plan
• You get 500 free minutes per month of VoIP calls to landlines in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Sydney
• Local and national calls to landlines are only 10 cents untimed
• Calls to mobiles are only 28 cents per minute and are billed per second

This offer is currently available in areas where TPG offers Naked DSL. To check if you can get TPG Naked DSL in your area please enter your phones number or address below:

TPG VoIP is a prepaid service. When you first join you pay $20 and get $20 of VoIP credit. You can receive calls for free and you can use the 500 minutes to selected destinations to landlines in Australia for free. Some of the TPG VoIP terms and conditions are posted below. You can read all terms and conditions when you click below and go through the sign up process.

Sign Up For TPG Naked DSL >>

⁺Free VoIP Minutes:
Includes 500 free VoIP Minutes only for calls to fixed lines in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Free VoIP Minutes used in 1 minute increments, with a 10 minute minimum per call. VoIP Deposit of $20 required for excluded or excess VoIP calls.

VoIP Deposit:
At the time of registration, we debit $20 that is kept as a deposit for any excluded or excess usage (any calls that go either above the limit of Free VoIP Minutes or are not classified as an eligible free call, e.g. calls to mobiles or international calls). If your deposit falls below $5 at any time, you will be automatically debited $20. If you do not exceed the limit of Free VoIP Minutes and do not incur any charges for call types not eligible for Free VoIP Minutes, your deposit will not ever be debited.

¹ Consists of peak (8am – 2:30am) and off peak (2:30am – 8am) monthly usage quota. Speed will be shaped to 128k/128k for the period in which the monthly usage quota has been exceeded (peak and/or off peak).

The Hills District of Sydney is one of the fastest growing business and residential areas of Sydney. It’s situated about 30km north west of the Sydney CBD.

Baulkham Hills Naked DSL and Broadband

iinet and TPG are the only options for Naked DSL at the Baulkham Hills exchange. This exchange actually takes in parts of several suburbs. It includes parts of Baulkham Hills, Winston Hills, Crestwood, Northmead and Castle Hill. If you are unsure of whether you are in the Baulkham Hills exchange for broadband, then enter your landline phone number in the Naked DSL checker. If you don’t have a landline, then you can contact us for broadband help.

iinet will be the better option if you want:

• Naked DSL for $49.95 per month
• to keep your exsiting landline phone number
• a free VoIP service with unlimited local and national phone calls
• to speak for free to family members also on iinet VoIP
• to install Naked DSL without having an active phone line
• access to the iinet Freezone with free downloads from iTunes, on demand Super 14 matches and more
• excellent 24/7 customer service

To view the iinet plans click here.

TPG will suit you better if you:

• want really high download allowances e.g 25GB peak + 25GB off peak for $59.99 per month
• want free uploads. You don’t want them counted. TPG only counts downloads!
• already have a landline phone line installed
• want a great deal on bundling your mobile phone with your broadband
• don’t need a VoIP home phone service
• want a Static IP address

To view the TPG plans click here.

Exetel offers a range of extras as part of their ADSL and Naked DSL plans. For example you get 30 free Australian SMS each month and 20 free Email2Fax pages per month. They are also one of the few providers to offer a Static IP address for free on a residential plan. But many Naked DSL subscribers are most interested in the Exetel VoIP service and how it stacks up.

100 Free Calls to Landlines

Exetel has no minimum spend for their VoIP service, so you only pay if you make calls. The added benefit is that Exetel includes 100 free calls to Australian landline numbers each month! The standard rate for calls to Australian landlines is 10 cents, so it’s effectively $10 free per month.

There is no flagfall (connection fee) charge on any call with Exetel VoIP, which means the rates will be a lot cheaper than most of the big phone companies and their residential phone plans. Calls from one Exetel VoIP user to another are free. Here are all the call rates:

Click Here to Sign Up With Exetel Naked DSL!

Currently iinet is the only Naked DSL provider that can allow you to keep your landline phone number. iinet will port your phone number to their iiTalk VoIP service. We expect that throughout 2009 more providers will start offering for you to be able to keep your number.

iiTalk by iinet

iinet’s VoIP service offers unlimited calls to landlines within Australia. Can’t argue with that! Calls to Mobiles are a very reasonable 29 cents per minute with no flagfall. iiTalk has no monthly access fee and no minimum to spend – just use it if you want to. Using iiTalk does not count against your monthly download or upload allowance.

What About The Other Providers?

Is you transfer to Naked DSL with another provider than iinet, you will forfeit your telephone number. In some cases the provider will offer you a new phone number with a high quality VoIP service – Internode or Exetel will do this. So you can keep using your home phone with a VoIP connection that runs through your internet service.

Keeping Your Phone Number

If keeping your number is the only option for you, then head over to the iinet website and have a look at their plans. Remember that using the iinet VoIP service doesn’t count against your monthly data allowance. When you are completing your iinet Naked DSL application, you can request to port your phone number. Just have a copy of a recent phone bill handy as you’ll need the account number from it.

Visit the iinet Website Now

iiTalk – Free Local and National Calls

With every Naked DSL account from iinet, you get a free VoIP service included. Most of the internet providers do that. What is unique about the iinet offer, is that it includes unlimited calls to landlines in Australia for free! All local and national calls won’t cost you a cent.

Calls to mobiles aren’t free – they are a very reasonable rate though – 29 cents per min inc GST. These calls are billed in 30 second increments, i.e each 30 seconds will cost you 14.5 cents. This call rate to mobiles is significantly cheaper than most home phone deals based on a standard Telstra home phone line.

International Rates and Free Data Usage For iinet VoIP

Calls to 1300 numbers are 30 cents untimed. Calls to 1800 numbers are free. You can call a huge range of international destinations for really low rates with iiTalk. Calls to USA, United Kingdom, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia are all just 5 cent per minute!

Click Here to See iinet’s International Call Rates

You don’t need to be worried that using VoIP will eat up all your data allowance for the month. iinet VoIP is included in the Freezone so all VoIP uploads and downloads will not be counted!

We’ve tested iinet’s VoIP service and the quality is excellent. VoIP has been around for years now, so the technology has been improved to be comparable with landline quality in most cases.

Click Here to Sign Up for iinet Naked DSL and iiTalk