Vodafone is the first Australian telco out of the blocks selling the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 tablet. Apple delayed the Australian launch of this device by several months with legal challenges but those have now been dismissed by the High Court and the GALAXY Tab 10.1 is on its way. And with a Vodafone pre order system on their website you can have one in time for Christmas! Vodafone has opened pre orders now for the GALAXY Tablet and they will start shipping on December 16th 2011. So if you want to get your new Samsung Tablet before Christmas then order before this date to guarantee delivery before December 25th. Details on the wireless broadband plans that are bundled with the tablet are below.

Pre Order the Samsung GALAXY 10.1 Tablet Now

Details The Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 is a light weight tablet with great specs and features. The screen has 1280-by-800-pixel resolution at 149 pixels per inch (ppi). It weighs just 565 grams. It has a Dual-core 1Ghz NVIDIA® processor and the operating system is Android™ 3.1 Honeycomb. This GALAXY tablet has a front facing and a rear facing camera. The back facing one is 3MP with auto-focus and LED flash and the front facing camera is 2MP. The current version for release in Australia has 16GB of internal memory and is Wi-Fi and 3G enabled for data. Vodafone has bundle deals so you can get the GALAXY Tab 10.1 like you would a normal mobile phone contract, but with included data each month instead of calls! So you’ll have a great Samsung tablet and 3G wireless broadband to use the internet in 3G coverage areas when you don’t have Wi-Fi. Vodafone Samsung Tablet Bundles Vodafone is offering the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 as part of a wireless broadband bundle deal. With plans starting at just $39 in total per month on a 24 month contract, it’s probably much cheaper than you were expecting. The following wireless broadband plans are currently available on 24 month contracts from Vodafone:

• 1.5GB of data – $15 per month for the data + $24 per month for the tablet = $39 per month ($936 minimum spend)
• 6GB of data - $29 per month for the data + $24 per month for the tablet = $53 per month ($1,272 minimum spend)
• 12GB of data – $39 per month for the data + $24 per month for the tablet = $63 per month ($1,512 minimum spend)
• 14GB of data – $49 per month for the data + $24 per month for the tablet = $73 per month ($1,752 minimum spend)
• 18GB of data – $59 per month for the data + $24 per month for the tablet = $83 per month ($1,992 minimum spend)

Click here to order today!

When the iPhone launched and other data hungry devices, most of the major Australia mobile networks struggled to cope. Optus was criticised heavily for not having the data capacity to support the amount of new customers they were adding to their network.

But since those initial days, Vodafone has copped a lot of the negative press in relation to their network’s poor performance. In order to change any negative public perception, Vodafone has been heavily marketing its network improvements.

Other than just create ads about it, they’ve also released the Vodafone Network Satisfaction Guarantee. Here are some of the important details:

1. If you sign up on a Vodafone mobile broadband contract (or mobile phone contract)
2. And you’re not completely satisfied with your Vodafone network experience
3. Then call the Vodafone Customer Care team within 30 days of commencement of your contract
4. If  they can’t resolve your issues to your satisfaction then you can cancel the contract
5. You won’t pay any cancellation fees, you’ll just pay for what you’ve used until the cancellation happens

Visit the Vodafone website to read the full terms and details of the Vodafone Network Satisfaction Guarantee.

In the scenario that you do need to request a cancellation, then you’ll be advised of which Vodafone store to return it to, as you’ll need to give back your mobile broadband stick to Vodafone in a re-salable condition.

So is a Network Satisfaction Guarantee just a lot of hype? In our opinion – not at all! It’s easy for a big company like Vodafone to spend a lot on ads to tell everyone how great their new network rollout is. It’s a lot harder to back it up with a guarantee, which essentially allows customers to leave if they are not satisfied.

Vodafone has some great wireless broadband deals out at the moment, but if you’re hesitant to sign up because of the potential network issues, then you could miss out on a great deal. If you do go ahead and sign up with Vodafone, you should do so with the full expectation that your sevice will work really well.

But the Network Satisfaction Guarantee is on your side if the service isn’t to the level you expected. Hopefully Vodafone will be able to help you get any problems sorted out to you don’t have to cancel the contract – but the option is there if you need it. But no one wants to go through that hassle if they can avoid it, so check the Vodafone website to make sure there is adequate mobile broadband coverage in your area and make an informed choice!

Visit www.Vodafone.com.au for the latest wireless broadband plans.

Once of the tastiest deals in the wireless broadband market currently is from Optus on their high data usage plans. Optus usually charges $59.95 per month for 10GB of data, which is a fair bit above market price and $79.95 for 16GB. But the current deal is $20 off per month on each of these high end plans!

So with $20 off per month on these Optus wireless broadband deals the new plans are:

• $39.95 per month for 10GB of data
• $59.95 per month for 16GB of data

Visit www.Optus.com.au

Optus currently has a mobile broadband special which entitles new customers to one month free! This is an online exclusive only and is not being offered in retail outlets.

The 1 month free starts on all plans even the $4.95 plan when you buy your USB modem or Mini Wi-Fi outright up to the highest wireless broadband data plans. It is available on the 12 month plan which is really good value. If you sign up to the $29.95 plan or above you can decide whether you want the E173 USB modem or the Optus Mini Wi-Fi included with no upfront cost.

The following plans are eligible for the 1 month free deal:

• $4.95 per month with 0GB included data (requires upfront purchase of USB or Mini Wi-Fi Modem)
• $19.95 per month with 2GB included data (requires upfront purchase of USB or Mini Wi-Fi Modem)
• $29.95 per month with 4GB included data
• $39.95 per month with 8GB included data
• $59.95 per month with 10GB included data
• $79.95 per month with 16GB included data

Visit www.Optus.com.au

We’re seeing lots of Virgin mobile and broadband at the moment with their full scale marketing and advertising campaigns. To back up all the promotion there are some great Virgin wireless broadband deals to be snapped up, with the current offers even better than other recent promotions they have run.

The current Virgin deals for post paid wireless broadband are 5 months at half price! And considering the plan minimum is only 12 months, you are getting 50% off for almost half of the contract. It’s great value if you are looking for a mobile broadband solution.

This offer is available on the Virgin wireless plans starting with $29 per month for 4GB of data and higher. So the savings with this offer are:

• $29 per month with 4GB – save $72.50 – see more
• $39 per month with 10GB – save $97.50 - see more
• $49 per month with 12 GB – save $122.50 - see more
• $59 per month with 14GB – save $147.50 - see more

On the 12 month contracts the USB modem is $0 upfront on all mobile broadband plans (including the $19 per month plan for 1.5GB of data.) The Wi-Fi modem is $0 upfront on all plans except for the $19 plan where it costs $7 per month.

Sign Up With Virgin >>

This offer is available online only and ends at midnight on October 19th 2011. The 50% off for 5 months deal is not included for BYO plans or the $19 wireless plan. For full details please visit: www.virginmobile.com.au/broadband/mobile-broadband

If you are considering getting wireless broadband with Virgin then now is a great time to do it! For a limited time Virgin is offering a $100 credit on selected post paid mobile broadband plans. Here is the break down for each plan:

• $19 per month for 1.5GB 0f data – no credit
• $29 per month for 4GB of data – $75 credit
• $39 per month for 10GB of data – $100 credit
• $49 per month for 12GB of data – $100 credit
• $59 per month for 14GB of data – $100 credit

The Virgin $39 plan with 10 GB of data allowance is listed as their most popular plan on their website.

The credits are available if you join Virgin for a 12 month contract, which is pretty remarkable. On the $29 Virgin plan your minimum commitment over 12 months is only $348, so the $75 credit is the equivalent of getting 2.5 months free! Likewise the $100 credit on the $39 plan is worth over 2.5 months of access fees. Especially when you consider that you get hardware – either a USB modem or WiFi modem  - included for free on the 12 month contract with the $29 plan and above.

Sign Up With Virgin >>

The credits will be applied in two equal installments in months 1 and 2. This offer ends at midnight on Sept 14th 2011. This deal is not included for BYO plans or the $19 wireless plan. For full details please visit:www.virginmobile.com.au/broadband/mobile-broadband

I took my laptop to a meeting last night, knowing it would be useful to have live e-mail and calendar available during the discussion. WiFi was available, so I didn’t need to take a Wireless Broadband dongle or anything like that with me.

I didn’t expect to have this issues I did with the WiFi – it’s connected every time before. But not last night.

Feeling totally unprepared without access to my precious information (I didn’t bring any paper based info with me) I almost thought I should just go home. Fortunately, the coordinator of the meeting pulled out his iPhone and said ‘Connect to my network!’ Within seconds, his WiFi network was available, he’s typed in the password for me and I was checking my e-mail and updating my calendar. It was great.

There are many names for it, but this is usually called ‘WiFi Tethering’ and is a fantastic feature. Your phone effectively becomes a mini modem/router combination, allowing your WiFi devices to access the Internet through your phone’s Wireless Broadband connection. Depending on the phone, there is usually a limit of about 5 WiFi devices that can connect. This is a fantastic way of sharing a mobile broadband connection among multiple computers or other WiFi devices, rather than needing a separate connection (and dongle or SIM card, with their associated costs) for each device.

I recently attended a two day conference in Tamworth in country NSW. It gave me an excellent opportunity to test and experience the wireless broadband coverage in the region. On the whole the wireless 3G coverage in Tamworth is very good, but the experience did vary between providers in some cases. Here is a review of my experiences.

Vodafone

I was using a postpaid Vodafone K3715 USB modem. I had been previously using a different model Vodafone USB modem on the laptop I took with me, so I had some difficulty in getting connected. But once I erased all other USB devices and ran the install software again, the modem started working.

I stayed in a motel on the outskirts of town on Armidale Road. I was concerned that being away from the town centre would negatively impact my wireless performance and speed. But this turned out to be no problem at all. I had good 3G signal strength with Vodafone and had no problems with drop outs or fluctuating speeds. I was connected to the internet consistently at 300kbps and that was fine for the email and web surfing I needed to do. So wireless broadband in the motel was great.

The conference was held at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre which is just off the main road as you drive in from Sydney. I was expecting the coverage to be decent, but inside the building it really struggled. Sometimes and in some locations it would be fast and connect well. But for the second day of the conference in the area I was sitting there was virtually no coverage. When I moved closer to the entrance doors the signal was much better. So if you are coming for an event in this building, Vodafone was not great. But elsewhere in an around Tamworth Vodafone had a solid connection with decent download speeds.

Visit the Vodafone website >>

Virgin Broadband

The guys that were sitting next to me were using Virgin wireless broadband USB modems. While I was struggling to get a connection within the Entertainment Centre, they had no issues whatsoever. They were a few metres closer to the entrance and outside world than I was, but after seeing them get strong wireless coverage for 2 days, Virgin was definitely a better option.

Visit the Virgin website >>

Telstra Broadband

There was another guy using Telstra NextG and he also had good coverage within the building. In fact he was quite a bit further inside than the guys using Virgin Broadband. He was able to connect to the internet and work on emails and access the web when he needed to.

Please visit this page to compare wireless broadband plans of providers that are available in Tamworth.

If you’ve got an iPad with 3G and Wi-Fi, then you have the great advantage of being able to use it on the internet in 3G wireless broadband zones in many areas of Australia. Virgin Mobile uses the Optus 3G mobile network to provide its data services and had coverage of up to 97% of  Australians.

If you don’t have an iPad yet, then jump over to the Online Apple Store and buy one!

Each mobile phone provider offers different data plans and options for the iPad. Here is a summary of some of those wireless broadband deals for your iPad from Virgin:

Virgin

Virgin Mobile gives you the option of paying monthly or getting a prepaid micro-sim for your 3G enabled iPad. Virgin does not have any contracts for their micro-sim plans, you can simply come and go as you want. You also get a $5 per month discount if you bundle one of these plans with a Virgin post-paid mobile plan on the same account.

The Virgin micro-sim iPad data plans are currently:

• $14 per month for 1GB of data allowance
• $19 per month for 1.5GB of data allowance
• $29 per month for 4GB of data allowance
• $39 per month for 10GB of data allowance
• $49 per month for 12GB of data allowance
• $59 per month for 14GB of data allowance

Some of these plans include bonus data or are web specials that are valid at the time of writing, so to view the latest Virgin iPad data plans click here.

Virgin also has a prepaid data option for the iPad. The current starter kit costs just $5 for 300MB of data that expires after 30 days. It’s a really cheap price to get started with 3G on your iPad.

If you choose the prepaid option there are lots of options for recharging. They currently range from $15 for 300MB that expires after 30 days, to the much better value $19 for 1GB with 30 days expiry, all the way up to $149 for 12GB that expires after 365 days. To see all the recharge options on the Virgin website click here.

If you don’t have an iPad yet, we recommend buying from the Apple Store Online for great pricing, service and quick delivery:

Visit the Apple Store >>

One of the great benefits of getting the iPad2 with 3G is that you can connect it to the internet via a mobile phone network. The Vodafone 3G mobile network provides extensive wireless broadband coverage to over 96% of the Australian population.

Each mobile phone provider offers different data plans and options for the iPad. Here is a summary of some of those wireless broadband deals for your iPad from Vodafone:

Vodafone

Vodafone has the option of paying monthly or getting a prepaid micro-sim. The pay monthly options are not long term contracts, it’s simply a 1 month deal that keep rolling over with a new data allowance each month. The Vodafone micro-sim iPad data plans are currently:

• $15 per month for 1.5GB of data allowance
• $29 per month for 4GB of data allowance
• $39 per month for 10GB of data allowance
• $49 per month for 12GB of data allowance

To view the latest Vodafone iPad data plans click here.

Vodafone also has a prepaid data option for the iPad. The current starter kit costs $14.95 for 1.5GB of data that expires after 30 days.

There a lots of recharge amounts to add more data onto your service. They currently range from $9.95 for 250MB that expires after 30 days, all the way up to $300 for 30GB that expires after 365 days! To see all the recharge options on the Vodafone site click here.

If you don’t have an iPad yet, we recommend buying from the Apple Store Online:

Visit the Apple Store >>