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Jlaw1968Melbourne
- 8 reviews
- 3 likes
- Verified purchase
Good modem
We received this modem when we signed up with Telstra. It's worked as promised and there has been no real major problems since. We don't get drop outs and the connectivitiy seems to be pretty good. It sits under the kitchen bench and the wifi reaches all parts of the house, even in the garden. It was pretty easy to set up along with the NBN, just plugged it in. I will probably upgrade the modem when and if i resign to Telstra.
Purchased in December 2021.
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shanCronulla
- 10 reviews
- 2 likes
- Verified purchase
Best modem ever
I currently have an Optus service, and that plugs into this device via Ethernet, with all my network traffic going through this modem. I had tried ADSL with Telstra, however they weren’t able to provide a reliable service and left me with the modem which I repurposed as the Optus modem was too slow (for internal traffic).
This modem is a workhorse, I have never needed to restart it due to a fault of its own.
When it’s connection goes down, it switches to the inbuilt 4G backup, while speed limited, it is so convenient to only have it go down ...Read more
for a short time (around 5 min) before coming back up. So much nicer than leaving you with no connection at all. The management interface is good, but the app Telstra have launched for the Smart Modem is just amazing.Purchased in July 2021 at Telstra.
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Tim eGoulburn Valley, VIC
Piece of fkn crap
Only 2 out of 10 of our devices connect via wifi and the 5g wifi does not work and all devices that have lan capabilities don't work on it the phone has slight static when using it and 4g is slow but has full signal. The modem itself is too screwed down and can't shut down telstra air access on it. I rate it -10 out of 10
Purchased in February 2021.
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Outdoor E.Southwest, VIC
- 11 reviews
Good Gateway
This modem has been used for a few months and we find it to be very fast after it is powered on. It has never given us any troubles and never cuts out. Very easy to setup both from startup and with wifi connection which we usually have 3 devices connected to it.
Purchased in August 2021.
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eastwest101Townsville
- 15 reviews
- 1 like
Gateway Modem itself okay but landline handset phone pretty rubbish
We got this Gateway Frontier modem like most people - as existing Telstra customers transitioning from an ADSL broadband service to the FTTn NBN.
After some initial NBN installer/contractor problems where they killed off our landline and ADSL completely the change from ADSL to the NBN went pretty smoothly with this modem and the modem does revert to 4G as advertised (when the NBN network or local landline copper network goes down) and seems a relatively stable modem. The self installation process when you first get this Modem is fairly strai...Read more
ghtforward except for the landline unit setup. This modem ships without any instruction manuals and it seems every effort has gone into preventing the home user from "tinkering" or customizing this modem, although there are unofficial user guides out there that are fairly detailed. I can't speak as to the speed of this modem but its WiFi network can deal with 3 teenagers and Netflix streaming in a large 5 bedroom house although I suspect the WiFi is a bit patchy at the furthermost end of the house. This unit (for us at least) does not seem to suffer widespread "dropouts" in NBN Internet connectivity or WiFi dropout problems. There are a variety of lights on the outside of the unit that let you know what is going o,n and numerous ports on this rather large white box, but anything seriously wrong will have you calling the Telstra helpline. We have had only a few power failures but the unit seems to cope with power interruptions and restores its default service without any intervention from me or from Telstra. The only issue we have had with this modem has been the standard handset that ships with the modem, its very slow, unresponsive and fairly unreliable in operation and unreliable in maintaining its connection to the base station/main modem. I am looking at buying a proper reliable landline handset and answering machine (probably Panasonic).Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
SewsoauAdelaide
- 11 reviews
- Verified purchase
Best Telstra Modem yet
Having previously had three modems from Telstra over a number of years I am very happy with this modem. Two of our previous modems left a lot to be desired. This one performs quite well. Hardly a dropout. We run many devices via LAN and WiFi and seem to all operate as we expect. Every now and then something may drop out but it doesn't happen very often. The wireless signal is constantly at full bars on most devices at 5m and reception can still just be found in the street at 25m away. We do have fairly good NBN where we are so this probably hel...Read more
ps. This model has four LAN ports which is a great improvement over our previous one which only had two. When compared with modems from other phone companies I would say that this one is comparable if not just a bit better.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
HeraMelbourne
- 7 reviews
- 2 likes
Can’t believe it’s easy!
Ordered and came to my house in the next two days! Was so fast and easy to set up! Literally can get my 6 year old to set up lol works wonderfully I love how they will let me know prior if the systems going to be down, I’m saying that they work on the networks when we’re most probably sleeping. I haven’t had any problems with the modem or Telstra so far, so here’s hoping we won’t need to call them. However it’s great I actually love it and don’t think I’ll be changing anytime soon
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Michael
- 3 reviews
Money grubbing dogs
Don't even get me started on this, I moved to Telstra a few weeks ago and everything seemed to be woring fine, the wifi was fast and good, until my modem kept automatically going into 'back up mode', i called Telstra several times seeking help and they would say the same damn thing, 'there has been an outage in your area causing this', and honestly, if that were true, than how the hell is it possible that Telstra had 30 outages in 3 weeks? I ended up moving to Optus and my life couldn't be better, i suggest you all do the same.
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BenSydney
- 3 reviews
- Verified purchase
Backup facility no longer gives a reasonable speed.
I moved to Telstra specifically because of the backup facility on the modem as my NBN line is unreliable. For the first 6 months it would fall over to backup at around 6mb. Now it falls to backup at about 0.5mb.. ie. unusable. Telstra phones in the house give 50Mb plus (we're in a high coverage area). Telstra won't address this issue although I follow the proper channels. They are clearly throttling due to too many people on it and an unreliable NBN and can't let it saturate the cellular network... but this is *the* reason I moved to them. Oh, and the modem (made by Technicolor) has a poor range and is not 100% standard so isn't compatible with certain printers, my Mitsubishi air con and a Samsung TV.
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So far so good ...
I received my new BigPond (Netgear) Smart Moden Gen. 2 yesterday so my review is based upon less than 24 hours of experience. First up I am a cable-connected Internetter so i have always had good speeds (up to 113 Mbps). I upgrade out of necessity as my old BigPond/Netgear modem inexplicably stopped sending Wi-Fi signals and I could not fix it.
The packaging and instructions are excellent and it took me no time to connect everything and tick all the boxes except for one minor fact. It wouldn't work. I ran the wait-gauntlet of BigPond's perso...Read more
n-to-person technical support and called for help. It turns out that as a cable user the modem needs to be 'activated' and in my cable neighbourhood and set-up that means manually and there were no instructions to tell me that. Manual activation with the BigPond support team did not happen automatically over the phone so I have to wait up to 48 hours for the new MAC number to be recognised ... Meantime I am on mobile data connection with a considerable reduction in speed: but it works, though it is not intuitive how to make it default to mobile data. So far so good. If, when the modem is finally activated I get my old speed back, I have a mobile data backup in case of outage and a better internal Wi-Fi signal then this will be a good modem. But I won't know that for at least another 48 hours. I don't want the NBN with its reduced speed so the Cable adaptor (when it finally gets activated) should be just fine. I have always thought that mobile data delivery i the way to go and I can get speeds on my iPhone of up to 175 Mpbs when I am in the right spot. 5G should fix that permanently as in my area wit have a reduced 4G signal and I am not so close to a Telstra tower. Cable has been reliable and I will be sad to see it go unless we get unlimited data on a 5G Network.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Self Funded RetireeCentral Queensland, QLD
- 9 reviews
- 2 likes
Good NBN Modem
The modem is easy to setup. Essentially all you have to do is plug it in.
I did find that I had to also purchase the Telstra smart wifi boosters to get good coverage around the house. The house is a single story L shaped house with the modem in one end of that L.
The NBN speeds are very poor but that is Telstra, not the modem. As for being able to switch over to mobile data when NBN is not available. Well that does happen.......but whilst it uses 4G coverage. Mobile speeds are limited to 6/1 Mbps speeds.
Overall one of the better modems that I've owned.
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StephMTownsville
- 5 reviews
Good modem
I'm very satisfied with the connectivity, drop outs are covered by 3g making it a lot less frustrating. Was easy to set up and manage. Wish we had got one sooner. Downside is it's a little large which means the places it can go at out house are limited. Overall a great modem.
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BernieDJIRU
- 3 reviews
- 1 like
This looks so cool!
I've been using this router for a year and it feels great, the signal is very stable, it doesn't drop the line for no reason, and it's very easy and very simple to debug. It's just a fool's job. There's no burden to set up and manage a router.If I buy it again, I'll follow. It will choose it!
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RCBHobart
- 6 reviews
- 2 likes
Works very well, easy to use.
Despite having some issues with the service provider, this modem has been an exception. In terms of design, it is sleek, stylish and does not stick out like a sore thumb in a room. Buttons are clearly labeled and work as they should. It comes with a long length of cable which allows for it to be placed just about anywhere too. Installation went smoothly, and set up was simple thanks to the provided instructions. We have had no issues with the service provided by this modem, it’s reliable and strong! Notable that the modem itself has not been affected by the several losses of power we’ve had over the past year: no electronics issues or anything like that. Pretty happy with this.
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BUGBUYERHunter Region, NSW
- 34 reviews
- 1 like
EXCELLENT MODEM TO FIX DROP OUT PROBLEMS
I was given a Telstra Gateways max 2 when I was connected by mistake to the NBN. After a few months of daily drop out problems and the magic word mentioned "ombudsman", I had a Guy come and check My system and found a loose wire in the NBN box down the street. I had been talking to the overseas Telstra call centre almost daily, but naturally they had Me disconnecting wires and turning the modem off/on etc but naturally the loose wire couldn't be found in the Philippines ... After the loose wire was fixed, I still had drop outs daily until I...Read more
connected the Telstra Gateways frontier modem which I had received in the mail a few weeks previous. Now if it drops out, it switches to a mobile phone tower, within seconds, and all is well. I received no instructions on why I had been sent the Gateways Frontier modem within weeks of receiving the Gateways max 2 ??. All these modems were easy to connect but both modems had instructions to sit the modem in a certain way, in which all the lights which tell You when it has gone off etc is ON THE TOP.... So, the Telstra call centre is asking about the lights on the top, which naturally cannot be seen, but the side lights can be.... Was very confusing until I found the lights on the top of the modems, so I stood the modems on their end so the important lights are in plain view. SIGNAL - LINK - ON LINE - PHONE are the IMPORTANT lights... NOT the lights near the USB socket... BUGBUYER LEESimilar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
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AFKPeel, WA
- 54 reviews
- 7 likes
Very good telstra modem
Finally the nbn came to our door, and fibre to the kerb which is great. The cynic in me says that our adsl2 was deliberately being slowed down so we would be hanging out for the nbn connection....we certainly were so that bit probably worked. Telstra contacted us about the nbn being available and we signed up, got a good deal on evening std with gateway and modem router supplied promptly as promised. Followed all the simple instructions to connect and within 10 minutes up and running..very good modem and hook up was simplicity in itself...couldnt have been easier..works well, can run 2.4ghz or 5.3ghz, 2.4 ghz works fine. We are very happy with the whole setup. Its basically plug and play, no problem af all so far.
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TajPerth
- 4 reviews
- 1 like
Happy surfing
Looks beautiful..works great..but sometimes getting on and off due to weather and power fluctuations other than that it s performance good and easy to set up .it comes with all details inside box..so we installed on our own.. no man power needed..only need assistance from technical support when connecting...thanks ..simply superb design..
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therevillsAdelaide
- 12 reviews
- 8 likes
Great Telstra Modem
We changed from ADSL to Telstra Cable as we were sick of waiting for NBN to be available in our area. We have not had an issues as yet with the modem and it seems to be working really well.
It was easy to set up which is always a good thing. The wi-fi is really good throughout the house too.The modem looks modern and clean, with no aerials or bits sticking out, bonus!
The speed has been great, we are very impressed with that. Also if cable is down, we have the back up of the 4G network.
We have had no issues with this modem, it works perfectly and we are very happy with it's performance.
Highly recommended.
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Kto ZSydney
Just stopped working - so much for 4G backup
The usual Telstra customer service joy (not) was somewhat offset by this clever solution. 4G was only answer while Telstra took 2 months to deliver us the ADSL we purchased. So 6 mbps download through 4G was OK as a standby and we finally got our 12 mbps ADSL 2+ for a month before the modem failed including 4G backup. Took 90 minutes over 2 phone calls to get them to acknowledge that modem had failed and would be replaced. Stand by to see where this ends up....
1 comment
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SnoopyMelbourne
- 4 reviews
- 1 like
Easy to set, no glitch, fast
Switched from Optus to Telstra when we moved house. I am not tech savvy and therefore pleasantly surprised how easy it was to set this up. Used it for 3 months, no complaints, no delay in watching HD movie on laptop or iPads, even when all 5 gadgets were connected.
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Questions & Answers
Matthew B.asked
I'm buying a lot of smart objects for My house and want to upgrade from this box. The only problem is I don't know what this box is. Is it a router, a modem or both
Can anyone tell me when I'm upgrading do I just need to buy a router or do I need a modem/router in one?
No answers
Evaasked
were the WPS button on router is
No answers
Kathryn O.asked
where is the WPS button on this dwvice
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Kto Z
BTW, now I know why its only 6 mbps on 4G - the Telstra Frontier Gateway modem with 4G backup provided by Telstra and Bigpond is not done as a goodwill solution for a more stable internet service but... Read more
as a "devils quid-pro-quo" that allows Telstra Air customers to legally use your bandwidth and power to enjoy roaming internet while they pass or drive past your home - nice. You've just become a "mobile broadband tower" So, though not confirmed, it does explain why they cap the 4G component to 6 mbps and the whole reason for having it - at no extra cost - so they can maintain Telstra Air service guarantee at your expense... and this is before we go in to the implications for your network security and potential personal/home data issues.