Category: Tips

Telstra Essential Contacts

If you need to contact Telstra please ring the correct department, it will result in quicker problem solving.  Get to know your plan, look on your bill are you a business or residential customer?

Telstra Country Wide have a dedicated website for rural, regional & remote users.

If you have tried to lodge a fault and have a ticket/fault number and limited success in actioning your concerns please fill in the BIRRR form and we can try to escalate your issue with Telstra.

TELSTRA FAULTS

Phone: 132999 (for all faults other than RRADIO & NGWL faults).  This number has also been successful for some BIRRR members in reporting a mobile broadband fault –

1800 116 736

Landline Phone                                                                                                                                Report your landline outage using this form.

Radio Phones & NGWL Services
1800 772 346 (1800 R RADIO) or  1800 696 495 (1800 MYNGWL), for customers using radio and NGWL services to report service difficulties or faults. There is also a dedicated email address (rradio@team.telstra.com) for online fault reporting.

Mobile Broadband
TELSTRA:  1800 676 442 (Residential)
Account enquiries, Business account holders should try the Telstra Business Centre.

Telstra Business Centres 
Solutions Specialists at Telstra Business Centres are experts at maximising business data & costs, and are highly recommended to sort out data sharing and mobile plans for businesses. Find your closest business centre here.

Mobile Assurance Team
Mobile Assurance provides support to Pre-Paid, Consumer, Telstra Business and Telstra Enterprise & Government customers. They operate 24/7, and assist customers who are experiencing mobile and wireless service difficulties and faults.
Consumer customers:  132200
Business customers:  132000

Antennas
1800 305 307 For antenna installation and technical support call (select option 4).

Footnote:
All information compiled from BIRRR discussions with Telstra and Telstra website and is current as at 01/09/2020

TELSTRA Contacts DOCUMENT prepared by Kristy Sparrow for BIRRR 

Telstra Coverage Extension Devices

If you can get some Telstra mobile coverage at your location a Telstra Extension Device may assist you in boosting your signal.

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Network coverage extension devices amplify the network signal your mobile device receives, which extends the area that your device can work in.

This devices can help you connect to the Telstra Mobile Network from further away than normally possible, or in areas where signal may struggle to penetrate – such as indoors, or in hilly or dense terrain.

CHECK TELSTRA COVERAGE HERE  

Mobile broadband network coverage extension devices are also known as ‘repeaters’ as they repeat the signal from one location to another.

In contrast, network coverage extension devices that connect directly to a mobile device are often called external antennas. They are described by their power or ‘gain’, which is a measure of how much they can amplify the mobile signal.

Both of the Telstra Go Repeater and Telstra Smart Antenna products below have been tested, authorised and approved by Telstra for use on the Telstra Mobile Network.

Telstra will be switching off 3G in 2024. With this in mind BIRRR does not recommend spending large amounts of money on boosting 3G service. 3G is being replaced with 4G (if spending any money on antennas or repeating equipment please ensure these are 4G compatible) and also be aware that boosting 3G service may not deliver faster speeds or reliability.

NB:  Extension devices are carrier specific, if you require coverage across multiple carriers then you will need multiple models. This page lists only Telstra branded extension devices.

Telstra Network Coverage Devices:

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Telstra Smart Antenna RRP $1080

Telstra Go Smart Vehicle Mobile Repeater RRP $864

Telstra Go Stationary Repeater RRP $816

*Professional installation may require additional charges. Prices correct as of 1st August 2020.

BIRRR highly recommend using surge protectors with these devices and a UPS unit to power the repeater during general mains power failures or when the generator is off. They’re designed to power a desktop for 15 minutes or so, but are large enough to power a CelFi repeater for much longer.

** After 3G switch off these devices will continue to operate but only with 4G (700 MHz, 1800 MHz).

Telstra Recommended Antennas:

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For further information on Telstra recommended extension devices or to have them professionally installed contact the Telstra Mobile Assurances Team:

Phone: 1800 305 307

or visit Telstra Network Extension Devices

Contact the Telstra Regional Australia Team if you require help with coverage at your address and to check your options for mobile extension devices.

 

The above information has been provided by discussions with Telstra, other service providers also offer solutions for boosting signal strength, please be aware that these must be registered devices.  It is best to contact your service provider directly.  Illegal boosters carry a large fine as they can interfere with the mobile network.

” It is an offence under the Radiocommunications Act 1992 (the Act) to operate an unlicensed radiocommunications device, or possess this device for the purpose of operation. A person found guilty of this offence may be imprisoned for two years for each offence. A body corporate may receive a penalty of up to $270,000 (1,500 penalty units) per offence (sections 46 and 47 of the Act). Other penalties may apply, such as the interference offence provisions at Part 4.2 of the Act.” ( ACMA )

REPORT A PROHIBITED DEVICE ~ If you are aware of anyone having these prohibited devices, you can:

  • call the ACMA’s customer service centre on 1300 850 115
  • email ACMA at info@acma.gov.au

Footnote: All information compiled from BIRRR discussions with Telstra and Telstra website and is current as at 1st August 2020. 

 

Malware and Spyware Removal Tips for BIRRR Members

A Big thanks to Alan from ‘Smedley’s Engineers – Bits & Bytes’ for providing the following information on Spyware and Malware for Windows users. It will work for all versions of Windows from XP on up to Windows 10.  The use of some free and definitely safe applications and methods listed below can assist in removal of Malware and Spyware that can cause unwanted, unusual and excessive data usage.

These notes are based on experience in dealing with system performance issues and malware, virus and other infestation over a number of years and from shared and sharing of that experience with other Windows support professionals.

Download the following three applications that are all freely available from the: www.bleepingcomputer.com web site. Download them all before executing any of them. I recommend that the three applications be run in the order listed. Also it is important to run them all in order as only partially completing the steps may take your system off-line. At the end a reboot of the system initiated by Adwcleaner is an absolutely essential step.

Save any open work before proceeding.

There are detailed descriptions of each utility on the same page and more technical details of each ore available on their home pages.

Using the “Download Now” will get you the most current version of each one. The http://www.bleepingcomputer.com web pages also list other utilities that may be needed in more complex infestations but these are the three that I use almost all of the time.

JRT – Junkware Removal Tool 

  1. Save it to a known location on your computer.
  2. Execute the JRT.exe once it has completed downloading. It is a Command Line interface, it checks itself to verify that the newest version is being run and will update itself if necessary.
  3. Follow the prompt to press any key to continue. If “System Restore” is disabled the creation of a “System Restore Point” creation will fail. The application may show some commands that it cannot perform. This is dependant of the individual system configuration. As JRT runs it may stop any already running processes including open web browsers.
  4. Once it has finished it will produce a notepad txt file of the items it has cleaned or eliminated.

Roguekiller 

  1. Save it to a known location on your computer.
  2. Execute the Roguekiller.exe once it has completed downloading. It will run an initial check on the system as well as check that it is the current version.
  3. Once the check has completed press the Scan button to continue. The completed scan will show any Processes, Registry settings, Host file issues, AntiRootkit, Files/Folders, MBR (Master Boot Records) and Web browser items that have issues.
  4. A pop- up screen offers the purchase of the PRO version. It is your choice to subscribe of not. From my experience I select all Processes, Registry settings Host file items but only selectively choose and Web Browser add-ins to be deleted.
  5. Then hit the delete button.
  6. Once completed close the application.

For those who are running an x64 bit Windows system there is a version built for it that is downloadable from the Roguekiller home page at: http://www.adlice.com/software/roguekiller/

Adwcleaner 

  1. Save it to a known location on your computer.
  2. Execute the Adwcleaner.exe once it has completed downloading.
  3. Press the Scan button to continue.
  4. Once the scan is completed press the Cleaning button.
  5. This will be followed by three OK buttons.These close all running applications and will reboot the system. This is essential in the cleaning process as it can leave your system off line if not completed. So save any open work first.
  6. Once the system has rebooted a notepad txt file listing the items found and fixed by Adwcleaner will be shown on the screen.

Making it a habit to run these three utilities on a regular basis from the previously downloaded files will assist in keeping your system free of malware unwanted or uninvited infestations. Each application checks itself to verify that you are using the most current version.

Note: Alan supports individual and small business users as a part of his Smedley’s Engineers Pty Ltd business and if BIRRR members are in real strife with their Windows systems and wanting remote support he is happy to assist.  Alan has clients all over Australia and Internationally on systems he never actually gets to see.

Operating in the Hinterland of the Central Coast of NSW

Alan RG Smedley | 0419 919 969 | alan@smedleys.net.au