Telstra Wireless Hits Speed Record

Written by Adam Gosling

Tuesday, 25 September 2007

Telstra has ramped the speeds available on its wireless broadband plans using the 3G network and the Sierra Wireless devices in either ExpressCard or USB formfactor. Billed as being "as fast as any on Earth" the service is a big leap from the 550Kbps - 1.5Mbps download and 384Kbps upload previously available on Next G. The new AirCards will be marketed asTelstra Mobile Turbocards and BigPond Wireless Broadband 7.2 cards and will deliver download speeds bursting up to 6Mbps and, for the first time, also boast super fast upload speeds bursting up to 1.3Mbps. Typically, the new cards will provide download speeds averaging 550Kbps - 3Mbps, offering a maximum download burst speed of 6 Mbps - more than 50 times as fast as a dial up Internet connection, but the big difference business users will notice is the new upload speeds of 300Kbps - 1Mbps and burst up to 1.3Mbps. Many of the Next G data cards already in the market will be upgradeable to the new download speed by going to either the Telstra Business or BigPond website. "Whether you are in Australia's hottest town, Marble Bar, in Western Australia, holidaying in Cradle Mountain or working from home, you can enjoy the best mobile speeds available in the world right here in Australia," said Telstra Business Group Managing Director, Deena Shiff. "Australia's largest and fastest national mobile broadband network just got faster for businesses and consumers who use the laptop turbo card to make connections - to each other in Australia or to the rest of the world." Telstra BigPond Group Managing Director, Justin Milne, said the new wireless broadband cards allowed consumers to find more speed in more places. "Today there is now very little to distinguish between the speed of a wireless and a wired broadband service, but with wireless you have all the benefits of mobility," Milne said. "Download a song from BigPond Music, or upload photos or video to your BigBlog in just a few seconds, stream footy highlights or music videos, or just email your friends while you are on the road on holiday or business." Both the data card and USB devices support the higher download and upload speeds and come packaged with a directly coupled external antenna that can be used to enhance performance even further. Speeds will soon be increased on Next G mobile handsets. The turbo card devices are compatible with Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows XP and support Microsoft Vista. The devices also support Mac OS X 10.4 or later. Related news items Ringtone Service Wins Creativity Award -26/09/2007 Grinspoon Tonight Live On Vodafone -25/09/2007 Chilli iBurst Increases Download Limits -16/09/2007 Next G Virtual Concert Schedule (mostly) Announced -12/09/2007 Gearing Up For iPhone? -24/08/2007 Newer news items New Satellite Broadband In New Year -12/12/2007 Dell Australia Adds BigPond Data -03/12/2007 Vodafone Offers Generous Data Plans -28/11/2007 Jetstar BYOs The Wireless -12/11/2007 Major Players To Test WiMAX Interoperability -26/09/2007 Older news items NewSat Deal With Dodo -05/09/2007 NetComm Goes 3G With New Range -05/09/2007 Free iBurst Broadband In Sydney -16/08/2007 True WiMAX Reaches Sydney and Melbourne -31/07/2007 Next G Coverage Ahead Of Schedule -18/07/2007 Tag This Now: