Free Wi-Fi on 3000 Telstra payphones
Free Wi-Fi is coming to 3,000 Telstra payphones around Australia with an initial focus on natural disaster areas. It will roll out to the entire network of 12,000 Telstra payphones in time. The service is in addition to its free national calls.
CyberShack asked Telstra the following questions and its answers satisfy us.
What is the DL/UL bandwidth?
Each site is different based on the type of internet connection, among other elements, but it is more than adequate for normal web use, browsing, checking emails etc.
Is there a time limit?
As is the case with all our products and services, free Telstra Wi-Fi does have a fair use policy associated with it to help to ensure that it can be used by anybody who wants to access it. However, there is no set time limit for using the wi-fi.
What is the effective distance from the booth – do you have to be at the pay phone?
Customers need to be within around 25 metres to access free Wi-Fi from a Wi-Fi-enabled Telstra payphone.
Telstra’s great Why-Fi
You may have seen Telstra’s recent advertising focusing on Why.
“While it’s especially important for our community’s most vulnerable, our Free Wi-Fi is available for everyone – whether you’re a Telstra customer or not. So, if you’re out and about, have run out of data and need to connect with mum on the family chat, you can get online and get in contact.”
Telstra Group Executive for Consumer and Small Business Michael Ackland
Telstra payphone service
Free Telstra Wi-Fi will activate from Wi-Fi-enabled phones from 25/8/22. The easiest way to log into free Telstra Wi-Fi is to find a ‘free Telstra Wi-Fi’ branded payphone and connect to the ‘free Telstra Wi-Fi’ network in your device settings.
Standard voice national calls and SMS from Telstra payphones are free. International, and calls to premium and satellite numbers will still incur a cost. Payphones became coinless from 1 October 2021, with Telstra Phonecards recommended for dialling international and premium numbers.
You can locate a free Wi-Fi payphone – you need to select a Wi-Fi hotspot from the drop-down box
As with all free public Wi-Fi, you should use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to protect against Man-in-the-middle attacks.
