You can now access Telstra’s public WiFi for free
If you run out of data in Australia, you now have free access to WiFi if you’re near one of many select Telstra payphones. On 25 August, Telstra opened up 3,000 public payphones to emit WiFi signals for all Australians – not just Telstra customers. The telco also announced that its remaining 12,000 payphones would follow suit in the coming years.
Before this announcement, only Telstra Air customers gained free access to the telco’s public WiFi network. While there have been times when Telstra opened up free WiFi access to all Australians in the past, it was usually temporary due to natural disasters. This time around, Telstra is offering free WiFi to everyone permanently.
This post will discuss how Telstra’s free WiFi works, how to get it, and what to look out for when connecting to a public WiFi network.
What is Telstra Air?
Before Telstra’s latest announcement about free WiFi, its customers had unlimited access to free WiFi using Telstra Air. Telstra Air is the telco’s public WiFi network which is available free of charge to customers on Telstra’s home broadband plans, mobile broadband plans, and/or SIM plans.
Telstra Air gives access to WiFi through 1 million hotspots in Australia. However, the network is global, with over 19 million hotspots worldwide. Telstra Air is by far the most extensive public WiFi network in Australia.
While Telstra customers got access to Telstra Air free of charge, others had to subscribe by purchasing a Telstra Air guest pass for a fee, which lasted anywhere from 1 to 30 days, depending on the guest pass plan. As we mentioned, Telstra sometimes offered the service free of charge to everyone, but that was usually temporary – perhaps during natural disasters.
How does Telstra give free WiFi?
Customers and public pay phones power Telstra’s public WiFi network:
- Telstra customers as WiFi hotspots
When you sign up for a Telstra home Internet plan (NBN or ADSL), you join Telstra’s large pool of Telstra Air hotspots. Your modem transmits two WiFi signals – one for the public for nearby Telstra Air customers and another private network for your home. You can opt-out of this public WiFi network broadcast by logging into your Telstra account and deactivating Telstra Air. If you change your mind later, you can turn it on or off once per month. - Public payphones as WiFi hotspots
Telstra Air also uses public payphones as WiFi hotspots. So wherever you see a Telstra payphone, there’s a good chance it emits WiFi signals for free access.
Now that Telstra is giving all Australians free access to its public WiFi network, the telco is focusing on its public payphone approach. So far, 3,000 payphones in select areas have been turned on as WiFi hotspots to give free unlimited access to whoever is close. Over the next few years, Telstra has promised that all of its other 12,000 payphones will also serve as free WiFi hotspots.
Telstra is prioritising areas such as Northern NSW and Queensland, which are prone to natural disasters like floods. Australians are now granted free WiFi access using those payphones as hotspots and can also make free phone calls. In fact, the telco has indicated that 19 million free phone calls were made using Telstra payphones over the past year.
To take advantage of Telstra’s free WiFi, all you have to do is connect. However, you’ll have to be within 25 metres of a Telstra payphone to be able to get access. Also, Telstra hasn’t specified what the download speeds are, but don’t expect anything blazing fast – the telco stated that its free WiFi is “more than adequate for normal web use, browsing, checking emails, etc.”
Final words – What to look out for when using free WiFi
As we mentioned, Telstra home Internet customers are part of the army of Telstra Air hotspots. As a result, it’s essential to take precautions if your broadband router is serving as a public WiFi hotspot. While Telstra assures customers that their Telstra Air public signals are separate from their private home signals, it is critical to always remember that a public connection accessed by random people is that close to home.
And for users who latch on to one of Telstra’s free WiFi hotspots, it’s important to remember that the connection is, in fact, public. Public networks leave you more vulnerable to cyberattacks than private WiFi networks. So while using a free Telstra public WiFi network, avoid personal and financial data and stick to the basics.
While Telstra assures customers that it doesn’t collect the personal data of people using Telstra Air, the telco admits to collecting aggregate data. This includes device names, timestamps, data usage in megabytes, operating systems, IP addresses and MAC addresses, and the location of hotspots that devices are connected to. Always remember that you share this data with Telstra whenever you use their free WiFi services.