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How am I billed for my Optus Wireless Broadband service?

You will receive a monthly bill around the same day each month and will be billed in advance for your plan's monthly access fee and any additional charges. You can find out which plan you're currently on or look at your Internet usage by visiting the My Account section of Member Services.

How can I pay for my Optus Internet service?

There are a number of methods to pay for your service, including credit card, Bpay, cash, cheque and direct debit. You can change your payment method by calling Customer Care on 1300 553 937.

What happens if Optus cannot take a monthly payment from my credit card?

If you have insufficient funds available, or the details you provided were not correct, your credit card will be declined. We will email notification of this decline to your primary email address and we will bill your credit card again 5 days later. If this also fails, your service will be suspended and you will be unable to connect to and access the internet until the account is paid. You will need to call Customer Care on 1300 553 937 to update your details.

If we are billing your credit card for the first time and it fails, your account will be suspended immediately. What happens if Optus cannot take a monthly payment from my cheque/savings account or credit card? If you have insufficient funds available in your cheque/savings account or the details you have provided are incorrect, we will email notification of this decline to your primary email address. Your account will be suspended automatically and will incur a $22 dishonour fee.

You will not be able to connect to the service until the account details are updated and any outstanding accounts are paid. You will need to call Customer Care on 1300 553 937 to update your details.

Can I use my monthly bill as a tax invoice?

Yes, you can use your monthly paper bill can be used as a tax invoice.

Can I pay my Optus Internet bill by Direct Debit?

Yes. Optus Direct Debit automatically debits your bank or credit card account each month and saves you the bother of writing cheques or making time-consuming trips to the bank! To apply, simply download and print the Direct Debit Request.

NOTE: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view this file. To download a free copy of Acrobat Reader, click on the icon below.

Will I receive a bill each month if I pay by direct debit?

Yes, if you pay for your service via direct debit, you will continue to receive a bill each month.

What happens if I make a payment and it doesn't appear on my account?

Depending on when the payment was made, it may not appear until your next month's account. If you want to inquire if Optus has received your payment, please contact Optus Customer Care on 1300 553 937.

Who do I call if I have a query or a complaint about charges appearing on my bill?

If you have a query or a complaint regarding your bill, please call Customer Care on 1300 553 937. Please note we are unable to respond to account related questions by e-mail.

How do I change my Optus Internet plan?

You can change your monthly plan by calling Customer Care on 1300 553 937.

Does changing my plan impact my initial agreement period?

No, if you find your current plan is not suitable then you can easily change your plan and your initial agreement period will not be impacted.

I have changed my plan, when do I get billed?

You will be billed from the day you changed your plan. The plan change will appear on either your next bill or the following month's bill, depending if you made the change close to the end of your billing cycle.

When does my plan change take effect?

Optus Wireless Broadband plans can be changed any time in the month and will take effect from the day you change your plan.

Can I upgrade my plan immediately once I have reached my data limit?

Yes. You can make your plan upgrade effective from the day you submit the request, however the usage allowance for your new plan will be pro-rated for that month.

Can I downgrade to a lower plan straight away?

Yes. You can make your plan downgrade effective from the day you submit the request, however the usage allowance for your new and old plan will be pro-rated for that month.

I have made a plan change already this month, but now want to make another one. Can I do this? How will this appear on my bill?

Yes, you can change your plan more than once in a calendar month. The plan changes will appear on either your next bill or the following month's bill, depending if you made the change close to the end of your billing cycle. If you are a Total Business Data Cap, you are only permitted to make one plan change per month.

Factors affecting speed on the internet

It is important to note that many factors such as your computer hardware and software,, what sites you are trying to access and overall network traffic, can affect performance.

Other factors that can affect Internet speed are listed below.

• Location of the web site: One of the largest factors influencing speed is the location on the Internet of the web site that you want to access. Some sites that do not have fast connections, up to date technology, or are located on servers overseas may take longer to load.
• Cached content: To overcome the influence of location on speed, Optus Broadband stores frequently requested sites and broadband content directly on our network using "Caching". This means that Optus Broadband subscribers have fast access to popular content without going to another network or to an over-crowded server.
• Overall network traffic The Internet by its nature is shared by millions of users. The number of users 'on' at any one time could impact performance. For example, when the Napster trial verdict was announced, the server that contained this information in America was very slow due to the number of users trying to access it. If many people are accessing the same information from the same site at the same time, then the speed of transmission will be affected.

What are usernames and passwords?

Your Optus Broadband username and password are very important. Your username is used to identify your particular Broadband account and your password is the key that authorises access to your account. The only people who can access your account are those that have both the username and password, so please guard these details very carefully.

Here are some important points to remember about your username and password:

• When entering your username and password, please do so in lower case letters only.
• Your username forms the first part of your email address. For example, if your Optus Broadband username is "jbloggs" then your email address will be "jbloggs@optusnet.com.au".
• Keep your password safe - do not write it down or tell anybody. We recommend that you change the password to your account at least every three months for your protection. If you believe that an unauthorised person has access to your password, we recommend that you change it immediately.
• Optus Broadband staff will never call you to "verify a password". If you do receive a request from someone asking you for your password, refuse the request and call our Customer Care Representatives on 1300 553 937 immediately.
• Never send the password to your account to anyone by email - this includes email that you may send to our Customer Care team.
• Help us to help you when you are contacting us for support and have your account details ready.

What is my email password?

When your account was created, you will have been provided with a username and password. Your username is the first part of your email address (e.g. johncitizen@optusnet.com.au) and the password is used to log in to the Optus Internet service, to personalise your homepage and to access your email. For security reasons, you should change this password regularly and you can do this online via User Management in Member Services. You should change this password as soon as you are connected to the service and regularly thereafter. You can do this online via Account Management in Member Services.

How do I change my password?

You'll first need to change your password on the Optus Broadband server:

• Go to User Management in Member Services
• Login with your current username and password and then click the Login button.
• Carefully read the instructions regarding changing your password then towards the bottom of the web page, enter the new password you want to use.
• You will need to re-enter the new password in the second box to confirm the password you now want to use.
• Click the "Next" button. Your new password will now replace the old one.

Can I have multiple email accounts?

With every Optus Broadband account, you can have up to five free email accounts. Create additional email accounts here.

If I have another Optus Internet account (like Dial-Up), can I use the same usernames between my two accounts?

You can share usernames for use with both accounts. Manage Usernames here.

What technical help can I get from Optus Customer Care?

Optus provides technical support for problems about browsing the Internet, sending or receiving email, network connectivity issues. Support for third-party software and hardware configurations not related to the Optus Internet products can be obtained through the manufacturer of the product.

What is the "Internet Usage Meter"?

The Internet Usage Meter is a monitoring tool provided to allow you to better manage the usage of your Optus Broadband Service. It allows you to view how many Megabytes (MB) of data you have used relative to your plan's monthly Data Allowance. The Internet Usage Meter also allows you to monitor your usage on a daily and monthly basis as well as providing up to 6 months of historical usage.

Our systems update the Internet Usage Meter at regular intervals (at least every 15 minutes) under normal network conditions. Occasionally a network event may cause delays in the updating of the usage meter.

Will I be charged for the use of the Internet Usage Meter?

No. The Internet Usage Meter is provided as part of your monthly service fee.

How do I read the Internet Usage Meter - Current Usage page?

Current Usage is a graphical representation of the amount of data used from your plans data allowance relative to the days available in your billing month. The thermometer-like indicators show both "Plan data used" and "Days used": "Plan data used" shows the amount of data used at the particular stage of your billing month, represented both as a percentage and raw data figure (MB's). If you are a Total Business Data Cap customer, "Plan data used" shows the amount of data used at the particular stage of your billing month on a per service basis. It does not represent overall account usage relative to your Total Business Data Cap plan. To obtain overall account usage you will need to add together the usage for every service on your account.

"Days used" indicates how far you have progressed into your current billing month, represented both as a percentage and the number of days passed. This helps you manage the amount of Plan Data Allowance available to you within the billing month.

Current Usage also provides useful information such as your existing plan, the Data Allowance of that plan, your existing billing month, your usage for the month to date in Megabyte's (MB's), any Bonus data allocated/used (if applicable), and the date and time at which the last update occurred.

How do I read the Internet Usage Meter - History page?

The History page shows the last three months worth of usage in graphical format, while the last six months usage is shown in table format. Similar to the Current Usage page, the history page also shows a breakdown of plan allowance, plan data used during the month and the billing period in question. In addition, it shows the amount of data that you have uploaded and downloaded. To access the History page, click on the Usage History link in the left hand navigation menu.

What do the different colours mean?

The Internet Usage Meter provides a colour-coded reference to easily show the different types of usage that are available. For example your Plan Allowance is in blue and Excess usage is in red.

What happens when I use all of my monthly Data Allowance?

If you exceed your plans included data allowance, you will be able to continue to use the service, however any additional usage will be considered as excess usage and will be an additional per megerbyte or part there of charge on your next bill.

What usage is included in my Data Usage count?

All uploads & downloads count towards your Optus Wireless Broadband plans included data usage. This includes such things as general browsing of web pages, use of your email, all content on the myZOO website, online gaming and streaming radio or video.

Can I access the Internet Usage Meter using my additional email accounts?

No. For security reasons only the primary account holder will have access to the Internet Usage Meter (i.e. the username and password of the primary email account).

Can anyone else access my Internet Usage Meter?

No. As a username and password are required to login, only the primary account holder will have access.

What if I forget my username and password?

The username and password are the same as for your first (primary) email account. If you are the account holder, you can change your password at any time by visiting the Change Password page in Member Services or within the Desktop Service Centre located in your computer taskbar.

Will I get a warning when I'm close to reaching my plan Data Allowance?

Yes. When you exceed 80% of your plan Data Allowance a notification will appear on Internet Usage Meter and an email will be sent to your primary email account.

This will also occur when you exceed 100% of your plan Data Allowance.

If you are a Total Business Data Cap customer, you will not receive usage alerts. To verify your usage, please check your usage for every service on your account regularly.

How often is the Internet Usage Meter updated?

The Internet Usage Meter is updated on a regular basis - approximately every 15 minutes. The time and date of the last update is shown within the data table on the Current Usage page. Occasionally a network event may cause delays in the updating of the usage meter.