The holiday season has come and gone so it’s business as usual in the halls of Westnet.

We’ve kicked off the new year with a bumper January Westnet newsletter featuring news on Mobile Broadband plans with bigger value and fetchtv packages at smaller prices. In more good news, we’ve extended our Christmas Mobile SIM offer until the end of February. If you’d like to pick up a $20 SIM on us for six months and talk more for less, take a look.

This month we also run you through the speeds on offer when the NBN rolls into your area, plus alert you to one of the many phishing scams currently hitting mailboxes.

Lastly, if you’re a big fan of a good love story, you’d want to get your entry in to win one of 25 double passes to see The Vow, thanks to Sony Pictures, in cinemas February 9.

We’re excited about a big 2012 ahead and look forward to having you along for the ride.

If you’re one of our Mobile Broadband customers, you may have noticed a pleasant change your plan recently. Just in time for the New Year, we gave each of our Mobile Broadband plans a new look, with increased quotas across the board and reduced prices on most plans.

If you’re an existing customer on a Mobile Broadband 1-3 plan, you would have received your quota boost by now. Your new, reduced price kicks in at the start of your next billing cycle if it hasn’t already.

On a Mobile Broadband 4 plan? You can leave things as they are if you like, or upgrade to the new Mobile Broadband 4 plan for an extra $5/month. Log in and make the change in MyAccount or call our Support Team on 1300 786 068 for a helping hand.

For more on these upgrades, visit our Mobile Broadband page.

We’ve told you before that fetchtv makes TV better. Well, now fetchtv also makes TV cheaper. We recently dropped the prices on both the fetchtv Starter and Entertainment packages, making it easier to free your TV and enjoy loads more channels and blockbuster movies on demand.

We’re also hard at work on some great new product enhancements including expanded content, a new interface and the recently-launched iPhone and iPad app.

The fetchtv Starter and Entertainment packages offer outstanding value with more movies than ever, more content and a huge terabyte of storage for all your favourite TV shows.

If you’re thinking of opening up your viewing options with fetchtv, head to the fetchtv website and have a look around. While you’re there, discover more about our new and reduced prices.

With the NBN currently rolling out across Australia, we thought it was time to shed some light on the speeds you can expect when the NBN comes to your home.

For most people, any plan on the NBN will be faster than what they have now on ADSL – but how much faster? And are there limitations? This month we asked our NBN Manager, Rachael McIntyre, about the speeds you and other Westnet members could expect once the network is up and running in your area.

First things first – what are the theoretical maximum speeds with the NBN?

For our technical enthusiasts out there, here are the maximum speeds you can get to your home. These speeds aren’t necessarily the speeds you’ll get on that particular plan. Real world usage is unlikely to consistently achieve such speeds, due to the factors we’ll touch on soon.

The theoretical maximum access speeds for Westnet’s NBN plans are:

• Standard – 12/1 Mbps – which means that the theoretical peak download speed (from the Internet) is 12 Megabits per second, and the theoretical peak upload speed (to the Internet) is 1 Megabit per second. This is the basic service, comparable to an average ADSL2+ connection.
• Fast – 25/5 Mbps – which means that the theoretical peak download speed (from the Internet) is 25 Megabits per second, and the theoretical peak upload speed (to the Internet) is 5 Megabits per second. This is ideal for most home applications.
• Faster - 50/20 Mbps – which means that the theoretical peak download speed is 50 Megabits per second, and the theoretical peak upload speed is 20 Megabits per second. This may deliver a better outcome if there are multiple online users at your house.
• Fastest - 100/40 Mbps – which means that the theoretical peak download speed is 100 Megabits per second, and the theoretical peak upload speed is 40 Megabits per second. This is a professional grade service, and you’ll need a professional grade router to get the full benefit from it.

Will everyone get maximum speed with the NBN?

When connected on a service with (for example) a 100 Mbps rated speed, but it’s not guaranteed that everything that you download from the Internet will come to you at 100 Mbps. External factors that might affect your actual speed including things like:

• the computer you’re using to access the Internet
• the links between Westnet and your computer
• the network connecting your community to Westnet

What kind of technical factors can affect speed performance?

You might find your speed is affected by technical issues within your own home. Things that might affect your speed in this respect include:

• hardware you use to connect to the network – for example, the capability of your router
• performance of your home network – for example, your line speeds may be greater than that of your wireless home network
• limitations imposed by the hardware and software operating in your PC

When choosing a plan, it’s important to remember NBN plan speeds described on our website are the ‘theoretical network maximum speeds’. Your actual speeds may be slower due to a number of factors beyond our control.

We occasionally receive emails from vigilant members who’ve identified bogus emails claiming to be from Westnet or other organisations, prompting them to reply with personal information.

Emails such as these are known as phishing scams and involve cyber-criminals mass-emailing randomly, claiming to be someone they’re not and in the hope unsuspecting victims will take the bait.

We recently received a similar email claiming to be from ANZ Bank Australia, complete with official-looking email address and attachment. The email message reads:

“Your ANZ Bank Account is currently locked, and only after you download the attached form and verify your account information, the account will be unlocked and ready for use.”

When opening the email’s attachment, we see an ANZ-branded form prompting us to enter credit card details before the ‘account can be unlocked’. Of course, it’s just a crafty attempt to access the credit card details of unsuspecting victims:

Being an Internet Service Provider we’ve seen many emails just like this but for a fist-time recipient or someone who’s not particularly ‘net-savvy, it can be an easy trap to fall into.

Phishing scams come in many forms but just remember: generally speaking, if the information contained in a suspicious email looks too good to be true – it usually is.

One thing’s for sure, Westnet members will never be asked for credit card or payment information via email. If in doubt, jump on the phone to the organisation for reassurance – it could be the best phone call you ever make.

If you’re after some more information on phishing scams, there are plenty of helpful sites around to help you recognise a bogus email when you see it. Debunk or confirm shams with Hoax-Slayer or Snopes.com, learn from the experts at SCAMwatch and keep an eye on their SCAMwatch radar.

Westnet and Sony Pictures are proud to present The Vow.

Starring Rachel McAdams (“Midnight in Paris”, “The Notebook”) and Channing Tatum (“Dear John”), The Vow is a romantic drama based on a true story of a newlywed couple whose life is struck by tragedy when an accident puts the wife in a coma.

When she comes to, without any memory of her husband or their marriage, the husband endeavours to win her heart once again.

We’ve got 25 double passes to see The Vow, rated PG and only at the movies February 9. To win one, simply email newsletter@westnet.com.au with “The Vow” as the subject line and include your full name, address and Westnet username. Entries close at 5pm on Friday February 3, one entry per member.

With Christmas just around the corner, there’s a lot to organise. By now your tree’s probably up but if you’re anything like a lot of us at Westnet HQ, you’ve probably still got a lot of shopping to do. Some presents we have already wrapped are sweet little Westnet SIMs loaded with six months’ of value. It’s our gift to members who bundle, recontract or sign on to fetchtv. Take a look.

Our staff enjoys the Christmas period as much as anyone, so we’re giving you some advanced notice on our Customer Support hours towards the end of the year. For the most part there’ll always be someone here to help, but take a look at the 2012 roster so you’re up to date.

You’ll notice there are a few other little goodies tucked away in the last Westnet newsletter for the year; be sure to get your name in the draw to win tickets to see Leonardo Di Caprio in J. Edgar.

On behalf the team at Westnet we’d like to wish you a joyful, safe festive season and a happy New Year.

Big things really do come in small packages.

We’re giving away a stack of sweet little Westnet Mobile SIMs loaded with six months’ included value right up until Christmas. We’ve made it super-simple to talk more for less, with four easy ways existing Westnet members can get their hands on a Mobile SIM on us:

• Free your TV with fetchtv for 24 months
• Bundle your Westnet broadband with Phone
• Re-contract if you’ve less than six months left on your current contract
• Sign up if you’re out of contract or not currently on contract

You can log into MyAccount to take up any of these options, while new Westnet members need only sign up to a bundled broadband + phone plan for 24 months to get in on the fun.

Christmas Westnet SIMs come loaded with $450 worth of calls, texts and data – plus $1000 worth of Westnet to Westnet calls – each month for half a year.

That’s a whole lot of value so you can send plenty of texts or talk more turkey this festive season. Offer ends Christmas Day, 2011.