Telstra Gateways Frontier

Best modem ever – I currently have an Optus service, and that plugs into this device via Ethernet, with all my network traffic going through this modem. I had tried ADSL with Telstra, however they weren’t able to provide a reliable service and left me with the modem which I repurposed as the Optus modem was too slow (for internal traffic). This modem is a… Read more

workhorse, I have never needed to restart it due to a fault of its own.

When it’s connection goes down, it switches to the inbuilt 4G backup, while speed limited, it is so convenient to only have it go down for a short time (around 5 min) before coming back up. So much nicer than leaving you with no connection at all.

The management interface is good, but the app Telstra have launched for the Smart Modem is just amazing.

Piece of fkn crap – Only 2 out of 10 of our devices connect via wifi and the 5g wifi does not work and all devices that have lan capabilities don't work on it the phone has slight static when using it and 4g is slow but has full signal. The modem itself is too screwed down and can't shut down telstra air access on it. I rate it -10 out of 10 Show details

Good Gateway – This modem has been used for a few months and we find it to be very fast after it is powered on. It has never given us any troubles and never cuts out. Very easy to setup both from startup and with wifi connection which we usually have 3 devices connected to it. Show details

Gateway Modem itself okay but landline handset phone pretty rubbish – We got this Gateway Frontier modem like most people - as existing Telstra customers transitioning from an ADSL broadband service to the FTTn NBN. After some initial NBN installer/contractor problems where they killed off our landline and ADSL completely the change from ADSL to the NBN went pretty smoothly with this modem and the modem does… Read more

revert to 4G as advertised (when the NBN network or local landline copper network goes down) and seems a relatively stable modem. The self installation process when you first get this Modem is fairly straightforward except for the landline unit setup. This modem ships without any instruction manuals and it seems every effort has gone into preventing the home user from "tinkering" or customizing this modem, although there are unofficial user guides out there that are fairly detailed. I can't speak as to the speed of this modem but its WiFi network can deal with 3 teenagers and Netflix streaming in a large 5 bedroom house although I suspect the WiFi is a bit patchy at the furthermost end of the house. This unit (for us at least) does not seem to suffer widespread "dropouts" in NBN Internet connectivity or WiFi dropout problems.

There are a variety of lights on the outside of the unit that let you know what is going o,n and numerous ports on this rather large white box, but anything seriously wrong will have you calling the Telstra helpline. We have had only a few power failures but the unit seems to cope with power interruptions and restores its default service without any intervention from me or from Telstra.

The only issue we have had with this modem has been the standard handset that ships with the modem, its very slow, unresponsive and fairly unreliable in operation and unreliable in maintaining its connection to the base station/main modem. I am looking at buying a proper reliable landline handset and answering machine (probably Panasonic).

Best Telstra Modem yet – Having previously had three modems from Telstra over a number of years I am very happy with this modem. Two of our previous modems left a lot to be desired. This one performs quite well. Hardly a dropout. We run many devices via LAN and WiFi and seem to all operate as we expect. Every now and then something may drop out but it doesn't happen very… Read more

often. The wireless signal is constantly at full bars on most devices at 5m and reception can still just be found in the street at 25m away. We do have fairly good NBN where we are so this probably helps. This model has four LAN ports which is a great improvement over our previous one which only had two. When compared with modems from other phone companies I would say that this one is comparable if not just a bit better.

Can’t believe it’s easy! – Ordered and came to my house in the next two days! Was so fast and easy to set up! Literally can get my 6 year old to set up lol works wonderfully I love how they will let me know prior if the systems going to be down, I’m saying that they work on the networks when we’re most probably sleeping. I haven’t had any problems with the modem or Telstra… Read more

so far, so here’s hoping we won’t need to call them. However it’s great I actually love it and don’t think I’ll be changing anytime soon

Money grubbing dogs – Don't even get me started on this, I moved to Telstra a few weeks ago and everything seemed to be woring fine, the wifi was fast and good, until my modem kept automatically going into 'back up mode', i called Telstra several times seeking help and they would say the same damn thing, 'there has been an outage in your area causing this', and… Read more

honestly, if that were true, than how the hell is it possible that Telstra had 30 outages in 3 weeks? I ended up moving to Optus and my life couldn't be better, i suggest you all do the same.

Backup facility no longer gives a reasonable speed – I moved to Telstra specifically because of the backup facility on the modem as my NBN line is unreliable. For the first 6 months it would fall over to backup at around 6mb. Now it falls to backup at about 0.5mb.. ie. unusable. Telstra phones in the house give 50Mb plus (we're in a high coverage area). Telstra won't address this issue although I… Read more

follow the proper channels. They are clearly throttling due to too many people on it and an unreliable NBN and can't let it saturate the cellular network... but this is *the* reason I moved to them. Oh, and the modem (made by Technicolor) has a poor range and is not 100% standard so isn't compatible with certain printers, my Mitsubishi air con and a Samsung TV.

So far so good – I received my new BigPond (Netgear) Smart Moden Gen. 2 yesterday so my review is based upon less than 24 hours of experience. First up I am a cable-connected Internetter so i have always had good speeds (up to 113 Mbps). I upgrade out of necessity as my old BigPond/Netgear modem inexplicably stopped sending Wi-Fi signals and I could not fix it. … Read more

The packaging and instructions are excellent and it took me no time to connect everything and tick all the boxes except for one minor fact. It wouldn't work. I ran the wait-gauntlet of BigPond's person-to-person technical support and called for help. It turns out that as a cable user the modem needs to be 'activated' and in my cable neighbourhood and set-up that means manually and there were no instructions to tell me that. Manual activation with the BigPond support team did not happen automatically over the phone so I have to wait up to 48 hours for the new MAC number to be recognised ...

Meantime I am on mobile data connection with a considerable reduction in speed: but it works, though it is not intuitive how to make it default to mobile data. So far so good. If, when the modem is finally activated I get my old speed back, I have a mobile data backup in case of outage and a better internal Wi-Fi signal then this will be a good modem. But I won't know that for at least another 48 hours. I don't want the NBN with its reduced speed so the Cable adaptor (when it finally gets activated) should be just fine.

I have always thought that mobile data delivery i the way to go and I can get speeds on my iPhone of up to 175 Mpbs when I am in the right spot. 5G should fix that permanently as in my area wit have a reduced 4G signal and I am not so close to a Telstra tower. Cable has been reliable and I will be sad to see it go unless we get unlimited data on a 5G Network.

Good NBN Modem – The modem is easy to setup. Essentially all you have to do is plug it in. I did find that I had to also purchase the Telstra smart wifi boosters to get good coverage around the house. The house is a single story L shaped house with the modem in one end of that L. The NBN speeds are very poor but that is Telstra, not the modem. As for being… Read more

able to switch over to mobile data when NBN is not available. Well that does happen.......but whilst it uses 4G coverage. Mobile speeds are limited to 6/1 Mbps speeds.

Overall one of the better modems that I've owned.

Good modem – I'm very satisfied with the connectivity, drop outs are covered by 3g making it a lot less frustrating. Was easy to set up and manage. Wish we had got one sooner. Downside is it's a little large which means the places it can go at out house are limited. Overall a great modem.  Show details

This looks so cool! – I've been using this router for a year and it feels great, the signal is very stable, it doesn't drop the line for no reason, and it's very easy and very simple to debug. It's just a fool's job. There's no burden to set up and manage a router.If I buy it again, I'll follow. It will choose it!  Show details

Works very well, easy to use – Despite having some issues with the service provider, this modem has been an exception. In terms of design, it is sleek, stylish and does not stick out like a sore thumb in a room. Buttons are clearly labeled and work as they should. It comes with a long length of cable which allows for it to be placed just about anywhere too. Installation went… Read more

smoothly, and set up was simple thanks to the provided instructions. We have had no issues with the service provided by this modem, it’s reliable and strong! Notable that the modem itself has not been affected by the several losses of power we’ve had over the past year: no electronics issues or anything like that. Pretty happy with this.

EXCELLENT MODEM TO FIX DROP OUT PROBLEMS – I was given a Telstra Gateways max 2 when I was connected by mistake to the NBN. After a few months of daily drop out problems and the magic word mentioned "ombudsman" , I had a Guy come and check My system and found a loose wire in the NBN box down the street. I had been talking to the overseas Telstra call centre almost daily, but naturally… Read more

they had Me disconnecting wires and turning the modem off/on etc but naturally the loose wire couldn't be found in the Philippines ... After the loose wire was fixed, I still had drop outs daily until I connected the Telstra Gateways frontier modem which I had received in the mail a few weeks previous. Now if it drops out, it switches to a mobile phone tower, within seconds, and all is well. I received no instructions on why I had been sent the Gateways Frontier modem within weeks of receiving the Gateways max 2 ??. All these modems were easy to connect but both modems had instructions to sit the modem in a certain way, in which all the lights which tell You when it has gone off etc is ON THE TOP.... So, the Telstra call centre is asking about the lights on the top, which naturally cannot be seen, but the side lights can be.... Was very confusing until I found the lights on the top of the modems, so I stood the modems on their end so the important lights are in plain view. SIGNAL - LINK - ON LINE - PHONE are the IMPORTANT lights... NOT the lights near the USB socket... BUGBUYER LEE

Very good telstra modem – Finally the nbn came to our door, and fibre to the kerb which is great. The cynic in me says that our adsl2 was deliberately being slowed down so we would be hanging out for the nbn connection....we certainly were so that bit probably worked. Telstra contacted us about the nbn being available and we signed up, got a good deal on evening std with… Read more

gateway and modem router supplied promptly as promised. Followed all the simple instructions to connect and within 10 minutes up and running..very good modem and hook up was simplicity in itself...couldnt have been easier..works well, can run 2.4ghz or 5.3ghz, 2.4 ghz works fine. We are very happy with the whole setup. Its basically plug and play, no problem af all so far.

Happy surfing – Looks beautiful..works great..but sometimes getting on and off due to weather and power fluctuations other than that it s performance good and easy to set up .it comes with all details inside box..so we installed on our own.. no man power needed..only need assistance from technical support when connecting...thanks ..simply superb design..  Show details

Great Telstra Modem – We changed from ADSL to Telstra Cable as we were sick of waiting for NBN to be available in our area. We have not had an issues as yet with the modem and it seems to be working really well. It was easy to set up which is always a good thing. The wi-fi is really good throughout the house too.The modem looks modern and clean, with no aerials or… Read more

bits sticking out, bonus!

The speed has been great, we are very impressed with that. Also if cable is down, we have the back up of the 4G network.

We have had no issues with this modem, it works perfectly and we are very happy with it's performance.

Highly recommended.

Just stopped working - so much for 4G backup – The usual Telstra customer service joy (not) was somewhat offset by this clever solution. 4G was only answer while Telstra took 2 months to deliver us the ADSL we purchased. So 6 mbps download through 4G was OK as a standby and we finally got our 12 mbps ADSL 2+ for a month before the modem failed including 4G backup. Took 90 minutes over 2 phone… Read more

calls to get them to acknowledge that modem had failed and would be replaced. Stand by to see where this ends up....

Easy to set, no glitch, fast – Switched from Optus to Telstra when we moved house. I am not tech savvy and therefore pleasantly surprised how easy it was to set this up. Used it for 3 months, no complaints, no delay in watching HD movie on laptop or iPads, even when all 5 gadgets were connected.  Show details

I love this modem – When my area was starting to move to the NBN, I did some research and saw the Telstra Frontier modems. The key feature is one that friends have missed out on and many others too, as unless you understand you wouldn't pick it. The Frontier modem gives you the special ability to instantly switch you to the mobile network, to maintain your… Read more

internet connection. Think about this. The average home internet is quick, but the mobile 4G network is quicker.

So, when there are problems with the NBN (I knicknamed it the No Bloody Network), but have to be honest I have received exceptional internet since moving to the NBN, yet have seen friends nearby struggle to,get their internet even stable.

So, the benefit of the switching is incredible. A couple of days after I set it all up (10 minutes out of the box, including updates!), we noticed the lights had changed. Ohh I think, we are on the mobile network. That was interesting, as my son and I had been streaming YouTube and playing on my PS4. Thinking nothing more of it, 3 days later I get a very polite sms from Telstra asking me to reboot my router as it was 'stuck' on the mobile network.

Now even better is the deal with the Frontier is when it is on the mobile network, due to an NBN failure, I am not charged. Reason? Not my fault. All I am doing is maintaining an internet connection.

This is a very quick quite secure modem. The settings and handling of WIFI is all ready straight from the,box. Simply use the individual WIFI passwords. Or if you are neurotic, like me, you login to the modem and change that. It isn't difficult. Look it up in YouTube, if you need help.

The ports are all gigabit ports. Streaming across multiple wired and wireless devices is no issue on a good connection. Having two teenagers, I can tell you, this meets, nay EXCEEDS the don't interrupt Dad's Netflix with your YouTube idiot.

The switching alerts you with an sms or email every time it happens. Granted it hasnt switched for a few months, but it is a great,comfort to know it is there, and we can still watch a movie streamed, regardless.

It was an inexpensive upgrade and reliable guarantee that your home or business has internet if there is an NBN outage. This is the modem if you don't want the NBN disconnect,problems others are having.

Great Wifi, and 4G backup – I was offered this gateway when switching to NBN (as I was going to leave Telstra). It arrived quickly (2 days) and what I most liked was that I was able to activate it immediately, and it went on the 4G network (speeds are capped at 6Mbps/1Mbps) - but even that was better than the ADSL performance I had been on. Since then we've connected it… Read more

to the NBN, and no problem with the signal. The Wifi performance throughout the house is very good, better than my prior modem (Billion Wireless-N, admittedly over 6 years old).

Plug & Play – Purchased with recent upgrade to TELSTRA NBN service. Seems to handle the ever increasing demands of kids devices and streaming services for a family of 4. Strong signal for about 30m radius through steel framed plasterboard walls. Have also added a range extender to improve strength at opposite end of the house which was easy to do with the WPS… Read more

button.

delivered quickly and Box came with simple to follow instructions and everything needed to connect.

No complaints from me.

Mobile backup is not reliable, and very poor support from Telstra – We have been waiting 4 weeks for Telstra to restore our cable service after a storm (Sydney metro area). That's another story, but it means we have had to use the Frontier gateway's mobile backup since then (6 Mb/s instead of 35), until it too suddenly stopped working without warning 2 days ago. I phoned Telstra and was told there was a 4-day… Read more

"planned maintenance" outage, although the outages.telstra.com page has no mention of it, and we received no advance notice. Net result is no internet at home. So much for the "reliability" Telstra boast about on the product webpage.

Telstra call centres seem confused about which department is responsible for supporting this hybrid product. Several times my phone calls have been passed from one person to another, with each one saying they were not the "specialist" in that product. There is no user manual available either (not even from the manufacturer, Technicolor), so good luck if you want to diagnose problems yourself.

Best modem i have had from Telstra! – The Telstra frontier modem is one of the best that Telstra has released it the best designed modem i have seen no aerials sticking out or horrible looking plastics, i would highly recommend this modem for anyone on a Telstra plan the cord are under the bottom of the modem and haven't had any problem is the speed.  Show details

Telstra frontier gateway poor service – Extremely bad Experience with the modem and service so far!!! I got my modem on 19th January after signing up with Telstra within 2 days..was happy..however modem did not connect..it kept saying searching network spent 45 minutes on hold to get through to technical support..tried chat online while on hold and was advised that I need to keep it on… Read more

for at least 24 hours before it works...spent 3 hours with technical support on Phone who tried all methods to troubleshoot to conclude that modem is faulty...Was advised to visit nearest telstra outlet to request for replacement..did that the next day ..was advised wait time of 3 hours at the knox melbourne outlet..when i said i will come back she said she can help me in 2 minutes...are they sure what they are doing??? I was advised that i need to call them as order needs to be placed online..on hold for an hour again..was connected to technical team another 20 minutes...order placed..2/5 business wait..very bad experience with Telstra...have wasted way too much internet on my mobile with tech support...hope it pays off in the end...

Modem with Hybrid Technology – After upgrading to NBN recently, I decided to upgrade the included Telstra Gateway Modem to the new Telstra Gateway Frontier which, whilst larger than its' predecessor, the Telstra Gateway Max, it still blends seamlessly into the decor plus it has the added benefit of fallback to the Telstra 4G network, should the NBN network go down. Whilst this… Read more

is limited to 6Mbps, the data comes out of your Broadband allowance and it is reassuring to know that there is built in redundancy, if worse comes to worst. It also has the added benefit of switching automatically between the 2G and 5G networks for Wifi. I would definitely recommend it.