Amaysim is a budget phone and mobile Internet carrier that uses the Optus network at a fraction of the price, and has a fabulous coverage within Australia (second best after Telstra) some remotes areas of Australia included. Amasym offers good-priced call+data plans and data-only packages. You can use your phone for just calls, just data, or in a combo, for 3G and 4G. Suit yourself.
I used Amasym for my tablet's data for almost 3 years and had an extra SIM card for emergencies in my phone until last year. I was most impressed with the national coverage, quality of the data transfer, pricing of prepaid data packages and online service. They are especially good, the best I would say, for packages of 2.5 and 4 GB (in the 3G network).
Any Amaysim SIM can be used for data in mobiles, tablets and in your laptop if you have an unlocked dongle. I loved this, as gave me the possibility of using the SIM in different devices if necessary. Also, I always want to have an extra phone/Internet provider on the side just in case my main phone and data carriers had a massive outage. In fact, before leaving the company, there was a major Dodo's outage and Amasym kept me online until Dodo fixed the problem.
Everything you need to know about the configuration settings is online. DIY. I barely had the need to contact Customer Service. I contacted them once by email, as they advice you to do that, and it took them ages to reply, so I'd rather grab the phone and call them or use their online chat.
The main downside of the data packages is that, once expired, they can't be renewed immediately unless you are upgrading, and you have to wait until your renewal date is due (they follow natural months). This is utterly stupid, hello hello, because they lose money from customers who would be renewing right on the spot, and also, that sort of customer wouldn't be interesting in upgrading or joining a post-paid plan.
Managing everything from My Amaysim gives customers lots of freedom. One can switch on and off the auto-renewal payments, roaming and recharge options to their liking. The company usually sends an email or SMS reminding how much data one has used, first when it is 50% used, and then 80%. If the auto-renewal button is ticked on, you will receive an email with a receipt when the package is renewed and another informing of the renewal having taken place. Mind that the auto-renewal is set by default both in phone and data packages; you better tick it off if you don't want that.
Before I quit the company, they were already offering 4G data plans, which are way less generous in data and more expensive. Yet, they wanted to push customers into them. If you join, be careful which things you tick on/off so you don't end with a 4G plan when you will perfectly do with a 3G. Truly, unless you use your phone Internet for business purposes 3G works wonders in most parts of Australia.
Amaysim has one of the cheapest prepaid rates for phone calls in Australia. However, their rates exclude calls to 1300 and 1800 numbers, which is a way of ripping-off customers with a smile; most utilities companies in Australia have 1300 numbers and you might expend 30 minutes on the phone dealing with PO Australia, your bank, power co., or Internet co. and get a humongous bill from Amaysim. Amazing, really. Also, their International rates are very expensive for calls overseas and extremely expensive for roaming.
Generally speaking, I was a very happy prepaid customer for data-only packages. It was convenient having an extra SIM for emergency calls and/or PC Internet usage. but I always had a cheaper phone calls and mobile Internet with other companies.
If you are traveller visiting Australia, Amaysim is really convenient for everyday use, especially if you don't need to call utilities or corporate companies.
COOL
> At least when I joined, they offered the possibility of choosing a phone number that was good for you. They offered an option of few for you to select. If you didn't liked them, you could change again. That is great if you are looking for a "catchy" number.
> Purporting my previous phone number was done and carried out easily.
> They have online chat help, something I always appreciate because calling Amaysim on the phone, even if free, can be a waste of time.
MIND
> Although you can use your Internet packages on their own, your SIM needs to have a minimum amount of money for calls. You can recharge 10 bucks and leave them for ages, as the expire date is very long. You can also use that money to pay your next data pack. When the date of renewal of your phone balance is due, you will receive an email or SMS advising you to recharge.
> If you don't use your SIM for a few months, you will receive emails and SMS from the company informing you that your number will be cancelled if you don't renew.
