Travel Technology - Internet Access (e.g. WiFi) in Australia

I will be spending 3 weeks in Australia and need a reliable Internet connection throughout with decent speeds, even in country areas far from metro cities. What is the best way to connect? Hotels seem to be pretty expensive (average charge seems to be $35/day) and using a 3G phone as a modem for 10-12 hours a day would surely be even more expensive (besides being slow).

Please tell me that there is an alternative to a dial-up Telstra connection over a phone line :(

BTW, I visit Australia about twice a year ...

For best coverage - by far - you need Telstra which is 3.5G HSDPA 850 MHz:

Telstra Wireless Broadband - http://www.telstra.com.au/bigpond_internet/prepaid_wireless.html

For best value and reasonable coverage, use Optus (http://personal.optus.com.au/web/ocaportal.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=Template_wRHS&FP=/personal/internet/prepaidwirelessbroadband&site=personal) (and resellers eg Virgin (http://www.virginbroadband.com.au/wirelessbroadband/prepaid-broadband.aspx), dodo (https://secure.dodo.com.au/prepaid-wireless/PlanSelection.aspx?))

Make sure your modem operates dual band 3G HSPA 2,100 MHz (metro and major regional) and 3.5G HSDPA 900 MHz (regional and rural).

Cheapest, coverage only in metro - choose 3 (http://www.three.com.au/cs/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=Three%2FPage%2FBusinessVideoCallingTempla te&cid=1154931041257)

I am researching some tech issues for Australia at the moment and think that the best forum I've found on those issues is:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/

If the above answer doesn't answer your questions, I might check out the Whirlpool forum.

For best coverage - by far - you need Telstra which is 3.5G HSDPA 850 MHz:

Telstra Wireless Broadband - http://www.telstra.com.au/bigpond_internet/prepaid_wireless.html

Many thanks for the heads up about this service -certainly appears to be a viable solution.

However, I am not sure what my final bill will turn out to be since I use the Net heavily (streaming stock market data feed) for about 10-12 hours each day. The Telstra charges appear to be quite high, e.g.

==========
Recharge $100 and you could

* do 100 Google searches,
* download 200 tracks and
* visit Myspace 400 times.
==========

Does someone know if there is any way for me to measure the data flow on my home PC (which is on an unlimited use DSL line), so that I can get an estimate of my consumption?

Also, how much does Telstra charge to unlock the USB modem for use in other countries?

For best value and reasonable coverage, use Optus (http://personal.optus.com.au/web/ocaportal.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=Template_wRHS&FP=/personal/internet/prepaidwirelessbroadband&site=personal) (and resellers eg Virgin (http://www.virginbroadband.com.au/wirelessbroadband/prepaid-broadband.aspx), dodo (https://secure.dodo.com.au/prepaid-wireless/PlanSelection.aspx?))

Since DoDo & Virgin both use the Optus network, are there any disadvantages in going with either DoDo or Virgin vis-a-vis going with Optus themselves?

Do the USB modems sold by DoDo/Virgin/Optus have the same functions/capability or is there some reason to favour one over the others?

Are the DoDo starter kits available in retail shops in the Sydney area (that is where I will be landing and it seems DoDo is located in Melbourne)