If you're going to be in OZ for a while and need very reliable internet access, and don't relish the idea of paying the $25-$30/day charged by many (most?) hotels, there is an alternative.

In Sydney I went to one of a zillion places that sell Telstra products (Telstra being Australia's biggest communications company, near as I can tell) and picked up their $129 USB 3G broadband solution. It comes initially with a very small amount of included internet usage, but when you register it, within 24-48 hours you have 1 gig at your disposal. I didn't realize this and purchased an additional 1.25 gig for another $50, resulting in way more than I needed. (Please note this isn't a movie downloading solution, but then again neither are many of the hotel offerings, as they're often capped at 500 megs).

For checking websites and downloading emails, the basic 1 gig package is going to take care of you for a few weeks time, and at any time you can buy more if you need.

It's not dirt-cheap but it is reasonable, and it worked in Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne... anywhere I went.

Beware of one little gotcha though- the initial setup requires a phone call that might take 10 minutes for things to get set up. Make sure this is taken care of when you buy it! No reason to waste time on your cell phone (especially if you're roaming) or take a chance that something might not work. The only thing you'll need is some address, any address that you're staying in Australia, and you'll have to provide ID to the seller, and tell the person on the phone that you've read their use rules (which you haven't) and agree to its terms.

You can get $99 equivalents from "3" and one of the other popular phone companies, but if you're going to be in fringe areas, you'll incur roaming charges and your effective amount of data will be reduced dramatically. With Telstra, there will never be a domestic Australia roaming situation, near as I can tell. For this trip, since we were visiting Ayers Rock, roaming was a given for all but Telstra.

Hope this helps a fellow traveler or two. I know there were quite a few folk I came across that were quite jealous of my connectivity in the Outback.

Thanks-