Welcome members,

This month the focus of our newsletter is on improvements to our existing products and plans! Our lead story tells you how you could win an Olympus digital camera valued at almost $500 just by telling us what you think. It's a great offer that none of our customers should miss out on!

Then there's the massive upgrades to our other bliink accounts which even include 'unlimited downloads' in some cases. We also give you an update on the rollout of our own infrastructure or DSLAMs, which will lead to future improvements for all of our accounts.

In this month's edition we also tell our bliink 256 and 512 customers how to upgrade to 10GB of downloads for the next three months... and the long-awaited iiAd winners are announced! We've also profiled some volume usage meters which let you monitor your iiNet account. Read on to find out about the great features of the iiBar, iiUsage meter and iiUsage:mac...

And of course we still have all of your regular favourites such as member feedback, competitions, kiid's corner, Frequently Asked Questions and gaming tips. Happy reading!

Joanne Large
iiNet Editor

Welcome to the section where we air your views on our products and services! We love to hear what you think about us, which is why we're even creating an online survey on our products which will appear on the iiNet homepage later this month. The best thing about taking 5 minutes to fill out the survey is that it gives you the chance to win a fantastic Olympus digital camera worth almost $500!

And if that isn't enough chance to provide your feedback then drop us an email like this one from Steve:

"To the Technical support team!

After a disc exploded in my CD drive and caused my system to crash in a major way, then trying for days to get my system up and running again, just to discover things were not right with my ADSL connection. I contacted iiNet for help.

Therefore I would like to express my thanks and appreciation for the support and effort given to me by the tech support team.

I am very glad that I am with iiNet, I don't think I would have received this level of commitment and support from any other ISP. Your professional outlook and technical knowledge are second to none.

Even though I will be without a computer for a while you ladies and gents did iiNet proud.

Well done, Keep up the great work!!"

Name: Michael Raubitschek
Account Type: bliink 1500 standard and iiPhone
Customer Since: March 2004
State: NSW

Why did you sign up for iiPhone?

I initially got it to save money off my broadband account, but now I find that it saves me money on the phonecalls I make and it's definitely a lot cheaper than companies like the big telcos!

What is the focus of your life at the moment?
I spend my time looking after my daughter, working and surfing the Net of course.

What do you mainly use the Internet for?
I use it for downloading, to bid on eBay, for email, Internet banking and research. I like the 1500 connection because it loads pages in a second and it's the same connection speed I have at work. My wife also uses it for eBay to buy and sell baby clothes that my daughter has grown out of or needs.

Why did you choose iiNet as your ISP?
I used to manage one of the other large ISPs and I knew that iiNet was cheaper then other companies by miles! It's a very reliable company.

Name: Mark Little
Title: Network Administrator

How long have you been with iiNet/ ihug? Four years

Why did you move from ihug New Zealand to iiNet in Perth?
When I was offered a position in the Perth office I thought it would be a great chance to learn something new and exciting.

What does your role involve?

In plain English I "babysit" the iiNet and ihug network, which involves resolving and investigating faults. I also investigate ways to improve network performance.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
Working with a great team in a really good environment. The chance for a challenge and travel is great as well!

Where do you think iiNet will be in five years time?
Moving towards new technologies and diversifying the product suite even further!

Still paying your iiNet bills through annoying cheques, which can take a few days just to get to us? Did you know you can now pay via automatic direct debit or credit card?

These methods are really convenient, because once they're set up you don't have to lift a finger. You will simply receive a notification letting you know that your account of choice has been debited for the amount you owe! To make the change today you can visit the Toolbox and select “Billing” and select “Update My Billing Details” or just call our friendly Customer Service team on 13 22 58.

Recently we asked you to submit your ideas for new banner ads to go on our homepage in one of four categories: ADSL, Dial-Up, iiPhone or Gaming.

We had close to 100 entries, so our creative team had a really tough time deciding who to choose! Winning clients will be notified by email and their prizes should arrive very shortly.

The first place prize winners in each of the four categories are as follows:

Richard Suthers Norman Gardens QLD Best ADSL iiAd	Natalia Smith Sawtell NSW Best Dialup iiAd
Jamison Banham from Mudgeeraba QLD Best iiPhone iiAd	Jamison Banham from Mudgeeraba QLD Best Gaming iiAd

Congratulations (and thank you!) to the iiAd winners who take away $100 to spend at Coles Myer or Rebel Sport or Electronics Boutique or 10 passes to the movies and 10 candy bar voucher, plus their own bag of iiGoodies.

Great news! On 12 July 2004, our bliink broadband accounts underwent a major upgrade at no additional cost!

bliink, Australia's first flat rate broadband, keeps on winning awards. Why? - because we listen to your feedback to continually provide great value products, without compromising our service.

With this latest upgrade, you can download even more from the Internet at fast broadband speeds. Depending on your account – it's up to a whopping 6 to 18 Gigabytes MORE!

Some accounts will even have "no set limits". On these accounts, you can download as much as you want on your guaranteed flat rate and a small proportion of very heavy users may be subject to traffic shaping, but only during peak periods.

If you want to know just how great the new download increases are, look at the easy to read tables for bliink accounts, bliink plus iiPhone accounts and business accounts.

In exciting news, we are in the process of developing an online easy-to-navigate help tool called Support Central.

Support Central will enable customers to find answers to their questions through several methods including an intuitive search feature. This is a great problem solving tool which will enable customers to have their questions answered in a bliink of an eye - simply type in your question or follow step-by-step prompts and Support Central will guide you to your answer.

We'd love you to check out the first stage of Support Central and provide us with feedback so that we can make this tool as user-friendly and helpful as possible.

To put Support Central to the test go to https://toolbox.iinet.net.au/support/cgi-bin/ - please make sure you rate your experience and leave any comments in the feedback request section so we can tailor this tool to suit your needs!

In a recent announcement to our Broadband customers we told the great news of our upgrade to the bliink accounts and the rollout of our very own DSLAM broadband network.

However, reluctantly we also announced that we would no longer participate in the industry DSL Transfer process. This is because we are unable to offer Fast Transfer when we service a broadband account on our own network (see the DSLAM article below for more information).

Only a small number of customers were concerned by this change. Even so, we immediately started discussions with Telstra Wholesale and other industry participants to encourage the ADSL industry to look for a solution.

What we would love to see is a procedure that allows ADSL customers to seamlessly transfer between providers, regardless of whether the provider uses the Telstra network or their own network - like us. That way, the provider with great value products and the best service won't have any technical barriers to signing up new customers. And, as you might have guessed - we aim to be the best ? As we have just 'got the ball rolling', we will keep you posted.

In the meantime, wherever possible, we will continue to use the DSL Transfer process for customers moving to and from iiNet. As we are unable to guarantee the availability of DSL Transfer at all times, this feature should not be relied upon as a term of purchasing or continuing as a customer of iiNet.

We have found that for most customers, this is not important. But if DSL Transfer is important we ask customers to please assume that it will not be available.

Regardless of whether or not we can provide DSL Transfer, we are pleased to continue the special reduced set up fee of $39 (normally $89) to iiNet customers joining us from other ADSL providers.

Did you know that our award winning bliink broadband accounts use ADSL technology delivered over a normal telephone line? In exciting news we are now in a position to implement our own broadband infrastructure (called "DSLAMS" - for the technically minded that's "Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer").

For those of you who aren't sure why we're doing this, the reason is simple: we have been a reseller of Telstra's ADSL service since it was made available in Australia, so now, we are going to stay ahead of the competition and implement our own broadband infrastructure through DSLAM's.

You can now view the timeline of the proposed exchanges in the rollout. Please remember that these dates are proposed, and may vary depending on network deployment and third party involvement. More information about the DSLAM rollout can be found in the DSLAM FAQ section.

So with our new network rollout, we look forward to offering even more innovative and faster broadband services! If you have any questions about our new features please contact our friendly support team by emailing support@iinet.net.au or calling 13 22 58.

Hey, all you bliink 256 & 512k customers, get in quick. Starting next month, you can enjoy a trial upgrade to bliink 1500 lite + iiPhone at the special low cost of $59.95. This promotion will be available until November 1st. You can continue on this plan after November 1st and the normal rate of $79.95 will be applicable. The trial upgrade to bliink 1500 lite + iiPhone will be available through the iiNet Toolbox. Further details of the promotion will be posted in next month’s newsletter.

Did you know that Peering is the activity between two or more ISPs where they agree to exchange traffic between their respective networks?

iiNet now has peering available nationally after it was recently enabled in Canberra through PIPE Networks.

We also have peering through:

• WAIX in Perth
• AUSIX in Melbourne
• PIPE Networks in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney.

Did you know there are some easy-to-use systems which let you monitor your volume usage on you iiNet broadband account? The following story is a brief look into the three different offerings, for a more detailed discussion you can visit Whirlpool.

* Presenting the iiBar - a convenient way to monitor your iiNet bliink account. There are several iiBar modes - it can operate either as a Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer toolbar, as a deskband on the Windows task bar and even as a floating toolbar! If you still need more info please visit the FAQ section on the iiBar website and if you'd like to provide any feedback please visit the Whirlpool iiBar thread. To enhance your entire iiNet broadband experience, download iiBar now!

* The iiNet Usage Analyser (iiUsage) is a system tray application, with the following features:

• retrieves usage information from iiNet's Volume usage page
• graphically displays daily usage for current month
• iiUsage also displays: shaping status, total peak usage, total bliink-time usage, bliink-time quota remaining, monthly anniversary date, support for multiple iiNet user accounts and more...

iiUsage screen shots and detailed usage information is available here. You can download iiUsage or discuss it in the iiUsage Whirlpool thread.

* If you have a Mac you can always download iiUsage:mac which is another usage meter for iiNet subscribers. For feedback or discussion about iiUsage:mac you can visit the Whirlpool thread.

Please note that iiNet can't provide technical support for the iiBar, iiUsage or iiUsage:mac, so if you have any problems with it please visit the appropriate Whirlpool thread.

Many of you may have participated in our Refer-a-Friend campaign. In fact, thousands of iiNet customers have recommended our products and services to their friends and family and received their referral reward. Thank you, we really appreciate your support!

To make way for new and exciting promotions, our 'Refer a Friend' program will come to an end on 31 July 2004. Watch this space for exciting new promotions in the coming months.

1. Is email part of the bliink zone?
Email is not part of the bliink zone, it is counted as regular traffic.

2. How can I change my bliink plan?

This is so easy! Just log into your account tools in the Toolbox and choose Change bliink plan.

3. How can I customise my homepage?
Simply log into our member tools. This will allow you to access functions such as customising your homepage, account usage and the rest of our great utilities.

This month's tips go to fans of the Reflections PS2 game Driv3r.

Follow the path - When following another car, try to follow its path exactly. If it swerves around a car, swerve around that same car, rather than trying to carve your own path.

Open up whenever you can - Most of these missions call for some very fast driving, and in order to pursue effectively, you'll need to go straight and go fast.

Keep an eye on the mini-map - If there is a destination it is always indicated by a green dot, and your position relative to that spot is indicated by a large white arrow that points directly to the target.

Know what you can run over - Buildings, street lamps and trees will always stop you in your tracks. If possible avoid anything that looks as if it will slow you down and learn from the things you have successfully driven through.

Thanks to LatestBuy.com.au , all iiNet customers are being offered a "FREE" $10.00 gift voucher* to be used at their online retail store when you spend $100 or more. LatestBuy.com.au is a great place to shop for all the latest products from around the world including gadgets, novelty items, digital camcorders, toys, casino products and bar accessories. So whether you're looking for a cool gift for a friend or family member, want to get your partner something unique or perhaps just wanna splash some cash on yourself, rest assured you'll find it at LatestBuy!

Simply use this unique voucher code ( S-359785412589372 ) during checkout and your $10 gift voucher will be applied to your total order.

So go on…get a LatestBuy!

*Minimum $100 spend (excluding delivery charges), valid until 31/8/04 and not valid in conjunction with any other promotional offer.

1. Aussie Shopping Tours offer a variety of shopping tours to suit every requirement, budget and time frame. They cater for individuals and small to very large groups and can tailor a shopping experience for your group - the tours available are extremely flexible! They are an accredited tourism business and have packages ranging from the 'Tourist Tour' to the 'Teenagers Dream Tour' to the 'Seniors Deluxe Tour.'

To win one of four Deluxe Shopping Tours please email with the subject line "Shopping Tours" and the answer to this question: "How many different Shopping Tours does Aussie Shopping Tours offer?"

HINT: You can find the answer on the Aussie Shopping Tours website.

2. Thanks to our great mates at Village Roadshow we have 50 in-season double passes up for grabs to see Connie and Carla!

Connie (Nia Vardalos) and Carla (Toni Collette) are two small-town girls whose dreams of stardom have taken them nowhere.

From their debut in a school cafeteria to their current gig slinging drinks and belting out tunes at a Midwestern airport lounge, the singing and dancing duo simply refuse to let the less-than-enthusiastic crowd response dampen their show biz drive. For Connie and Carla, everything's coming up roses, naysaying boyfriends and snoring audience members notwithstanding.

The girls lose one of their few supporters when their boss Frank ends up on the wrong end of a criminal deal—a scene they unfortunately happen to witness. Quicker than a fast change in the second act, Connie and Carla pack up their battered dreams and extensive assortment of wigs and costumes and hit the road, running for their lives.

Connie and Carla is the comedy that proves if you follow your dream, there's no telling what you'll become.

To win a double pass to Connie and Carla, email us with the subject line "Connie and Carla" and the answer to this question: 'What date does Connie and Carla come out on DVD?'

HINT: You can find the answer on the Connie and Carla website.

3. 96fm in partnership with Village Roadshow are kindly giving away 5 Rock Ballads double CDs. Please email us with the subject line "Rock Ballads" and finish this question: '96fm plays Perth's _____ _____."

Hint: You can find the answer to this on the 96fm website.

Another installment of the Harry Potter films has just been released!

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and all of Hogwarts Academy are on alert after infamous murderer Sirius Black (Gary Oldham) - a man who played a part in the killing of Harry's parents - escapes from the impenetrable Azkaban prison for wizards and witches. Guarded by the fearsome Dementors, no one has ever escaped from the prison, and many think the ingenious Black is intent on killing Harry.

Will Sirius Black find our hero? Is Harry doomed? You can find out the answers to these questions and more, because Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has just started at cinemas around the country!

Australia's most successful vocal group Human Nature are back in the finest form of their career with the sensational new album, "Walk The Tightrope" - their first of all new material in four years. Get in quick to get the limited version and you'll score two extra live tracks, "Always Be With You" and "Whisper Your Name", and an interactive bonus CD Rom with the video and behind the scenes footage of the first single "When You Say You Love Me", computer screensaver and two wallpapers!

Recipe

This month's recipe was sent in by Matthew from Kingston, Tasmania. Thanks for your entry, your prize will be in the mail shortly. If you have a recipe idea for this section please email it!

Ingredients:

• Plain Muffins
• Tomato Paste
• Shaved or Shredded Ham
• Grated Tasty Cheese
• Pineapple Pieces

1. Split the muffins and place under the grill and toast on the bottom side for 2-3 minutes. (You need an adult to help do this bit)
2. When Toasted remove from oven and spread tomato paste over the uncooked side of the Muffins, then top with some shaved or shredded Ham, grated cheese and pineapple pieces.
3. Return to the grill for a few more minutes or until cheese is bubbling.
4. Remove from grill and enjoy!!!