Overview

These days work can often take your staff out of the office for extended periods of time. In the past this has probably meant messing around with cables or looking for a phone-jack to dial-in to check emails or connect to the office network.

Now with Optus Wireless Connect-WiFi* staff can access emails and everything that's on their office network as if they were sitting at their desk. Please note additional software or hardware may be required to access your corporate intranet using Optus Wireless Connect-WiFi

Based on 802.11b/g WiFi standards, Optus Wireless Connect-WiFi provides secure, high-speed internet access in hotspot locations.

Optus Wireless Connect Zones

• More than 120 public hotspots in Australia are available. Users can also roam onto the Azure WiFi network, bringing the total number of locations to 450.

Optus Wireless Connect-WiFi Zone Locator - (pdf) 108kb

Features and Benefits

• Read and respond to emails in real time without needing to return to the office
• Access your on-line calendar and contacts
• Connect to the Internet or your corporate intranet
• Simple connection- you can now avoid searching for a phone socket, messing with wires and waiting for a dial-up connection when you are out of the office
• Broadband speeds - with speeds of up to 10 times faster than dial up, you can pop into an Optus Wireless Connect Zone to quickly download large emails
• Improved productivity - you no longer have to return to the office or wait untill the end of the day to connect so you can make better use of your time
• It's like being at your desk - whether you're in-between meetings, in a coffee shop or anywhere within an Optus Wireless Connect Zone, you can pick up your work where you left it back in the office

What you need to connect
Most new laptops and handheld devices come standard with 802.11b/g wireless capabilities. However, if your laptop or PDA doesn't have wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) capabilities, these can be added by installing a Wireless LAN card.

Secure access to your Internet
Optus Wireless Connect – WiFi supports connections for companies that allow their staff to access corporate information securely through the Internet typically through a VPN (Virtual Private Network). Your organisation may already have an existing VPN solution otherwise Optus can assist with one of our secure VPN solutions such as Optus Private IP Trust or Optus Private IP Secure Roam.

Optus Wireless Connect Zones are established in major metropolitan areas around the country to cater to mobile staff and business travellers. Currently Wireless Connect Zones can be found in selected hotels and coffee shops nationally, as well as Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Broome airports. For the latest list of locations, download the Wireless Connect Zone Locator (click on "Brochures" on the right). Users can also roam onto the Azure Wi-Fi network. Find out about current Azure locations.

*Wi-Fi: Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) is an open standard that provides fast wireless data connectivity in relatively small areas known as ‘hotspots’. Two main standards exist: IEEE 802.11b which offers theoretical speeds of 11 megabits per second and the newer IEEE 802.11g standard, which offers faster throughput at speeds up to 54Mbps. Real speeds are governed by a number of factors including: the quality of signal (signal strength and distance from the base station), the number of other users accessing the same Access Point simultaneously and the capacity of the connection from the Access Point to the internet. Typical backhaul speeds range from 512Kbps to 10Mbps. The effective range of a Wi-Fi base station is approximately 100 metres radius, but this can be extended depending on antenna and Access Point design.