MATE Communicate
Mate Communicate (also known as letsbemates) is a 100% Australian owned and their service centre are based in Wetherill Park NSW. Mate Communicate are considered as NBN specialists with unlimited plans available across multiple technologies including FTTP, FTTN and FTTB. Also, there are several other products present including ADSL2+ Phone Bundles, ADSL2+ Standalone and 4G Mobile Package available as well with no lock in contracts.
Overall Rating 4
MATE Communicate

MATE Communicate Reviews

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MATE Communicate Reviews(15) Write Review

  • Speed Score
    9
  • Reliability Score
    9
  • Support Score
    9
  • Value Score
    10
Hi. We have two properties both connected to the NBN. I decided on the Mates Yeah Mates NBN 50Mbps service for one of them as I wanted to give it a try and as there are no contracts, I thought $59.95 was worth a punt. How right I was! I still had to pay the initial $300.00 NBN connection fee - any ISP would charge the same - and it took a few days to connect up - I think 3 days in total. Once connected, I checked the speed using Ookla Speedtest and I was getting 46 - 48Mbps consistently with a latency of around 5ms throughout the day. In the evening, I've noted a slight dip to maybe around 42/18 Down & Up but still perfectly acceptable. The carrier is reported as iPrimus with Ookla Speedtest which is one of the ISP's not generally known for great NBN deals or service but through Mates, all seems to be going well. I've now connected our second property with the same 50/20 Yeah Mates service and I'm getting very similar speed levels. This time however, Ookla is reporting the carrier as Dodo. This connection was up and running in about 8 hours and so far, no drop-outs or nasties. I haven't had to contact customer support so can't advise how good or bad that is but I'm very happy with things so far. Here's a huge benefit for those who want to use a Smart DNS service for Netflix/Amazon etc. Mates offer a Static IP as standard. Yes, you read that correctly! $59.95 a month (going up to $69.95 per month after the first 6 months) Static IP as standard - generally saving $10 a month compared to other ISP's, month to month billing - What have you got to lose?
  • Speed Score
    8
  • Reliability Score
    1
  • Support Score
    1
  • Value Score
    6
I switched from SkyMesh to Mate Communicate to get a better deal on unlimited NBN. The price was good and the package offered was competitive. I liked that they had an Australian customer service team and promised fantastic overall service. The reviews I read were positive. In the first month I was relatively happy and had no complaints.

Oh how I wish I stayed with SkyMesh.

Just recently my Internet went down. It went down on a Thursday night. I complained on Friday night, after not being contacted by MATE to notify me they were working on it - being proactive would have been a good start. I was unable to reach a customer service person and had to wait over an hour for a call back. After initial trouble shooting over the phone, they were not able to rectify the issue. They said it was a NBN fault and that NBN had to look into it. I was promised 2-3 business days. Either way, I was told I'd get an update on Monday. I waited until Monday evening - still no Internet, still no update. I called them. For the second time, I couldn't get anyone on the phone and had to wait over an hour for a call back - Australian customer service sounds good in theory, not so much when you realise they've got no staff. It was complicated I was told, no further news to report, NBN still looking into it. I was promised an update within 24 hours.

On Tuesday I did receive an "update" in the form of a short automated, impersonal email which basically said "we're still waiting on a response from NBN, standard response is 3-5 business days" - which contradicts what I was verbally told earlier, i.e. 2-3 days. Now I've been lied to. Not happy. I give them a grace period of Anzac Day and all day Thursday. No contact, no updates. I call them Thursday night. Finally I get through on the first call. Incredible. Customer service guy is a joke. Provided no new information. Couldn't explain the delay. Couldn't give me a time-frame to be reconnected. Basically just told me to wait. I did, however, get an email from someone there telling me that they will look into compensation the second my issue is resolved.

I'm a consultant who works from home. Time is money. At this point I've lost over $500 in billable hours. None of which MATE seems to care about. Don't even get me started on the additional $ I've spent on mobile data. I give them until Monday. No Internet. No updates. I call them again during my lunch break at work. Again, no new information. Delay can't be explain. Nobody knows what's going on, it's like I'm talking to a bunch of clueless monkeys at this point. I'm promised an important update "by the close of business or first thing Tuesday morning". Wow, I'm getting close... or so I thought. Stay with me, it gets worse.

I'm now up to about $750 in lots billable hours. Guess what? No update or contact at all on Tuesday. I grudgingly contact them late Tuesday afternoon (today) - 12 days with no Internet. I get through to a customer service guy who is finally somewhat helpful "we have no idea what is going on, we have never exper
  • Speed Score
    1
  • Reliability Score
    1
  • Support Score
    1
  • Value Score
    1
Absolutely incompetent, all the information they provided to have a NBN connection activated and NBN box installed was wrong. Technical support was not there and I went to Optus who got it installed in no time. I still not to get my money back for the modem. Don't go to mate
  • Speed Score
    7
  • Reliability Score
    1
  • Support Score
    1
  • Value Score
    1
I went with Mate because of all the good reviews. But how wrong I was, everything was ok Till the 8th January when I lost the internet. I got no help from Mate, just saying the problem was with NBN after 20 days without any internet. I decided to go with Optus.
I got modem from Optus wothin 4 days, and I am now up and running.
The best thing is tha Mate refuses to reimburse me for the down time.
My advice is to not use MATE.
  • Service ADSL
  • Location Others
  • Activation 10+ days
  • 6.25
  • Speed Score
    5
  • Reliability Score
    5
  • Support Score
    10
  • Value Score
    5
Not connected yet which is why I have selected a neutral 5 for speed, reliability and value for money. The support team are very helpful.