Flip free broadband?

[YellowDog]

Has anyone tried Flip Broadband?

Basically, you get your Chorus home phone with free Auckland wide calling and with 5Gb of data thrown in.

Toll calls are 20c /min regardless of whether they are to a UK mobile, or to Wellington NZ. VOIP I would presume.

After your free 5Gb, you can buy a data pack, which is pretty damn cheap, or just run at 256kb/s. Well as I rarely get over 1Mb/s, 256kb/s for free seems pretty damn good. Especially if you are a Smartphone user.

Here are their voice and data packs: https://flip.co.nz/what-does-flip-cost/?signup

You only need these of you are not happy with 20c /min outside of Auckland or 256Kb/s speed, after the first 5Gb.

Surely FLIP is merely another billing name for Chorus services?

[Akzle]

Surely FLIP is merely another billing name for Chorus services?

wholesale reseller. probably is VOIP.
imagines HSDPA
2degrees still wins.

[YellowDog]

wholesale reseller. probably is VOIP.
imagines HSDPA
2degrees still wins.


2 Degrees don't do home phone lines and only offer Mobile Broadband.

BUT I do use 2 Degrees mobiles, which are very good value.

[Akzle]

2 Degrees don't do home phone lines and only offer Mobile Broadband.

BUT I do use 2 Degrees mobiles, which are very good value.

what do you want a homeline for? also, what the difference between plugging a 3g router into the wall and carrying it?
VOIP telephony, fax etc can all be done over the mobile network, depending on your hardware and location, just as quick and for a medium duty user, probably cheaper.

[SMOKEU]

Those data packs are extremely expensive. Go with Snap as they're one of the only ISPs in NZ that isn't a total con.

[YellowDog]

what do you want a homeline for? also, what the difference between plugging a 3g router into the wall and carrying it?
VOIP telephony, fax etc can all be done over the mobile network, depending on your hardware and location, just as quick and for a medium duty user, probably cheaper.

Unfortunately I do need to have a home phone line for my wife's work. They also contribute $80 per month towards it, so perhaps I am being greedy :yes:

[SMOKEU]

Unfortunately I do need to have a home phone line for my wife's work. They also contribute $80 per month towards it, so perhaps I am being greedy :yes:

Have a look what's available in your area - Snap do a home phone as well http://www.snap.net.nz/

I recently switched over to them and their customer service is great - I've never had to wait on the phone for more than 2 minutes and the call centre is local. It sure beats waiting on the phone for an hour just to speak to some Indian that I can hardly understand. The broadband service itself has been excellent so far, and their data packs are very cheap in comparison to other ISPs. All traffic is unmetered between 0100-0700 every day so you can set your torrent software to download at only those hours.

There is simply no excuse any more for ridiculously small data packs that most ISPs supply. People are being conned left, right and centre by bullshit excuses from most ISPs in this country who insist on supplying woefully small data packs and then charge like a wounded bull for excess usage, or slow down the speed to a near halt. That's exactly why I said "fuck you" to TelstraClear and took my business elsewhere.

[Akzle]

Have a look what's available in your area - Snap do a home phone as well http://www.snap.net.nz/

their 3g data is expen$ive. boo!

[Scuba_Steve]

Those data packs are extremely expensive. Go with Snap as they're one of the only ISPs in NZ that isn't a total con.

you on them? what they like with pings, gaming etc?

[SMOKEU]

you on them? what they like with pings, gaming etc?

From Christchurch to Auckland the ping is 15ms on speedtest.net. I recently (3 weeks ago) changed from TelstraClear cable to Snap ADSL2+. Gaming is excellent, as I regularly play BF3 online and my dad uses Skype most days and neither of us can tell the difference between the TelstraClear connection and Snap in terms of performance. I really can't complain at all, and they don't shape their traffic either. During peak times the download speed drops by less than 0.5Mb/s compared to quiet times. Obviously speeds depend on your distance from the local exchange, wiring etc.

[SMOKEU]

their 3g data is expen$ive. boo!

Name an ISP/mobile provider in NZ that doesn't charge a kings ransom for 3G data. The guys in the USA on overclockers.com were talking about how they have unlimited 4G plans for a similar price to what most 40GB ADSL2+ plans are in NZ. Something is extremely wrong with that.

[YellowDog]

The SNAP stuff does look like a reasonable package and doesn't seem to be Mickey Mouse, like 'FLIP' does. I need to checkout the inclusive local calling area to make sure I won't be getting stiffed.

The basic 25Gb will be enough for my needs and other than YouTube stuff, I don't do much downloading at all.

I am sure that it is great on a fibre network, however with 2.5Mb /s being a, rarely achievable, ambitious connection speed, if I did't need a phone line, I'd stick with 2Degrees mobile.

Thanks for the input. Much appreciated :yes:

[SMOKEU]

The basic 25Gb will be enough for my needs and other than YouTube stuff, I don't do much downloading at all.


Keep in mind that Youtube can use alarming amounts of data if you're on a small plan, especially if you watch at 720p or higher. Snap does offer an "all you can eat" Youtube plan for an extra $5 or $10 a month on top of any broadband package, otherwise the difference in price between the base 50GB and 150GB plan is around $10.

[Akzle]

Name an ISP/mobile provider in NZ that doesn't charge a kings ransom for 3G data. The guys in the USA on overclockers.com were talking about how they have unlimited 4G plans for a similar price to what most 40GB ADSL2+ plans are in NZ. Something is extremely wrong with that.
i compare to my current 2 degrees plan. 1.1GB, all i can eat txt, and 1 or 200 minutes calltime/month, 40$, plus a free 260$ phone for the 2 year contract. (i was on month-month, but wanted the phone. and since i can only see the rates getting better, don't think i'm going to loose out.)
no other company comes close, cost wise.
my requirements aren't as hardcore as yours, though.


The SNAP stuff does look like a reasonable package and doesn't seem to be Mickey Mouse, like 'FLIP' does. I need to checkout the inclusive local calling area to make sure I won't be getting stiffed.


check also WxC (world exchange) or Xnet or whatever they provide under. also good values, and i think the cheapest per GB. fully customisable plans, bunch of gaming stoners on the helpdesk (that will sort your shit in a hurry) and FLS all the time.

[SMOKEU]

I just had a look at Xnet and nearly had a heart attack when I saw how expensive their plans are, and how small the data caps are. They are seriously taking the piss, $149.66 for naked broadband with only 100GB. Even TelstraClear offer a better deal than that.

[YellowDog]

I just had a look at Xnet and nearly had a heart attack when I saw how expensive their plans are, and how small the data caps are. They are seriously taking the piss, $149.66 for naked broadband with only 100GB. Even TelstraClear offer a better deal than that.

Yip, I looked too. I suspect they are offering more of a professional service to go with their other stuff.

Not so good if you are out in the sticks where bells & whilstles don't give any benefit.

Thanks again for the input :yes:

[disenfranchised]

To get back on topic somewhat

Flip are not run by Chorus. They are a new Telco owned by the CallPlus group.
They're a bit of a different model to the other companies...There's no contracts, and after the initial monthly fee, the top ups are pre-paid.

Someone mentioned Snap
Sure, Snap has a range of additional data monthly charges: 100GB for $15; 200GB for $25 etc...which is cheaper if you were to use all that data
However they also have "Additional Charges" listed as: 1GB for $2; 2.5GB for $5; 5Gb for $10; 10GB for $20

Flip is listing: 2GB for $5; 10GB for $10; 25GB for $15

Simply saying Snap's data charges are cheaper isn't strictly true. Depends a bit on exactly what you compare

[Buyasta]

To get back on topic somewhat

Flip are not run by Chorus. They are a new Telco owned by the CallPlus group.
They're a bit of a different model to the other companies...There's no contracts, and after the initial monthly fee, the top ups are pre-paid.

Someone mentioned Snap
Sure, Snap has a range of additional data monthly charges: 100GB for $15; 200GB for $25 etc...which is cheaper if you were to use all that data
However they also have "Additional Charges" listed as: 1GB for $2; 2.5GB for $5; 5Gb for $10; 10GB for $20

Flip is listing: 2GB for $5; 10GB for $10; 25GB for $15

Simply saying Snap's data charges are cheaper isn't strictly true. Depends a bit on exactly what you compare

He wasn't talking about being owned/run by Chorus, but being on the Chorus network, which every ADSL ISP other than Telstra is, and Flip will be as well.

As far as being run by CallPlus, that's a fucking good reason to stay away, I had the misfortune of being with Slingshot for a while, and the service they offered was so bad I suspect they're constantly running for a secret worst ISP prize.
Their service was slow and shit, you'd spend hours on hold to get through to them if you had problems, and then they'd refuse to solve them when you did - I had a house wiring issue that made my internet die almost every time the phone was used, and it took 4-5 phone calls and several weeks to finally get them to run a line test, and at the same time I asked them to send out a Chorus tech to install a central splitter. A year later when I rang up to cancel and told them where they could shove their early termination fees, given they'd failed to provide useable service, they then said "oh, we never actually did anything all the other times you asked us to fix your problem and we said we would, but listen, stay with us, and this time we'll actually do something. No, really!". They then fought me on the termination fees a bit until I provided them with a thorough description of all the problems and complete lack of anything done about it, and made it clear that while I just wanted to cut my losses and move to an ISP that didn't suck, if they fought me I was willing to take them to the disputes tribunal and press for a full refund of everything I'd ever paid them, and I had more than enough evidence to prove they'd failed to provide the service as described. At that point suddenly they mysteriously stopped fighting me and refunded me a months worth of payment. A week later I'd finished my move to Snap, and about two weeks after that my problems were fixed in full, and the only reason it took that long was that all the Chorus techs were busy with earthquake repairs at the time.

tl;dr stay the hell away from CallPlus!

The way Snaps data works though, is that you buy a data pack at the first set of pricing, and if you use it all up, you're capped down to 64kbps, at which point you can buy more data at the second set of prices. But what you can also do is switch up to the next largest data pack with immediate effect and pay the difference between the pack you had and the one you're buying, which is cheaper 9 times out of 10. Also if you've bought any pack, even the smallest, you've got uncapped data between 1am and 7am - I can download about 1tb a month just during the offpeak hours, so I've gone from buying their largest data pack every month to their smallest, and only going through about 70% of my data cap each month.
It's definitely a big improvement from the days of $600 bills on TCL cable for about 250gb in a month - now they had outrageous pricing, although I imagine it must've come down a bit in the years since I switched away.

[YellowDog]

Yes the Xnet stuff is pricey, however it is more of a business quality service (which makes them seem cheap. SIP trunking and all that jaz is for your large scale PBX networks.

Flip would have to be on the Chorus network, or it just won't work in RD land.

I told Telstra I intended to leave at the end of my 2 year contract, which is in 2 weeks time, when the discounts expire. The inadequate package would then increase in cost and I guess they count on their punters missing the expiry and then having to pay a cancellation fee when they realise.

They have come back to me with a x2 data package for the same price and on a reduced 12 month contract, which suits me down to the ground. I would have gone with Snap, which would have been $15 per month more expensive, but now I don't need to.

R E S U L T :clap:

[YellowDog]

only going through about 70% of my data cap each month.

From a broadband performance perspective, I would't want to be your neighbour :no:

[imdying]

From a broadband performance perspective, I would't want to be your neighbour :no:The contention ratio is split over every house that accesses via the exchange though isn't it?

[Buyasta]

From a broadband performance perspective, I would't want to be your neighbour :no:

My throughput doesn't make any difference to my neighbours performance - on cable, sure, but not on ADSL.
Also I was saying I can get through a TB in a month just in offpeak time, but in practise I only get through about 280-300gb total data in a month, and I imagine there are plenty out there who get through a whole lot more - I use a seedbox, so 99% of my usage is downloading - people like SMOKEU who are running torrent clients on a schedule so they run fully uncapped from 1am to 7am each day would be using a whole lot more - obviously it's not a fair comparison since it's on a full-duplex 100mbit connection, and I seed for months and in some cases years, rather than stopping at or near a 1.0 ratio, but my seedbox goes through 3-4 TB per month.

[Buyasta]

The contention ratio is split over every house that accesses via the exchange though isn't it?

Well ok, yeah, technically there is a shared pipe upstream from my cabinet, and then from my exchange, so in theory it'd be possible for my throughput to have an impact on others sharing a cabinet or exchange with me, but for that to actually happen in practice is pretty much unthinkable, and if it did, no problem, just light another segment of dark fibre, and problem solved.

[disenfranchised]

He wasn't talking about being owned/run by Chorus, but being on the Chorus network, which every ADSL ISP other than Telstra is, and Flip will be as well.

That's also not quite true.
CallPlus, Vodafone, Orcon have their own equipment in the exchanges.
Yes there is a portion of the Chorus network involved, being the copper from the home to the exchange, but once that connection is connected to another companies gear, things start getting different. Backhaul, contention etc.


Flip would have to be on the Chorus network, or it just won't work in RD land.

You might notice their website only says about 60% of NZ can use Flip.

[disenfranchised]

Oh, and I should add that while Flip is owned by Callplus, they are a separate business, with their own systems, processes, staff, etc.

Someone's bad experience with slingshot customer service doesn't really have any bearing on how flip will be.

[imdying]

Well ok, yeah, technically there is a shared pipe upstream from my cabinet, and then from my exchange, so in theory it'd be possible for my throughput to have an impact on others sharing a cabinet or exchange with me, but for that to actually happen in practice is pretty much unthinkable, and if it did, no problem, just light another segment of dark fibre, and problem solved.In theory, but there would have to be multiple people doing the same thing. Besides, you paid for it.