Xtra Broadband - anyone else had bad experience

[Blackbird]

Excuse me while I rant - I'll try and keep saliva from sticking to the monitor :argh:

Trying to keep it in a nutshell, we had wireless broadband installed just over a month ago. A Technician was recommended for installation because our line was a bit iffy (a technical definition of mine which is shorter than Telecom's). Broadband was duly installed (the day AFTER the one promised after I had already taken half a day off, grrr...).

It worked fine for a few days. Then it started working intermittently. Then it stopped working. So did our phone. Telephone Man (as opposed to Broadband Man) arrived, blamed the crap filters that Telecom supply and advised us to buy a better one from Dick Smith. Phone was restored and we dropped back to dial-up whilst emails were exchanged (I'd have died of malnutrition waiting for the phone help line to answer) with Telecom Broadband as there was no bloody way I was going to fork out on a filter. "No probs Sir", the return email said, "new filters on their way" - expressions of surprise over the telephone technician claiming the problem was widespread. A week goes by with no filters showing up. Now I know Tokoroa is small but it's on SH1 for God's sake so even the biggest knuckle-dragging courier driver should be able to find it. Another email to Telecom on Tuesday sees the new filters arrive today. Same Dynalink make as before, but the model number is now two up. Plugged in with barely concealed glee - SAME EFFING RESULT - SWEET FA.

Another email despatched to Telecom a few minutes ago, barely civil; asking what comes next.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

In the meantime, I shall bugger off to Coromandel tomorrow evening and do the Loop for the second week running if I finish the tasks allocated by my wife. Thank God I don't need Telecom's help to do that. :calm:

Have a great weekend everyone and take care.

[jimbo600]

Got slingshot broadband. ADSL modem arrived in about a week and shock horror after simply plugging it in it worked a treat.

[Zed]

What a drama Geoff! :Pokey:

We went on broadband (adsl) close to two years ago. I bought the router and line filters from ETC Computers up here in Auckland and installed it myself, just had to wait for Telecom to sort out the phone line. Has worked well except for a spell about 2 months ago when the adsl went intermittant like yours and completely died! It took 4 days to get it up and running again ending up with a Telco technician having to come and do some rewiring to the outside line! I felt helpless without my Net so for the first time ever I made my way to one of those Internet Cafes where I got my online fix!

Have a great loooong weekend Blackbird, I hope those choice Coro roads stay nice and dry for you! Keep the shiney side up and the rubber side down. :cool:


Zed

[InDeSkyz]

Take a look at the consumer.co.nz site. I think they just did another ISP who's who.
Xtra last year were bottom of the heap, and although I still wouldn't touch them with a dead stick, they have come up a little in the ranks with customer service.
I've heard plenty of 'bad service' stories about Xtra/Telecom, I guess it's hard when you have owned the market for so long.
Also, telecom in the past few years is continually in the poo with the commerce commission and for DSL lovers, there has been some good outcomes recently.

Inspire have had really good feedback since they started a few years back in palmerston north.

http://www.nzdsl.co.nz/ is a good place to check things out.

[Dadpole]

Crap service and crap equipment fron Telecom. The "free" modem in the signup deal is prone to overheating, and the filters seem to have a high failure rate. I am with them probably because I am too lazy to change. The best part of the changover was they emailed my new password to me. Had to explain (in very short words) that my new broadband was the only way to get online to read my email to get the password to get online to read my email. Thank God I was not there in person - holding an axe. :brick:

[DMNTD]

Xtra "broadband" is simply crap..total and complete.
We too have the wireless modem but they "forgot" to tell us we needed to buy the extra reciever thingy for the 2nd PC and the fact that it needed to be in the same room to work ok. Hopeless and a waste of coin. Should of just bought a reel of wire and ran it upstairs.
They suck for service...lesson learnt!

[Blackadda]

Ihug, the only way. I've been with them since day 1 and haven't had 1 problem.

[Zed]

Ihug, the only way. I've been with them since day 1 and haven't had 1 problem.I started my internet experience with Ihug 9 years ago and since have changed to about 3 different ISP's over the years, mainly because of price!

Um...I'm now back with Ihug. :whistle:

[Blackadda]

Sometimes you forgo price when you get good service!

[pyrocam]

xtra called me up the other day cos I had the line with them but the net through orcon (best isp ever) they said 'all with us or nothing with us'

I said fuckoff you whimsicalcuntmaggots and they said ok but you gotta pay the $100 disconnection fee. orcons taking them to court over that :cool:

and all around terrible service of course\

edit: and ive been using dsl for 5 years
anyone remember the huge box modems nokia had. I had the M11 (still got the box) you couldnt buy them in those days. just rent em from telecum. I now have 2Mbit download 10gb cap and I pay around $50 a month I think

[RiderInBlack]

My Xtra Broadband Modem works sweet (we're only a Km from the main Telecom line, which is not bad considering we are in the wopwops:whistle: ) until you get a power flicker (not even one long enough to effect any other appliance in the house), and then you have to reboot the modem (pull it's power plug out for 10sec and then put it back in) and my PC (WTF???). A little rechargable battery would fix that, but no.

[justsomeguy]

XTRA broadband sSUCKKKKKK

had them about a year ago - we had a 10 gig limit on our account paying 70 a month - but for the first 5 months they charged us at 1gig a month....

So every month we would get a 600-700 dollar bill for internet usage and spend a MIMIMUM of an hour on hold before talking to the various stupid call center dodo's bout the mistake......

Got Slingshot 256Kb flat rate now for 50 bucks a month:calm:

[justsomeguy]

Been with Ihug since day dot with my trusty dial up.. now have a router and its sweet. Not usualy any problems apart from the rare drop out.. except tonight have had it drop out about 3 times. very unusual.. i have a feeling it could be the phone line due to the weather.

Probably -


Hey what happened out east on SH1? - Saw heaps of fire engines go that way as I was riding towards the city.

[N4CR]

You can't even call it broadband guys, it simply is not classed as it.... don't see anyone with 512k uploads and unlimited caps on any telescum plan in NZ.

ROFL!

[John]

"I just get praystation 3 it save time of bother of the download webpage as it CONTRAIN the internet."

[FROSTY]

had telecom dial up--was actually pretty good--got broadband--fuck all better just more expensive

[N4CR]

WTF are you on tonight dude... Is it just me or is that post just a string of unrelated words put together then posted??



THIS is a joke from when playstation 2 had not even been invented. (http://www.misinformer.com/archive/2001/01/15/)

enjoy.

[John]

WTF are you on tonight dude... Is it just me or is that post just a string of unrelated words put together then posted??
furken buttuck shiet arse cocks banana?

That would be a yes.

Once all this broadband crap settles down it will get better, just avoid any direct deals with telecums.

[Brian d marge]

Its nOT JUST TELESCUM,,..I have posted a few times about NTT ,,,advertise 100 .Mbps get 27 MBPS ,,,and an International of 1.5 ..( thats both up and down ) .which they dont mention at all .
I am surprised at this capping thing ,,,awful what about companys that do business online ,,,capped then charged at quote The business rate ..end quote ...as if business could aford more than u or I .....

I mean ask anyone ,,,,do you like telescum??? and the answer almost always is NO ....
So how could Gutterbird not hear whats going on ....unless they are going to strip the profits and move on ???

Stephen

[N4CR]

Read it and enjoyed immensely.. Rank you rery much

Narr Pwobbem sirr!

I swear that article changed our childhood (John and myself) forever. Made us all weird :mellow:

Forever could take the piss out of things with it.

[Ixion]

I use Xtra. I think their pricing is poor, and their speed is basically a downright lie. Can't comment on their customer service because I've never really used it. I did the install myself, fitted my own filters (Dick Smith). Use a Cisco router, can't complain about reliabilty (except for the dodgy RJ45 connector on my fly cable for the last few weeks. But I finally got off my arse and crimped a new one on last night (I HATE crimping RJ45) and now it's all good

[oldrider]

I have Xtra Broadband D-Link wireless. It works OK but the modem makes a noise.
I can not hear it but my uncomplaining wife can and just puts up with it.
Xtra replaced the modem but it was faulty too and had to be sent back.
We had answer service but mysteriously we now have lost that and got call waiting. Never asked for the change! waiting to check next bill.
The wireless modem is very good, no wires running all over the place if I want to work somewhere else I just take the laptop out of the expansion base. Very handy. It is better than dial up but bloody expensive IMO. Cheers John.

[What?]

I can't get broadband coz we've got fibre-optic cables, not copper. Xtra tell me it is unlikely I can get their wireless due to the surrounding terrain. Worst of it is, Telecom seem to think I should be happy with that...
Might go Ihig sattelite, but that still uses dial-up for uploads.

[DemonWolf]

Been with World-net for bout 5 years or so.. I've got a splitter which I've moved with me to each house I've gone to... my experience.. dont get filters.. get splitters, they work a treat better than filters, install to your incoming line.. ya sweet upto 5 lines hanging off it.. then ya need a filter.

Yeah 'broadband' in NZ is a total joke.. but the light may be comin very soon... we can only hope.

[Lou Girardin]

I'm with ihug, they had real problems about 6 months to a year ago, but seem to have got their act together a bit. I've just changed to their 2 mps/20gig plan at $49.95.

[TwoSeven]

TeleCon are a small company beholden to shareholders, because of that, they are not required to focus on customer service (what we technically call marketing). Its a problem that companies being mis-managed suffer - especially if they have a lot of monopoly employees (those that work under a monopoly environment).

[Blackbird]

TeleCon are a small company beholden to shareholders, because of that, they are not required to focus on customer service (what we technically call marketing). Its a problem that companies being mis-managed suffer - especially if they have a lot of monopoly employees (those that work under a monopoly environment).

Yep, I work in marketing for a big company and am well aware about customer service considerations. I'm also a Telecom shareholder so if I don't get satisfaction shortly, a more public campaign will be launched -name and shame. Simon Moutter, their C.O.O; rides a Blackbird so I might be able to weave that fact into the campaign against them somehow :whistle:

Thanks everyone for helping to get a sense of perspective on this issue.

Geoff

[Leong]

I've been with Xtra since it started and broadband since available. No issues with the little customer service I've needed, and broadband speed is good. Use a wireless ADSL router which is great.... Guess I'm one of the lucky ones!! :niceone:

[Coyote]

Once I'm on the net its fine. Only problem I've had is the modem not connected to the interenet when I log into the computer and you have to disconnect all the cables going to it then reconnect them so it finally goes onto the interenet

[Leong]

Once I'm on the net its fine. Only problem I've had is the modem not connected to the interenet when I log into the computer and you have to disconnect all the cables going to it then reconnect them so it finally goes onto the interenet

That's the beauty of the ADSL routers, they're connected all the time, and since I leave the PC on all the time, with powersave on, I never have to wait for anything!!

[Coyote]

That's the beauty of the ADSL routers, they're connected all the time, and since I leave the PC on all the time, with powersave on, I never have to wait for anything!!
Thats what I have, only it doesn't want to stay connected all the time and would rather be a bitch. Unplugging and replugging the wires and crap reminds the computer that the modem exists

[Leong]

Thats what I have, only it doesn't want to stay connected all the time and would rather be a bitch. Unplugging and replugging the wires and crap reminds the computer that the modem exists

Told you I was one of the lucky ones.... :dodge:

[TwoSeven]

I've noticed that in the mobile business and internet business telecon are struggeling with the technology. I think they have had 3 mobile networks and I'm not sure how many internet upgrades. They just dont understand the capacity planning model used to do these.

If I was doing a uni degree I would compare these business units to the legacy units and see how they compare. Also would be interested in comparing consumer feedback with corporate feedback to see what the difference is.

[Karma]

Thats what I have, only it doesn't want to stay connected all the time and would rather be a bitch. Unplugging and replugging the wires and crap reminds the computer that the modem exists


Could be one of two issues here...

One.

Your PC is plugged into the modem using usb? And therefore could be having a power issue whereby Windows is doing it's usual and not realising something is connected when it is.

Two.

Your modem is disconnecting from the service due to one of a million reasons... power blip on your phone line... maintenance in the exhange... changeover of billing period.. you name it. In this case, unplug the power from the modem... leave for 10 seconds, plug the modem back in, wait 2 minutes, connection should be up and running again.


I'm sure I've made some assumptions above that are incorrect... but I just love a nice ass :cool:

[geoffm]

Telecom sux. No two ways about it. In Christchurch we have the flat on Xtra (landlord's choice). At home it is Quicksilver, who has much better service, although this is not hard.
Telecom are "optimistic" about the ADSL speed - at best it is half the rated speed. To make it even better, our area in Chch is infested with students :) and Teleocm allow (IIRC) 10 or 20 people to the 2mb chunk - ie they sell you the capacity, but you are not supposed to use it. Of course this is a load of BS, where you have lots of students, many from countries with broadband (unlike NZ) and running Torrnet files flat out.
Geoff

The minute upload allowance also means it cripples your download speed - packet acknowledgements and requests get lost, etc.

[Beemer]

You're lucky you can even get Broadband - where we live, it's not available! We've had phone trouble this week - lost the phone line (and internet connection) at 10.15am Wednesday (after it being off for a time on Tuesday afternoon as well) and got it back at 6.03pm Thursday! Had it working fine on Friday and then this morning it was clicking badly and kept dropping the internet connection. Rang Telecom for about the gazillionith time at 10am and finally got the problem sorted at 5pm! Initially they told me it was an electric fence - bullshit, we may live in the country but our nearest fence is about half a km away and it has never caused any problems before!

I asked them about Broadband and was told that we were about 1km outside the limit, so I'm stuck with dial-up for the forseeable future. At least they seem to have taken us off the zero plus two (or something like that!) line we were on - basically like an old party line but you don't get to listen in on other people's calls! Tonight the dial-up seems so fast compared to what it has been like - usually about 24kbps!

[sunhuntin]

trying to connect to broadband, but they never asked us for an email to send the logon and password to. so needless to say im less than impressed. hopefully itll get sorted tomorrow. till then ill stick with dialup.

[Blackbird]

Well, credit where credit is due, there was an email waiting for me from Telecom saying they'll send a technician to fully check everything out and are prepared to do a house re-wire - relevant bit from their email folows:

"Now if you have tried some new filters and you’re still experiencing this problem where the ADSL signal won’t sync up, then there must be too much noise on the phone line somewhere with the wiring of your home. If this is the problem I would like to arrange for a full connection and wiring to be done to your home. This would mean you would not need to use filters and the connection would perform at its best. We are willing to credit you for the cost of this."
At least it shows that they're trying to solve my problems in a prompt and professional manner. They seem to be really getting their act together - maybe because of loss of market share, but I'm well pleased at this stage. Will make a final post when the deed is done!

[Beemer]

You're lucky, how's this for pathetic - when I rang on Saturday to report the clicking on the line, the girl I spoke to said she could see we had been without service for more than 24 hours so when our service was fully restored, I could ring back and ask to be credited with a free month's line rental. I said I would like to request that credit be actioned now, but was told no, I had to ring back later to ask for it! Considering I have phoned them more than 10 times from my mobile in the past week, I have no desire to be put on hold yet again, so will put my complaint in writing or email it to them.

[Blackbird]

You're lucky, how's this for pathetic - when I rang on Saturday to report the clicking on the line, the girl I spoke to said she could see we had been without service for more than 24 hours so when our service was fully restored, I could ring back and ask to be credited with a free month's line rental.

Sounds like double standards apply here. When our phone went on the blink, my wife was told directly that we would get the line rental directly credited - none of this waiting.

Feeling a bit pathetic myself this arvo :crybaby: My wife is in the UK for 3 weeks so I've had a weekend working my butt off painting at our bach. Got back to Tokoroa after a great ride home to find a dismembered duck inside the house, courtesy of one of the cats, then a big patch on a spare bed where it decided it didn't like duck after all. Right, strip off the duvet cover and chuck it in the washing machine along with the weekend's clothes. Full load and the machine packs up. Bet something is stuck in the pump. My wife knows how to unjam it courtesy of the repair man last time. I don't.

What with the sodding Internet and this afternoons' disasters, it isn't my week :argh:

[Karma]

You're lucky, how's this for pathetic - when I rang on Saturday to report the clicking on the line, the girl I spoke to said she could see we had been without service for more than 24 hours so when our service was fully restored, I could ring back and ask to be credited with a free month's line rental. I said I would like to request that credit be actioned now, but was told no, I had to ring back later to ask for it! Considering I have phoned them more than 10 times from my mobile in the past week, I have no desire to be put on hold yet again, so will put my complaint in writing or email it to them.

Sounds like the got one of the new staff... they've been undertaking a lot of recruitment recently... the quality of service really depends at the moment on who you get put through to on the phone :argh:

[Lias]

I'll have to go with the others and declare "Ihug Uber Alles".

I've been with them for ~8 years now, and whilst they've have a few niggles in that time, on the whole they've been very good to deal with. In that time I've also had 2x xtra DSL connections, Chello Cable, and Paradise Cable, and ihug has the best support out of that lot imo. I've got no idea how Parasite used win best ISP awards becauses all my experiences with them (bar the one time I got a guy I knew IRL on the phone) left me in the mood to cruise down to their helpdesk with a blowtorch and a pair of pliers.

[Beemer]

Sounds like the got one of the new staff... they've been undertaking a lot of recruitment recently... the quality of service really depends at the moment on who you get put through to on the phone :argh:

Yes, a couple of them were really switched on and did what they promised, but one didn't do anything and just told me that if they said the phone line would be restored by 4.30pm, then IT WOULD BE. I had called at 2.30pm to check on the progress of the repairs and she was really rude and didn't bother checking with the service crew. I rang back at 4.35pm to report the phone still wasn't working and was told the fault had been fixed hours earlier (probably before I rang the first time) and it was too late to send anyone out that day, so we had to wait until the morning.