Who has broadband? [Archive] - Kiwi Biker forums

Badcat

8th May 2006, 16:50

Been thinking about gettin broadband, but most seem like a have, ie the low end accounts have slow speed, small caps etc.

ihug look like the go, full speed on all accounts.

Who is your ISP, and would you recommend them?

Cheers Paul D.

hey - i have XTRA ADSL (jetstream)
10gb a month - about $60 a month.
my national speed is around 2 megabit/sec
international usually gets around 1 megabit/sec
it's reliable.
i'd recommend them

k

bobsmith

8th May 2006, 16:50

I can't give you much of an advice on choosing an ISP since their plans seem to be changing very fast these days and I just can't keep up with the change. It also depends on how much you would be using the internet and what kind of toll calls you'll be making (as most offer discount if you do tolls with them now)

All I can say is I would not go with xtra (telecom) on principal alone no matter how good their deal but that's just me (I have had really bad service experience with them, etc....) I recently recommended orcon to my g/f parents after looking at their need and they were very impressed with their service. (they had to have a line pulled at their home as they have an alarm) Even though I believe it was telecom's people that was sent to their home to install the service, orcon was very helpful in keeping them informed about when the service will be installed, etc and made sure that there was no delays. I myself am with IHUG and I don't mind them too much. I got a plan with them a while ago (2mbps 10G/10G, and even though they don't have the same plan anymore they will let me keep the plan until I want to change to another plan since that's what I signed up for with them. (unlike telecom who changed all their customer's plans when they brought out new plans and their customers didn't have a choice) Since I'm not a speed freak the plan suits me and I like the fact that they respect what you signed up to receive from them before their plans changed (their plans have changed twice since I signed up with them)

If you can wait a few months, my advice would be to wait and see what happens. With the recent announcement of LLU I can guarentee you that there will be better and cheaper plans soon (even before it is actually unbundled)

Just my 2c.

kiwifruit

8th May 2006, 16:55

used to be on the "iGRIN" broadband
(would recommend them, fast and friendly)
256/128 uncapped (i was into bittorrent etc)
was the only uncapped one i could find
dunno if they still do it?
be worth a look.

Yeh the iHug plans are looking pretty good,
wouldnt recommend telecom,
just because they are "the man"

*sticks it to the man*

SN4PD

8th May 2006, 16:56

I use orcon..... but their tech support is...... well....... nonexistant...... Leave a message and they might call you back next week. (might)

In my experience Ihug at least answer their phones.

onearmedbandit

8th May 2006, 17:00

Xtra here, with 10g month plan. Never had any issues with them, reliable connection, answer my emails within 24hrs.

bladez

8th May 2006, 17:05

i just got mine from inspire and thats adsl at $55 every 28 days and a 10gig speed is 3548kb or 3.5meg if that helps:corn:

Zed

8th May 2006, 17:06

When i first discovered the internet I joined up with ihug and stayed with them for 3-4 years, but then they became more *corporate* oriented and so I changed to a cheaper isp or two for a good 4 years, but when I first went on to broadband several years ago I returned once again to ihug (seemed they were further ahead with broadband than other isp's, I purposely avoided xtra cos it's Telecom) and have been with them ever since, their service is good and pricing is reasonable.

SN4PD

8th May 2006, 17:08

i just got mine from inspire and thats adsl at $55 every 28 days and a 10gig speed is 3548kb or 3.5meg if that helps:corn:

Another sneaky ISP that does the 28 day thing to get an extra billing period in per year, gotta watch that, paradise do the same :shifty:

kro

8th May 2006, 17:27

GR81

8th May 2006, 17:50

I'm with Orcon, but Slingshot seem to have some good plans and also good idea for when you go over you limit.

Mr. Peanut

8th May 2006, 17:53

Xtra 10gb plan
2.0mbps down
256k up (pathetic)

With the whole unbundling thing happening, broadband will be cheap, and fast, but there is no harm signing up now, you can chop and change easy enough when the new faster and cheaper plans come into play.

I have had broadband for about 5 years now, and wouldn't be without it.

512 for me?

Anyway get XTRA, because of market conditions they sorta have a monopoly on bandwidth. other providers seem like a better deal but they have nasty ways of slowing down your internet speed to conserve bandwidth. (port shaping or something like that)

Internet becomes an entirely different place, youll notice how most sites are designed for broadband now.

Downloading is fun 200Kb a second =D

IN SHORT GET XTRA - i dont like what they do but they do what they do well if u get what i mean. Oh and slingshot slow down your connection if you use P2P software (music etc) which is *NOT* cool.

Street Gerbil

8th May 2006, 17:54

If you can troubleshoot all your connectivity issues yourself. Techsupport is non-existant, on the other hand I pay $60 for 40Gigs of traffic (which I actually cannot use up given the low speed limit).

SN4PD

8th May 2006, 17:54

Wouldent touch slingshot, or that psyco lady with a 50 foot barge poll, theres a reason that other ISP's dont have to advertise their services every 30 seconds on telly like slingshot does!

Smorg

8th May 2006, 18:00

Im with ihug, $49.95 for 10GB on peak 10GB off peak. Connection has never failed. They even called to let me know serivce was going to be down for an hour. Although the helpdesk they have isnt exactly helpfull so its lucky nothing ever goes wrong

Mr. Peanut

8th May 2006, 18:01

Read up on internet forums like I did, I cancelled my Slingshot plan just in time and got XTRA when I learnt about some of the shit they do.

If you pay for high speed internet it should be high speed, not just when the ISP thinks its ok.

That would be like buying a Gixxer 1000 which won't wheelie because it doesnt think your behaviour is appropriate. :Pokey:

mdooher

8th May 2006, 18:02

I was with WorldNet for a few years but I decided to join the darkside just because it was eaiser. I mean I really detest Telecom but it was just much much easier for me to have all my stuff with the same people. …also work pays my ADSL so I don’t really worry bout the price. Unless you want a static IP or want to chew up some serious bandwidth I don’t think it really matters anyway

oldguy

8th May 2006, 18:06

I'm with xtra only because my sister works for Telecom. can't complain about
the broadband services, but the price could be cheeper we live and hope.

SPman

8th May 2006, 18:07

I was with slingshot - their 3G monthly, 2mb plan. Used to do about 5-6G, but could buy more cap at $5 for 3G.

SN4PD

8th May 2006, 18:11

World-Net is a crackup, last time they had a power outage they rang hirepool and rented a couple of generators, then ran the power cables from the entrance ramp along the main hallway and out the back to the datacentre :rofl: Was quite a laugh to watch! (Their VOIP phones all went down too, so you coulden't call for complain).

So yea, there are reasons some ISP's are cheaper than others :) (Have a interesting story about slingshot that I wont repeat here :devil2:)

Big Dave

8th May 2006, 18:15

mdooher

8th May 2006, 18:18

Smorg

8th May 2006, 18:20

And they even send you a birthday e-card :grouphug: :tugger:

haha yeah cheeseball it was the only one i got though. I even found out
when they were founded and sent them one. Now we are friends and im going round to ihugs place for a beer. Its the little things that count

Titanium

8th May 2006, 18:23

Telescum here
10g per month
3.2 gb downstream
320 k up stream ....

Got that faster cheaper ADSL ..... yeah right.:Pokey: :eyepoke:

Peter

8th May 2006, 18:30

have only been with Xtra and signed up for Broadband last week at their $29.95 p.m. offer. Gets connected on Wednesday and looking forward to not losing use of the ph everytime the Nets on.
No complaints about telecom/Xtra service.

SN4PD

8th May 2006, 18:35

Sounds a bit like their helpdesk, they seemed to be run on a shoestring but they did go out of their way to be helpful… I would have loved to see what you have described:rofl:

Now who took thoes :shifty:

Hitcher

8th May 2006, 18:39

"Broadband": Yes.

Provider: TelstraClear/Paradise.

Speed: About 850 kilobits a second one way and about 150 the other.

ISP satisfaction: If what they provides works, what's to be dissatisfied about? Apart from a lot of fannying around with the install and transferring email domains from our previous ISP, everything now runs like a Swiss watch.

Colapop

8th May 2006, 19:24

Yep I'm with Paralice too. They seem ok, at least I haven't any problems with them. I get pay TV, home phone, & broadband (10G) all in one package. Telescum would've got my custom if they'd been more forthcoming about what they offer.

WINJA

8th May 2006, 20:16

I use orcon..... but their tech support is...... well....... nonexistant...... Leave a message and they might call you back next week. (might)

In my experience Ihug at least answer their phones.
+1 STAY AWAY FROM ORCON , I GOT DIAL UP FROM THEM AND IT WORKED LESS THAN HALF THE TIME , THEY FINALLY GOT BACK TO ME A WEEK LATER AND SAID TELECOM IS TO BLAME , I CALLED TELECOM WHO SAID THEY DONT CONTROL ORCON DIALUP NONE OF THIS WAS FIXING IT , ORCON WAS MY RETAILER AS FAR AS IM CONCERNED AND THEY NEVER PUT IT RIGHT

slimjim

8th May 2006, 20:23

Been thinking about gettin broadband, but most seem like a have, ie the low end accounts have slow speed, small caps etc.

ihug look like the go, full speed on all accounts.

Who is your ISP, and would you recommend them?

The only real reason I want broadband is so I can stream the GP, SBK an stuff like that.

Cheers Paul D.
bro cheek out telecom , ask for all the deals,even put your mobile with them, my cost's per month are total 69.95 plus 5 gs awesome, the more shit you pay the better they give you in discounts

mdb

8th May 2006, 20:24

Personally I wouldn't use Xtra. They charge more than anyone else for less service. If you can get Telstra they have a better service (provided it is cable) as you got quicker upload speeds (may be important depending on what you're going to do).

paturoa

8th May 2006, 20:42

Xtra, more reliable than rest, one bill, consolidated discount thing, know what u r going to get.

Price wise each keep leap-frogging each other, so u should make your choice on stuff that is meaningful to you (not emotion).

raster

8th May 2006, 21:13

I have dealt with hundreds of broadband connections around AK and have found :Pokey: Xtra to be the best if you don't want to piss around, but then I just tell them what to do and they do it, have found the others (clear being a major one) don't know their ass from their face.

Just watch out for the cap, I would suggest not to go for the plans that have any over usage charge, I have seen a family with a $20,000 bill because some visitor installed bittorrent on the machine, scarry stuff.
I think they got some ammount taken off but not all.

I went to slingshot for about 3 months and gave up, ihug are OK if you don't have any problems, but then they do have some very good staff who actually think for themselves, they will actually call you to give you updates of what is happening.

paturoa

8th May 2006, 21:19

Just watch out for the cap, I would suggest not to go for the plans that have any over usage charge, I have seen a family with a $20,000 bill because some visitor installed bittorrent on the machine, scarry stuff.
I think they got some ammount taken off but not all.

Xtra has a setup page that you go to, to setup a threshold (i've set mine at 80%) and when my useage reaches that it emails me.

mdooher

8th May 2006, 21:54

Now who took thoes :shifty:
Holy shhhh.. It’s worse than I thought, I’ve seen bigger generators on a Morris 1100. Thanks for the pics nz_liam

Timber020

8th May 2006, 22:36

Telecom takes $8,000 off me a year, and very little of it do I have any choice in, their business practises have insured services I need are not readily available unless I go through them. They have been underhanded and downright scum making sure they get as much money from a captured market as possible.

We are getting telstra broadband when we get around to it.

Matt Bleck

9th May 2006, 08:46

Now I'm totally confused.... Ah fuck it, I'll just stay with dail-up......

Dooly

9th May 2006, 10:29

Lias

9th May 2006, 10:54

Was with ihug for 8 years or so, then left at the end of last year and moved to Orcon.

Ihug generally have very good customer support, but they shafted a lot of long term customers when they switched to the 2mb plans and I was one of the many who packed my bags. (They wanted to switch me from an uncapped plan to a 15gb data cap for the same price.. fuck that!)

Orcon customer support is really good.. when you can get through :-) Orcon also recently had to redo their flatrate plans (IE double the price), but at least they give me a 40gb cap a month, so I dont have to cut back tooooo much (average before cap was 60-80gb a month).

I'm just hoping that with the telescum arseraping we'll start seeing an end to datacaps, as its the datacaps that are the real problem with broadband in NZ, not the speeds.

Avoid Xtra like the plague, unless you like miniscule data caps, and giving your money to the second biggest pack of thieving bastards in the country (after the gummint)

Zed

9th May 2006, 16:14

Speaking of broadband, I upgraded my plan today with ihug (most helpful btw) and now it is super quick!!! But KB is now extremely slow, anyone else finding the site slow today??

bobsmith

9th May 2006, 16:17

Yeah, KB has been very slow, earlier this afternoon, I could hardly open up a page without me trying to gnaw my eyes out.... (well maybe not that bad)

9th May 2006, 17:33

I'm on dialup at home via Xtra, and its crap. We only live 6km from town but they say they cant do broadband because the nearest exchange needs updating, but wont do it.
Friends of ours 25km out have BB no probs.
We keep getting wireless companies ringing us up and trying to sell that for $100 a month.
This is where I think (maybe I've got it wrong) Telecom have been unfairly treated with the unbundling. Hey, I'm pleased about the change. But, if Telecom spend big bucks to upgrade the exchange/hardware/copper whatever it's called, which they supposedly own and wont share with the other Kids for free. Then why the hell should the other hanger on providers be able to then sell Dooly their ph/net services? Ihug and co. don't fork out their cash to maintain the 'local loop' So why should they be allowed to get a free ride on it? Just doesn't sound like normal commercial practice to me. If you build a road into the bush to extract, say gold, why the hell should you be FORCED to allow others to use your road for free so they can cut trees, plant dope or - compete against you for gold!

Ixion

9th May 2006, 17:41

They won't get a free ride. The other ISPs will have to pay telecom a fee for use of the network. That fee will be set by the government. (When I say "will have" I mean that is the actual situation, not my prediction)

So, whether this works out to be a Really good Thing or just a PR waggle depends on what that fee is set at.

And we may be sure that Telecom will be factoring in the upgrade, capital and maintainance costs of all of it into the figure they start talking at.

sAsLEX

9th May 2006, 21:44

As in pic, no cap 55 incl gst a month!

test your speed for comparison at http://www.nzdsl.co.nz/index.php?module=Speedtest

SN4PD

10th May 2006, 10:10

This is where I think (maybe I've got it wrong) Telecom have been unfairly treated with the unbundling. Hey, I'm pleased about the change. But, if Telecom spend big bucks to upgrade the exchange/hardware/copper whatever it's called, which they supposedly own and wont share with the other Kids for free. Then why the hell should the other hanger on providers be able to then sell Dooly their ph/net services? Ihug and co. don't fork out their cash to maintain the 'local loop' So why should they be allowed to get a free ride on it? Just doesn't sound like normal commercial practice to me. If you build a road into the bush to extract, say gold, why the hell should you be FORCED to allow others to use your road for free so they can cut trees, plant dope or - compete against you for gold!

They won't get a free ride. The other ISPs will have to pay telecom a fee for use of the network. That fee will be set by the government. (When I say "will have" I mean that is the actual situation, not my prediction)

So, whether this works out to be a Really good Thing or just a PR waggle depends on what that fee is set at.

And we may be sure that Telecom will be factoring in the upgrade, capital and maintainance costs of all of it into the figure they start talking at.

The fact that telecom are being forced to publish their wholesale (un-bundled) accounts separately to their other business interests is the first step to splitting them into two companies, (a lines company and a communications company). By the time this actually happens there should be more competition in the 'last mile' access market (e.g. WiMax, 3G Wireless etc) allowing normal market forces (competition) to regulate local loop prices. In the mean time the government does need to regulate how and at what price telecom allows access to their copper network as it has the potential to make or break competitive telecommunications in this country.

You also have to remember that a reasonable amount of the network was built with public money, albeit sold as a commercial entity to Bell Atlantic and Ameritech in 1990 for $4.25 billion, last year they posted a profit of $916 million, (not a bad buy).

P.S. Bring on the mobile phone reforms :woohoo:

P.P.S. I am a capitalist, really :D

bobsmith

10th May 2006, 11:10

sAsLEX, do you mean to say, you have no cap for $55 a month?

Do tell! With whom?

sAsLEX

10th May 2006, 11:47

sAsLEX, do you mean to say, you have no cap for $55 a month?

Do tell! With whom?

They wont do your area, but I signed up ages ago when no caps were a relative norm and have kept on the same contract, well they sent out a letter saying something about them implementing a cap but it has never happened

Alive

10th May 2006, 12:25

Xtra Broadband here... 10gig plan....

Been with them for about a year and a half and never had any problems.

I recommend them because they are the biggest and anyone else (except wireless and Telstra cable) are only reselling Telecom's product (for now) anyway. They have the largest helpdesk in NZ and if you get a good rep who know's their stuff... problems get sorted really fast.

Oh and anyone who thinks that the LLU will make Broadband cheaper is kidding themselves. When other ISP's do get to install their own hardware in the Telecom exchanges, who do you think is going to pay for that rather expensive equipment?

SN4PD

10th May 2006, 13:02

Oh and anyone who thinks that the LLU will make Broadband cheaper is kidding themselves. When other ISP's do get to install their own hardware in the Telecom exchanges, who do you think is going to pay for that rather expensive equipment?

Hmmmm, I hear this term 'expensive equipment' thrown round a lot! Seems to be a bit of a black hole excuse if you ask me.

24 Port ADSL2 DSLAM $3000 US, (DSLAM is the box where your ADSL connection terminates at the exchange), that’s NZ$200 per customer, http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=adsl2+DSLAM&btnG=Search

Of course there’s also routers, switches and fibre optic backbones etc to account for, but spread out over a few thousand customers they're not THAT expensive.

Someone please enlighten us on the TCO of a standard exchange, I think we'd all be pleasantly surprised!

P.S. If your broadband’s going slow read this, http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3652468a11275,00.html telecom currently forces ISP’s to use overpriced and outdated ATM connections for all UBS ADSL traffic backhaul (data going from the exchange to the ISP) rather than letting them use ultra cheap fibre optic connections, hence why the new Faster Cheaper Broadband is actually slower and more expensive.

Insanity_rules

10th May 2006, 13:36

Been thinking about gettin broadband, but most seem like a have, ie the low end accounts have slow speed, small caps etc.

ihug look like the go, full speed on all accounts.

Who is your ISP, and would you recommend them?

The only real reason I want broadband is so I can stream the GP, SBK an stuff like that.

Cheers Paul D.

Got Actrix Cyberjet $54 per month and get 700Mb per day limit at 2.5 MBps (real world is about 2MBps) Good customer service too.

bobsmith

10th May 2006, 14:21

They wont do your area, but I signed up ages ago when no caps were a relative norm and have kept on the same contract, well they sent out a letter saying something about them implementing a cap but it has never happened

Damn, I used to live in the shore and never saw that plan. though that was a couple of years ago I suppose.

MOTOXXX

11th May 2006, 09:55

One of the guys at my work uses world exchange.

http://www.wxc.co.nz/

looks like a good deal and i think they give you a static ip address too

11th May 2006, 13:46

Can't complain about Xtra's service. Registered last week, days later moden arrived on doorstep. They said I would be connected yesterday but nothing seemed to work last night. So tried again half an hour ago with the self install disk, piece of cake so no complaints.
Seems to be leaping from web page to web page with the greatest of ease like Superman. Bloody great now we still have a phone working. Now, off to test the porn sites, just for scientific purposes of course :innocent: .

dawnrazor

11th May 2006, 13:54

has anyone here used xtra broadband with a mac, thinking of changing over and want to know anyones experience of with telecom and apples!

Badcat

11th May 2006, 14:22

has anyone here used xtra broadband with a mac, thinking of changing over and want to know anyones experience of with telecom and apples!

yep - i'm a mac xtra adsl user.
try and get an ethernet modem, not sure if there is a driver for the USB one usually supplied.
easy and reliable in the 5 years i've been using it.
k

dawnrazor

11th May 2006, 16:34

yep - i'm a mac xtra adsl user.
try and get an ethernet modem, not sure if there is a driver for the USB one usually supplied.
easy and reliable in the 5 years i've been using it.
k

Sweet, I'm on to it - can't deal with dial up any longer, just spent 75 mins downloading a 18mB iTunes software upgrade, nuts!

SN4PD

11th May 2006, 23:10

yep - i'm a mac xtra adsl user.
try and get an ethernet modem, not sure if there is a driver for the USB one usually supplied.
easy and reliable in the 5 years i've been using it.
k

No usb drivers for mac, get an ethernet modem (has a Network port OR Network port + USB port, not USB port only), xtra only supply ethernet modems anyway so your sorted.

XTC

16th May 2006, 11:10

As in pic, no cap 55 incl gst a month!

test your speed for comparison at http://www.nzdsl.co.nz/index.php?module=Speedtest

So who are you with?? 55incl a month sounds good for those speeds. Just tested my 2gb telecom connection and only got 961kbps. with 154 upload.

What?

16th May 2006, 20:51

Broadband?
All I can have is a carrier pigeon that takes 2 bits at a time 19km to the exchange, then flies back again, stopping for a feed on the way. I asked Telecon if I could have 2 pigeons, but they said "No - not for at least five years".

babyB

16th May 2006, 21:11

Titanium

16th May 2006, 21:32

Just tested my 2 GB down load and 256 k up load at 890 Kbps down load and 320k up load.

Ripped off!!! Telescum say it is because I am 4km's from exchange and that 5kms from an exchange is extreme limit for broad band.

When it was installed 18 months ago it was max speed of 2GB, Telescum say once again "a lot of noise has developed on that line from additional sub divisions (new houses) and users" and that is affecting my speed.

I asked for a 50% discount and they offered a splitter to bring my speed back up to 1.5 GB at a charge of $149.00 with no promises. Telescum got told to F off and I have a splitter being installed Wednesday for nix.

Might look at Vodafone 3G mobile for the lap top now. Ditch the land line all together.

:done: