Flip free broadband?

[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

[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

[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

[imdying]

From a broadband performance perspective, I would't want to be your neighbour

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

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.