ADSL question

[kearton]

Attention all Kiwis!

My octogenarian father is still using dial-up in NZ. He's finally warmed to the idea of broadband, but cost is an issue.

As I haven't lived in NZ for many many years, I haven't got a clue what ISPs are like there anymore, or who has the best deals etc.

He doesn't need massive bandwidth. Who would you recommend please??

[mac_shinobi]

@SYNACK - Can you help or suggest any ISP's ?

[kearton]

*bump*

Anyone???

[kearton]

[mac_shinobi]

@SYNACK ????

[Arthur]

He doesn't need massive bandwidth.

Not sure what Slingshot are like, but they make it easy to access sites like iPlayer that are normally blocked in NZ which could be useful?

 

www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11287175

 

Slingshot has just made it a lot easier for its customers to access television and movie streaming websites like Netflix and BBC iPlayer that are normally blocked to this country's internet users.

 

For the past 12 months Slingshot has offered a service called Global Mode, letting households with international visitors sign up and have access to websites such as Netflix which are blocked in some parts of the world.

 

Slingshot, the country's third-biggest internet company, is now unblocking about two dozen international sites for all of its customers to access. They won't need to claim they are playing host to overseas visitors.

 

"No beating around the bush. This is to watch Netflix, this is to watch BBC iPlayer, this is to watch Hulu, this is to watch Amazon Prime," Slingshot general manager Taryn Hamilton told the Herald.

[SYNACK]

Ah, finally back on a computer to see the mentions

 

ISPs in NZ are terrible but predictable. Where in NZ is he as that can have some bearing?

 

Surprisingly the ones with the best national and international backhaul and ok tech support are actually Telecom (about to be renamed spark was called xtra) they are more expensive but generally offer plans with a landline which is useful in NZ as VOIP relies on the data working all the time, sort him with a different email address though, they use rebranded yahoo mail and the only people who have a problem getting to telecom email accounts are their actual owners. An outlook.com or gmail.com address with remove 90% of the issues with them.

 

Telstraclear used to be really good for customer service but has gone down hill since being purchased by Vodafone.

 

Slingshot is one of the cheapest but their helpdesk is tragic.

 

Orcon is another big one but I would no longer recommend them as they got brought by the government and took many bad turns.

 

 

All of the above should be available and are probably in the order of usefulness for actually getting a connection.

 

Here is a nice interconnect map that gives you some idea of the backhaul of various ISPs:

TOPOLOGICAL MAP OF NEW ZEALAND INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS

[seawolf]

Sounds like Telecom is about as atrocious in NZ as it is in Australia. What with the NBN turning out to be an "Emperor has no clothes" sort of a project (and that was even way before the Liberal govt. took over) - what a waste of money it has been from the very start.

[mac_shinobi]

Ah, finally back on a computer to see the mentions

 

ISPs in NZ are terrible but predictable. Where in NZ is he as that can have some bearing?

 

Surprisingly the ones with the best national and international backhaul and ok tech support are actually Telecom (about to be renamed spark was called xtra) they are more expensive but generally offer plans with a landline which is useful in NZ as VOIP relies on the data working all the time, sort him with a different email address though, they use rebranded yahoo mail and the only people who have a problem getting to telecom email accounts are their actual owners. An outlook.com or gmail.com address with remove 90% of the issues with them.

 

Telstraclear used to be really good for customer service but has gone down hill since being purchased by Vodafone.

 

Slingshot is one of the cheapest but their helpdesk is tragic.

 

Orcon is another big one but I would no longer recommend them as they got brought by the government and took many bad turns.

 

 

All of the above should be available and are probably in the order of usefulness for actually getting a connection.

 

Here is a nice interconnect map that gives you some idea of the backhaul of various ISPs:

TOPOLOGICAL MAP OF NEW ZEALAND INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS

 

I was wondering where you got to @SYNACK - thought you were just ignoring me lol

[kearton]

Slingshot look OK on price for Phone+Broadband at $69* for 40GB/month. The access to iPlayer and their "Data Rollover" features are appealing too.

*Prices quoted are for Slingshot's Better Network, which covers around 60% of the country. Plans with data caps not on the Better Network are $5/mth extra.

 

Where in NZ is he as that can have some bearing?

I can't find any mention on their website of whether their "Better Network" would cover where he is (Te Kuiti)

 

Thanks peeps.

Edited July 10, 2014 by kearton

[SYNACK]

I think that it should, you can search the address by clicking on the plan and entering the address https://www.slingshot.co.nz/plans/broadband the one I looked up even had vdsl in for 10mb up and 70 down, which is probably not necessary.

 

The term is unbundled for isp owned network cabinets that telecom does not degrade and offer out to other isps because the government forced them to. Vodafone calls this their 'red' network area and most of the others just call it better or unbundled.

[SYNACK]

Service wise a lot has to do with the government agreements, telecom owns a bunch of the copper network and is forced to wholesale it, they did not do a good job so to prevent further government action they split the company into chorus (infrastructure) and services.

 

According to them they treat everyone the same but getting dsl installed takes a couple of days for telecom or 5 working days for any other providers in actuality as opposed to their fantasy land.